GIVEAWAY! Elomi lingerie and swimwear

 

Hey one and all!

So about two years ago, I was unemployed and a bit bored, and I decided to start a blog on a bit of a whim. My first outfit post was on my birthday too, so there are two reasons to celebrate today! The past two years have been great, and it still surprises me whenever I get a new reader. The support I’ve had over the years, through both the good and the bad, has been more than I’d ever anticipated. To say thank you to all the friends I’ve made, I’m running a giveaway or two for you all to celebrate.

The first one is with Elomi. I had the chance to be fitted by Elomi at Plus London 2 earlier this year, which was (shamefully) my first bra fitting ever! I went from a 46B to a 40E, which was quite amazing at the time (and officially took me out of the small boob club, I guess), and had the chance to try out my first bra from them. It still fits perfectly, and manages to do its job without my being aware of it at all (a small miracle for a supportive bra). Their lingerie is practical and functional, but also cute and colourful (which, as any fellow fatty knows, is a real challenge once you get over a 38” back). I also LOVE the old school Hollywood styling they’ve got going on at the minute – it compliments the styles so well, and of course appeals endlessly to a vintage enthusiast like me! Their size range is superb too – 34-48” back up to a J cup – so of course they were my first port of call when I wanted to arrange some prizes.

Elomi also make fantastic swimwear including a high waisted bikini that I’ve loved ever since I saw it on Bethany of Arched Eyebrow fame:

Elomi have very generously offered up a set of both lingerie AND swimwear for the lucky winner – how great is that?! All you have to do to enter is visit the Elomi Lingerie website, have a nosey around their collections and let me know which are your favourite style in both lingerie and swimwear. The lucky winner will then get both of these sets sent to them! To give you some extra chances to win, I’ve also put in some additional options for you. Here’s the new fangled widget containing them all:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to absolutely everyone! It will close in a couple of weeks time, so get your entries in. Good luck!

xx

Friday Favourites

I Was a Teenage Zine

My Thrifted Closet

The Plus Side of Me

Glamcanyon

Gabifresh

Some text based links for you this week too:

"Being Called Ugly, Disgusting and Unhealthy Did Not Destroy Me" by Charlotte Cooper.

"On Being a Lazy Ass Femme"

xx

Just a quick note to show off the fancy poster for the next Plus Sized Clothes Swap in Leeds - isn't it lovely?

Another prod: you can RSVP at the facebook event here. Even if you can't come, let anyone else who might be interested know about it.

xx

I used to be exclusively a tight jeans person, but over this past year I've found myself navigating back to wide legs and flares, particularly if I can employ them in a slightly excessive 70s-esque way. This is just a simple casual outfit, but one that is most necessary in the brief burst of heat we've had this week.

Top, £12, Forever 21, still available here
Cami, £4, Primark
Jeans, £22, Dorothy Perkins (old season)
Dunlops, £2, car boot sale

Friday favourites!

The blogging world is full of lovelies in all shapes and sizes and never fails to inspire me to try something new, different or just spend copious amounts of my day catching up with posts! I thought perhaps I would start sharing some of my favourites on a semi regular basis. Here's a few outfits I've enjoyed over the past week:

Dollface is Candysweet

Streetstyle via Glamcanyon

Style is Style

The Curvy Girl's Guide to Style

A Fluffy Blog

Calivintage

Rawr Manifesto

The Kitten's Whiskers

The Nearsighted Owl

Dear Beatrice

Cupcake's Clothes

Enjoy! And let me know if you'd like to see more of these sorts of posts from me too! xx

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Super awkward pose here to show off a dress I probably should have posted about long ago! I've had this for a couple of months now, and took these photos the first time it got an outing. It's this dress from Queen of Holloway. I've read mixed reviews of them online - their prices are cheap but in terms of repro retro I think they lack the quality of their more high end competitors like Bettie Page, Stop Staring and so on. However, unlike the above, they make dresses to fit up to about a 42" waist and will custom make larger sizes on request too, so definitely more friendly to a wider size range. 

I was going to try and replicate this myself, but the price seemed about the same as the materials alone would have cost me. Having now worn it a bunch of times, I'm pretty happy with it. The only thing I'd say as a definite negative is that the belt above fell apart after one wearing, which was a shame. I also found the bust shaping a bit odd (I'm pretty much spot on with the measurements for the 24, yet the bust line sits mid boob, which is odd, but thankfully not that noticeable) However, as far as service and wearability goes, it's stood up well. It's now my generic going out dress because it's breathable, comfortable and still pretty glam.

Close up of the back, which is just about bra strap friendly!:

Generally speaking, it's a pretty cleavage heavy dress, so I'd recommend a good plunge bra (I generally wearing a balconette style but find it's on display a bit too much!). I think it works pretty well with my tattoo though:

xx

Another remix for you today featuring a silly face and a collar I rather shamelessly hacked off a men's shirt from a charity shop. I have plans to stud it and generally make it more awesome, but in the mean time I thought I'd try it out beneath a t-shirt.

Collar, cut off a £2 shirt, charity shop
T-shirt, £1, Traid
Skirt, clothes swap
Crocs, £22.50, Amazon.

Also, there's an interview with me and Lauren from Pocket Rocket Fashion up on Creative Type Fashion, which is run by the lovely Isha. Expect lots of laughing!

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!

Hello all! Just a quick post with a simply everyday outfit for me. Nothing new, apart from the Feminist Library tote bag I bought at the Fattylympics recently. I've been pretty much living in versions of this for a while now, it's liveable and cute and the layers help with the rather unpredictable weather! 

Denim Jacket, Inspire at New Look, £20

Blouse, eBay, £5

Skirt, clothes swap

Shoes, Crocs, £22.50

Tote, Feminist Library, £4

Pins, handmade and gifted!

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. 

Phew! After a month or two of hard work, I'm very excited to be able to show you all the next issue of Make It Work. This is available to purchase now from etsy here. There are also copies of Make It Work #1 still available (though in limited amounts now!) and a cute mini zine on the politics of self love and care that I made earlier this year. 


Here's the blurb for Make It Work #2:


"This is a copy of my second issue of "Make It Work". Make It Work is a radical fat positive zine centred around DIY fatshion and craft projects. It contains a mixture of personal pieces, tutorials for a feather fascinator and a gathered skirt. This issue there is also talk about depression, self care, make up, health, taste, gender play and a bonus fat pin up centrefold! As always, there's also some bad art and general garishness. Contributors include Cynthia (Life of Cyn), Lauren (Pocket Rocket Fashion), Claire (Monkey Fatshionista) and Rebecca (Fat Girl Living), as well as others! 

Half size (A5) with 40 pages total. The zine is colour and has a medium coloured card black and white cover. Sewn binding with wool."

Find it on etsy here!

On a side note, I'm just taking a bit of me time after clothes/zine making manically for the last month, so for now, my custom skirts aren't up on etsy. I'll be back soon, with a massive update of clothes which didn't sell at the Fattylympics. xxx

This is a bit of an old outfit now. I work in a casual office, but sometimes I dress a bit fancier, mainly for my own sake, sometimes for meetings. I don't really like tailoring and tend to get around it with a shift dress/shirt combo instead, like this (though generally not quite as scruffy!).

Shirt, clothes swap
Dress, handmade for c. £6!
Belt, old vintage stock
Shoes, Primark, £12