Fatshion Inspiration

Up until about ten years ago I had little interest in fashion for myself. It wasn’t that I was immune to the allure and glamour of beautiful clothes, or didn’t care about how I dressed. I mean, I read magazines (In Style was my favourite, it seemed friendly), and I loved the work of many designers, particularly Alexander McQueen. I liked certain trends, hated others; knew what was hot and what was supposedly not. I knew that I preferred edgier, urban looks to preppy or boho, and admired elegance over dazzle. But my interest was only academic. All those clothes, colours and ideas had nothing to do with me in real life or what I actually wore. Even when haute couture filtered down into something mass produced and sold in every shop on the high street, it was still never intended for me. I was far too fat for fashion.

Buying clothes for me was only ever a series of disappointments and compromises. There was just the one plus size retailer in town: Evans. I hated that shop. Yet no other high street shop in Dublin had clothes larger than size 18, and there were only a few that even went to that. Cut, colour, style – meaningless terms in the world of cheaply made, polyester blend, weird non-shape ugly print clothes that I had to choose from. Changing rooms were tiny, curtained cubicles of shame. All that looking in mirrors… I didn’t want to see myself, and certainly not in that harsh lighting.

If I was searching for something specific I could rarely find it; I remember an endless quest just for a pair of black trousers. In desperation, after trying on literally every pair in the shop, I pulled on a pair six sizes too large. But even as I stood bunching the waistband in folds in my fist just to keep them up, the man-made, elasticated cheap fabric found a way to cling and bulge on my thighs.

In the end it was always the same. Whatever covered the most skin, and looked the least worst, I bought. I dressed to go unnoticed as much as possible anyway.

I know Evans were providing an option to hundreds of women like me, when nowhere else did. But god almighty, they sold some ugly clothes.

And then there was Beth.

I’m going to write at much greater length about Beth Ditto, and what she has meant to me. I’d been a fan of hers for years, and watched in amazement – and I have to admit, some worry – as in 2007 / 2008 she suddenly became a mainstream icon. Standing in the Way of Control was an immense, global hit. Which was great, but… could my beloved Beth really be best mates with Kate fucking Moss and stay true to what she was?

Yes. Duh.

For now, I’m going to talk about just one of the ways she changed my entire perspective on life. She very visibly wore whatever the fuck she wanted. And then she made a range of really cool clothes just for big girls. And in doing those things she let me (and thousands of fat women) in on one of the secrets of fashion I’d never really known: if you love it? You wear it. That’s it.

Kate Moss had launched a series of hugely successful collections for Topshop, and in 2008 they offered white-hot Beth the chance to do the same. Fair play to her, she turned them down, Why, she asked them, would I want to design clothes for a place I could never shop?

Instead, she designed a range for Evans. Beth Ditto made Evans a bit cool. For months, the anticipation grew. She promised the clothes would be sexy, edgy, punk, iconic… the sneak pics were amazing. I wanted them all. The line launched in July 2009.

I still remember the buzz in the shop the day the collection hit. Evans on Henry Street was packed. I took hanger after hanger into the changing rooms, giddy and excited. All those big girls chatting and laughing and actually showing each other outfits they were trying on! No hiding behind the changing room curtains, scooting in and out of clothes as quickly as possible and settling on the least loathed… No, this was about showing off how we looked. This was for us. We were the privileged participants in a fashion moment. I’d never experienced a feeling like it. It felt revolutionary and powerful, to me at least. I bought a lot. I loved them all.

That was the beginning. I quickly discovered that there was actually a whole community of fashion icons on the Internet who were big, big women. Stylish, fearless, elegant, fierce fat fashionistas. For the first time I could pore over pictures, get ideas, find inspiration and solutions and just SEE big women looking amazing. I also discovered a whole conversation about revolutionising plus-size fashion had actually been going on for a while – and that there were lots of retailers waking up to it. Shopping and dressing up became a completely different experience. They still are.

It’s just clothes. I know that. But now my clothes reflect how I want to look, how I feel, an image and, yes, a beauty that I own – not something I am forced to settle for.

Thanks Beth.

END NOTES

For me blogs are still THE best place to find inspiration and outfit ideas, not to mention a brilliant counter to the body shaming of most adverts and fashion magazines. These are just some of my favourite plus size fashion and beauty sites—all run by amazing, independent bloggers. But there are lots more out there! The internet is graced with a host of brilliant body positive writers.

I’m not linking to any retailers myself, but many of these sites do have links to international retailers websites too. Don’t forget you’re not limited to the UK. I’ve bought beautiful clothes from overseas – just watch out for Customs charges!

From the Corners of the Curve—lovely Callie is UK based so good for reviews of local retailers

http://www.fromthecornersofthecurve.com/

Fuller Figure, Fuller Bust—gorgeous Georgina Horne, brilliant for lingerie recommendations

http://fullerfigurefullerbust.com/

French for Cupcake— A fabulous Belfast blog! Fashion, beauty, feminism and CAKE!

http://www.frenchforcupcake.com/

Le Blog de Stephanie Zwicky—stunning Parisian fashionista

http://www.leblogdebigbeauty.com/

Gabifresh—fierce, fun and designs her own swimwear!

http://gabifresh.com/

The Curvy Fashionista—US site, updated every week, worth signing up to the mailing list

http://thecurvyfashionista.com/