Some thoughts on clothes swaps

Here's a thing I'm organising in a few weeks time! This is my first time doing any solo organising in London, so any support is appreciated. There's an event on facebook here which you can RSVP to for further details, if you have any questions, and to keep me up to date with the numbers I'm expecting. As well as clothes, I'm hoping there'll be zines, tea and cake.

If you're not in London, the ace Yorkshire Rad Fat Collective are co-ordinating a swap in Sheffield and Leeds.

I've been involved in organising clothes swaps for a while now, and today I was thinking about them as tools of resistance themselves. It's really hard to divorce fashion from capitalism, and I think fatshion faces a lot of (often fair) critique because of its dependency upon brands and lack of skepticism about consumerism. I've found myself drifting away from fatshion communities over the last year because of this, because I'm not interested in fashion as an industry, and often the divide between blogger and brand isn't there in the way it has been. It doesn't appeal to me as much anymore, because I can't buy buy buy all the time, and also because I want blogs to be *different* from mainstream fashion chat, and brand websites.

Passing clothes among each other is something that happened in my communities growing up - people didn't have much, and to make do we would help each other out. This wasn't really something I had much access to in my family, because there was just two of us, and my friends were all thinner than me at the time. BUT I saw how passing stuff on helped people - when you needed a white shirt for a job interview, someone could help you out. When I was unemployed, the swaps in Leeds helped me in a similar way - they gave me access to new clothes, both practical and frivolous, even though I couldn't otherwise afford them. It's for this reason that I always encourage people to come to swaps even if they don't have much to swap themselves.

There's another dimension to fat swaps too, for me, that comes with clothes that don't fit you anymore. I *still* hoard clothes sometimes, even though mainly I have enough now. I was pretty poor growing up and used to diving for things that might fit me when I saw them - whether I liked them or not didn't really matter. It's an instinct I still have. I've kept badly fitting clothes for the same reason, for *just in case* purposes. Being able to see other people look amazing in stuff that doesn't fit me anymore, or never did, takes away the shame of stuff not fitting right, of those feelings of shame that still sometimes come. It feels amazing to pass clothes on to other strong fat people.

Swaps are a way to play with clothes, to connect with other fat folk and joke about how shit fat sized clothes are. They've been a space to try stuff on and experiment outside of a traditional gendered shop setting - to laugh and explore and support others too. It's a way to build fatshion community outside of the BUY BUY BUY model, and that's really important right now.

Hello strangers! Sorry I've been out of touch for so long. It's been part lack of internet (still waiting to be connected!) and part business. I moved to London about a month and a half ago now, and I've started my postgrad course which is BUSY (but fun luckily, though I am mourning not having a student lifestyle!), so between that and illness and the passing away of one pet rat, I've not been about as much.

ANYWAY, I made this dress recently (with good old vintage vogue V8615, which apparently I love way too much given the amount of times I've made it!). It was a practical make, in a nice thick black ponte knit, which is a bastard to sew with but thankfully worth the trouble.

Teamed with a brooch my lovely boyfriend got me for my birthday from etsy:

It can be bought here (along with other seriously beautiful wooden delights!).

Outfit details:

Dress, handmade with vogue V8615

Shirt, actually another dress, Primark, passed on by a friend

Brooch, £7, etsy

Shoes, George, £4

Tights, M&S

Other stuff that's happened since I last posted: I had my tattoo finished! Hurray! Here it is in it's final glory. I love it!

I'm off to Leeds this weekend to sell some zines at Leeds Zine Fair, which is happening at Wharf Chambers on Sunday 4th November. It's going to be exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing Yorkshire friends again. If you want to come, check out the facebook event here. I'm debuting a new zine which will appear online sometime next week! It's all about hard femme politics and embodiment.

xx

Leeds Plus Sized Clothes Swap!

Hey one and all. Just a quick post to say that I've confirmed details for the next plus sized clothes swap in Leeds! The next one will be taking place on Sunday 26th August at Wharf Chambers (Wharf Street, Leeds) between 1 and 5pm. It costs just £1 to get in.

Bring along any clothes you have (in reasonable condition) for swapping, and hopefully you'll be able to find some new pieces. As per last time, we'll have sewing machines for skills sharing, a fat positive reading corner and hopefully some zines and baked goods for sale! It probably goes without saying, but we try and keep the space body positive and supportive of all attendees.

If you want to come and are on social media, please RSVP on facebook here to give us an idea of numbers. Even if you can't make it but know anyone that might be interested, please pass the info on as every bit of word of mouth helps to bring more people to the space.

p.s. rad poster to come shortly!

Fat visibility and the Fattylympics

I was lucky to be stallholding at the fantastic Fattylympics, which was held in East London this weekend and organised by Charlotte Cooper, Kay Hyatt and so many other amazing people. The event was a satirical community event, protesting the impact of the Olympics upon East London (and London in general). I loved being present at the event for so many reasons – diversity, fun, laughing and being able to spend time in a community of people that I value so much. I went feeling nervous (I am not great at stallholding, or talking to people) and a bit worried about whether I’d be able to cope, and left feeling light hearted, full of ideas and empowered. I still can’t quite articulate how amazing the event was, how funny and life affirming the activism was. Fat acceptance is so often about SERIOUS BUSINESS STUFF – not that this wasn’t also, but the silliness and use of humour on our own terms was just so energising and necessary. Before I start moaning about what else happened on the day, please have a look at these photographs and Charlotte’s beautiful account as organiser.

I found out early this week that reporters from the Daily Mail had reported on the event, producing an article which, of course, pokes fun at the abundance of the attendees, makes inevitable jokes about how much food was consumed on the day and managed to get the entire point of the event wrong, as well as confusing the organiser with an attendee. The reporter and photographer came to the event despite the organisers publicly requesting that no journalists were present – they hadn’t asked permission, neither did they bring up their presence at any point, and the images taken from the day were published without so much as a model release or a fact check taking place. I don’t expect anything from the Daily Mail, I’ve never read anything from them apart from sensationalist, spectacularly incorrect and hate mongering writing, but it did make me think a lot about the price of visibility. This was a relatively small community event, with maybe 150 attendees, a peaceful protest that gained the attention of the mainstream media because of our fat – not because of the politics of the event itself, just because it was an easy opportunity to exploit for their own benefit.

I am angry about representations of fat in mainstream media because it perpetuates the idea that it is necessary for our collective health – it will help to make us all realise that changing our bodies is necessary, that it’s all for our own good instead of for what is largely an aesthetic norm. The thing is, the majority of reporting about fat isn’t about health or anything with any rational reasoning behind – it’s about hate. If the people that reported about the obesity epidemic actually gave a shit about our physical and mental health, they wouldn’t photograph us without our permission, sell our (generally headless) bodies on – and if editors really cared, they wouldn’t fill their articles with this imagery. They’d focus their lifestyle articles on health at every size, and on healthy food without attaching an inevitable weight loss/diet goal alongside it. It’s not essential to include this with a recipe, or an exercise review – but it happens constantly, nonetheless, because it’s presumed to be a common goal.

Similarly, if anyone really gave a shit about my health, maybe they’d make it easier for me to exercise in a public space without verbal and sometimes physical harassment. I get shouted at on my bike constantly – sometimes in tunnels and on main roads in ways that could make me swerve and hurt myself. They’d make it possible for me to be in public without the fear that someone is photographing me, or possible to walk through the city centre at night without being verbally abused. The thing is, all of this fat hate is nothing to do with health at all – it’s all to do with aesthetics, with how we look and how we use our fat. The people that abuse me don’t want me healthy, they want me to acknowledge my inferiority or to become invisible/not there at all. Visibility is not an option.

Hearing about this hit pretty close to home with me, because it’s a prime illustration of what the price of being visible is. We were having fun, hell, we were being active, and this had to happen. I wish it were possible to find accounts of the event in mainstream media that understood the point of the event, but it’s perhaps too much to expect anyone to see past such an easy opportunity. 

Clothes Swap!

This Saturday was the day of the fat clothes swap I helped organised! It was an awesome day spent with lots of rad fat women, and as per usual, I nearly entirely forgot to document it! We took over a room in a local pub for the event, strung up bunting and fairy lights, as well as having a zine table and some cakes for munching. We also put together a mailing list to try and start more of a local fat acceptance community locally (if you want to be added, just email me). It was well attended and I think we all went home with some warm fat related feelings and some new clothes, which is amazing. We're hoping to hold another one after Christmas, so keep an eye out for more details. In the mean time, here is my not-so-great attempt at documenting the day:

Clothes!

Zines and books:


I took the day as an opportunity to wear a vintage housecoat I picked up in Portland over the summer, which is the stuff of garish colour lovers' dreams. I sewed up the front to make it a dress instead so it could see more daylight!

Dress, $20, vintage store
Belt, old vintage stock
Tights, M&S
Brogues, Primark, £12
Badge, gifted!


And a last close up of the serious business awesome badge that the lovely Donna made for me, which had to come out for the event! Oh, and my new fancy glasses, which are from Lensway if anyone is interested.

K x

CLOTHES SWAPPPP

I can't believe I've forgotten to post this! There's going to be an amaze-balls clothes swap happening in London-town soon - it's an all sizes event organised by the truly wonderful Claire of Monkey Fatshionista on the 10th September. It's going to be held at the Hoop and Grapes in Farringdon, and I am desperately hoping to be there (I've started working Saturdays and still waiting for my rota). In any case, I'm sure there will be some amazing clothes there (especially as Simply Be are donating some bits!). You can find out more information on facebook here or you can go check out Claire's blog for more details.

On another note, I'd love to do something similar in Leeds (where I am now living!), and if anyone fancies helping to organise or forming a badass fatty collective locally then you know where to find me. K x

OH MY GOD

Come to this, all welcome:

Thrill! A rare UK screening of gang girl cult classic: She-Devils On Wheels
Delight! A supporting screening of the Chubsters film
Amaze! Cheap! Non-profit! Politically right-on! Under the Westway! Punk!
Plus! Chubster-style arsing around.

Wednesday 27 October 2010
8.30pm
Portobello Pop Up Cinema
3 Acklam Road, London, W10 5TY
www.portobellopopup.com

The Chubsters are a queer fat girl gang, though you don't have to be queer, fat, a girl or even particularly gang-orientated to join.

We love going to the pictures and we've teamed up with the legendary Cheap Date magazine and Portobello Pop Up Cinema to present a night of Chubster-related pleasures.

She-Devils On Wheels (1968)
Directed by exploitation king Herschell Gordon Lewis, She-Devils On Wheels concerns the exploits of The Man Eaters, the toughest and most preposterous girl gang on the planet. Chubsters will be happy to spot Pat Poston as the belligerent Whitey, she's fat, dykey, and mean as hell. Combining low-brow humour, cheap laughs, even cheaper special effects and wild women on motorbikes, not to mention a theme song that will plague you for the rest of your life, this rare screening is unmissable. Check out the trailer!

Plus supporting short, Chubsters (2009).

Portobello Pop Up Cinema is a newly established, non profit Microplex (as opposed to Multiplex) cinema and arts venue situated in the Westway underpass on the Portobello Road/Acklam Road junction – an area steeped in a long and iconic history of creative subculture. Admission to the cinema is on a pay-what-you-can afford basis, with a suggested donation of £4. Fuck yeah!

***

I suck and can't go, because I can't really afford London train fares right now. But OH MY GOD nonetheless.

1910-2010 100th birthday celebration, Duke of York Picturehouse

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I've just starting working at Screen Archive South East, and I'm currently commuting about two and a half hours each way while I sort out a room in Brighton. I'm shattered! Hopefully I'll be moving in somewhere this weekend, and then normal posting will resume.

In the mean time, here's details of a centenary celebration at the Duke of York Picturehouse in Brighton. There's going to be a selection of films from 1910 shown, with live accompaniment, all from the archive that I work at. I've seen them and they're amazing, and I'll be heading along as long as I'm settled okay and not in Surrey anymore.

Oh, and it's FREE. Free!

Details:

What was it like to see a film show at the Duke of York’s in 1910? This special programme brings together a selection of English films made around 1910. Local newsreels of Brighton include an air-race from Hendon to the Brighton seafront with bi-planes over the West Pier, a Temperance March on Marine Parade and bowling on the Hove Lawns. The Tilly Girl series of comedy films made by Cecil Hepworth from 1910 to 1915 made the teenage actors Alma and Chrissie White the nation’s first film stars. Here we see them making fun of the local fire brigade. The world’s first viable 35mm colour film system was devised in Hove by George Albert Smith and launched around the world in 1910. Very few Kinemacolour films have survived but we have found a number of fascinating test films which reveal the wonder of Smith’s invention.With live piano accompaniment performed by John Sweeney. PLUS an exclusive showreel featuring scenes from the new version of BRIGHTON ROCK starring Helen Mirren and Sam Riley, a unique chance to catch a sneak preview ahead of the film’s release next year.

Seats are FREE but do reserve in advance to save disappointment. Period dress for the occasion is welcomed.