Fatshionista!

First OOTD :D

Thu, 31 May 2012 05:48:23 GMT

New to the community and after a bit of lurking have finally decided to post!

Saw this at a plus size second hand store and (gigantic gems! jewel tones!) had to try it on. Luckily it fit :D The print/cut is totally kickass and quite retro looking. Imagine my surprise to find it was made by Lane Bryant! As it turns out, it's really a tunic & I'm just short -___-;;

Dress: Lane Bryant Diamond Print Transparent Tunic size 18/20 purchased at Trade Chic
Belt: Unknown purchased at Trade Chic
Shades: Unknown

With my sister!
The dress she's wearing is one of mine: Forever21 size L
Necklace: Thrifted
Shoes: Chie Mihara Serena Pumps size 36.5 (super comfy for heels though a bit tight)

Me being a creepy flasher type. Not the best pic to show off the coat but the rest of the pics are of me with it open...in a creepy flasher style. Hurrrr.
Coat: Miss Curvista size 1x (brocade + orange trim + oriental collar? i HAD to buy it) purchased at Trade Chic
Shoes: J.Crew size 7

Model is 5' 3" and about 225-230lbs. Usually size 20 in bottoms, L/XL tops. Wide hips. Not so big boobs. 47-42-57.

Anyway, my favorite item (aside from the Chie shoes) is the mandarin style coat by Miss Curvista. Does anyone else own any items by this company (apparently they used to be called Missphit)? I'm having a hard time finding much online and I'm so down to check out more of their stuff.
Hopefully i'll get around to posting more often as I draw inspiration from the OOTDs of other members! You guys all look great XD

ISO: white swimwear

Wed, 30 May 2012 22:14:07 GMT

Good afternoon, lovelies!

I'm in search of white swimwear, as I think it looks lovely on me. Any suggestions on options, as Google isn't helping me much? I promise to model and review my fabulous purchase for you all once it's in my hands!

I'm 5'3, 260 lbs. Size 20-22-24 depending on the cut. Hourglass. D cup (so I'm fond of either excellent built in bras or halters).

Thank you!

OOTD... well, weekend

Mon, 28 May 2012 21:18:21 GMT

Two pictures :) Taken of me during Phoenix ComiCon (taken by my sig other)

Please ignore the ridiculous face I am making. But sweet lords! I don't look half bad :)

Shirt: TRON Evolution tshirt from PAX Prime 2010
Shorts: Lane Bryant
Flip-flops: Teva

Me comparing the Glitch gamer-wear plushie Lemon-ades to my self-made fanart shirt about the combustible lemon that Cave Johnson rants about in Portal 2. The back of my shirt read "With the lemons!"

OOTD

Mon, 28 May 2012 06:29:33 GMT

Hi fats!

I haven't done an OOTD here in a long while, so here I am :)

I blog frequently about fa(t)shion, beauty and body image (with additional pictures) here, if you're interested.

& outfit details:
Top: Winners
Leggings: Joe Fresh

Fat Friendly Bike Place in Toronto

Mon, 28 May 2012 05:28:12 GMT

Related to last weeks post on biking and fatness, a lot of the suggestions were to go to a bike friendly place in your area. Can any of you wonderful fats recommend a good bike place in Toronto to buy a bike. For reference I am 5 foot 4, 270 and looking for a cruiser like bike for commuting to and from appointments and school.

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension

Mon, 28 May 2012 04:51:42 GMT

I'm trying to find some other Fat Positive people who have been diagnosed with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. For those of you who haven't heard of it (I hadn't before I was diagnosed with it!) it's a condition which means you have too much fluid around your brain. This increases the pressure in your skull (causing headaches) and presses on your optic nerve (causing vision problems). No one knows what causes it, but it's primarily diagnosed in young, fat women (and astronauts, but that's because of zero G). There are a few medical treatments - drugs, surgery on your optic nerve and/or having a shunt installed - but the main recommendation from doctors is (surprise!) to lose weight.

I'm hoping to find some other Fat Positive people who've been diagnosed with this so I have someone to talk to who both understands what I'm going through and wont be all "then lose weight! YAY!". My doctors are all pushing for WLS & I'm struggling to find literature that supports an alternate option.

OOTD

Mon, 28 May 2012 04:37:21 GMT

Hello, fats! My first post, steampunked, taken at ComicPalooza yesterday. In my dainties!

Petticoat & corset: made by me
Camisol: Goodwill
Peignoir jacket: in collection, from either Spiegel or Newport News. Old.
Teacup hat: Etsy

Me: 5'5"
Size: 24. Larger on bottom.

Spots and make-up

Mon, 28 May 2012 04:23:51 GMT

Hi there! Can anyone help me? I need to cover some zits with make up without putting foundation on. This is not an option since my skin is so unbeliably white there is no matching foundation where I live; also, it is not my personality to wear foundation and it would make me feel insecure. I only want to know how to cover three or four individual spots without the use of foundation in the whole face. When it comes to appearence, I am a minimal-effort kind of girl. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

eShakti review and OOTs

Mon, 28 May 2012 01:05:56 GMT

Hi fats!

There was a post a couple of days ago about eShakti, so I though I'd add my recent experience, and a few OOTDs.

The eShakti dress:

I ordered this back on April 7, and it finally arrived on May 9. I did receive one email from eShakti apologising for the delay (due to IT issues) and changing the ship date to April 25. Once this date passed I email requesting an update and did not receive a response. My suggestion, for the moment at least, is to order with caution.

That said, I LOVE the dress. I customised it to knee length and added cap sleeves. The standard sizing is very true to the measurements on the site, though I could use an extra inch at the waist so next time I'll probably go custom. At 5'4 with a high waist I always have fit issues, but this is perfect. The only con really is being cotton it creases and I hate ironing.

And here is a few OOTDs, I'm 5'4, around 205, size 14-18. I'm an Australian living in Hawaii (any other Hawaii fats out there, please get in touch!). Some of my stuff comes from Australia, I've tried to indicate in the descriptions. More pics 'n stuff on my blog www.theundeb.com.

This outfit just makes me think OMG THIGHS! I don't usually wear anything above the knee, but since discovering these high waisted shorts, I'm *trying*.
Top - Dorothy Perkins
Shorts - City Chic (Aus)
Shoes - Dr Martens

Towel Day outfit! Yes, I am obsessed with yellow at the moment.
Dress – Ananya via Etsy
Cardi - SES (Aus)
Shoes – Nine West
Necklace – reworedart via Etsy
Bangle – Claire’s
Towel – Old Navy

Dress – City Chic (Aus)
Shrug – Crossroads (Aus)
Shoes – Cole Haan
Pearls – Pearl Paradise

BUMMER: my sad, sorry experience with jibri

Sun, 27 May 2012 21:17:37 GMT

friends, romans, fatties, i've fallen off the face of the earth. my last post must have been at least two years ago. but i was inspired to write again because of this brave person and her story of etsy shop heartbreak. recently, i've had a miserable experience with a plus-size etsy seller. friends, this whole kerfuffle went down between september and december of 2011, and i'm only talking about it now because i read the entry above and thought "hells yeah, i want to know if a seller whose designs i lust and save for is going to flake on me."
and still, i'm hesitating. there's so few small business owners that make beautiful, ethically-made designs for fatties, and i don't want to screw anyone over. so read on, if it pleases you, and remember that your jibri-mileage may vary.

in september this year i saw this dress in jibri online's etsy shop:

AND I WANTED IT. at $240, it would be a huge purchase . . . BUT JUST LOOK AT IT IS IT NOT GORGEOUS? the draping, the sassy neckline, the elegant shape of the skirt! a dress like this could fit in my wardrobe and be dressed up for parties and dressed down for work, especially in black.

i had a few lovely convos with jasmine (the seller) about measurements and fabrics and whatnot, and settled down to wait. the dress' description said that all custom orders would be sent out after three to four weeks.
i waited.
and waited.
mid november (six weeks out) i started to get worried and sent jasmine a convo, especially since i was hoping to wear the dress for some xmas parties. she apologized for the delay and said that she'd shipped the dress the same day and directed me towards the USPS email shipping notice. trouble was, the shipping notice said only that the delivery slip had been printed, not that the package had been shipped or even arrived at the post office. it was ten days before the status read, "package received at post office." and by then, i knew it would be too late for xmas parties. but whatever, right? people get busy, the dress was something i hoped to wear for a long, long, time, there'd be other occasions, and why did i have to be such a precious little princess anyway?

the dress arrived december 7. yay! i put it on the second i got home from the gym and . . . was perplexed.

i mean . . . what? did i accidentally ask for this weird, flappy, triangular skirt?

i do realize jibri's designs are sharp, modern, bold - but dammit, it's not what i wanted, and more to the point, not what i expected from the photo. maybe i'm too timid; i can accept that. i wanted an LBD and i got some high-concept thing that really looks silly on me, and absolutely ridiculous with the flats and cardis i'd planned to wear with it at work.

so i emailed jasmine, and two weeks (!) later she responds that i can send the dress back. i'm reluctant, thought, to rid myself of the fantasy of the perfect dress - and it does look nice on top - so i suggest a compromise - i get the dress tailored to lose the exaggerated hip flaps and she can refund me the cost of alterations over paypal. easy, right? except once i finally find a tailor willing to take on the job (in involved deconstructing the bottom half of the dress), jasmine stops responding to emails. i beg. i plead. i adopt a stern tone. i even sink to the low of following her on twitter and asking her to please contact me about our "previously discussed arrangement" (i hated the idea of airing dirty laundry over twitter but i was desperate).

finally, on february 2nd, jasmine convo-ed me via etsy to say that she would process the partial refund but i'd have to wait one billing cycle. NO PROBLEM. i've waited this long! as of today, i've received nothing.

if you've read this far, thank you for letting me rant. to be honest, i feel like an enormous catty hosebeast for bringing this up, but i waited so long for the issue to be resolved that my chance to leave feedback on etsy expired and i just feel that this kinda thing needs to be said SOMEWHERE. i know that many fab fatties have ordered from jibri and haven't had this experience. i myself have a wrap dress from a sample sale that is awesome. but i won't be ordering again. and that is a fucking BUMMER.

i appreciate your thoughts and advice, fats.

ISO: Blazers/ Jackets

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:04:30 GMT

I recently got promoted at work and am looking for a few blazers to add to my wardrobe. I'm on the hunt for blazers that:
- Have some shape, either through princess seaming or ruching at the back
- Has at least two buttons for closure or is opened without any buttons (can't pull off a single-button blazer, I don't have the boobs to fill it out)
- Are 3/4 length sleeved ideally
- Are in fabrics like cotton, ponte knit, or sateen (provided it's not too shiny) and vibrant colors or jeweled tones (green, navy, purple, dark red, etc.)

I've checked Lane Bryant, Talbots, OneStopPlus, Igigi, Torrid, Addition Elle/Penningtons, Nordstrom, Macys, and Bloomingdales but haven't seen a lot. I'm an 18/20, with bust of about 48, waist of 42 and hips of 52". I typically like a blazer length of 25-26".

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I'm in Canada, so retailers that ship north of the border is a must.

Thanks!

San Fran fat shopping!

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:24:28 GMT

Hi lovely fats!

My job is sending me to San Francisco (from Boston) on Tuesday!

Does anyone know of local plus size shops? I won't have access to a car, but I don't mind taking the BART. If there's a REALLY good store out of the city I don't mind ponying up for a cab.

Ooh I'm so excited! I've been to San Fran before, but only for 12 hours! Now I am staying for 4 days. I hope I get to see more than the uber-touristy spots this time (though the crookedest street made for a good calf workout, since I started from the bottom. Yeesh.)

UK fats seeking swimming costumes...

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:10:49 GMT

...I just acquired a lovely pair from Daxon. They sell costumes up to a size 32, though of course their sizing is smaller than, say, Evans's. And best of all, their costumes appear to be intended to actually be swum in! (As I go swimming at least 1km three times a week, this is kind of a big deal for me)

Their delivery was a bit slow, but within 14 days, and I can totally live with that for decent pretty swimwear. Just a heads-up :)

silk underthings?

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:16:00 GMT

I've been looking at the Lingerie Addict for some time now and despite being a mom soon, feel like I will need/want some everyday luxury. Does anyone know of any etsy shops that sell plus size silk underthings/lingerie? Mary Green stuff is beautiful, but only goes up to size L, as do most of the 'regular' shops that sell silk lingerie.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Because I have this argument all the time, and I'm sure many of you do too: Obesity & health risks

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:25:28 GMT

I often have arguments with people about the "obesity epidemic" and how horrible it is, and how it's causing a lot of death, destruction, and the end of America and apple pie. So I cherish studies like this one, Obesity Not Always Tied to Higher Heart Risk: Study

Link. The quotes I will be using.

"People with good metabolic health are not at risk of future heart disease -- even if they are obese," Hamer told Reuters Health. On the flip-side, the non-obese in poor metabolic shape face as much risk as the unhealthy obese, the researchers concluded.

The results are in line with most previous research that defined metabolic health as having normal levels of markers like blood pressure, blood sugar, HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and C-reactive protein, which is a measure of inflammation in the body.

The obese individuals in good metabolic health were not at greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than the metabolically healthy non-obese, the researchers found.

This was a massive 7 year study of thousands of people.

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:44:02 GMT

I totally dig the Hawaiian/Tiki look and I would love to have a dress with a hibiscus flower print on it, or other tiki styles. but I'm at a loss. I had a look around ebay last night and made an attempt to Google it, but all to no avail. There doesn't seem to be anything plus size that doesn't look really frumpy. Does anyone have any suggestions of places to look?
I'm in the UK, so either UK based or somewhere that will ship to (cheaply!)

Thanks!

Edit: I am a UK 26!

janebonbon warning/query

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:20:59 GMT

I know a lot of y'all have ordered from Jane Bonbon successfully in the past. I placed an order several months ago (on February 28), and despite inquiring several times, I still have not received my item. The last response I was able to get from her was April 18, when she reassured me my item would be sent shortly. It's now over a month later, and I've sent two subsequent queries with no response.

I'm really disappointed with this situation, particularly given her stellar reputation (and her totally cute clothes). I'm just finishing up school, so the dress was more than a bit of an indulgence, and now I'm out the money with nothing to show for it. I'm kicking myself for not filing a Paypal dispute when the window for complaints was still open.

I've left feedback via Etsy, but I wanted to post here to see if anyone else has had a similar experience and see if anyone knew what was going on. Is she on some kind of unposted hiatus or something?

I'm really upset by the whole thing. I've never had an Etsy seller totally flake on me, and I cut a lot of slack in this situation because of her reputation. It appears at this point, joke's on me for that.

eShakti woes?

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:14:11 GMT

I know slow shipping times are par for the course from eShakti - I've ordered from them before, and while stuff usually takes nearly a month to arrive.. I can deal with that.

But my recent experience has left me a bit puzzled and wary to order again. I ordered a dress at the beginning of May for a wedding in mid-June. Monday, out of the blue... I get a notification that my order has been canceled, nearly a month after it was placed. No explanation, nothing. Just canceled.

To make matters worse, I'm not seeing any sort of refund for the order on my credit card or any attempt to refund the gift card I had used to pay for part of it. Customer service has yet to respond to any emails.

Has anyone else been experiencing this kind of wierd, sketchy service from eShakti lately? Any idea on the best way to get this resolved, since customer service doesnt seem to respond at all? :l

edit: thanks for the help, all! i will be giving them a call today - i'll be sure to update if the situation changes... but i admit seeing the complaints on their facebook isnt making me feel particularly hopeful.

Outfit of the wedding

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:59:13 GMT

Hey fats,
I wore this dress to a beautiful wedding on the Outer Banks of North Carolina this past weekend. It took me a couple days to drive home, so I’m literally posting this as soon as I can.

This dress has quite a story. I loved this dress in early 2011 but couldn’t figure out where to wear it, so I didn’t buy. Then my aunt announced her wedding, and it clicked with me a couple months later that it might be the perfect event. But by then, the dress was gone from the designer’s site, and I looked up every boutique in North America that carried the brand and looked, to no avail. Finally one of my pathetic Google searches turned up the dress for sale in an Australian boutique. $80 shipping? No problem! Well, they had some great things on major clearance I’d wanted for quite a while and missed out on, so it was worthwhile in the end, though the 3-week wait to see if the package would get snagged by customs was nerve-wracking! I had to fight with them to get the sale pricing listed on the site, and they upped the shipping by $20, so I’m not sure I’ll name them here.

I thought at the time that the wedding would surely be warm enough in late May that I didn’t need the bolero, but I found it on sale on a British site (Curvety- nothing bad to say except I got a dress that was too small :x ) a few months later. Glad I snagged it, because the whole week before the wedding was rainy and cool, and it was quite windy there by the sound. I wore some Avocado-green leggings under the dress. They were definitely peeking out as the wind whipped my skirt into the air!

I found these beautiful Swarovski earrings in a museum gift shop. Even though I waited to wear them (and the dress!) until this event, I stil managed to lose one before I arrived, apparently, and I didn’t realize until after the pictures that I had lost one, darn it! I’m not doing well lately on keeping up with jewelry, as I’ve seriously misplaced my engagement ring and feel worried it may have been thrown out somehow. Sigh.

I got inspired to try to match my nails to the dress and I found all the right colors on sale for 99¢ a pop at Walgreens or CVS or something. I was in a rush so I left the black-red from the day before as a base coat and dabbed on two or three layers of little splats of blue, purple and two greens.

This shaper slip really kept my skirt flowing, but I thought it was even a bit large. Too bad all the smaller sizes are sold out!

I tried these Physicians formula Kajal Shimmer strips for green eyes.

You can't see the purple underneath much, but these don't irritate the waterline and i love the black one for that. I need the set for blue eyes now.

xposted to my lj!

Dress and bolero: Igigi

Shaper slip: Evans

Earrings: David Howell Designs

Shoes: Aravon

Bangles: Lane Bryant

Bag: Liz Claiborne

I'm 27, 5'10", Size 28-32, and I live in Canada.

OOTD

Thu, 24 May 2012 03:45:43 GMT

Some silliness on my part while I get photographic proof that I got an art piece of mine into a local gallery.

Dress: Lane Bryant
Sandals: Dansko
Jewelry: gifts
Bag: made by me

Montage Gallery, on Mill Ave in Tempe, Arizona.

I don't feel like my arms are as big as the photos make them. Also, I need to find a cardigan or a shrug to wear with this dress; I love it but I got a comment about "when's the baby due" and managed to ignore it without telling the person off. Good filter, I suppose.

And me with Jacque Keller; she's one of the regular artists whose work is in the gallery. (Wow, I somehow lost my lower right leg! well that was silly of me)

OOTD

Thu, 24 May 2012 02:43:42 GMT

Ran some errands downtown today, this is what I wore.
My feet are taped up because I was going straight to volleyball afterwards. (I brought a change of clothes obviously, haha)

I am 5'9, 315 lbs.
The dress is from Penningtons, and I think is a size 2X or 3X ( wierdly cut, as I am normally a 4X)
The shoes are from Payless.
The cami is from Addition Elle, it just happens to blend well.
I did not wear any jewelry as I had the game after.
This dress is new, and I like it, love the dashiki pattern, and it is good length for my height, which is hard to find, but I am a little self conscious about how it looks on my stomach. I do not understand why makers of plus sized clothes use such clingy fabrics.

patterned cardigans

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:10:56 GMT

So, I'm searching for patterned cardigans that will fit my size 24/26 body, that are slightly modern in shape, color and pattern. I'd prefer fitted cardigans... but you know, at this point I'll take anything and try to "make it work." I'd love to try some pattern mixing, or just add variety to a solid dress over the summer instead of multiple layers.

I've done a cursory search -- F21+, HM+, ON, LB, Fashion Bug, Ave, OSP & the Redcats gang, City Chic, Torrid, Alloy, Alight, Target, Kmart -- and I keep coming up empty-handed. If you have some solid leads, as in actual links to stores that sell a variety of patterned cardigans in size 24 or 26 online (not stores like Ross or Burlington where inventory varies by location, or your local thrift store), please PLEASE share it here.

And I just want to rant for a second about the fact fat people over size 18 have to "make it work" whenever we want to dress in a style outside the bounds of the current trends at Lane Bryant and Torrid. We have a choice -- conventional (jeans, t-shirts, wrap dresses), super on-trend (skinny jeans, leggings), business-wear (suits, sheath dresses, pencil skirts), edgy/punky/pin-uppy (everything at T and CC). Fatties don't get one-stop-shops like Anthropologie, or ModCloth or Ruche or Urban Outfitters or whatever -- instead, we have to make shit work: like, get a dress from store X and turn it backwards and rip out the collar, then get a cardigan from store Y and wash it in a mixture of cold water and horse piss and let it air dry for 4 days to stretch it out and then it will fit, and now you've got yourself an X-style outfit! AWESOME! And while I understand that the search is also a part of the fun, and that "personal style" doesn't mean buying everything off the rack at American Eagle and styling it just like the mannequin in the window, it would sure as fuck be nice to have more style OPTIONS available than shrug or pencil skirt or sheath dress or leggings or denim mini-skirt or cropped jacket or the 90 different BLACK dresses they sell at Avenue to choose from.

So yeah, if you have some ideas for where I can find some patterned cardigans in size 24 or26, please share them here. Thanks everyone!

Citychic

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:09:46 GMT

Anyone shopping from Citychic lately? I have been watching some cute stuff forever but I am unable to pull the trigger on it. I used to buy stuff from there all the time. I like some of their clothes, quality is generally ok, and with the 30% coupons they used to hand out fairly regularly the pricing alright.

Lately it seems all the coupons have dried up. They have had a steady stream of new items, but nothing new (Even from winter) going into the sale area, no special sales etc.. It also seems like their base pricing for new items (Jackets, dresses etc..) has gone up.

Anyone know if they have revamped lately? Is their quality suddenly a lot better/more consistent that makes it worth the higher prices. Anyone still shopping there regularly and want to convince me I should?

It kills me that there are some things I've been wanting forever, but I can't justify paying that much for quality that I equate with stores like LB or Torrid..

First OOTD

Wed, 23 May 2012 03:47:55 GMT

Hey everyone!

I've been mostly lurking in the community, commenting here and there and admiring all the fabulous and inspiring OOTDs. Today it's my turn!

I actually bought this dress after seeing it recommended on a post here. It was my first purchase on Asos (upon discovering that they shipped free to Canada!!) and I've been very pleased with it. Even though I live in a big (enough) city, there's only a handful of stores that have plus sizes so I'm always half afraid of running into people wearing the sames clothes as me. Shopping online gives me an additional opportunity to express my style.

Dress : ASOS Curve (size 20)
Shoes : Old Navy
Bag : Fossil

I'm still not sure if the dress is slightly too big on me or if it's just a relaxed fit. This was my first experience ordering with ASOS and I'm anywhere between an 18 and a 22 for clothes, so I ordered the 20. I also ordered this dress at the same time and it didn't look good on me at all for the top part, so I'm returning it.

Now, I'm lusting after this dress here : http://us.asos.com/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=2034339 (for a wedding!)
Has anyone seen it worn on a blog picture / OOTD or something? I'd prefer seeing it on someone with a frame more similar to mine before buying it since so far I've had both a hit and a miss with ASOS Curve.

Thanks everyone!

Bonus pic : I'm dancing (!) in a Bollywood play (!!) and I love it. I also love the black/silver sari I'm wearing :

Sexy-time underoos!

Wed, 23 May 2012 02:32:10 GMT

So my husband and I are planning our first "night away from the baby!!!" since our kiddo was born. (She'll be almost 1 when we finally make a break for it and I am beyond excited to SLEEP.)
But before sleep, lingerie.
I know of hipsandcurves. Does anyone else have suggestions for affordable, flattering lingerie?