Hi again - hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was spent working (boo) and then roadtesting my birthday present from my father for this year - a very nice new sewing machine! I've been working with an ancient 70s machine since I started, and, whilst it served my purpose initially, it's proved inadequate as I've progressed onto dressmaking and more elaborate projects. My new machine is such a relief in comparison - no jams, easy threading, and it weighs about a fifth of the weight of my old model!
I spent yesterday catching up with some projects; altering some curtains, starting a new skirt project (well, nearly finishing actually!) and shortening this dress, which was a thrift store buy on my American travels. It was mid calf, and I took it up to knee length and sewed up the front (WHO invented the button up dress? I don't think I've ever owned one that hasn't popped open at every available opportunity). It's got the cutest sailor collar and a cinching back tie:
I'm still not absolutely happy with the fit, but it deserved it's first outing at least.
Dress, $5, thrifted
Loafers, £12, Primark
Friday, September 2
Here's my Friday for you. This top was a Primark score in the summer, and is my go to casual top for lazy days - I love teaming oversized tops with skinnies or mini skirts. I also dragged out my uber goth platforms - traded online earlier this year. You totally can't see their amazingness, but they're crazy embellished with a two inch black platform. I traded them initially out of nostalgia - these were my shoes of choice during my teenage years - but they're great to give an edge to an otherwise plain outfit.
Top, £6, Primark
Skirt, £3, Primark
Leggings, ASOS Curve (£17? I can never remember)
Shoes, traded, £free
Bag, £1.50, car boot sale
Also, some people kindly pointed out that my twitter link on the left was sending everyone to tumblr - I've changed this now, and you can follow me @shecametostay.
This dress is possibly my oldest and dearest vintage dress - the only one that's survived eBaying and wardrobe clearouts, and numerous seam breaks and repair jobs. It's a 50s sundress that I treated myself to towards the end of my undergraduate degree - the floral pattern and sweetheart neckline were definitely too much to resist at the time. Sadly summer dresses seem hard to wear in a British summer, but nonetheless it remains dear to me.
Hi everyone! The super fantastic We Love Colours offered to send me a pair of tights recently - and being in my stripes obsessed phase I decided to go for these bold ones in black and white. I have trouble finding tights every year, because I'm both tall and fat, and most of the options on the UK high street (bar M&S, who I am now devoutly loyal to!) are hopelessly bad quality. I've always wanted to buy from We Love Colours, but as they're US based the shipping has always held me back. The quality of these is great for me though, and I'm looking forward to clashing them with many different patterns this winter.
Low-fat t-shirt, $7, vintage
Polka dot pencil skirt, £12, Dorothy Perkins
Tights, courtesy of We Love Colours
Shoes, Primark, £12
Okay, so bare legs and a mini skirt were probably a little too optimistic for the grey and unseasonably cold that we are experiencing right now, but I am unwilling to resort to tights again. This outfit (and parallels) is a weekend staple for me. I don't think I will ever grow out of my band tees and mini-skirts - chipped nail polish a definite nostalgic accessory for my obsessive music nerd days (though a week spent re-organising my records has definitely reignited this!).
Pixies tee, £1, TRAID sale (a staple shop from my London uni days), knotted
Velvet mini, £3, Primark
Jacket, old vintage stock
Purple loafers, Primark, £12
I'm having a wardrobe cleanse at the moment, sorting out clothes that no longer fit me as I wish, picking some pieces to take to the Fat Swap Shop that Claire is organising on the 10th of September, and picking some others to sell. I created a sales blog a few months back, intending to sell some pieces before I moved away from Brighton, but am only just getting round to updating it properly. It can be found here for anyone interested. There are a few bits up there now, and more will come this week.
Shipping is £3 for the first item (within the UK), then £1 extra for each additional item. European and other international buyers should contact me via email at fattyunbound@gmail.com for a more specific quote.
If anyone would like to buy something, comment on a post with your paypal email address and the items you would like to buy, and I will send you an itemised invoice. Once payment has cleared I can post within a couple of days.
Friday, August 26
Here's my work outfit for the day for you all. These shorts have proved perfect for the casual offices I work in - comfortable and versatile too. The top was bought on a trip to Edinburgh about a year ago, and is a great 60s tunic style.
Top, £16, Armstrong's vintage
Shorts, £9 Asos sale
Tights, m&s
Shoes, primark, £12 (in stores)
Right, I wanted to talk a little more in depth about the BBC3 show and some of the responses I’ve had. The experience has been completely overwhelming, and the stories I’ve heard have made me feel such a mixed bag of emotions – anger, sadness, but also joy and delight at the amount of people who’ve started thinking differently about their bodies. All I can say is that (as if I didn’t know this already) there are a hell of a lot of strong, amazing people out there who put up with bullying, abuse, harassment and physical violence because of their bodies and their identities, and that I admire all of you and that you do NOT deserve that. It’s not your body that makes it hard to be fat – it’s the treatment you face from outside society. This treatment is legitimised by institutions, media and generally oppressive attitudes, and we’re made to believe that it’s okay, but it’s not!
I’m trying to get through all my emails at the moment, but without regular net access and a full time job it may be a while before I can reply to everyone! I will do so, though. What I wanted to do is post with a few resources and recommendations to help people who are interested in finding out more about body acceptance. Also, if you have any other questions for me, feel free to post them here and I will get back to them as soon as is possible.
Some notes, strategies and advice for you all:
1.Don’t be afraid of your emotions. There’s a lot of pressure in the body activism movement to be strong and powerful, but if someone hurts you by saying something and you need to cry about it, find a spot where you can and DO (I’m strong, and I cry A LOT). I feel like, as fat people, we’re expected not to react to comments and abuse – we’re not supposed to talk about those situations, or express the emotions they trigger in us. Talking about them and expressing them helps – not only to make other people aware of what we face on a daily basis, but also to help work through our own feelings.
2.On a related note, if someone makes you sad or angry, DO SOMETHING WITH THAT EMOTION. Crying is really cathartic and I often find that my best ideas come out of those moments when I am full of angry sadness. I started this blog part out of wanting to talk about clothes and fatshion strategies for other thrifty types, and partly because I got shouted at a lot, and I wanted to talk about how that felt and share experiences. Society expects us to be ashamed and silent, bent on being as invisible as possible. I don’t believe that’s right, and so I blog about my experiences, I show pictures of myself to a wider audience and I follow and comment on other people’s blogs. Write a zine, make a piece of art, blog, write a song, wear a bright dress, form an activist group with other local misfits, tell someone you know that they’re awesome, or find any way to express pride for your body and for other people’s. It doesn’t have to be a big step, or take up lots of time – it can be any step to show solidarity and care for others who experience hatred or oppression because of their bodies or identities.
3.Try and counter any negativity you face with self-care or positive strategies. Every time someone shouts at you, make sure you do something afterwards that makes you feel good in your body. We’re taught to learn to view our bodies from a distance, as a disassociated part of ourselves, so we can focus on what is presented as an essential need for self improvement. Part of accepting my body was learning to do new things in it – things I’d been taught that I couldn’t do as a fat person – and appreciating my body in those things. For me, self care is wearing clothes I feel good in, going for a swim, cycling, cooking, walking, making music and so on. It might be dancing or singing, competitive sports, yoga, baking, sex, beauty treatments, crafting, anything at all really.
4.Read body positive literature. I used to read fashion magazines obsessively, now instead I read blogs and magazines like Bust – they’re much more diverse (though they could definitely be more so!) and engage with politics I align myself with. I also read tumblrs, zines, books and listen to podcasts.
5.Talk about FAT. Say the word fat out loud, lots, to describe your body (if you’re fat, anyway!). Fat, in itself, is not an insulting term – it just has negative implications because fat = evil monster of death in society’s eyes. Fat is just a descriptive word ultimately, and the more we say it, the more the power of it is taken away from those who oppress people with it.
6.Redefine the way you speak about your body in general. Find words to describe yourself that you like, and reclaim some that have negative implications. Words I like that maybe have horrible implications to some people include chunky, big bums, thunder thighs, tree trunk legs and so on. These words are strong in themselves – we’ve been taught to hate them because they’re what we are not supposed to be – but I think they’re powerful and reflect being a big and strong woman. Find a new vocabulary, and try to describe your body differently when you look in a mirror.
All of the blogs I read are shown on the sidebar here as well – there are amazing fat fashion blogs, feminist blogs and more general fashion blogs. I would recommend them all heartily!
And books that anyone should own:
Linda Bacon: Health at Every Size
Marilyn Wann: Fat! So?
Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby - Lessons From The Fatosphere: How to Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce With Your Body
Charlotte Cooper - Fat and Proud: Politics of Size
Thursday, August 25
Well, last night I allowed myself a whole evening away from my iPhone! Suffice to say we've been glued together these past few days, but a rest and a curry from my local has definitely worked a treat!
This dress was thrifted from the same place my trousers were from yesterday, it's a size medium but stretches well for my not so medium tush! I love it's folksy vibe, and the colour definitely helps on a rainy day like today!
Here's a slightly more every day outfit for you all today. I picked up these tweed cropped trousers from a goodwill in Portland over the summer. They're a modern brand, but the pattern, high waist and pleats make them feel very 60s to me! In an attempt to channel some Audrey I wore them simply with a blouse and loafers.
Trousers, thrifted, $7
blouse, fatshionista sales post, £8.50
Loafers, £12, primark (in store currently and well made for primark!)
Belt, old vintage stock
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
Hi everyone! Firstly, last night I got featured on a programme on bbc3 (Cherry Healey on body image) - it is available on iplayer if anyone wants to watch but missed it the first time round.
Secondly, hello to all my new followers! I'm completely overwhelmed by the response to the show, and the amount of people who identified with me. I've had a lot of emails and comments which I will get back to individually! I don't have a regular Internet connection right now, so it may be a while before I can catch up, but I will do my best. But seriously, you're all amazing and I got a little teary about it all last night. I'm going to try and put together a list of resources for fat acceptance as well, for those who've just discovered it!
And lastly, here's an outfit for you. I got my first pay cheque for my new job last week, and had a little splurge in primark to celebrate! This dress is a maxi trapeze style, and I loved how bold the stripes were. It's more expensive than primark normally is, but the quality is good. It's a size 20 but really generous (it also has lots of room in the armholes for others with big upper arms) so worth checking out if you're a larger size. I also got some loafers and more striped stuff - somewhat of an obsession beginning I fear!
I dressed it smartly for work (I work somewhere without a dress code but I liked how it worked with a blazer anyhow.
I also wore my latest car boot find - a metal doggy pin! Everyone who knows me is aware of my dog-sickness, and I couldn't pass it up at £3. Look!
K xx
Monday, August 8
Hello again! I'm back from America now, though with a broken camera and no Internet, so for the time being reliant on mobile blogging. It's my first day at a new job today, and I treated myself to this jersey shift from Dorothy Perkins to celebrate! I'm a great fan of jersey tailoring for office jobs - it's so comfortable and still smart enough for office wear.
Another work outfits featuring a new handmade skirt. This one was made with some fabric sent to me by the lovely Donna sent to me a while back! I've had it made a while, but my waist measurement was fluctuating like crazy and I ended up making it slightly too large the first time (lesson learnt: measure yourself every time you make something). I took it in at last over the past week and decided to team it with this blue cardigan, which is slowly becoming my new favourite neutral item in my wardrobe. It's funny how, when you're gifted something in a colour you wouldn't have bought yourself, you sometimes discover a whole new colour palette - this blue and red seem to be a frequently appearance in my outfits of late.
Blue cardigan, gifted from M&S Cami, £4, Primark Red heart badge, traded online Skirt, made with gifted fabric Bow belt, £3, M&S Red flats, £8, Barretts
Wednesday, June 22
Here's another work outfit for you, featuring a new tank top I found at a clothes swap recently. I bagged some new linen peep toes from Primark recently, though I'm sure the foul weather we've had began as soon as I began to attempt to wear them out. For them time being, it looks like they're getting relegated to the holiday packing pile! Curse the British summer!
Blouse, £15, Marks and Spencer Tank top, £free, clothes swap Skirt, self-made with some charity shop curtains Belt, old vintage stock Peep toes, Primark, £6
Tuesday, June 21
Here's another remixed work outfit for you all. I wore this last Friday, switching the skirt for my disco pants for the evening. I have to say this pencil skirt is definitely continuing to give and give. It has to be the most versatile and comfortable work item I own, and I love how form fitting it is on me. A good pencil skirt is hard to find!
Okay, so I've been packing all my stuff up (I type this at my parent's house in Surrey, surrounded by boxes) and well, having that realisation that I have every time I move, that I clearly have wayyyyy to many clothes. However, despite four suitcases and several shopper bags of clothes, somehow I found myself in River Island trying these on anyway. They're a super generous size 16, and I'm certain they're not supposed to be quite so skin tight, but they're the garish skinnies of my dreams and I'm a happy bunny as a result.
This was worn for a dinner and leaving drinks at my flat! Boo! Bye bye Brighton.
Top, Topshop, £3 Black cami, £4, Primark Black necklace, £2, Primark Belts, £6 for both, Marks and Spencer Trousers, £22, River Island
Tuesday, June 14
This was supposed to be a post about how amazing these trousers are. They were a £5 score from a sale rail in a Brighton vintage shop, and I was in love with them. Last night I washed them for the first time, and they are now ill fitting pedal pushers. I'm an idiot, and most certainly in mourning mood today. However, here are the two ways I managed to wear them before chaos ensued :(
Blouse, Primark
Strapless bra, £7, Evans
Trousers, £5, vintage
Shoes, New Look
Belt, old vintage stock
Lace body, £13, very.co.uk
Cami, £4, Primark
Trousers and belt, as above
Shoes, Deichmann, £15
Friday, June 10
Let's talk about this dress. I stared at it lustily most of last year in the straight size section of ASOS, but at £65 and only going up to a size 18, it was always way out of my budget and too risky to chance on. Then, a week or two ago, I decided to look at the straight size clearance section and lo and behold, there was one left, size 18, reduced to £15! Needless to say, it was fate, and when it arrived it conspired to fit perfectly! It's a fancy dress and the lace it really beautiful. I wore it backwards here (with the bow front facing) and attempted to dress it down in a grunge-y style with a charity shop blazer and docs. I'd love a nice pair of wedges and a clutch to do it eveningwear justice.
Dress, ASOS, £15.20
Blazer, charity shop, £2
Belt, old vintage stock
Docs, gifted
Thursday, June 9
Here's another British summer outfit for you! I hit a clothes swap at the Cowley Club the other week, and decided to drag out this blanket cape I scored in a charity shop over winter. This is normally my hangover outfit of choice (it's so comfortable!), but also worked well for swapping as I could take off the cape and try things on over my cami and leggings. My scores weren't hugely thrilling, mainly vests and a nice denim mini, but at least I have some basics in my wardrobe again (more money for absurdities!).
Okay, so my second belated BBB post has arrived! This is what I wore on the day. I had dreams of crop tops and short shorts but sadly the weather called for a shift in my plans. I even had to bring my tights back out for the day!
This dress is my latest sewing project. It's made from a vintage 1960s shift pattern I bought on eBay earlier this year, with some 60s patterned polyester I bought at Brighton Marina car boot sale in January this year for £1! The pattern features a contrasting section for which I used the reverse of the fabric, and added a small bow made from some old white scrap fabric. The collar went a little wrong, and the dress needed shortening to fit me (for some reason it came out calf length, even though the picture argued otherwise. Whoops!). It was a step up from my normal sewing projects, though the stretchy fabric meant I could avoid zip fitting.
Teamed with bright blue tights and clashing red shoes.
Dress, handmade (total cost £7.50 including the reusable pattern!)
Tights, M&S XL
Shoes, Priceless, £10
...and a bonus styling method, from when I debuted it at work earlier that week on a sunnier day:
This time teamed with bare legs and some vintage peep toes I bought from Otley car boot sale in Leeds last year for £1.50!
I'm sadly still without internet (though my laptop has been repaired at last), so posts around here may be a little thin on the ground for a while. I did, however, want to devote some time to talking about Big Beach Bums, which happened over a week ago now. Of course, I was useless and didn't really take any photographs, so instead I've pinched a few from the lovely Claire and Ragini, who both posted about the day also.
We were a small group of five after a few people dropped out. This actually proved great as it met we could all go around the shops together, and I also really enjoyed being able to get to know everyone much easier! The day was absolutely foul, so sadly we kept our pottering to the shops and later a pub to avoid being swept off our feet on the beach! Oh, the joys of British weather...
Anyway, here are some photographs taken from other posts:
My boyfriend (who lasted all of about half an hour on the vintage front, haha), Rebecca, me, Claire and Nadia after first meeting up.
The cavernous Beyond Retro! We did the bulk of our rummaging here and came up with a good haul including:
this rather spectacularly garish jersey tie dye affair, which I actually could not resist (Belly swirls are the best)
After this we headed off and ate some cheap grub at Pompoko, and then hit the bargain rails on Sydney Street (where I scored a lovely plaid 40s-esque dress, and Ragini found a lovely coral trench for £5!), before hitting a coffee shop for some well deserved rest and chattering.
After this we headed to meet up with our other halves in the pub for some more drinks. Overall it was a lovely day, and great to get to hang out with everyone for so long! I only wish I could spend more time with such awesome fats on a more regular basis.
Outfit post to follow shortly!
Thursday, May 26
Hello one and all!
Just another quick post to say that I'm still awaiting laptop repair (and I've lost my internet connection at home for the time being. Great.), so it may well be a little while before you see my face again. I get a bit of time to update my tumblr on lunch breaks, so follow me there for image related stuff and more personal updates.
In the mean time, I'm super excited to see everyone who's coming on Saturday. The weather isn't looking all that great, but I'm sure we'll all have fun anyway. For anyone who hasn't seen, the final details are on a post just further down this page. Any last minute additions are more than welcome!
K x
Thursday, May 19
'My body is soft. My curves are generous. My clothes are snug, and my breasts are noticeable. My chin is round. My belly is plump. My arms are expansive. Yes, I have a fine road map of stretch marks, and no baby to blame them on. My body reflects my experience and the fine
meals I have shared with family and friends.'
(I am a Fat Girl zine, issue three: 13)
The above was a quote I used when I was writing my MA dissertation. I’d highly recommend the series of zines it came from, which can be found at this etsy shop.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about histories lately. This has come from further self-reflection, spending time thinking about my own body, and the parts of it I show and the parts of it I don’t. I’ve also become interested in fat bodies and marked bodies as corporeal histories, and how this is represented as threatening by society, because as people (particularly as women I guess) we’re supposed to be unmarked - we’re supposed to aspire to look clean and new, as if we’ve never fluctuated in size, taken part in physical activity, fallen over or, realistically, left the house!
I’m a marked person - scarred (both accidentally and intentionally), with stretch marks, cellulite and varicose veins. I’m lumpy and bumpy, and I can’t claim to have a body of smooth feminine lines.
To elaborate a little further with a case study: I have varicose veins around the back of my calfs, just below my knees. I wanted to photograph them for this post, but sadly my laptop is still fucked - in any case, they’re sizeable, bumpy and blue, and they’re noticeable whenever I wear a skirt. They’re something that I’ve known to run in my family, and something I despised when I was younger. I remember first noticing them about the time I was 14 - about the time I began inspecting my body in more detail. They were something I knew well from my relatives, so I knew they were there to stay.
I was really ashamed of these marks. To me, I associated them with coming from a family who worked on their feet - which I know to make them protrude more and colour more. I grew up ashamed of my working class roots, largely because I came of age in a middle class suburb, around friends who never seemed to struggle or have to work or walk anywhere. Now, I’m proud of the estate I grew up on, but back then, my roots were something I tried to hide. I felt that the marks betrayed me, somehow, which I know sounds absurd, but they made me feel more different than I already was, and they connected me, physically, to a history I didn’t want to claim. I dressed for these veins - everything I owned had to cover them. No one ever mentioned them (in fact, only two people have ever brought them up with me, both recently), but because I noticed them, I couldn’t let anyone else see them. They made me feel vulnerable, and different, and I guess to an already insecure teenager with militant defense mechanisms, it made sense to cover them.
Two things changed to make me stop doing this - firstly, I realised that I didn’t care about these marks on other people. Actually, in all truth I realised that I liked them - that I found them attractive in other people, and that as such I was applying double standards to the way I looked at my own body. The qualities that I perceived as weaknesses, imperfections and faults were unique differences on others. This is something I later learnt to apply when I thought about my fat - why was I letting it control how I viewed myself, when it made so little difference when I looked at others? Secondly, I guess I decided that I wasn’t going to let me enjoyment of anything (clothes, spaces etc) be hampered by a set of veins that I couldn’t even see! The back of my leg was not going to control my wardrobe preferences.
Your body is a history - it’s a visual representation of where you came from, where you’ve been, how you’ve felt and who you have become. It’s one of a kind, and those differences are what make it unique. Don’t be ashamed of your experiences. Think of your stretch marks as tiger stripes, your varicose veins and scarring as a landscape. Next time you look at yourself in a mirror, or next time you talk about them, change your vocabulary. Speak about them as part of you, rather than as a dissociative, abject substance. Just as your past has shaped who you are, so has it shaped your body. Don’t be ashamed of this.
Also, for more skin related thoughts, check out the tumblr Our Skin, which is really super awesome. /end rant
Monday, May 16
Just a quick note to let you all know that I'll not be posting outfits for a little while! My laptop charger (I hope, it might be the laptop!) died this weekend, and I'm waiting for a replacement to arrive. This week I'll try to keep the more text-based posts up, but as I only have lunch breaks to do so until I can rely on my computer again, I'm not sure how successful I'll be.
Without being all doom and gloom, I do at least have some good news! I found out that last week I've been granted a scholarship to go to NOLOSE this year. I'll be travelling about America (mainly California, with some time in Portland and Vegas) between 1st July and 4th August, so I'm so thrilled that I'll be able to experience NOLOSE in my time there! Now to outfit plan....
Tuesday, May 10
Another day, another horrifically exposed photograph! Oh dear. This was mainly to show off some over the knee socks I made by altering a pair of cable knit tights that didn't work for me (Dorothy Perkins, I'm looking at you right now!), adding some elastic and some haphazard hemming.
Cardigan, £6, Dorothy Perkins via ThriftstoreUK Camisole, £4, Primark Skirt, handmade from a charity shop curtain Socks, remade tights from Dorothy Perkins Shoes, Deichmann, £15
Another BBB post for anyone who's interested in attending (see here for the original post for any further information. It's a fat positive meet up, with vintage shopping and hang outs on Brighton beach. Anyone is welcome! Just let me know if you plan to attend by emailing me at fattyunbound@gmail.com).
I've spent the last few weeks researching where to take us on our big day out (this has been a thinly veiled excuse to go vintage shopping a lot), and I've finally got a plan and a map! Hurrah!
The interactive map with all points marked can be viewed here. I've put the itinerary information, along with a screen cap of the map with all of our shopping streets (I've put stars next to the shops I recommend), and some names of recommended eating places, in a PDF file, which can be seen downloaded here from megaupload for all attending.
The itinerary is as follows (please check the map to cross-reference where the locations are!):
11:00 - Meet in Pelham Square, which is a couple of minutes walk from Brighton rail station. It's a nice leaft square with benches, so we can all have a catch up while we wait for the others.
11:30 - We’ll all walk to Beyond Retro as a group to commence the shopping. Beyond Retro is the biggest vintage shop in Brighton - it’s not the cheapest, but it will be a nice large space for us to start rummaging.
12:15-ish: More shopping! Vintage shops in Brighton are pinpointed on the map to the on the following page. Depending on how many of us there are by this point, we can either walk around as a group or alternatively split off into smaller groups.
2:00: Reassemble in Pelham Square to compare finds, catch up with any late arrivals and have another chatter.
2:30-ish: Luncheon! Either bring sandwiches and some nibbles, and we’ll all go for a picnic on the beach, or otherwise there are some recommended eateries further down with the map details. Brighton is a fantastic place to eat, so
3:30: Beach time! We’ll meet in Jubilee Square this time, then wander down to the beach as a whole, where we can party rad fat style to our heart’s content!
As people have trains and whatnot to catch, I’ve left the evening relatively free/unplanned, but for those who are staying late or overnight, maybe we could partake in a drink or two? I know of at least one 241 cocktail deal!
Sunday:
If anyone is in Brighton overnight, I’d wholeheartedly recommend the Brighton Antiques Fair and Car Boot sale which takes place in Brighton Marina car park on Sundays from 7am-1pm. It is easily reached by buses from the train station (any that are going to the Marina), or alternatively you can get the Volks Electric Railway from Brighton pier (this runs every 15 minutes from 10:15) to Brighton Marina. I’ll certainly be going along, so if anyone fancies accompanying let me know!
If anyone would let any further recommendations for things to do locally, let me know! My contact details are included on the PDF (phone, email, twitter), and I'm happy to answer any questions about the day or provide any information which is lacking. Anyone can join at any point of the day - just call or text me if you're arriving later into the day, and I can arrange for you to convene with the group.
So, yes, spread the word, and I'll be seeing you all soon! Huzzah!
Monday, May 9
Another casual outfit for you today, with bonus fat girl in horizontal stripes points! Life is a bit hard at the minute - I'm dealing with a bully landlord, job applications and trying to finish all my craft projects too (the last one involved a jumper skirt, a quilt, a knitted cushion cover, a pleated skirt, a shirt for my boyfriend and some alterations - why did I start them all again?!) - so I've been mainly acting like a hermit in my room in particularly unglamourous outfits. Today, however, I'm pushing on and actually making progress! I've also just finished the itinerary for the Big Beach Bums meet up in Brighton, so once I can turn it into a PDF at work tomorrow, expect a slightly more exciting and upbeat post!
Blazer, Dorothy Perkins via Fatshion Exchange on Livejournal, £10 Stripey tee - Primark, £1 Necklace - Primark, £2 Jeans - Beth Ditto for Evans, £8 Dunlops - car boot sale, £2
Friday, May 6
One work outfit today. This grey pinafore (60s I believe) was a score from the last round of vintage stock I sold. Sad times! I found it when I was interviewing last year, and it's served me amazingly as a professional dress. This outfit *almost* makes me like dressing professionally, until I realise that there's really no need to do that when you spend your days hunting around in dusty vaults, as I do!
Dress, old vintage stock Blouse, £14.99 M&S via ebay Belt, old vintage stock Shoes, Deichmann, £15
Thursday, May 5
I'm being filmed! Here's my outfit for today, spent working and then being filmed for aforementioned documentary.
Dress, handmade Tights, M&S, £6 Brogues, Primark, £12 Belt - old vintage stock
I'm still not absolutely happy with the fit, but it deserved it's first outing at least.
