wtf, plus size clothing manufacturers?

love your butt like i love your butt

I just bought a ton of printed leggings, but I always feel self-conscious when wearing leggings because my ass always shows since I don’t wear the right kind of shirt. Do you know what kind of shirts go best and where I could find some cheap?

i’ve been getting a lot of questions like this lately ! i don’t mind finding stuff for people (as someone with full-time employment and part-time school, i have a lot of procrastinating to do), but i don’t really have any insider knowledge- i just google and click around. but as far as fashion questions, i have zero knowledge of like, fashion trends and fashion and how to be fashionable. i do not believe fashion rules exist, and i think the best coolest thing to wear is whatever you feel coolest in.

my main advice in this situation is to get super vain about your butt, and then showing it off won’t be a problem.  if that isn’t realistic, i’d look in juniors plus sections and petite plus sections for dresses, since they tend to be hella short and it’ll look more like a shirt than a dress.  i mean, that works for me since i’m 5’9” and even the dresses i buy to be dresses end up being shirts. asos, new look, and simply be (especially the ‘ax paris’ brand) have lots of dresses that are scandalously short that you can wear over leggings and pretend you meant to look like that- i have this one:

and i thought it would be dress length, but it gives a nice 360 of my vulv.  i also recently got this from old navy (the XXL fits me, a 28, which i feel like i’ve said 2392903 times in the last five entries), and the tall version isn’t even long enough, so i bet if i went for the regular one it would be like… a peplum top on me.

 

so, long story short, just wear short weird dresses over your weird leggings (which you can find online or in juniors plus sections) or attend my butt self-esteem boot camp, which is basically just me taking photos of your butt and putting speech bubbles coming out of it saying ‘i look great !’.  my other main piece of advice is that asking me for fashion advice will lead to old navy links and me using your butt as a puppet for my body positivity agenda (a service i am happy to provide for free).

p.s. simply be kind of sucks, but i know it’s really, really hard to be an ethical consumer and also… wear clothes when you’re fat.

plus size galaxy print round-up

honestly, i haven’t seen anything exactly like this in plus sizes, but there are a few shops and retailers selling galaxy stuff for fat folk.

cult of california is notorious for this, and they have a few tops and a dress in a galaxy print:

domino dollhouse also had a space-inspired collection awhile back, and they still offer a galaxy print dress and a cool pair of leggings. i will note that i bought the leggings based on measurements, and i urge you to size down. i got the 4X, and measurements on the size chart are a little SMALLER than my actual measurements, and they won’t stay up, so if anyone who is a 30/32 wants a pair of them for like $10 send me an ask (the $10 is for shipping, i can only ship UPS because i’m very lazy and work across the street from a UPS store !)

the gabi fresh line for swimsuits for all has a galaxy print fatkini (currently sold out, but i’m sure they’ll restock) and beach cover-up, but their marketing (clearly not written by gabi, so don’t get heated at her !) sucks and i don’t want to give money to a company who markets stuff so grossly. also i can’t give money to them for this cause the swimsuits only go up to a size 24 ! 

only leggings has a bunch of pairs of plus size galaxy leggings, though their largest size, 3X, is ambiguously listed as ‘size 22-28’. i like this pair with the space shuttle launching toward your butt, but this pair is my favorite because the color palette is slightly different from most of the other plus galaxy stuff

hellominky on etsy makes a plus size galaxy skirt that goes up to 3X, but it’s a different style from the one you’re after:

your best bet, though, and i hate when people tell people to make things themselves, is to make it yourself- it would be fairly easily to find a black cotton skirt you can fuck with (ross and tj maxx have tons of this stuff), and materials are cheap (basically just bleach and some puffy paint).  it’s also really hard to fuck up, and you can practice on old stretched out black old navy t-shirts, which every fat person has 209209 of.

this set of instructions and video tutorial is really good, and this one is as well.

finally, re/dress shop is re-opening monday, 5/20, and they will have a few pairs of galaxy leggings available !

p.s. sorry this entry was basically long-hand for ‘no’.

egyptian-chrome asked wtfplus:

i’m around a 20-24 and i don’t know why everyone says Asos runs large because the few things I have ordered from there to ‘test them out’ have been small on me. do the dresses specifically run large? or everything?

i’d say that asos curve’s sizing is inconsistent, but i’ve found them to be more often inconsistently LARGE. i’ve found that most british retailers underestimate their sizes when converting to US sizes, though- like, everything i’ve ordered from evans in a US 28 has been too large for me.  a beth ditto dress i have from there is marked as a UK 26 and it fits me like a US 26 would. however, you should take my assessment with a grain of salt and consider the following;

• i basically only order stretchy stuff (the ‘fitted’ garments i’ve ordered from simply be in a US 28, for instance, were snug on me, while the stretchy dresses i ordered in a US 28 were more like a US 30 or larger.
• i like clothes to be super tight/short/revealing/belly outline enhancing, so my idea of ‘fits’ might not be everyone’s idea of ‘fits’ (it is DEFINITELY not fatphobes’ idea of ‘fits’ !)
• i am a size 28, and an ‘apple’ (god, i hate that.  can we just accept some other comparison for body shape?  like if i’m like ‘i’m mars’ you would know i’m shaped like mars.  i’m not food !).  so anyway, i’m a size 28 mars (“a gas giant” -my partner), but i also have really small jugs (“moons !!!” -my partner) so i can often fit into stuff that other women my size can’t if they have even a C cup.

so yeah, keep that stuff in mind when i’m assessing sizes, but i think if you order stretchy stuff and skater dresses, you’ll have better luck at asos.

after working 20+ hours of overtime last week, i decided to treat myself to some clothes, and i’m reminded of why i started this blog. there’s… nothing.  

i was finally going to have enough money to order from eShakti, and everything i liked is sold out.

evans’ newest stuff is… weird.

like… i like lobsters, and i like weird clothes, but that looks like a nightgown, right? and it’s $70.

i’m not really sure what to get. i got a couple of dresses from asos curve, hoping they run large enough to fit me (their largest size is listed as a US 22, but i’ve gotten two size 22 dresses from there that i was swimming in).

i’m afraid this will be marm-y on me but i love mustard and teal together so much.

i think this will display my jugs adequately

i’m mulling over this dress- my bud kristen showed me this shop (ashley nell tipton? i guess ashley is a popular fat name) which carries stuff up to a 6X/30-32- i’m just nervous because they seem to have come out of nowhere, i’ve never heard of them, and their only reviews are just lorem ipsum paragraphs. haha.

one bonus of this dress is that it runs a size large and they suggest sizing down, so if any size 34/36 people are reading, you might be able to wear the 6X !

so, i dunno. i don’t know what to buy. my taste is weird looking clothes, mostly dresses, foofy a-line skirts, weird prints (florals, animals [not like.. leopard or zebra but literally tiny print of animals], weird geometric stuff), bright non-pastel colors, weird leggings that would actually fit a size 28 person, empire waists, etc. can you guys suggest anything that comes in my size and is kinda cool? p.s. i’m tired of black.

oh and if any of you have a lead on either of my two current rosebuds, in any size from like… 22-28, please let me know.  i will like, take out a loan and buy them from you.  both are from evans- the infamous beth ditto chevron dress that barely exists, and an evans dress that just sold out from like 3 weeks ago.

reblogging is a nightmare !

i am like… completely unable to figure out how to reblog stuff from this person’s blog, but fimbulvetr-is-coming reblogged the submission from earlier about the kiyonna beach cover-up and said this:

This is probably the only thing Kiyonna makes that I could wear. Most maxi dresses don’t come with sleeves at all, let alone decent sleeves that actually cover to the elbow. If this were about 1/5 the price it actually is, I’d buy at least one.

God I really hate sometimes that I have to fight with other fat people to get modest clothing. No really, the shapeless potato sacks we usually get still have sheer parts, nonfunctional sleeves, really really frigging low bust lines, and hem lines up our asses. You could take a pair of scissors if it doesn’t show off enough skin for your taste, but WTF am I supposed to do when I need hem lines down to my ankles and actual functional sleeves. I walk around all summer long in full length jeans because there are no dresses that come down to my feet that won’t show off my bra or my tits, they make one thing with sleeves and it’s a “choir robe”.

If you wanted a law passed where you could walk around starkers whenever you wanted, I’d sign the petition, I’d call my representative, I’d be right there explaining about how nudity won’t kill anyone. All I want out of life is to be covered from neck to ankle to elbow and still feel a cool breeze through my skirt, but apparently that’s just TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR when all the other fat people want to get the least amount of clothing for their dollar.

just a couple of notes:

1) you’re not actually fighting “with fat people,” bud. we don’t make the clothes. it doesn’t even seem like our spending power or collective voice influences the industry at all. as you have probably noticed, “modesty” in clothing isn’t super popular at the moment, so most clothing produced in any size is not super “modest” by default, and it is not because fat people are conspiring to expose you. i feel you- if you choose to dress “modestly” and are plus size, it is probably EXTRA frustrating to try to find ready made clothing, but fat people aren’t doing that to you. the truth is, a lot of plus size clothing is actually more “modest” than current trends dictate and more “modest” than straight sizes and more “modest” than is physically comfortable depending on weather/location, even if it isn’t “modest” enough for your style, and the root of this “modesty” is the pervasive notion that fat people should be hidden, ashamed, or made invisible. rejecting that notion and garments like that is not a rejection of you or your style, but a rejection of the very premise that fat bodies are unacceptable.

2) just as easily as someone could take scissors to a garment (which.. doesn’t actually really work for customizing garments unless you are cutting the sleeves off of a t-shirt to show your pits, or you are a riot grrrl, or you are me), you may layer a turtleneck or something under a revealing dress. that’s a crappy solution, though, right? as crappy as cutting up a garment that probably cost you like 70 bones.

3) most ‘immodest’ plus size clothing is ‘immodest’ in ways that are bizarre even to those of us who want to show all of their skin at all times (hayyyyy, this is me)- garments that show a random strip of shoulder, that require a special bra (a bra which does not exist in our size or costs $500), that rise up in the front to expose our waistbands and dip in the back to cover our ankles, etc. aren’t really what we want to wear either, and we hate that stuff too.

4) this is a beach cover-up. it is not a dress. it is something you are supposed to put over a wet bathing suit and presumably hang out in the sun.  i grew up in florida so i am a certified heat jock and beach hunk- the last thing you want when you’re in the sun is head to toe thick black fabric. i am the palest, most mole-covered human with a high risk of developing skin cancer, and am often forced (against my fat, “immodest” will) to cover up at the beach, and i would probably die of heatstroke if i wore this.

p.s. i am always going to put “modest” in scare quotes because the word “modesty” has such a crappy historic connotation for people, women especially, but it’s easier shorthand than “clothes that cover a lot more of you than some other clothes” or whatever.

theirmother asked wtfplus

Hey! Im a new follower but i did want to ask: Have you noticed forever 21s ‘plus size’ section? there are more pages of shorts alone in the regular sizes than the entire plus size section altogether. Not to mention how their swimsuits are all different colored variations of the same one piece, and their plus ‘lingerie’ section has disappeared altogether, although it was only a fluffy full coverage robe and boy shorts to begin with.

i’m a 28, so i haven’t paid toooo much attention to forever21’s plus section lately- it definitely houses some hilarity, but at the very least i can say that non-plus forever21 is also pretty gruesome at times. like, they have a lot more cute stuff than the plus line, but the non-plus line also has zebra print and union jacks and glitter and hanky hems and shit like this:

(that shirt has a hand doing a peace sign on it. in 2013. aren’t we post-peace sign yet?)

so i don’t hold their plus size… wackness? against them as much as some other places. my main problem with forever21 plus is that they don’t seem to really WANT to be a plus size store. aside from the fact that there’s not a plus section in all (or even MOST) stores, their 3X is listed on their size chart as a 17/18

but anyone above a size 17/18 knows that isn’t true?  as i mentioned, i’m a 28, and i have some 3X tops and dresses from there that fit me fine (and some other stuff in a 3X seems 5-10 sizes too small for me).  i know, blah blah vanity sizing, but they can obviously design and produce clothing that fits people my size, because they DO- so why don’t they extend their sizes? some 3X stuff is a juniors 17/18 but some is clearly a women’s 26/28. maybe it’s because a 28 would have to be like, an 8X in their current sizing convention? i dunno.

in short, i really did have an iced latte with an extra shot this morning.

Maximum style from a shapeless, baggy black maxidress.  That’s not a beach coverup, it’s a choir robe.  Yeesh.  Nice one, Kiyonna.

submitted by knitmeapony

editor’s note: the captions and random arrows are cracking me up ! i can’t even think of something funny to say.  ”maximum style” (covered elbow) “bracelets !!!” (elbow). i also like the concept of “easy bracelets,” because bracelets are usually super fucking confounding for me.

i do appreciate the departure from kiyonna’s usual style of “every dress is exactly the same a-line knee-length 3/4 sleeve thing with a lace top” though.

Gabi Fresh for s4a Swimwear - swimsuitsforall

doctor NAJIB: eShakti gripes

eShakti gripes

after working 22 hours of overtime, i finally, finally have enough money to order something from eShakti, my theoretical favorite retailer (their clothes come in sizes 0-36 and for $7.50 they customize to your measurements, and they exclusively stock foofy dresses) and every single dress i like is now sold out.

do you guys know if they ever restock sold out stuff? a few things i like just went out of stock like, yesterday, but this bizarre mallard duck dress i’ve been obsessed with for months has been out of stock since april.

The ugliest pant’s ever from Simply Be. Just because they sell them doesn’t mean anybody should buy them. Jazzy Genie Trousers they are not.

submitted by Roosa

editor’s note: two pairs of men’s briefs crossing an ocean of chewed up slim jims to be together.

simply be is simply shaming their own damn customer base

you’re all aware of the horrible someecards trend- people on facebook create their own e-card image featuring a stupid-ass phrase and ye olde time clipart, almost always about something no one actually cares about, and posts it on facebook. this leaves their friends from high school (me) to cringe in embarrassment at the amount they think people care about women who dare to curse AND wear high heels, or how many ‘actual fucks’ are given about whatever stupid shit.

anyway, plus size retailer simply be, a store who carries goddamn bikinis up to a size 28, posted this on their official facebook:

their caption? “Amen to that!”

what. the. fuck. WHAT THE FUCK? what the fuck? what the FUCK? what the fuck are you guys getting at here?  i’ve dealt with the myth of “flattering” before and how oppressive it is- it should not be a person’s goal to wear clothes that make them look “thin” or “curvy” or make their bellies look small, their boobs look big, to minimize their fat,etc. and i understand this kind of sentiment is popular among people who have not had The Revelation yet because we’re socialized to police each others’ bodies- if i had a nickel for every time i heard an insecure person say some stupid shit like, “leggings are not pants !” or “if you aren’t skinny, don’t wear skinny jeans !” or what the fuck ever i could afford to buy plus size clothes. but individual people say stuff like that because they are insecure and think that creating a set of rules they can follow and identifying people who do not follow those rules as ‘outsiders’ or ‘ugly’ or ‘bad’ makes them less of an ‘outsider’ or less ‘ugly’ or less ‘bad’.

but why would a BUSINESS post this on their BUSINESS facebook? “just because we are a business who sells you clothes in your size doesn’t mean you should buy them”? 

some of us got pretty touched up over the abercrombie and fitch thing, a store that has been excluding us for 100s of years.  how do you feel about a store specifically created for us doing something like this? cause i’m pretty pissed, and won’t be shopping at this dump anymore unless they issue a pretty sincere fat apology and remove this shit from their site.

UPDATE: fuck this company.  here is their reply: