I used google to search if it had ever been mentioned in this community, and I got one small blip back in April 2006, so I'll bring it up again--does anyone here use StyleHive? I do, but more as a wishlist-keeper. I'd love to see what other fatshonistas like on that site, or see similar sites that fatshonistas use!

Dress 1:( Image under cut. )
This number from Lane Bryant. Adorable, huh? And GREEN! I ordered this online and paid full price (ANATHEMA!) because I found this item so irresistible. Upon receipt, however, I was profoundly disappointed. Folks who pay attention to these little missives will remember that I have a bit of a rack deficit (I wear a 44B bra), and this dress was bloody buggery huuuuuuge in the bust. COMICALLY SO. Such that I LAUGHED upon looking in a mirror. Ladies with the big tits, this dress may work fabulously for you. Not for me. I should also add that I was really disappointed with the quality of this dress; for $60 I expected reasonably nice fabric, but the quality is lacking here. The green is more bright and less kelly than the picture looked to me, the fabric feels flimsy and more lightweight than I'd envisioned, and the "dots" seem like they'd start to flake off in a few washes. I still love the style and concept of this dress, even if the execution is lacking. I hope it works for someone else, as I was seriously let down. RETURNED!

Dress 2:( Image under cut. )
Floral halter dress from Old Navy. I love the version in blue. The fabric is a linen blend and feels good and substantial, without being bulky. The blue print is lovely. The halter top means I can adjust to fit my booosoms. It's a little longer than I'd like (because all fat women are eight feet tall, dontcha know) but generally I have no complaints on this one. Keeper.

Not so great:( Image under cut. )
The same dress in the orange print, which is really more of a salmon and orangey-red. I liked the print on the website, but in person? It reminds me of my period. Sorry y'all, but it totally does. I am not dissing the monthly, but I don't want to wear it on my dress. For this reason, I have to return it.

Dress 3:( Image under cut. )
This is really a matter of personal taste for me. While I dug the idea of this smocky dress from Old Navy, these things always wind up looking like nightgowns on me, probably because this style is sort of dependent on having good-sized boobs to hang from. There are exceptions to this rule, but this one just looked huge and swimmy and unflattering and totally didn't work out for me. Returned.

Dress 4:( Image under cut. )
Suprise success story, here - this goes to show that I can never assume something will or won't work for me until I try it. I usually steer clear of bandeau-style dresses, like the one above from Lane Bryant, because of my oft-mentioned-in-this-post small tits. Usually I lack the ooomph required to hold that shit up. This is a happy exception. It's comfortable, it fits me exceptionally well, the belt hits in exactly the right place (WHICH NEVER HAPPENS), the skirt flares just as it should. Frankly, this dress couldn't fit better if I'd made it. I bought this dress to wear over another top, voila:
( Image under cut. )
and I really love this look on me. The fabric is a little more suiting-ish than I'd like (I dig texture, and LB's suiting fabrics are often bland, polyester-based and texture-free) but I can totally overlook this in light of the overwhelming positives. Keeper.

Dress 5:( Image under cut. )
Belted strapless denim dress from Lane Bryant. I wanted to like this! I really did! But no. The sweetheart neckline would not stay put, and the rest of the dress was unpleasantly snug and sausage-casing-like through my hips - which can be a hot thing on some people but not on me. Returned.

Dress 6:( Image under cut. )
And old favorite. I actually have this Blue Plate dress in three colors now, which is getting ridiculous, but I love it so much. The more recent versions have pretty scalloped stitching at the hem, and the embroidery is less a flat white and more an ivory. No, it doesn't stretch, and yeah, sometimes Blue Plate's quality can be wonky (in terms of pattern matching), but then at least it's 100% cotton, and the wonkiness can translate to a sort of shabby-chic charm in certain circumstances. Keepers all.

NEXT TIME, ON DRESS REPORT: Size Appeal, Blue Plate. Thanks for reading!

So it's Melbourne Fashion Week again.  Amidst all the hype and snark, last Saturday's Age ran what I think is an interesting and thoughtful article pondering the place and function of fashion.  Although I'm always wary of 'young kids these days' statements, and although it doesn't address some Big Questions (like the fact that fashion is a first-world phenomena, driven by/driving over consumption and exploitation, etc etc), it does address some of the contradictions I find so fascinating about fashion.  Like the contradiction between fashion's dual promises of 'fitting in' and 'expressing yourself':
Thoughts? Feelings? Rants?

This "random belt thrown over a shirt" trend is starting to get to me.  This look hardly flatters anyone I've seen try to pull it off -- no matter what their size.  What is that belt doing there under your boobs?  Seriously.  Just because you've got a belt, that doesn't mean you need to wear it on top of your shirt.  If you're going to do it -- put the belt at your waist, it looks better there.

Anyone excited for some new spring trends?  I'm stoked about muted metallics, babydoll dresses (I've been waiting for these to come back since the mid-90s), flats, layers, and yellow

Not so excited about high-waisted pants and bubble skirts

http://lifestyle.msn.com/BeautyandFashion/FashionWeekDaily/FWSlideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=937475
http://www.style.com/trends/trend_report/011507

I've been commenting for a while now and since I promised pictures of this Torrid dress on me, I figured I might as well muster up my courage and do an intro post. I'm April. I spend most of the year in Portland (OR), where I go to school, and where the weather is much better for my love of cardigans than my hometown of San Diego. I wear about a 20. I'm trying to dress a little braver, in skirts and dresses and colors, but it's hard to get away from my uniform of dark jeans and a black cardigan over a tshirt or cami.

At the end of December I placed an order for several dresses from B & Lu based on a super comfy an flattering dress I ordered from them previously (which has since been discontinued, sadly.

( pics of the dresses and reviews behind the cut )

Lately I've been having some dressing room adventures, trying on lots of clothes in the name of research. Hopefully I'll be posting some photos and reviews every once and a while.

( Item #1: INC brand wrap dress from Macy's )

I'd been eying a particular cami/panty set at Lane Bryant for a while but kept talking myself out of it--too expensive, too impractical, primary partner is sadly indifferent to lingerie...

but, it's now %50 off...and I got a extra-hefty paycheck this month...and I had to go to the mall to exchange a pair of pants for the husband...and I have a hot new crush...

( merry christmas to me! (NOT worksafe) )

Fatshonistas:

I went to the mall today in search of that damn short-sleeved black zip-up hoodie. I did not come home with a short-sleeved black zip-up hoodie. But I did come home with a hell of a lot of good stuff, like

- a desert camo kilt-like miniskirt, from Deb Plus, for only $8 on clearance! I bought the size 18 to make sure it would sit below my natural waist, but they had up to a 24.

- a couple of XXL tank tops, one in camo, one in grey and black stripes with a red pirate ship screened on the front, originally $16 and $22 each, two-for-$25 from Hot Topic

- an UNBELIEVABLE stack of stuff from Torrid of all places, 50% off all clearance items, plus 15% off for having a full "frequent buyer's" card, plus another 5% off with the new frequent buyer's card because I bumped my purchase over $250 with the addition of a 2" button from the button jar. I got things like a military green deconstructed "band jacket," a long snap-front shaped denim skirt that clings in all the right places and none of the wrong ones, a grey plaid above-the-knee skirt with a skull screenprint on the front, a black stretch-denim Victorian-styled peplum jacket, a red plaid schoolgirl/punk skirt so I can finally replace the one that no longer zips closed at the waist... oh, tons of things! I got 17 pieces of clothing and jewelery for $238 before tax.

- a broomstick skirt in a camo print from JC Penny's in an XL, on sale for $19.99, and the one acceptable handbag in their entire handbag section*, on clearance for $16

Who had the bargain wa today? I had the bargain wa! Fat girl shopping powers... activate!

(Lane Bryant had 25% off the whole store today, and I looked at a black silk charmeuse blouse with all kinds of handkerchief-y layers, and a long tiered multicolored skirt, but both wer from that 7even collection and were regularly priced at $80 and $60, respectively.)

* I refuse to carry anything that is too small to hold my stuff, made of shiny faux metallic faux leather, covered in studs or shiny bits, colored like a fruit smoothy, shaped like an internal organ, might be mistaken for a small pet from a distance, looks as though it should contain a small pet, or is meant to be "seasonal." I demand a serivceable black bag, roomy, utilitarian without being motherly, anti-trendy, no "bling," zippered bag, preferably with a shoulder strap long enough to wear across my body. I sacrificed the last requirement because there was one black-and-silver vaguely industrial but still professional bag of a decent size hidden in the back among the gypsified horrors, and I have not found a replacement candidate at any other stores, and my current bag (black canvas and webbing, purchased at an army surplus store) is starting to shred in a couple of crucial places.

Here, cross-posted from my lj, is a photo of me on my trike, in an outfit very much inspired by fatshionista. I was reading at the Fat and Academy conference, at Smith College, and if you follow the link to my comments about it, you might notice that I was raving about fatshionista. ( Photographic evidence )

Fellow fatshionistas, I'm reporting back about my recent Igigi experience. I purchased the Nicole floral top.
( Read more... )

Got it on clearance at Torrid, fits like a dream. Looks like something that one of the girls in the 1939 movie The Women would wear. Decided to snap a picture of it in the bathroom, I wish they were of better quality.



( And one more... )

V-Neck Shirt: Old Navy, Skirt: Lane Bryant, Cat's collar: George Pet Supply of San Francisco

This isn’t really contradicting anything said in the last post about long shirts but I was impelled to write about this since it’s been gnawing at my brain.

In general I am not a fan of The Long Shirts. They have been trendy recently because of the alarming decline of the height of pants. Longer shirts are needed if you’re going to be wearing such short waisted pants (something that is really not all that flattering or attractive in the first place, if you ask me) and the plus size garment industry dove in to the trend headfirst. I don’t know if this is just a plus size thing, but they seem to have taken the long shirts to new heights with shirts that resemble too-short dresses and baby doll negligees. This is annoying to me for a couple of reasons:

1) Unless you are very tall (as the previous poster seems to be) a very long shirt will put your body’s proportions all out of whack and probably make your legs look stubby and short while your torso will appear unusually elongated*. Also, since the long empire waist shirt has been a staple of maternity wear for ages, it can also give the impression of pregnancy, not because it looks like your stomach is protruding, but because the dowdy cut is so common in pre-natal attire**.

2) Long shirts seem to feed the plus size industry’s tendency to encourage fat phobia. Despite the disadvantages I have outlined in the previous paragraph, the long shirt is touted as a godsend for fat girls. I see no reason for this, other than the fact that the long shirt tends (or tents? ouch.) to cover the ass and belly. Simply covering the taboo parts of the fat body does not make that body appear less fat, nor does it make the body appear more attractive (and yes, those concepts are mutually exclusive). But from Lane Bryant to Torrid, long shirts are said to be incredibly flattering for fat women and are recommended as such. It makes me angry. I don’t think that fat bellies or big asses are anything to be ashamed of, and extending shirts simply to avoid their exposure is ridiculous. It implies that we cannot show those taboo parts and be attractive, or beautiful, or even acceptable. If we show those taboo parts with confidence, it’s just that – taboo.

I’m not saying that you have to show off parts that you don’t want to, or that every woman looks good in short shirts, but it really leaves a bad taste in my mouth when people are encouraged to disown their taboo parts and it is implied that parts of their body should be hidden from sight. Especially when it’s implied they should be hidden because they are proof that one is fat. Oy.

For the record, my personal preference for shirt length (with pants) is that it should come to the lower hip, and hit a few inches above the beginning of the thigh/crotch.

________________________________

* This is the main reason I abhor super low cut pants in the first place. Who wants to make their legs (AND ASS) look shorter while their torso threatens to consume their whole figure? Not me, thanks. That and people tend to wear them too tight which cuts in to their hips, sometimes misshaping them permanently. Not all trends are meant for all body types! And personally, I don’t like super low cut pants on ANYONE. Yes, yes, I know I’m not the majority on this issue. So sue me.

** Personally, I hate the comparison of fat bellies to pregnant bellies. This isn’t out of any animosity to either party, but since one of my earliest memories of being harassed about my weight was the implication that I was pregnant and that this was both undesirable and preposterous. Those kids were sure adept at shaming both my body and my sexuality. Yeah, my formative years were fun.

Hi there y'all!

So I've been quite pleased with some of my outfits lately and I thought I'd share them with some of my favorite fashion-forward folks (that was unintentional alliteration, I promise!).

( Clickety. )

I would like to report that for maybe the first time in my life, there are more plus sized fashions in my purview that I want, that I can afford, that will fit me.

This is not so bad. It could be better, it could be worse.