fatshion february

It’s February, and you know what that means? The second annual Fa(t)shion February! For those of you who haven’t encountered Fa(t)shion February, it started on Tumblr, simply fat people posting their clothing choices for the month of February. Pretty straight forward huh?

Though it doesn’t necessarily have to be an outfit one gets dressed up in – it can also be the things you wear every day to do the stuff you do. Your PJ’s. Your exercise gear. The stuff you wear while doing chores. Doesn’t matter – it’s all just to share the clothes we fatties wear with each other. It’s really up to you to show whatever you like to of what you wear.

Now if you’re not someone who is interested in fatshion, who prefers to dress totally for practicality, that’s ok. Not everyone does, it’s a personal choice. You can come back next post if you’re not interested, I won’t mind you skipping this one, really!

I didn’t really get into Fa(t)shion February last year, other than to enjoy watching other people’s posts, to see what other fab fatties were wearing and to see bodies like mine. But through the year last year I got more into posting my outfits of the day (OOTD’s) to the Fatshionista Flickr group, and sharing them with friends on Facebook. Plus for the first time in my life, I’m enjoying partaking in fashion. Thanks to the generosity of Autograph Fashion, who gifted me a lot of clothes over the past year in return for a whole lot of work around giving them constructive feedback, I’ve been able to play with my style and fashion far more in the past year than I had the whole of my life. Not only did I get to build my wardrobe up, but it also has taught me to look at the clothes I already had, and the way that I wear them, with a whole lot more confidence and personal flair.

When it comes to fashion, I personally believe it’s about far more than what the fashion industry presents to us as “fashion”. Fashion is about self expression, fun, style, self love and care, and community. There is nothing quite like the connection that sharing our personal style and tastes can create between people. I know myself I’ve met loads of people through my own personal fashion. From the woman in the line at the movies with the Lego minifig earrings that I got chatting to, to Brisbane’s own Marilyn Monroe who I always trade compliments with on our outfits/accessories when we encounter each other around town, to the fatshion blogs I follow online, all of those have brought me fantastic new relationships in my life. It’s a great ice-breaker and a great way to connect with someone you already know.

Recently, s.e. smith wrote an excellent piece on fat positive shopping that really spoke to me. In it, ou says:

Fat-positive shopping isn’t just about having a rack of clothes that fit, or even a whole store of clothes that fit. It’s also about creating an environment that is positive for the customers, that embraces the full range of expressions and styles. Just as people of other sizes don’t dress uniformly, fat folks don’t have a single fashion sense, nor do they want to march around in lockstep wearing the same kinds of garments. Some people want to wear torn leggings, sparkle sweaters, and rainbow skirts. Others want sharp business suits. Some people want fabulous wrap maxidresses, others want tunics to layer over jeans.

That’s what I love about fatshion – it allows people to express themselves far more than mainstream fashion does. I find that really powerful and certainly far more fun than being restricted to what the fashion industry tells us we should be wearing. I love how creative we are with fatshion and our own personal style. It sucks that we have had to be that way because we have had such limited resources available to us, but it really is one of our strengths – we’ve evolved so much more creativity and personal style, and a solid sense of community around that creativity and style.

The other thing I think that fatshion has over mainstream fashion is that we’re far more embracing towards diversity. We are usually (not always, but usually) far more open minded to how other people dress and express themselves. We’re far more open in trying new things ourselves. And we’re generally a whole lot less critical about other people’s bodies and style choice, and we’re not focused on youth, thinness and whiteness like mainstream fashion. I think this piece by Fatty Unbound really illustrates that.

To me, fashion is about following an industry, but fatshion is about us collectively leading an expressive community. Whether you’re hitting up the thrift stores and big box retailers, or making designer stuff work for you, or anywhere in between, fatshion is about finding your personal style and rocking the hell out of it.

So, have I been contributing to Fa(t)shion February? Yes I have, and I’ll share the first few outfits with you here. I’ve not been documenting every day, but I have had a few to share already. I hope to do more as the month progresses. Let’s see:

Paper bag dress. 1/2/12

I found this “paper bag” dress at Big W of all places. It’s not something I would normally wear being a real neutral, but I loved the almost silk feel of the fabric, and it’s SUPER cool. We’ve had some stinking hot weather, so cool is important. Of course, at work I cover up my tattoo (partially, just the naked lady’s boobs really), so I have to have a shrug over a sleeveless top like this one. The shrug is actually a coppery, sparkly knit from Autograph Fashion that I picked up on sale. And I’ve got that old staple of leggings (Big W) and ballet flats (Rubi Shoes) underneath.

Leopard Print and Lycra. 3/2/12

I was being photographed that day for an article that I believe is due to be in tomorrow’s Sun Herald (Sydney – I’ll share it if I can find it online!) and I wanted something funky and fun. So I decided to go with leopard print and Lycra. The leopard print shirt is from Autograph Fashion (one they gave me), the cami is from Evans Clothing, skirt is from Target, tights are from We Love Colors (gold) and the leopard print Converse are ones my friend Kylie found for me in Scotland.

Snakeskin With Sparkles 7/2/12

I got this dress on sale for $20 from Autograph. It is currently my absolute favourite dress, and I am encouraging them to make more in different prints and colours! Here it is without the sparkly shrug (also picked up on sale at Autograph). The pink sparkly ballet flats are from Diana Ferrari, I got those on sale out at DFO a while back.

Autumn Tones - 9/2/12

Another top picked up on sale at Autograph – I love the scalloped lace around the neckline and that apricot/terracotta colour is everywhere at the moment. I’m standing kind of weird and one of my shoes is hidden, but the khaki wide-legged pants are from Target – I got those for TEN BUCKS! Damn I love a bargain! And the shoes are from Rivers.

So there you have my first four Fatshion February outfits. I’m looking forward to doing more as the month progresses, and I’ll definitely share them here when I do.

Are you doing Fa(t)shion February this year? Do you think you’re a creative person when it comes to fatshion? What makes you feel good about fatshion?

So I’m being plagued by the black dog. To be honest, I think it’s the heat, I never cope well with hot weather. I’m happiest when I’m sitting steaming in two feet of snow. Yeah I know, I’m on the wrong side of the planet.

One of my strategies when it comes to dealing with bouts of depression is to immerse myself in the Fatosphere, reading and viewing as many positive posts and images about fat people that I can. It is just something that I know works to lift me out of that dark place, and get me back on to the road to my regular moods and ways of thinking.

I have been watching Fatshion February unfold on Tumblr, and the topic of representation of “death fatties” came up. Now for any of you who are unaware, “death fatties” is a term coined for those of us who are classified as “morbidly obese” on the BMI scale, which is an arbitrary measurement of someone’s height to weight ratio, but is used by the medical field (and insurance industry) to classify the fatness, and therefore health-by-their-measurement. In reality, BMI does not at all give an accurate representation of someone’s health, only their height to weight ratio.

There was a mention of the scarcity of deathfatz posting Fatshion February photographs, and then a whole big discussion of whether or not “fat is fat” fired up, whether there should be any blogs or spaces that are dedicated just to deathfatz (there are) and whether this is excluding “smaller fats”. I won’t get into that whole topic, and besides, Marianne Kirby has said it all beautifully on her Tumblr repeatedly, so it’s no use me rehashing it here.

But what I have got thinking about, is why I haven’t submitted any Fatshion February photographs. What I’m struggling with is the fact that not only am I considerably bigger than most of the posters (it’s true, the deathfatz are under-represented), but regardless of the size of the posters, I see a whole lot of traditionally “beautiful” shaped women there. All those hourglass figures, with breasts and hips that are bigger than their bellies. Which in no way represents me.

There is a whole lot of celebration of “curvy” women. Well I’m simply not curvy. I am more… lumpy. I do have big breasts, but my belly is clearly the largest part of my body. I get it from my Grandma, she’s the same shape. I look like I am heavily pregnant with triplets. According to most plus-size fashion retailers, I don’t exist. They’re all about the curves. When they do actually use plus-size models, they’re flat bellied ones with small waists. They’re women whose bodies stay the same shape when they sit down. When I sit down, my belly shifts and becomes even bigger, resting on my lap. Some plus size fashion even cut off before my size, despite my size being the usual top size of plus-size fashion. City Chic? Asos Curve? I’m looking at you two in particular. Not to mention all of the other lesser known brands that top out at Size 20, or 22.

Then there’s all this talk of apples, pears and hourglasses. What about those women like me, who are shaped more like barrels?

Where are the true diversity of body types?

It becomes a spiral. We don’t see bodies like ours represented anywhere, so we become too ashamed to share our own pictures. Therefore, there are no bodies like ours being posted.

Just because my body shape isn’t considered “beautiful” or “fashionable”, doesn’t mean I don’t want to dress fashionably and enjoy dressing and styling myself. Nor do I want to spend time finding things that “flatter” me and give an illusion of the shapes that are considered beautiful/fashionable. My body is shaped like a barrel, and no amount of styling is going to change that. I want to dress and adorn my body as it is, not disguise it as something else.

I’m thankful that there are those who put themselves out there. I’m thankful that there are deathfatz like me who post their pictures and talk about their experiences. Those of you who are at the top or beyond a standard plus-size range for your region. Those of you who have big bellies, or any other body shape that doesn’t fit the predominant “curvy”. Those of you who are extremely limited as to where you can get clothes to fit your bodies. There aren’t many of you, but to those that are out there, I admire you so much, and you make a difference to how I see myself, and what I am able to do with the limited fashion choices available to me.