A fatty's guide to thrifting

With the advent of Big Beach Bums (which, by the way, there is a facebook event for here. Please RSVP! I’ve been a bit quiet on it since the initial post, this is because I’m busy looking around trying to note down options for the day. I have nearly three weeks off approaching (!) so there will be many a finite detail approaching then), I’ve had a few requests for a how to thrift post.

Thrifting in size fat is always hard. I so wish the UK could have anywhere as amazing as Re/Dress or Fat Fancy over in America, but, bar wonderful events such as the Big Bum Jumble, for the main part there aren’t any places to go specifically for plus size vintage. Finding good stuff is really hard, and if you don’t have the patience in you (or the time) to rummage, then it's really hard going. I hate to start off negatively, but there are always disappointments, and what is available in plus sizes inevitably depends on what stock is in. This is hard to deal with when compared to high street/online shopping, when generally you know what is available and there is normally a way to source the items you want in the right size.

Thrifting for me is embedded in my history. It comes from an upbringing with a “make do and mend” attitude, and spending my teenage years in a suburb with 10+ charity shops and very few friends and/or ways to occupy myself in my spare time. For me thrifting is inspiring, because it’s all about possibility, imagination and re-envisioning. It’s about making something amazing happen out of a finite and limited amount of resources. I don’t have magic fingers, I don’t always find something, and sometimes there are weeks on end full of disappointments. Others are so full of surprises and finds thatI almost can't believe my luck. I understand that the disappointments are maybe too much for a lot of people, but for me it's all part of the challenge.

• Always look. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve sworn off a store for being too pricey or never having plus size items in, then I’ve been in with a friend and found something perfect. Vintage for fats isn’t in ready supply, you can’t ever count on finding anything, but at the same time I’ve not known any places refusing to accept plus size stock, so it is available.
  
• Never pay attention to size tags. This goes without saying really, but vintage sizes =/= modern sizes. Earlier items size up as significantly smaller than their modern equivalents, and also, as with a lot of contemporary stores, some straight size items will fit much larger than they might suggest. I put them up to my body to get a sense, but you could take a tape measure to get more accurate estimates.
  
• Persist! Dig through bargain bins, through all the rails and take your time looking. Thrifting isn't really something you can do in a flash - it's something that takes time and leisure. Don't get put off if you don't immediately see anything that would fit - most vintage dresses are teeny tiny, but the options are out there.
  
• Take a friend! Take someone who is a different size to you, preferably, so you can hunt for each other as well as yourselves. Some of my best dresses were found by thinner friends with similar taste in clothes. A second pair of eyes always helps when rummaging.
  
• Look for stretchy fabrics, elastic waistbands and oversized dresses - these all fit differently on fat bodies, so you might find something intended for a smaller sized person fits you like a glove when otherwise it would be a baggy fit.
  
• Try things on! Pile yourself high with possibilities, and take chances. Try on ridiculous things. Have fun with shopping. It's harder to tell what will fit and what won't without sizing, so the dressing room is definitely your friend.
  
• For bargain hunting recommendations, check out jumble sales, car boot sales and local charity events close to you. These are my favourite haunts - as charity shops have now upped their prices (and sometimes jumped on the vintage wagon), car boots/jumbles seem to have maintained a budget ethos which I find really comforting. Go along to an event with a budget - I used to take £10/sometimes £20 in change to a car boot and just see what I came out with. Often a tenner would get me bulging bags of things, clothes and otherwise.
  

Shirts and ties

Two weekends ago I picked up a beautiful silk paisley tie from a charity shop near me. The brown/grey tones of the pattern seemed so perfect for my colour palette of choice, and I've been meaning to adapt more towards a menswear-esque uniform for work that's a little easier to throw on in the morning than my more elaborate ensembles. I dressed it in a similar way the first two times I wore it, once with my wide legged grey pinstripe trousers and brogues for a more dapper formal look, and the second with my skinnies, because I enjoyed the way the androgynous-ness of the boots, shirt and tie mixed with my unruly hips and belly in those jeans.

Jumper, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Blouse, M+S via eBay, £15
Trousers, £14, Very
Jeans, Beth Ditto for Evans, £8
Docs, gifted
Brown brogues, Primark, £12
Belt, old vintage stock, £free
Paisley tie, £1, charity shop

I definitely have so many more plans for the tie. I just won this beaaaautiful floral blouse on eBay, and I think pattern clashing and pencil skirts might be in order next, though I'd also love to pair it (and the blouse) with these serious floral palazzos from Very, which are calling so hard to me right now.

Here's Monday morning for you! I scored this plaid shirt from a junk stall at the open market in Brighton two weekends ago. I seemed to have endless trouble finding button up blouses that actually button up to the collar last year, yet recently I've thrifted two for a pittance! This makes me happy. I get the feeling that button up shirts with this belt, loafers and the Beth Ditto jeans will become my work uniform for spring (I work as a technician in an archive, and my working day generally involves lots of dust and heavy lifting, something my wardrobe is not used to!)

Plaid shirt, found at Brighton Open Market, 50p
Jeans, Beth Ditto for Evans, £8
Belt, old vintage stock, £free
Loafers, vintage, £5

Also:
This week has been awesome - after making the polka dot dress for Plus London after work for the best part of two weeks, I needed a good few nights sleep. So evenings have been mainly watching trashy TV, cooking and plotting new projects. I scored this vintage pattern (in a size 26!) on eBay for £5, and I still have the 60s polyester I bought at the marina car boot sale in January, so I'm hoping to tackle it over the next few weeks. Scary exciting! It's a bit harder than the last two dresses I've made, so fingers crossed it still works out. Eep!

Plus London: daytime

So this weekend I attended the much anticipated Plus London meet. Here's a picture during the day section, after we'd all finished shopping and met up again.

Read all about it, and see much better photographs of the event and the outfits on the tumblr here. I only have a few pics as I'm more than slightly awkward about talking/asking people for pictures of their awesome outfits. But suffice to say, it was amazing to see so many different styles in one place, and despite having never met anyone before (and er, being more than slightly socially awkward), I felt comfortable chatting with you all...

Here's what I wore during the day:
I bought the Beth Ditto high waisted skinnies at the very end of the Evans sale (they had 20% off last week, so I scored them for £8!), and actually haven't really taken them off since! They fit perfectly, and haven't sagged at all over the time I've worn them. I've never found a pair of jeans that fit me well at all (the two pairs I own are jeggings, and aren't hugely comfortable), so now I have them, I'm regretting not buying two pairs!

Jacket, Sabrosa Vintage at etsy, £30
Necklace, £2, Primark
Jeans, Beth Ditto for Evans, £8
Shoes, Priceless, £8
Sequinned belt, £3, Dorothy Perkins

A quick post today. I'm house hunting at the minute, so afraid my evenings are rather full up to post as much.

Rundown:

Blouse, ASOS curve via fatshionista sales post, £8.50 including shipping

Dress, Next, £20

Tights, M&S

Loafers, £5 vintage shop

Hello lovelies! I'm showing off one of my car boot scores from the weekend today. This sheer floral shirt cost £2 this weekend from the Brighton Marina antiques fair and car boot. I found it rummaging amidst a pile of goodies that also contained some liberty print culottes and the most amazing gold brocade evening dress (I left that behind as sadly it wasn't my size). I think this is a 1960s housecoat as it's very unfitted with a huge pocket. I'm big into sheer florals and sheer colours at the moment, they are just so effortlessly girly.

Look at the detail! Beautiful!

Shirt, Brighton Marina car boot, £2
Bustier (just seen beneath), £4 Dorothy Perkins
Jeggings, New Look, £7
Docs, gifted
Belt, old vintage stock

On the car boot front, I really can't recommend Brighton Marina's Sunday sale enough. Whilst there are a lot of "proper" antiques/vintage sellers who I find incredibly overpriced, I was surprised to find some house clearance stalls with gigantic piles of vintage on the floor. As well as this top I also found;

Huge amount of vintage 60s polyester (perfect for shift dresses), £1, about 4 metres of grey polka dot cotton, £5 (bit more than I would normally pay, but it's beautiful), brown patchwork belt, £1. I also got a vintage slip for £1 that I plan to grunge up with some docs and a plaid shirt, and a copy of Watchmen on DVD for 50p. And looootttts of vintage stock.

These were all hidden bargains, found by rummaging on the floor and avoiding the "proper" stalls. I really enjoyed the day, I have to say, despite the cold and long walk over!

This post is sponsored by a roaring hangover that is slowing turning into a flu type bug as we speak. Today involved lots of sleeping, reheated macaroni cheese and avoiding the outside world. Last night I went over to a friend's house, and we cooked butternut squash and goats cheese lasagne, then I made these awesome brownies (with white chocolate chips and a peanut butter swirl) for puds:

Mmmm, chocolate hangover. And most types of hangover actually.

This lace body was a score from the very sale, back when I had pennies. It's not seen much outing as yet because I want to wear it with just a bra, and the only beige one I have is a bit "oh hello have you met my breasts?", so instead I teamed it with a beige cami instead.

Lace body, VERY.co.uk, about £12?
Skirt, vintage, £5
Tights, M&S £8 (love love love these tights)

It was my work Christmas lunch today!

Today I remixed a dress I posted about here in September. Second hand December has been great in making me realise what I actually have in my wardrobe and dress it up more, instead of hitting sales (I don't think I've even been in a high street shop this month!) or ebay lurking more than is healthy. This really was such a bargain, and also works great as a day to evening dress - it's got a little more sex appeal than most of my work wear.


Teamed with super tacky bejewelled leopard belt of love, a rare full price purchase from good old Dotty P's.

And look! Make up beyond a smidge of eyeliner. Created with a brown eye pencil, a primark eyeshadow palette in browns and black eyeliner after.

Run down:
Dress, £1.04 ebay
Tights, £8 M&S
Scarf, old stock, £free
Boots, £40, Evans
Leopard belt, £8 Dorothy Perkins

Annnnnnd to make the day even better, look what I found for £5 in a new vintage shop on Sydney Street, Brighton, today!

Aren't they beauts?! I am in love.

Thrifting to sell is a bit of a bad plan sometimes. I found this yellow bobbled hand knitted cardigan in a charity shop this weekend, and thought I might try and sell it on to pay off some Christmas debt, but it fits a little too comfortably right now. Oh dear.

Cardigan, £1.99 charity shop

Red top, £free, clothes swap

Scarf, old stock £free

Jeggings, £7 New Look

Loafers, £17 vintage store

So this past week has been a week of repeats, a few mistakes and lots of lazy choices. Today was the first day I wore anything presentable in a good while. This dress is a 60s heavy polyester, the fabric I know most loath but I seriously love in the winter with some thermals!

Dress, £free, former stock
Navy tights, £8 M&S
Shoes, vintage loafers £17

Also, I'm doing pretty good on my buy secondhand front this month! So far, all I've spent is £1.50 (I did forego a fabulous batwing jumper dress on in a Scope this weekend to buy a Michelle Tea book and some zines, a decision I am now certain was the right one!)

Fatty Scavangers

Okay, so I'm operating on not too much sleep and a bit too much cherry yoghurt, but I wanted to get some thoughts down here on being a fatty and a thrifter. I just spoke with Charlotte Cooper for her super amazing phd research, and, when I was talking about my background I realised exactly why scavanging and thrifting form such a huge part of my identity.

I grew up in a pretty poor household, as previously discussed, and when I was younger we never really had the money to shop in "proper" shops. This used to irk me constantly, as where I grew up (bar the estates in the town) was generally an affluent town. This meant that the kids that I went to school with never really seemed to want for anything, and always got given money to shop with (I had a ever dwindling paper round that paid me about £10 a month).

At the weekends, my dad Steve and I used to go around all the charity shops in town. There are about 8 within a fifteen minute bus ride. We'd get a day ticket on the bus, and travel between all the hot spots for second hand shops, and then also sometimes big markets with budget clothes resale stalls. Also, on bank holidays there used to be an awesome car boot sale in a Waitrose car park (it shut because it "degraded" the area! Oh Surrey, how I don't miss you). These were the only resources I had available to me, and so I would spend hours in them. Whenever we went to a new area, we'd hunt out new shops, and start rummaging.

Mostly it'd be full of mediocre things (they still are), but sometimes you'd find a gem at the bottom of a 50p bin. I wish I had my family photos with me now to show you some of the horrible things I acquired and treasured - a zig zag patterned fleece jacket, neon green trainers, orange dungarees. Everyone at school thought I was a weirdo (I guess I was one), but finding these obscure unusual items gave me a way to escape from my background. I could be anyone I wanted, as long as I could fashion a "costume" from a 20p bin. It was a challenge that started my obsession with clothes, and which spurred what later became my body positivism. I think this is why I find it hard to write a guide to thrifting (which a few people have suggested I post) - because largely what I find, I've found through being incredibly stubborn and willing to root through bargain bin after bargain bin, and to hunt even after hours of disappointments - because realistically that's all I could do given those circumstances.

There are other things I found as well, books, for instance. I remember my library used to sell off their old books in a 50p a carrier bag sale (whatever you could fit in all came to 50p!). They did the same with VHS, which is how I discovered world cinema as a slightly precocious 16 year old (well, that and going up to the Prince Charles Cinema in London for £1.50 matinees, which I could travel to for free as my dad works on South West Trains). I found a copy of Shadow on a Tightrope for 99p in a charity shop, for instance, and later Fat Is a Feminist Issue. I found Blondie and David Bowie LPs, and fashioned myself as a second hand glam kid ultimately (after a bad period spent in goth-land). Later my scavanging became online scavanging - hopping from place to place, forums, blogs, communities and profiles to scour for new friends and resources. My feminism, my fat activism, my friends, my boyfriends, my band, my heroes and my support network grew out of being an internet nerd, and through this online scavanging as an extension to my physical scavanging.

This evolved into vintage shopping, ebay hunting, clothes swapping, bookmooch and online trading. Most everything I own comes from an obscure source - a flea market on holiday, a vintage store in a tiny nook of London, a charity shop I visited when seeing an online friend in real life, and so on. Every item comes with a story, and can be shaped into a new story. In turn I pursued a career in archiving because of these stories, and because of these amazing objects that connect to so many different histories and people. I guess thrifting for me is a way to create spaces, people, stories and identities that I never really had access to - and in doing so to deconstruct them perhaps. This is why I love clothes, and why I'm constantly changing/trading/swapping mine - because in doing so, I can play with a new self, and I can connect with so many different people.

I guess I love that through thrifting or scavanging, in any format, you can find yourself in a million other people's possessions, stories and blogs/communities, and also you can find the space to create a new self or identity through the remnants of others.

And on the note of clothes, here's a quote by Iris Marion Young, in her essay 'Women Recovering Our Clothes', that makes me think about how innovative and revolutionary this sort of fashion play can be:
"One of the privileges of femininity in rationalised instrumental culture is an aesthetic freedom, the freedom to play with shape and colour on the body, to don various styles and looks, and through them exhibit and imagine unreal possibilities. Women often actively indulge in such theatrical imagining... Such female imagination has liberating possibilities because it subverts, unsettles the order of respectable, functional rationality in a world where that rationality supports domination. The unreal that wells up through imagination always creates the space for a negation of what is, and thus the possibility of alternatives."
from On Female Body Experience; "Throwing Like a Girl" and Other Essays.

This to me, is what is so exciting about a life spent scavanging. Kx

Rargh, sorry for the lack of posts this week. As all other UK types will know, there's been snow mania this week. Quite frankly, this and chronic insomnia, as well as about 9 hours spent travelling on what should have been a 4.5 hour journey to Leeds last weekend to see my boyfriend, has meant outfits have not really been on my mind!


Here's one very bright winter outfit for you. I bought this hand knitted poncho at Otley car boot sale over the summer for 50p! It's quite simply the most garish and wonderful thing in the world and I wish I wore it more.

Rundown:
Poncho: 50p, car boot sale
Long sleeved top, £3, Dorothy Perkins
Bandage skirt, £10, Evans via ThriftstoreUK
Boots, £25, Deichmann.

Otherwise this weekend I avoided ever having to leave my boyfriend's flat. Basically, we cooked and played scrabble for a very long time. It was the restful weekend I've needed in a long time. Here's some food for you:

Pork belly with honey crackling, sprouts and cabbage cooked in bacon and butter and the creamiest mash ever. Oh, and home made bramley apple sauce! Mmmmm...


Syrup sponge pudding with rum flambeed pineapple, caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. I can't even describe how weak at the knees this picture is making me, ha. Mmmmmm, flambe.

And this is how serious I look when reading Scrabble rules. Mmmm, scrabble.

Also, I am getting seriously overexcited thinking about the UK blogger meet that Lauren from Pocket Rocket is organising! Find out about it here. I'll definitely be there in my most garish ensemble and my most awkward social manners xx

Second hand December

So this month I'm poor. Poor poor poor. I really can't be buying anything, however I appreciate this is a bit of an impossibility given it's Christmas and the month of shopping. However, I'm going to curb myself in and concentrate on spending on others instead.

For all of December, as such, I'm only allowed to buy second hand clothes. I'm also going to place a £10 maximum on any one item to stop me heading to vintage shops, which are equally capable of bankrupting me. Hopefully this will encourage me to a) make some stuff, b) be more inventive and c) not be penniless quite as quickly this month!

In any case, I've talked about it now, so I have to do it... I hope?

Also, this is not going to be easy. On top of these velvet shorts, and these pinstripe shorts, both from ASOS and crying to be on my hips, I've just spotted this beaut at tesco (which goes up to a 22! ARGH):


Buy it here for £25, but don't tell me if you do, or I will have to come tear it off your back :P

We're back in basics land today. It's too bloody cold and I'm seriously surprised I managed to get out the house at all (especially thanks to some pesky insomnia that kept me up til 3am last night. Ah!). This jumper was a real steal at a charity shop, and has sat at the bottom of a draw for ages, until I recently discovered it's amazing layering capabilities. Now it's a definite keeper.

Jumper, 99p, charity shop
Dress, £12, M&S sale
Tights, £8 M&S
Boots, £25, Deichmann

In other news, I just listed a couple of new items to my (sparse) etsy shop. A sequinned disco top of joy, and a unisex nautical fancy waistcoat. Have a nosey if you're intrigued. Kx

BLACK

So I'm big into black at the minute. I've spent many a year being as colourful as possible, but this fall I'm really getting into black items - well constructed items which give good silouhettes. I also can't deny the recent acquisition of some rouge noir lipstick and time spent actually getting to grips with the "smokey eye" at last definitely had something to do with this.

I scored this jersey dress with an assymetrical hem from River Island over the summer. It's a size 18 but super generous and has a comfortable body con fit on my frame. It's dressy and definitely a statement dress, but it's also comfortable and versatile. I wanted to wear some combat boots with this, but I seem to have left them somewhere, so my brogues had to suffice. I would love a pair of black wedges to team with this, but no doubt the hunt for a pair that aren't as uncomfortable as heels are for me will prove too much of a challenge.

Also, smokey eye!

Not a bad job I think. Undoubtably overdressed for a day of eating (pancakes with eggs, bacon and maple syrup for brunch, then japanese takeaway from pompoko and drinks with friends) but whatever, what else are weekends for?

Rundown:
Dress, size 18, £29.99 River Island
Black necklace, £2 primark sale
Tights, Evans
Brogues, £3, charity shop

And now I'm off to nurse a hangover and ogle vintage goodies.

Retrospective #2

So I'm still amidst a life in boxes. One night to go! I'm full of a whole cocktail of relocation emotions. Here's another picture from earlier this year in a er... very messy old house. I wore this to play an open mic night (Feline Groovy at the Chemic Tavern) earlier this year.

Black shoulder pad maxi dress, ASOS curve, £36? I got this before it went into the sale, it's that amazing. Seriously the most comfortable dress ever.
Sparkly shrug, £4 tesco via ThriftstoreUK on livejournal.
Black buckle belt, £7 dorothy perkins sale.
Gold flats, clothes swap, £free

Retrospective

Okay, so since I'm spending the next few days in baggy tees and shorts, and spending most of my time packing boxes, I thought that I'd post a few older outfits to keep this alive and going for the time being.

This is in my old house, from about June-ish this year. I scored this skirt from H&M from their straight sized section for £24.99 around Christmas last year. It was a size L, and I don't think it was meant to fit my tush, but it's a pleasantly tight mini. The cardigan was a thrifty score, bought for $5 at a flea market when I went to New York last year. It's originally Diane Von Furstenburg and has serious 80s shoulder pads.

The flea market I went to was the Annex / West 25th Street Outdoor Flea Market at 29-37 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10011, and it was AMAZING.

Cardigan, Diane Von Furstenburg via New York last November, $5
Nude tank, £4 primark
Skirt of pure ruffles - £24.99 H&M straight sized section
Socks - Primark, about £1 for the pair
Brown loafters - £3, charity shop. These disintegrated and I miss them so much!

So this is a late post. Last night I went to see Mother at the National Media Museum in Bradford, which is incidentally my former place of work (and one of my favourite museums). I caught up with two former colleagues from the Collections team, and went for a curry. Mother was really good, and so beautifully shot.

This dress was an unbelievable score earlier this week, £1.04 from ebay! It's originally from Dorothy Perkins, and I tried it on years back in the size 20 which was too tight on me. I was very happy to discover a badly photographed version of it up for grabs this week, but, even then, never expected to score it for so little. It's fantastically fitted, with a lace trim sweetheart neckline, pleated pencil skirt and short cap sleeves. It could work for professional wear, but it's also the perfect little black dress for glamming up. To conclude, I bloody well love it.

Teamed with sparkly butterfly earrings also DP, black eyeliner and chanel rouge noir lipstick, recently traded online on Thrift Store UK which is one of my oldest online bargain hunting grounds. I don't tend to wear much make up, but liquid eyeliner and this lipstick are both definitely staples.


And last but not least, my favourite thrift find ever. This is ruffles/wruffles the bag, tentatively named by my boyfriend who doesn't appreciate it's genius. This was scored for 99p at Oxfam in Dalston (which I used to live pretty much next door to in my London times), and is leopard print with a tapestry dog and fair too much lace and pearls. It must've been DIYed because it's just too amazing not to be. It used to have a little bell on the pearl collar, but sadly that got lost over the years.

Dress, Dorothy Perkins via ebay, £1.04
Bag, Oxfam Kingsland Road, 99p
Shoes, Priceless, £13
Earrings, Dorothy Perkins, £4