Before I get into the meat and veg of this post, I’d like to say hello to the lovely young woman I met in Target today. I was wandering around aimlessly (as I am wont to do in my lunch break) when she asked me if I was Kath and told me she read my blog and thought I was doing an awesome job. I was so tickled I forgot to ask her name and properly make her acquaintance. You made my day, lovely Target shopper! You know, that’s the third time someone has stopped me in the Myer Centre Target to tell me they read my blog and praise my work. It’s no wonder I hang around there so much!
So anyway, because the last few posts have been so intense, I wanted to have a bit of fun tonight and just post a bunch of pretty stuff because I like it.
I have been shopping quite a bit lately, because I got my tax refund back and promised myself that I was going to enjoy all of it on luxury stuff, since I had been a good girl all year long!
First thing I bought was this coral blazer from Autograph Fashion:
I actually went and gazed at it longingly, tried it on and then put it back on the shelf. Slept on it overnight and rushed back to buy it the next day at lunch time!
Also from Autograph, I got this gorgeous lace edged kaftan:
It also comes in a deep eggplant purple, which I am tempted to go and buy too!
Today I picked up two pairs of flats at Target, first pair were these bold orange ones:
And I also got these lovely soft pink ones:
And lo and behold, Target had a plus-size garment I actually liked! I got this little white cropped cardigan, it’s on sale this week:
I’m all about cropped cardigans over dresses at the moment. Speaking of dresses, I got TWO gorgeous Leona+ dresses from Myer for $35 each! Considering they’re normally $149 each, I couldn’t leave them behind. You’ll have to excuse my very amateur photographs of them, I can’t find good ones online.
The bottom one is black with purpley-blue and red in the print, and I love the V-neckline with collar. I do love me a Leona frock. There are some really gorgeous ones in the new stock, I have my eye on a bold purple 60’s kind of print one at the moment.
Now how about some stuff that’s on my wish list? Just for fun?
Well, while we’re on the subject, this bird print dress from Anna Scholz makes me drool:
As far as I’m concerned “put a bird on it” is a valid fashion option! And that colour is so lush.
It’s no secret I’m fond of animal print, but this snake print tunic, also from Anna Scholz is just delicious. That colour is gorgeous.
While we’re on colour, how about this Neopolitan Maxi Dress from Virtu?
I saw a pair of lemon coloured wedges today that would work perfectly with this dress.
And this skirt – well, leopard print. Enough said:
I’d wear it with a whole lot of bold, bright colours though, cos I embrace my inner tacky.
File this one under “Things I love that don’t come in my size.” How gorgeous is this peplum dress from Dorothy Perkins (not linking cos they don’t cater to my size!)
Of course, then there’s eShakti, who DO cater to my size (I’m about a 4X, but they go up to 6X, yay eShakti!) but don’t ship to Australia. Sob! If they did, I would buy this dress in a heartbeat:
Anyone in the US want to hook an Aussie up with a supply of eShakti dresses? Especially this dress!
This skirt, also from eShakti is gorgeous too:
Oh, speaking of things I can’t have, I’m REALLY kicking myself that I didn’t buy this dress from Domino Dollhouse when I had the opportunity:
I actually had it in my shopping basket and went right through to the checkout process and then caved. Then when I decided I really did want it, it was sold out. DAMMIT!
How about we end with something that is a total lust object that I dream to own someday? Can you guess what it is?
Yes, it’s Fluevog shoes! Look at them. Look at how gorgeous they are!
Or if you’re feeling really brave (like I am), how about this pair:
So what have you bought lately? Or what is on your wish list (or perhaps dream list)? Let’s have some fun, do some virtual shopping and share some pretties. We’ve all earned a break.
Fat Heffalump 
Gorgeous! I’ve gone a bit dress crazy myself at the moment. I did spend my entire life afraid of them, now I LOVE them! I too have been drooling over my keyboard at eshakti’s website. Somebody give them the memo! Australia needs your beautiful dresses too please!!
I’m heading to Autograph first thing tomorrow.
Thanks Kath!
Oh I love a good frock! I never used to wear them either but these days I prefer them over anything else. I’m thinking we need to start to campaign at eShakti, there are SO many of us who want to shop with them!
I love your choices of colours! So bright and vibrant.
I adore colour Cal, I don’t want to hide away in black any more.
OMG shopping. I’ve bought ridiculous amounts of clothing lately. Inspired by your rec, Kath, I ventured into Best & Less and couldn’t believe the nice things they had. Grabbed the mint green & black blouse, a couple of those tops with the sheer watercolour print on the front, a black & white maxi dress and the cutest polka dot retro swimsuit. I wish they had an online shop so I could link to them.
Aren’t Best & Less plus-sizes fantastic at the moment? They have some garments that are the same as the straight sizes, and the colours and styles are mirrored in the straight sizes too. I know all of those garments you mention, they’re all HAWT!
Oh eshakti I love them so- I wish they’d ship to Aus too!!
My eshakti pretties are this blue floral dress:
http://www.eshakti.com/Product/CL0023674/Blooms-print-dress
and this gorgeous mint polka dot one:
http://www.eshakti.com/Product/CL0023949/Embroidered-dot-print-sundress
I’m also liking the City Chic swimwear range (too exxy for me though).
My fav swimsuit is this candy striped one:
http://www.citychic.com.au/CANDY-STRIPE-1-PIECE.aspx?p6006400&cr=002x__093903
I love that bird dress- I love birds on things but have yet to find any clothing with it on. So painful to see it in the straight size section.
I love that Virtu maxi dress- I’m a total sucker for stripey maxi dresses, as you know. 🙂
Those two dresses are ADORBZ!!
The City Chic swimsuit looks cute, but I’ve found their quality crappy and their prices ridiculously high.
I can only window shop at the moment, but I greatly appreciate the fashion candy you have provided me with here.
Fashion candy is such a great term!
I have long, elaborate fantasies about owning a pair of Fluevogs. So putting that on my birthday I-want list this year. Forget Manolos – it’s Fluevogs, baby!
Yeah Manolos don’t do a thing for me at all really. But Fluevogs make me swoon.
Oh Kath! But that Domino Dollhouse dress was so very YOU! My commiserations on losing it.
Funny thing, but that grey eShakti dress with the birds? Yeah, that’s the one I keep staring at and wishing I had some money that wasn’t already spent.
Oh, and looking at those adorable orange flats made me smile. It was my terribly dignified and elegant mother who taught me that orange shoes are neutrals, really, and one always ought to have a pair in one’s closet. Alas! Few manufacturers make them for us wide-footed women.
If I win that huge lottery prize tonight (over ninety mil!) the first thing I’m going to go out and do is have a pair of awesome orange shoes custom made for my feet to my specific (and somewhat outrageous) taste. Every time I wear them, I’ll think fondly of my dear, departed mother.
Mr. Twistie will have a custom version of George Harrison’s Sgt. Pepper uniform made for him, complete with orange tricorn.
We neither of us are given much to blending into the scenery.
Those orange flats were only $15 and are so, so, so soft and comfortable. I walked all day in them yesterday, and not once did they rub or pinch.
How fun to have someone recognize you!!! I adore that!! You are simply wonderful honey. 🙂
The first pair of Fluevog shoes are just gorgeous!! I’m off to buy a Target cropped cardi, great for Summer. Thanks!
Glad to be the bearer of good news for once: that Domino Dollhouse dress is going to get restocked! Just saying 😉 The owner said “it’s coming back in a few weeks” in her tumblr about three days ago. So… yay!
YAY Beep! That’s fantastic news, thanks! I’ll be watching eagerly!
Holy crap, that eShakti dress is gorgeous! Being a US resident, I actually did go buy it. More than I usually spend on a single dress (hell, I usually shop at Goodwill), but I can use it for work or for fun and it’s freaking GORGEOUS! I would totally be willing to help hook you up with eShakti stuff BUT, be aware that I am lazy and it can take me forever to get to the post office. I’d try to be better with someone else’s item on the line, but I can’t promise. Still, poke me if you want to try to set something up (if nobody more reliable volunteers).
eShakti are really well priced for the quality they offer and the fact that you can custom them for about $8 extra. And thanks for the offer, I think I’ve got a source now!
Kath, I’d be delighted to help you with getting the eShakti dress shipped. I’ve done it for other Aussies before and there’s a post office right across the street from my son’s school.
Wendy, I’ll drop you a message shortly!
Kath,
I’ve been a silent reader of your blog for several months now. I stopped in today after I had a difficult conversation with my mom where she asked me if I thought I “needed” a glass of milk I was pouring. She told me I just “have to get control of that weight” or it’s going to “ruin your life”. I surrendered, like a “good fatty”, and put away the milk , feeling hurt.
I’ve always been a large girl since I was a kid, and mom’s intentions have always been good but misguided. She played a large role in making me feel like my size was a problem that must be addressed. I was a great kid/ teenager/ young adult, if it wasn’t for that darn fat causing a big black mark on an otherwise worthy person- this is the attitude I was taught. I’m slowly trying to relearn that my size isn’t the one thing holding me down. It’s the attitude of society that I’ve bought into for 28 years that is standing in my way. To celebrate this revelation as I type this now, I’m having a nice glass of chocolate milk, because I want to, damn it! Thanks for writing you fabulous blog.
mickiq I so understand where you are coming from – my own family did that to me for decades. It’s fucking offensive, and yet if we tell them to knock it off, we’re made out to be the unreasonable ones.
Don’t stand for it. Your body is YOURS and YOU decide what you do with it.
I have been doing alot of clearance shopping lately. While I did notice that both Marshalls and TJMaxx (one of those factory clearance stores, brand names!) reduced the size of their plus sections (kind of miffed), they make up for that by having really cute tops for less than $25. They do however run small I noticed. Both local targets made their rather sad plus sections even smaller as well. On a positive note Kohls (mid-pride dept store) added a couple racks of plus things in their juniors dept. They also added a big and tall for the guys but they don’t keep it up well. JCPenny is still the place to shop for good priced big and tall clothes (thought I’d throw a shout out to the big guys). Fashion Bug will also be closing it’s stores soon as well I have heard. Their stuff was hit or miss but at least it was an option and they had some nice formal and cocktail dress for homecoming and prom (not that i need those anymore but I love trying them on 🙂 ). Macy’s has a decent plus dept. (even if it is in the basement). You can find some good deals on their clearance racks and they also have nice formal dresses. I will be checking out the kardashian line at sears eventually too. Shopping for plus clothes in the midwest is kind of like treasure hunting.
Thanks for sharing advice for our US heffalumpies!
I hadn’t heard of many of these brands, but am madly Googling now!! Thanks 🙂
I would seriously spend so much money if eshakti shipped to Australia, I don’t look at the site anymore as I always fall in love and want to cry because I can’t have it!
I’ve been eyeing the Autograph blazer myself, it’s so gorgeous! The snake print tunic is pretty spectacular!!
Natalie it’s just wrong that eShakti don’t shop here. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
I think I might go back and get that blazer in the black and white stripe now. Even though spring is here!
I would seriously spend so much money if eshakti shipped to Australia, I don’t look at the site anymore as I always fall in love and want to cry because I can’t have it!
I’ve been eyeing the Autograph blazer myself, it’s so gorgeous! The snake print tunic is pretty spectacular!!!
I’m in the US too & could send you eShakti (I also have Fluevogs I need to pass on – not as cute as these but very cute – what’s your shoe size?)
Peregrin8 – I’m a Size 10 Australian, I’m not sure what that translates into for ‘Vogs. The size chart is kind of confusing, I’d probably say a size 11 (http://www.fluevog.com/files_2/shopping_faq_images/sizing_chart.jpg) If they are anywhere near my size I’m happy to adopt them!!
Message me – fatheffalump at gmail dot com!
I am a fat American living in Korea, where no ready-made clothes fit me. I’ve had some casual unisex hanbok (old-style Korean clothes) made for me in cotton and linen: shirts, pants (trousers), and vests (waistcoats).
This happened because I stumbled upon just the right clothing store. When the friendly (and chubby) owner of the little hanbok shop in Seoul saw me looking at the clothes, she ran to her online dictionary, and wrote: “I make your size?” It was fun to look at swatches and choose fabrics and colors, even though we had to use a dictionary to communicate.
The outfits and attractive and comfortable, and I can wear them to work as whole ensembles or mix the separate pieces with items of Western clothing.
Bookeater I cannot imagine how hard it is to get clothes to fit you in Korea – I’m glad you’ve found at least one option!
I actually really lucked out at Lane Bryant– I have a love-hate relationship with that store, but today it veered towards love. Sometimes I get those coupons in the mail which I usually only use when I really need to replace my bras and panties and plan on buying more than $75 worth of stuff.
But every now and then, I get those magical $15 off $15 ones. Which means that if you find an item that is exactly $15…it’s free. Or if it’s $20, you get it for $5. But you have to be careful to keep the purchase low, or else it uses the standard coupon amounts.
Anyway, one showed up in my mailbox so I went to what is now one of the very few Lane Bryants left in all of NYC. There used to be this really nice huge one on Fordham Road in the Bx, and another gigantic one in Herald Square, but they closed within the past 2 years! Sucks!! Fortunately the one left is in another part of the Bx not too far away.
I figured I’d spend less than 10 minutes in the store, since I didn’t have a whole lot of money and anticipated the typical lackluster selection of shirts I find too long or too short, jeans that fit in the waist but billow in the butt and thighs, and sleepwear I like but find too expensive for its intended purpose. Lo and behold…I actually spent nearly 45 minutes trying to decide what to use my coupon on because they had some NICE stuff. There were some nice knitwear tops with (gasp) REAL SLEEVES! Long sleeves! Not 3/4! I still found them to be a bit pricey even with the coupon, but hey, it’s a step up. I also saw this really nice reversible shirt that was a nice 80’s style that had (cries tears of joy) real sleeves.
I was about to settle for some PJ shorts on the clearance rack since they would’ve boiled down to $2 with my coupon, until I hit the motherlode.
This garment is actually meant to be a nightgown, but since it’s still 85 degrees out, I say this thing is a dress. I picked up this super cute bright red leopard dress that is the PERFECT length, made of soft cotton that is actually more opaque than a lot of these garments that ARE supposed to be dresses. Perfect wicking too, with the cutest triple straps. It ended up being $18 after my coupon, and I can’t wait to pair it with my retro chic Torrid strawberry cardigan that I got in the BOGO deal.
Per my wishlist…oh boy! So many things! But I’m so happy I finally found the perfect leopard print dress in one of my favorite colors that fits me so awesomely!
Hi Kath. Long time lurker here. Thanks so much for your thought provoking blog. I am a 49 yo size 24 who has gained a lot of confidence and insight from your blog. And as a direct result of your last entry I purchased the hummingbird dress. I am using myus to ship to Aus.
Will let you know how I go with Eshakti and myus, have read mixed reviews re both but had to give that dress a try. To paraphrase you, I plan to wear the hell out of it. And Jeepers. Fluevog! But would also love to have free reign on Trippen shoes (would love to have the moola too!) Stay tuned for the Great Eshakti/myus Purchase and Shipping conclusion!
Hi Marg! Thanks for deLurking! Please do tell me how you go with myus, I’d love to give them a go if they work out. I want that dress!
Hi, I just had to comment and say I loved your Target post so much, and it got me so angry that I emailed Target this massive email about the lack of options, the unfairness of it all for us and the link to your amazing post. I got a reply:
“Thank you for your email.
We were concerned to read of your disappointment in our plus sized clothing range.
We wish to advise that our Hot Options range has recently been extended to a size 20, so you will start to see more stock in the larger sizes coming into stores. We will however, pass your comments through to the appropriate Buying Team for their information, as they are responsible for merchandise selection and range allocation.
Thank you for providing us with your feedback, we appreciate having the opportunity to respond to you.”
Not really helpful that the Hot Options is going to a size 20 when the sizes are so small, so really it’s a 16-18. But hopefully it gets passed along to the right people and they do something about it 🙂
Thanks again 🙂
Jess, well done on approaching Target – the more that do so the more they have to listen. However, I think it SUCKS that they’re only putting Hot Options up to size 20. Are they not listening? Size 20 is BARELY plus-sized these days for a department store, and we have complained time and time again that cutting off before a “standard” plus-size range is just creating another division for anyone in the upper ranges.
If they do release their Hot Options stuff to only Size 20, I’ll be having a serious rant about that one!
Hi Kath, i just wanted to ask you a question in regards to your comments about there being ‘no such thing as reverse racism/ageism/sizeism’ – in one of your previous blog posts you made a comment about having used the term ‘real women’ to describe non thin women in the past and why it was wrong, etc. Isn’t that an example of ‘reverse sizeism’?
This is irrelevant to this blog topic, but I’ll answer it this time. Try to keep your comments relevant to the post in future please.
Yes I have, in the past. I’ve done a lot of things in the past that I have learnt were wrong. In the past I used to believe in such things as reverse bigotry. Because I didn’t know better – and I did a whole post about unlearning just a week or so ago. It is some years since I last used the term “real women” to describe any women though. You’ve had to go a long way back to find that “in one of my previous blog posts”.
But of course, I have since learned that there is no such thing as reverse bigotry. The privileged cannot be discriminated against – otherwise they wouldn’t be privileged.
If you go back to the beginning of this blog and read from Post 1 – you’ll find a whole lot of fuck ups and misunderstandings and privilege-denying. Go back to any blog that hasn’t deleted them and you’ll find them. That’s what this blog is all about, my journey as I navigate my way through understanding oppression and marginalisation, about my own self (as a fat woman) and about others.
The day you stop learning and growing is the day you stop living.