We're All Born Naked... And The Rest Is Drag! (ALTERNATIVE CURVES)

Greetings, fellow fatshion lovers! I come to you today from the comfort of my bed, surrounded by candy wrappers and books about fashion and feminism. It’s a cruel world, ain’t it?

This is the final month on the Alternative Curves blog hop calendar, and at present it is fairly undecided as to whether we will be continuing on with the hop. Life gets life-y, and then hops don’t get hoppy, and sometimes it’s just better to take a little break and reassess. In the meantime, the hashtag and account over on Instagram will always continue to be a gorgeous community of fierce and supportive babes, so please do join in! <3

The theme this month is Drag Queen, and well, I just ADORE the art of drag. My favourite Queen of all time is Divine, and I often think I should devote my life to being a Bio-Queen. But I also have a fuckton of other things i’d like to accomplish, so instead I just try to inject some Drag Queen Realness into my everyday life! (y)


This look was inspired by Manila Luzon when she first entered the workroom in season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I really like Manila, but I wouldn’t say she is one of my ultimate favourites in the entire history of the show. HOWEVER - up until that point, I had appreciated the styles worn by the Queens, but that was the first look that made me legit MOIST. And the looks represented on the show have continued to escalate in unique insanity from that point onwards (in my humble opinion).

I actually wanted to do a really detailed cosplay of this outfit, but I kind of ran out of time before I left Australia. So this is just an “inspired by” or “homage to” kinda thing. If you want to see some OFF THE CHAIN Drag cosplay, check out my girl; Lacey Noel. She totally OWNS.





Anyways, I need to watch a few more makeup tutorials cos I still feel like a total n00b when i'm trying to beat my mug real good. Send me your favs, please!

OUTFIT DETAILS

Dress: City Chic -Currently available similar ones here and here

Faux fur: vintage - Similar here

Tights: Can't even remember!! Similar at We Love Colours

Heels: Demonia

Earrings: vintage (were my Nan's) - Similar here

Gloves: a plain white pair under black lace - Similar here

Headband: DIY mannequin hand glued onto a headband with a cig holder!

LET'S STAY IN TOUCH!
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I'm A Blogger Too... #NoShade (feat. Rue 107)

So first of all let me say a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU and FUCK YEAH to everyone who shared my “H&M Sucks” post, and who has been using the hashtag #whatfatgirlsACTUALLYwear. What I REALLY want to do, ultimately, is to collect a sort of “visual petition board” of plus size women who a) have radical style, and b) believe that the pathetic offerings from these huge companies is just NOT good enough, and alongside some of the comments i've been getting: actually approach a few of the companies and say “HERE YOU GO – here are our voices, loud and clear. WOULD YOU LIKE THESE WOMEN'S CASH OR NOT?” I'm sure they've been told before, i'd just like to do a big roundup and see if we can't get a bit of a collective momentum happening...

Now look, I really want the chance to explain to y'all that I strongly and firmly believe in first and foremost supporting small and indie designers. I have lots of pieces made by the likes of Candy Strike, Chubby Cartwheels, Pho Sizzle Threads, Domino Dollhouse, Rue 107, Bombshell Vintage etc etc. I also thrift A LOT because, well, I love finding unique pieces that nobody else is going to have, on top of the more important issue of trying to reduce landfill and shitting (even more) on our glorious planet. But also – unique pieces :D

But I am also a realist, and I know that sometimes fast fashion just cannot be avoided. For some people, it is purely a matter of finances/economic struggles. My recent issue (for those who haven't been following along at home) is that I temporarily moved to America with practically no clothes because I thought it was a shopping mecca (it isn't), and I'm not in a position to spend a huge chunk of cash on summer clothes to see me through a span of about 6 -8 weeks in which it's still really hot. I will be getting (and have already begun to organise) certain pieces from certain designers that I will be able to wear when it gets cooler, but a bitch can't be naked or feeling completely deprived of creative style until then?! Explanatory note: personally, fashion is a strong form of creativity and I feel wretched when I can't express myself in this medium.

On top of all of that, this is also an issue of having the right to shop in brick and mortar stores along with the straight sizes. In the comments section on the Facebook post I had a few people telling me to “just shop somewhere else” and then listing online stores. Like, guys, I KNOW how to use Google, okay? THAT'S NOT THE POINT! I even had one woman go so far as to tell me “fighting this to want them to make skinny girl clothes in our sizes is like trying to push back on a meteor. Not gonna happen”. Well, not with that bloody attitude, that's for sure!

So yeah, i'm pushing against a friggin' meteor, but i'm pushing alongside a bunch of other incredible women (and men – although I don't have direct contact with them) who are fighting the good fight, in an attempt to create some semblance of a more diverse and inclusive retail landscape. We may never win. That prospect makes me sad, but it only makes me want to fight harder and longer.

Who's with us?!

Sometimes you just have to gif out

A few questions and comments about the photo on the right lead me to realise that I actually photographed this outfit, but totally forgot to blog it!! The photos were taken by my good friend Jacqui's good friend Kristie – on an afternoon a good number of months ago.

The crop top (it very cheekily says “I'm a Blogger Too #noshade) is from Rue 107 (no longer available, sadly) and used to be a crop sweater. Well, the weather was too hot so I chopped them sleeves off! HAR HAR.

The skirt, I made myself, and there's a cute story to it: I bought this exact tablecloth/ant print fabric from a dingey old shop in Brisbane when I was about 14, and I made a pretty crap skirt out of it (I mentioned I was 14, right?). A couple of years later, the skirt has seen better days and gets thrown out. Last year, my Nana very sadly passed away and she left me her fabric, and in the pile was metres of the exact same fabric!! I just knew I had to make another, better, skirt (now that I know how to box pleat!) and to always remember my Nan when I wear it.

Speaking of which, this red coat came out of my nan's cupboard and I don't remember the brand but it's a rather generic old lady brand like Miller's or something, and I just added green fur to the colour.

The sunglasses can be found everywhere on the internet, just search “Mr Quiffy Sunglasses”, and the adorable strawberry headband was made by my friend Jacqui, mentioned above. You can also get yourself some similar cherry earrings right here!

LET'S STAY IN TOUCH!
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Revolution of Revulsion - H&M : you suck!

Call me a tad naïve, but before I came to America I had the impression that it was approximately 1000 times easier for fat girls to get their hands on dope plus size threads than it is in Australia. Given how many “celebrity” indie designers this country holds (ok, ok – “celebrity” within the community), given how many more people in general there are, and given how much more buying power the plus size amongst them must have... I believed it was going to be a utopia of finally being able to shop in department stores, and excitedly stumbling across cute and trendy boutiques with a vast range of sizes. Like, all the time.

This past week in America has got me reeling, because I am having a really hard time finding any establishments to take my dang money! And trust me – money for fashion, I currently have. It's one of those times where you've saved really hard for something (this trip), and you can justify making a bunch of big ticket purchases because, well, you literally NEED that stuff (dope clothes). When I moved here I brought 3 summer dresses and a pair of jelly sandals – a month later, this bitch is getting some serious wardrobe fatigue.

So last week, after spending days exploring Boston (hey blisters), I managed to find the one H&M store that (still?) has a plus size section.

I was already feeling a little raw because i'd recently asked in two other H&M's – to the sound of crickets. I'd struck out at a Forever 21 - “sorry, not here”. And i'd been so tremendously body-shamed asking about plus size underwear at a Lord & Taylor that for the first time in close to 5 years I thought I was going to cry in the middle of a shop.

When I got inside the H&M in Newbry, Boston and saw that “PLUS” category listed on the wall at the entrance (always so tactfully right beside “MATERNITY”) I metaphorically fell to my knees and kissed the ground.

That is until I made it upstairs and found the 2 metre by 2 metre display.

You guys... what, the actual, heck?

My eyes began to bleed as I surveyed the offerings: oversized t-shirts, floaty tops (2004 wants it's trend back, y'all) and the “flattering” khaki array. I could feel the bile rising in the back of my throat, and the situation was made even worse by my quick glances over at the rest of the floor, and peeks of the ENTIRE WALL displays from downstairs: Thin Girl Land... *whispers*
feathers, faux furs, pleather, pleats, short shorts, tapered legs, strapless, racer backs, crop tops.

All the things that I am not “allowed”.
WE are not allowed.

Talk about rubbing salt in my open fashion wound.

To sound only half as dramatic as it felt: I was angry, and baffled, and terribly alone. I gaped around to see another girl of size rummaging through the racks with a few things tentatively in her hand. The outfit she had on was drab and uninspired, but I wasn't judging her on that because more importantly; I could see she was not excited by fashion. Not even a bit. And how could she be?

And then another chubster girl entered the area and started shuffling through the rack beside me, and I heard her grumbling to herself. I looked over and we made eye contact, and she finally mirrored what my brain had been screaming for the past few minutes; “this stuff is DISGUSTING!”

“HOLY SHIT I KNOW!!” I ecstatically exclaimed, so damn relieved that somebody else felt the same way.

“What, so because i'm bigger I have to wear SWEATS?” her adorable accent asked me, as she held out an actual pair of sweatpants.

I literally hugged her.  

----
So here's the thing – why does H&M (and other stores running a similar racket) even HAVE a plus size section, if they don't actually value their plus size consumer?

Are we supposed to feel grateful? Or relieved that we have been granted the honor of getting to say we own at least one item from H&M (/insert other ignorant conglomeration)?

Although it makes me mad as hell, I actually find a SHRED (just a shred) more respect in companies who don't even have larger offerings. In my opinion, it's one thing for a company to say “nah we don't want fatties in our clothes because we feel it diminishes our 'cool' image”, and quite another for a company to say “oh your FAT MONEY is good enough for us to take, but only on the proviso that you continue to feel shit about yourself, and sit over in the naughty corner and watch all the other pretty things on display and know that YOU CAN NEVER HAVE THOSE THINGS because you don't deserve them. Oh, but MONEY PLEASE” - as they hold out their greedy and narrow-minded hands.

Here's what else I don't get: why is it SO HARD to make the clothes they ALREADY MAKE but in a LARGER SIZE?! Yes it requires a bit more fabric, but I bet you anything that the .5c less profit on each plus size item sold (when compared to the profits of a straight size item sold) are totally negligible, and would be well overshadowed by the fact that they have an almost untapped market of larger ladies who are in desperate need and want for some decent choices in the fast fashion arena.

THEY CAN DO BETTER. And the fact that they aren't makes me scratch my head and reach for the nearest conspiracy theory about multi-billion dollar fashion companies also being the diet industry, who are profiting off us from every angle of the game. But that's just crazy, right? Right?

So here's what i'm proposing:

If you feel that this is NOT GOOD ENOUGH, please share this post (or anything in it) and make some noise about your own experiences in these places. I'm not sure they're aware that this is how a lot of plus size women feel, but if they don't – THEY WILL. 

Post your fiercest fat girl fashions on any social media platform and let's show them #whatfatgirlsACTUALLYwear.

Note: all of this ranting also applies to the men's section - maybe even two-fold. I just don't write about that because I don't have personal direct experiences with it, but please know that for every time I go into battle for women's fashion, I am hoping that it will help pave the way for a more accepting situation in all facets of the industry.

Another note: I am tremendously aware that fast fashion is bad, and I am pleased to say that 95% of my regular wardrobe is either recycled, upcycled or comes from indie designers. This battle is more about social justice and the right to options for people of different sizes and economic backgrounds.  

LET'S STAY IN TOUCH!
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