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Friday, July 30

BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday to me!
Even unemployment hasn't kept me down today. I've found out I've got an interview at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, and had a very promising email regarding another job at a London gallery. Otherwise, I've been stuffing my face with french toast (and strawberries!), as well as a pecorino cheese, pickled aubergine and olive sandwich from my beloved Salvo's in Headingley. And chocolate, chilli and orange cake. Now I'm off for drinks and dinner!

I broke out my new 50s sun dress to celebrate:



Excuse my "I'm out in public and afraid to pull a pose" pose.

50s deadstock summer dress: £30 ebay
50s cardi: £6.50, Armstrong's Vintage, Edinburgh.
Battered brown flats: £22, New Look.


Ripped knits = pure lust on my behalf. Imagine my surprise when a stroll into topshop led to finding two (also not pictured, a black opague crocheted mini) crocheted tunics that were surprisingly generous for their size 14 tag (especially if you are as brazen as I am!) for £10 each in their current sale. SCORE.

80s jacket of awesome: Old stock score, £free to me.
Black lace trim cami, size 18: Primark, £4
Mesh leggings, ASOS: about £18 (but they were the first leggings that I actually accepted as a valid wardrobe piece).
Crochet vest/tunic: Topshop, £10
Shoes: Priceless, £13

Sadly too warm to drag the army boots out. In the winter I'll be laying the two crocheted vests over one another with uber thick tights, army boots and a padded plaid shirt courtesy of my boy. Bring on Autumn!

Wednesday, July 14

Why fashion?

Fashion for me is about escapism, it's about fantasy and cross-identification. It's a space for play, and through it I can be anyone. It's quite funny actually, when I cycle through my etsy favourites I can almost trace the phases I go through - androgynous, edwardian dandy, 40s secretary, 50s bombshell, 90s grunge teen, 60s mod, lolita, victoriana, goth, metal kid. I'm pretty poor, so my actual etsy purchases are few and far between (I prefer car boot sales, jumble sales, charity shops, clothes swaps, vintage shops and so on), but it's a fantastic place to just imagine. AND a place where I can quite freely find most anything I want in my size. I like that few people say no on etsy.

Part of the glee I get from dressing up is from knowing that my refusal to be a "well dressed" fat person (knee skimming a line skirts, fitted clothes, covered arms, cleavage maximised and fat streamlines), and instead choosing to be inappropriate, garish, glamorous, to make my own mistakes rather than fit within this tiny tiny acceptable box.

Most importantly, perhaps, fashion is self-discovery for me. Without going into details, I feel like I've had some pretty rough patches and sometimes I feel as if I've lost sight of who I was to begin with. Playing with gender, genre, style and period allows me to engage with not only my personal history, but my lineage, my cultures, my heroes and my politics.