This is a repost from Joy Nash's blog...
It was entirely too perfect not to promote...
AAAMEN to Lesley at Fatshionista and the The Rotund with their posts on dressing like YOU.
I've been thinking about this a shitload too.
I kind of have a problem with "dressing for your shape". To me it means "tricking people into thinking you're less fat." It means forgetting about what you like and tossing out what you want people to think about when they look at you, all in the hope that they will not be thinking about your fat.
Who cares. If they care about fat, they're going to see it whether you swathe it in jersey or not. Whether you wear all black and structured everything or not, if rolls on other people's backsides are the stuff that keeps them up at night, IT'S WHAT THEY'RE GONNA SEE. Big deal.
So what? People like that are toxic and wastes of space. Quit trying to make them happy. I say quit trying to make ANYBODY happy. Make you happy. It's the only thing you can do anyway.
Growing up, I was the oldest, but my family didn't have a lot of money, so with the exception of 2 or 3 outfits that grandma bought, all of my clothing came in giant garbage bags from the neighbors with older kids.
I mean they were hand-me-downs transported in garbage bags. They weren't dumpster trophies. Although that would have made a way better story.
Anyway, I thought this was AWESOME. My mom pretty much gave me free reign to dress myself and I was all about wearing ridiculous crap to school just because I liked the texture of the turd colored knee socks. One of my very favorite outfits was a short-sleeved brown floral cotton top with a matching ankle-length patchwork (all patches being variations of brown floral) skirt. The brown was the same color as the haircut I'd given myself, and I was thrilled with the way that everything matched. It was total hippie 70's, and I wore it to 4th grade in the super-rad late 80's. I didn't have a lot of friends. Okay, ANY friends.
The other girls were busy in fuschia bike shorts with little skirts sewn on top, and I had more in common with Laura Ingalls .. or Nancy Drew. Or Trixie Belden, depending which garbage bag I had been pawing through.
I vividly remember Dana Vanderschaaf asking me why I was wearing knee socks and penny loafers. It was because I found them in the garbage bag and they fit just perfectly! They were ribbed and the nylon was squinchy and they had tassels!! "My mom forces me." That's what I told her.
She still didn't invite me to her birthday party.
Anyway, in middle school we moved, and I kept wearing my dad's jeans and my mom's sweaters from the 60's and 70's and it still didn't cost me anything, but suddenly I had a bunch of friends!! My clothes were COOL! Or more accurately, I finally met some kindred spirits who could recognize the glory that was a corduroy FFA jacket with my Dad's name and 1969 stitched on the side. (Dad was the Vice President!)
The moral of the story is: the haters are gonna hate. Shockerooney. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe it's superficial and naive, but I can't be the only one who can make people go away by refusing to think about them. I've forgotten all my "embarassing moments". Why on earth would a person dwell on something that makes them feel terrible? If that's the dress you were wearing when you did something monumentally and horrifically awful, GET RID OF IT! Or reframe the situation or hack it in half and make it into a headband. Just quit living there.
The girls I see on fatshionista and wardrobe remix, the ones who make my jaws drop every time they post their mugs are the ones who don't ask for permission. They don't attempt to appease the masses; they don't assume that anything is off limits. There's nothing that "shouldn't be done", nothing their fill-in-the-blanks are "too big for". No doors are closed, no options are inaccessible. They shop in catalogs and the old stand by brick and mortars, they scour thrift stores and ebay, friend's closets and museum gift shops.
For a good 7 or 8 years, once I was larger than a size 14, I gave up on thrift stores. I shoved them into the same category as Wet Seal and Anthropologie. Why on earth would I set foot in a store that doesn't carry my size? But the fatshionistas and a few real life friends busted me out of my little box.
"Do you think no one was fat before 1990?" "Where do you think old Lane Bryant clothing goes? It doesn't just vanish out of fat people's closets..." "Where do you think 6-foot-tall, 300 lb female impersonators find their first sequined dream?"
Granted, I'm partial to obnoxious prints and dramatic EVERything, but I personally think the key to looking frigging incredible is to decide what you want to look like. Who do you admire? What do you want people to be reminded of when they look at you? Marilyn? Diane Keaton? Ally Sheedy, Bettie Page, Richard Nixon? Pick something!
And then shop for things that make you happy. Is it too small? Says who? What if you wore it backwards? Inside out? Make it a dress!
Fat Fashion, even more loudly than straight-size fashion, demands creativity. No, you're NOT going to find exactly what you want in your size. Big deal. Now, what are you going to do about it?
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Blogging Project Runway: Working 9 to 5...
I got to see this last week's episode from a real TV in Austin,TX.
The whole make over a young graduate gave me the impression that NO ONE in the fashion industry has the foggiest clue of what the real working world is like at all and that Nina, Michael and Heidi ( and Cynthia Rowley) have NEVER interviewed for a regular job in their frail little fashion universe lives.
If you read the "What to Wear to a Job Interview" section on any job board from "The Ladders" to Monster.com, it pretty much tells you clearly to err on the side of conservative, to wear a suit and dress up from the people who work there. This effectively means that if the worplace is " business casual" , you show up to the interview in a suit.
This even applies to creative or fashion jobs. I can hardly see ANYONE applying for an editorship at Vogue or Elle in anything BUT a Helmut Lang or Chanel suit maybe with a nice TSE cashmere tee or Anne Fontaine shirt or for a buyer position at Neiman's, Saks, Harrod's or Barney's in more the same.
I have a lovely black Louben suit ( a high end Canadian label) that has a spectacular fit and that I wear with a bevy of Thomas Pink shirts and works like a charm. I try to promote Canadian fashion every time I get a chance :-)
So the judges "you made her look old" complaint was completely misplaced. Funky, sexy and cool is what you wear when you ALREADY have the job, not when you are interviewing for it.
I can hardly see myself walking into a pitch at, let's say, Astra Zeneca, in a DVF printed dress or a Pucci top or a Temperley cocktail dress. There is a time and a place for everything.
I was actually intrigued by the thought of them dressing a girl who works at a biomedical lab.
It was going to give me the chance to laugh my ass off.
I worked at a lab for AGES.
I had to do it all, treat animals, run Western blots and RT-PCR's, mix buffers and solutions, animal husbandry, dissections , cultures, slides, immunohistochemistry and wash dishware.
EVERYTHING.
Including writing reports and papers.
The nerdy labgirls in their majority dress like utter crap ran on them.
There was one who wore overalls and reminded me of my Uncle Chico Che except my uncle was less hairy and looked better groomed. This chick had hair like Mafalda, the Argentinean cartoon character. So you undertand, like Gilda Radner's character's Rosanne Rosanna-Dana.
Others dressed like Quebec versions of washing women.
And they all were MEAN as vipers.
There were 3 or for of of who were nice, pretty and who actually cared about fashion and these chicks ( who believed themselves to be smarter and more dedicated than us) were BITCHES.
And they humiliated us and often left us the most menial tasks.
My friend ( who is French and beautiful and looks like a model) and I decided " We might be washing the glassware but goddamn it, we are going to do it in motherfucking Chanel!!" And we always did..
We were ( the French girl, a Romanian sexy lady and me) the best dressed, best put toghether fashionistas the science world has ever seen. We turned those labs into a perpetual Fashion Week Montreal.
And it was a better place for it.
How many of these mustached bitches can reproduce off-the-runway Carolina Herrera AND run a Western in it?
I was ever so curious to see what the PR peep were going to come up with...
So let the corporate backstabbing, bullying and pink-slipping begin...
Jerrell's:
This was actually pretty decent. I don't know if I would wear it to an interview but it would be a good thing to wear to work everyday at a "business casual" place. Which was totally surprising coming from Jerell, official designer to the co-ed burlesque team and a couple of schools. At the Rio Carnivale.
Joe:
This was the closest to a suit but the styling was APPALING. What is up with the dominatrix/ hooker heels? WITH BARE LEGS!!!!! And the shirt that made her boobs look like melons in a Whole Foods eath friendly canvas bag. SUPPORT is not a 4 letter word... and he is supposed to be the straight guy.
Kenley's:
Le dicen "Betty La Fea"....I think she forgot her "Guadalajara" poncho on the set... And the only place of employment she would thrive at would be "Mode" magazine....eeekkkkk
Korto's
This is SHOCKING and disappointing coming from Korto, the only decent designer in the bunch. This is one major fug and I would have never been caught dead in it in any of the labs I worked at. Which probably would have made it an A-1 choice for the Le Chateau-wearing quetaines or the ubiquitous lab-ho's.
But seriously NO ONE wears bare legs and high heels in a lab. Pants are always preferable and the skirt is FAR too short for any lab in this planet.
Leanne's
To me this was the one that most ressembled workwear.... actaully decent for an office...
Suede's:
OMFG!!!! This wa atrocious, hideous and it made my eyes hurt.
The dress looked like a cocktail party in suburban Italy and the jacket came off of wardrobe at a traveling 3rd rate circus. This one was the one that most certainly deserved the boot not only because the contruction SUCKED witha capital S, but because NO ONE could wear it to any job without expeting to have all co-workers and supervisors think that you just wandered in from an orgy with the carnies.
Unitl soo when i will cover the PR Bryant Park Collections and the rest of NY and London Fashion Weeks. And please remember kindly... I have a day job :-)
The whole make over a young graduate gave me the impression that NO ONE in the fashion industry has the foggiest clue of what the real working world is like at all and that Nina, Michael and Heidi ( and Cynthia Rowley) have NEVER interviewed for a regular job in their frail little fashion universe lives.
If you read the "What to Wear to a Job Interview" section on any job board from "The Ladders" to Monster.com, it pretty much tells you clearly to err on the side of conservative, to wear a suit and dress up from the people who work there. This effectively means that if the worplace is " business casual" , you show up to the interview in a suit.
This even applies to creative or fashion jobs. I can hardly see ANYONE applying for an editorship at Vogue or Elle in anything BUT a Helmut Lang or Chanel suit maybe with a nice TSE cashmere tee or Anne Fontaine shirt or for a buyer position at Neiman's, Saks, Harrod's or Barney's in more the same.
I have a lovely black Louben suit ( a high end Canadian label) that has a spectacular fit and that I wear with a bevy of Thomas Pink shirts and works like a charm. I try to promote Canadian fashion every time I get a chance :-)
So the judges "you made her look old" complaint was completely misplaced. Funky, sexy and cool is what you wear when you ALREADY have the job, not when you are interviewing for it.
I can hardly see myself walking into a pitch at, let's say, Astra Zeneca, in a DVF printed dress or a Pucci top or a Temperley cocktail dress. There is a time and a place for everything.
I was actually intrigued by the thought of them dressing a girl who works at a biomedical lab.
It was going to give me the chance to laugh my ass off.
I worked at a lab for AGES.
I had to do it all, treat animals, run Western blots and RT-PCR's, mix buffers and solutions, animal husbandry, dissections , cultures, slides, immunohistochemistry and wash dishware.
EVERYTHING.
Including writing reports and papers.
The nerdy labgirls in their majority dress like utter crap ran on them.
There was one who wore overalls and reminded me of my Uncle Chico Che except my uncle was less hairy and looked better groomed. This chick had hair like Mafalda, the Argentinean cartoon character. So you undertand, like Gilda Radner's character's Rosanne Rosanna-Dana.
Others dressed like Quebec versions of washing women.
And they all were MEAN as vipers.
There were 3 or for of of who were nice, pretty and who actually cared about fashion and these chicks ( who believed themselves to be smarter and more dedicated than us) were BITCHES.
And they humiliated us and often left us the most menial tasks.
My friend ( who is French and beautiful and looks like a model) and I decided " We might be washing the glassware but goddamn it, we are going to do it in motherfucking Chanel!!" And we always did..
We were ( the French girl, a Romanian sexy lady and me) the best dressed, best put toghether fashionistas the science world has ever seen. We turned those labs into a perpetual Fashion Week Montreal.
And it was a better place for it.
How many of these mustached bitches can reproduce off-the-runway Carolina Herrera AND run a Western in it?
I was ever so curious to see what the PR peep were going to come up with...
So let the corporate backstabbing, bullying and pink-slipping begin...
Jerrell's:
This was actually pretty decent. I don't know if I would wear it to an interview but it would be a good thing to wear to work everyday at a "business casual" place. Which was totally surprising coming from Jerell, official designer to the co-ed burlesque team and a couple of schools. At the Rio Carnivale.Joe:
This was the closest to a suit but the styling was APPALING. What is up with the dominatrix/ hooker heels? WITH BARE LEGS!!!!! And the shirt that made her boobs look like melons in a Whole Foods eath friendly canvas bag. SUPPORT is not a 4 letter word... and he is supposed to be the straight guy.Kenley's:
Le dicen "Betty La Fea"....I think she forgot her "Guadalajara" poncho on the set... And the only place of employment she would thrive at would be "Mode" magazine....eeekkkkkKorto's
This is SHOCKING and disappointing coming from Korto, the only decent designer in the bunch. This is one major fug and I would have never been caught dead in it in any of the labs I worked at. Which probably would have made it an A-1 choice for the Le Chateau-wearing quetaines or the ubiquitous lab-ho's.But seriously NO ONE wears bare legs and high heels in a lab. Pants are always preferable and the skirt is FAR too short for any lab in this planet.
Leanne's
To me this was the one that most ressembled workwear.... actaully decent for an office...Suede's:
OMFG!!!! This wa atrocious, hideous and it made my eyes hurt.The dress looked like a cocktail party in suburban Italy and the jacket came off of wardrobe at a traveling 3rd rate circus. This one was the one that most certainly deserved the boot not only because the contruction SUCKED witha capital S, but because NO ONE could wear it to any job without expeting to have all co-workers and supervisors think that you just wandered in from an orgy with the carnies.
Unitl soo when i will cover the PR Bryant Park Collections and the rest of NY and London Fashion Weeks. And please remember kindly... I have a day job :-)
Friday, September 19, 2008
Cheesecake Liberation
Article by Lady Becca for Fashion Sanity
This past weekend I went to an amazing social salon. Every month this group gets together and presents on topics they know, feel passionate about, or are interested in. It’s a varied group in terms of gender, economic background, sexual preferences, and lifestyles and so the topics are equally varied. During a break I ended up getting into a deep conversation with this super hot red head about the fat acceptance movement, the fashion industry, skinny models, fat hate, skinny hate, medical science and self love. I realized a few things:
1. the media half truths are more pervasive than I thought.
2. even “fat chicks” will think of anecdotal evidence that reinforces the media’s half truths
3. I really dig red heads
4. I need to do more home work on the subject.
So I did. I sat my cushy ass in front of the computer and stuffed my brain with facts and figures. The more I learned the better I felt about myself, my body and my ability to have this discussion with people. I looked at myself, and what I do and don’t eat. I knew I was ok, but now I see where I’m doing better than ok, and where I could be doing just plain better. I’ve also become more aware of people.
Last night I went to a certain big name home improvement store. No, the other one. Along the way my housemate, boyfriend and I stopped into Trader Joe’s to feed her addiction to dried mango and my addiction to chocolate…and dried mango. I bought a box of cheesecake bites, enrobed in deep dark chocolate and we wandered about the home improvement store eating chocolate covered cheesecake and dried mango while discussion devious plans for a Rube-Goldberg device. And I noticed something…I didn’t care.
A week ago, I would have bought that box, put it in the car and waited until I got home to open it and enjoy those little morsels with my boy and a few Heroes episodes. Instead, I walked proudly, defiantly, through a major chain store nibbling on cheesecake and my boy. I know, for a fact, that several of the older women manning departments and registers looked. I could see the thought as it marched passed on their faces, the thought that I could be so pretty if I would just put down the sweets and get moving.
I wanted to laugh in their 40 something plus, pursed lipped faces and ask if they had any idea how much moving I do? I wanted to lustily grope my boy right there in front of them, and show them just how hot he is for me. I wanted to rub their faces in their own self loathing and ask if they were really happy with swallowing the bullshit fed to women every day about our bodies and how they should look.
Instead, I smiled coquettishly and had another bite. The effect was better.
This past weekend I went to an amazing social salon. Every month this group gets together and presents on topics they know, feel passionate about, or are interested in. It’s a varied group in terms of gender, economic background, sexual preferences, and lifestyles and so the topics are equally varied. During a break I ended up getting into a deep conversation with this super hot red head about the fat acceptance movement, the fashion industry, skinny models, fat hate, skinny hate, medical science and self love. I realized a few things:
1. the media half truths are more pervasive than I thought.
2. even “fat chicks” will think of anecdotal evidence that reinforces the media’s half truths
3. I really dig red heads
4. I need to do more home work on the subject.
So I did. I sat my cushy ass in front of the computer and stuffed my brain with facts and figures. The more I learned the better I felt about myself, my body and my ability to have this discussion with people. I looked at myself, and what I do and don’t eat. I knew I was ok, but now I see where I’m doing better than ok, and where I could be doing just plain better. I’ve also become more aware of people.
Last night I went to a certain big name home improvement store. No, the other one. Along the way my housemate, boyfriend and I stopped into Trader Joe’s to feed her addiction to dried mango and my addiction to chocolate…and dried mango. I bought a box of cheesecake bites, enrobed in deep dark chocolate and we wandered about the home improvement store eating chocolate covered cheesecake and dried mango while discussion devious plans for a Rube-Goldberg device. And I noticed something…I didn’t care.
A week ago, I would have bought that box, put it in the car and waited until I got home to open it and enjoy those little morsels with my boy and a few Heroes episodes. Instead, I walked proudly, defiantly, through a major chain store nibbling on cheesecake and my boy. I know, for a fact, that several of the older women manning departments and registers looked. I could see the thought as it marched passed on their faces, the thought that I could be so pretty if I would just put down the sweets and get moving.
I wanted to laugh in their 40 something plus, pursed lipped faces and ask if they had any idea how much moving I do? I wanted to lustily grope my boy right there in front of them, and show them just how hot he is for me. I wanted to rub their faces in their own self loathing and ask if they were really happy with swallowing the bullshit fed to women every day about our bodies and how they should look.
Instead, I smiled coquettishly and had another bite. The effect was better.
Monday, September 15, 2008
London Fashion Week- Ozzie Clark Review
I, like the looser I am, had to actually work the high powered nerdy day job today, instead of attending fabulous Fashion Week events which my sister did for me. ( No, the PR twinkundchick fashionbots did no scare me off. I actually had to earn more than they get paid in a.... really long time)
A couple of the best shows took place today including two of my favourites: Luella and Paul Smith.
It is kind of my fault to not have gotten invites since I should have queried for them a long time ago. But I had no clue ALL shows were by "invitation only".
NO ONE informs you of that.
It was a shame that the Ozzie Clark PR-chicklet was such a harpie because I would have LOVED to see the show now that I have seen the photos. Maybe the tanning machine and the excess of UV rays have fried her sense of human decency.
Avsh Alom Gur who is now designing for Ozzie Clark showed some of the most all around universally wearable garments and something that I had not seen on that scale since St. Laurent and Pucci in the '70's: the Caftan.
I love Caftans, maligned as they have been.
See, I am from the "Studio 54" generation. Not the ones that partied there with Bianca and Andy and Harlston but of the teens who saw that as it was happening.
The ones that drooled at the DVF wrap dresses, and "Le Tuxedo" and yes, Talitha Ghetty's Caftan in Vogue.
Women of all sizes look regal in a caftan and these ones are beautiful, fluid and languorous. They have a little bit of St. Tropez with a dash of Casablanca and Haifa for good measure.
I am going to give up food for a while for one of these....
They are fairly exquisite... The prints somehow remind me of Provencale pottery.
And they would be the perfect thing to wear with a pair of breezy sandals to host a party at home. I think for my housewarming party, I will be wearing an Ozzie Clarke... God I AM the bigger woman!!! In every sense of the word.
As I always say... God gave me a big body because I need it to fit in my giant heart and enormous brain. (Pstt: Ask Bianca what a PDE-5 inhibitor is... or why is it that nosocomial infections such as MRSA emerged...)
A couple of the best shows took place today including two of my favourites: Luella and Paul Smith.
It is kind of my fault to not have gotten invites since I should have queried for them a long time ago. But I had no clue ALL shows were by "invitation only".
NO ONE informs you of that.
It was a shame that the Ozzie Clark PR-chicklet was such a harpie because I would have LOVED to see the show now that I have seen the photos. Maybe the tanning machine and the excess of UV rays have fried her sense of human decency.
Avsh Alom Gur who is now designing for Ozzie Clark showed some of the most all around universally wearable garments and something that I had not seen on that scale since St. Laurent and Pucci in the '70's: the Caftan.
I love Caftans, maligned as they have been.
See, I am from the "Studio 54" generation. Not the ones that partied there with Bianca and Andy and Harlston but of the teens who saw that as it was happening.
The ones that drooled at the DVF wrap dresses, and "Le Tuxedo" and yes, Talitha Ghetty's Caftan in Vogue.
Women of all sizes look regal in a caftan and these ones are beautiful, fluid and languorous. They have a little bit of St. Tropez with a dash of Casablanca and Haifa for good measure.
I am going to give up food for a while for one of these....
They are fairly exquisite... The prints somehow remind me of Provencale pottery.
And they would be the perfect thing to wear with a pair of breezy sandals to host a party at home. I think for my housewarming party, I will be wearing an Ozzie Clarke... God I AM the bigger woman!!! In every sense of the word.
As I always say... God gave me a big body because I need it to fit in my giant heart and enormous brain. (Pstt: Ask Bianca what a PDE-5 inhibitor is... or why is it that nosocomial infections such as MRSA emerged...)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
London Fashion Week: Ozzie Clark and more
Well everyone, I am at the press tent for London fashion week.
I think the best thing so far has been the protest that was happening outside. A flock of absolutely FABULOUS plus size compatriots were dancing to Mika's " Big Girl You are Beautiful" dressed in very Harajuku Super Kawaii outfits. That and the MAC press lounge which is divine. They do touch ups to your make out and have a glorious gift/swag bag with awesome MAC stuff.
I am wearing a very Goth/Alice in Wonderland inspired getup. My Marc by Marc Jacobs polka-dot pinafore dress and Tarina Tarantino skull jewelry with black leggings and my Kitson Zebra and Patent ballet flats.
My make-up is to die for. Black smokey eye and pale sugar frosted lips.
The girls at the MAC lounge were ADORABLE.
Another business altoghether with the Ozzy Clark catwalk show.
Some PR bizziches acting in manner of " Studio 54" doormen, were deeming who from the press was and was not worthy of getting in, particularly a rude duckfaced woman named Bianca.
I was reminded of those days back in the mid-80's when we used to stand outside of Mexico City's most popular club called " Magic Circus" begging some a-hole that under ordinary circumstances would have been our driver or gardener to let us in ..we would go " Juan-Jo, Juan-Jo" begging for his attention and he acting like he was motherfucking St. Peter, waiting to open the gates of Heaven.
It's a FASHION SHOW people!!! If we are press, you SHOULD be grateful.
We are there to review your clothes and are making people think in a positive or negative way about your product.
Turns out most of the catwalk shows are by invitation only.
Otherwise you need to deal with the Juan-Jo little witches.
I think my fashion website is probably the only objective source of fashion information since I am not sponsored by ANYONE.
Thus, my opinion and that of the people that contribute for my site is completely unbiased.
We are like the PLOS or Mother Jones of fashion.
When I look at and review a designer's clothes, I do so on their merit alone.
And you'd think people would value that....
Well, I did not get into Ozzie Clark.
I think I am trying to get into PPQ.
What I do know, is that I am not standing for an hour outside a tent begging some bitch on a power trip to let me in only to be sent away after an hour of waiting.
Shit, now my feet are swollen. If I get DVT, I am billing Ozzie Clark's PR company for the medical treatment....
Stay tuned to see if I actually get into any of the catwalk shows...or I have to watch them all from the press exhibition tent...
Boys and Ghouls...We are Big Time!-London Fashion Week
Well people... we are in as legitimate press at London Fashion Week.
I accredited without a problem.
I am covering some of the catwalk shows today.
I am wearing my Marc by Marc Jacobs black polka dot pinafore dress, black leggings, a vintage velvet blazer, and Tarina Tarantino jewelry.
There is a BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT protest going on outside with a flock of GORGEOUS plus size beauties dancing to Mika's " Big Girl You Are Beautiful" and REPRESENTING..
As I walked in, I gave the the rock on sign and told them " I am here for you sisters".
Stay tuned for all London Fashion Week coverage...This is amazing!
Love,
MillaX, Editor-in-chief and UK correspondent, Fashion Sanity ( Anna who, you said?)
I accredited without a problem.
I am covering some of the catwalk shows today.
I am wearing my Marc by Marc Jacobs black polka dot pinafore dress, black leggings, a vintage velvet blazer, and Tarina Tarantino jewelry.
There is a BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT protest going on outside with a flock of GORGEOUS plus size beauties dancing to Mika's " Big Girl You Are Beautiful" and REPRESENTING..
As I walked in, I gave the the rock on sign and told them " I am here for you sisters".
Stay tuned for all London Fashion Week coverage...This is amazing!
Love,
MillaX, Editor-in-chief and UK correspondent, Fashion Sanity ( Anna who, you said?)
Friday, September 12, 2008
Blogging Project Runway: 13 Ghosts
Geezus the baby Christ, this week was bad... wicked bad.
The designers were tasked with designing an Avant Garde look based on Zodiac signs.
Really, actually kind of cool.
Yet NOT ONE could come up with something that could be considered remotely Avant-Garde by any stretch of the word.
Not even 3/4's as good as the stuff that my classmates at ghetto-Mesa College used to show at the little cute ghetto-fashion show/ provincial dance recital they had at the Airport Ramada or something. Not that they did not fancy themselves at the tents at Bryant Park, mind me. My rule of thumb is the following: if your fashion show is proudly organized and advertised as a "G-rated and family-oriented" event, that is a fashion show that is not the right venue for me. Just the fact that the show is thought with people's grandparents and kindergartners in mind makes me want to show my collection on 7 feet tall drag queens with mohawks and put cod pieces on every single one of them. While playing "God Save The Queen" by the Pistols and with Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ" as my runway background. Shit... that actually sounds brilliant...
MANY, MANY of my classmates were ( are) statistically significantly more talented than a good 96% of the PR designers both as technical/construction people, and more rarely as designers ( a lot of them were very commercial and Forever 21-ish, some tacky-ass bitches and some devoid of originality, but there were a couple of three REALLY talented peeps).
Crap, of all that was shown this week maybe 2 were wearable and 1 was derivative in a sad way.
But let's start the carnage...
Jerrell's:
This was the winning look and that just about tells you everything.
The skirt is a'wigth and interesting in a McQueenish sort of way. The rest of it looks like a mother of the bride in a favella in Rio.
Keebler Elf on Meth ( aka as Blayne)
How can I word this?.... oh, oh, I know..." Textile neoplastic disorder (TND) is characterized by abherrant growths of bridal fabrics thoughout the body, and is considered pernicious, fatal and incurable. Its precise etiology is thus far unknown, but it is thought to be caused by uncontrolled lack of the good taste isoenzyme in the frontal cortex of the brain and by dysregulated egos in vectors known as designers. Presently, the only means of existing treatment are surgical (excision with a pair of Ghinger's and a seam ripper, anesthesia optional), and provide patients with a modest hope for improvement in quality of life (QOL). Active research is necessary to further investigate if the immediate administration of atypical anti-psychotics to designers during full manic/schizoid episodes, would indeed prevent the increased incidence of this disabling and disfiguring condition." The End :-)
Terri's:
I am disappointed. Very disappointed.
This looks like a room at my grandmother Medina's house. Comforting for me. But for a couture dress? Bad, very bad. She has a thing for clowns and circuses...
Joe's:
And this would be another bedroom at my nana's.... I did not know PR had morphed into an INTERIOR design show. EVERYTHING looked like upholstery. Which brings me to....
Kenley's:
Holy fuck, what was that??? This is like fashion version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau". Kenley obviously possessed by a mad couture obsessed scientist, decided, with disregard to ethics and human decency, to create a chimera of past dresses by Dolce & Gabanna, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Viktor& Rolf. The results, here for your examination, are as you can observe, appaling and nausea-inducing.
Korto's
Not Avant-Garde. But being that is is somewhat wearable, met the challenge brief and as at least marginally aesthetically pleasing, to me it was the winner by default.
Leanne
This one met the challenge brief and was innovative but seriously who the hell would wear that? Not even Tilda Swinton...
Which brings us to Suede's:
Well, yes Major Nelson... your wish is my command...
This cheezy "I Dream of Jeanie" costume is as couture and as Avant-Garde as my ass is tiny and inconspicuous.
Single-handedly the WORST episode as far the the clothes go in a fever-pitched tie with the "Real Women" challenge.
This was more sallient because the memory of Chris March's and Christian Siriano's Avant-Garde dress which was one of PR's 5 best ever is still fresh in our minds.
Intead of signs of the zodiac, these were the signs of the Black Zodiac thus the allusion to one of my favourite horror b-movies "13 Ghosts" one of the most sublime cheesefests ever.
The designers were tasked with designing an Avant Garde look based on Zodiac signs.
Really, actually kind of cool.
Yet NOT ONE could come up with something that could be considered remotely Avant-Garde by any stretch of the word.
Not even 3/4's as good as the stuff that my classmates at ghetto-Mesa College used to show at the little cute ghetto-fashion show/ provincial dance recital they had at the Airport Ramada or something. Not that they did not fancy themselves at the tents at Bryant Park, mind me. My rule of thumb is the following: if your fashion show is proudly organized and advertised as a "G-rated and family-oriented" event, that is a fashion show that is not the right venue for me. Just the fact that the show is thought with people's grandparents and kindergartners in mind makes me want to show my collection on 7 feet tall drag queens with mohawks and put cod pieces on every single one of them. While playing "God Save The Queen" by the Pistols and with Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ" as my runway background. Shit... that actually sounds brilliant...
MANY, MANY of my classmates were ( are) statistically significantly more talented than a good 96% of the PR designers both as technical/construction people, and more rarely as designers ( a lot of them were very commercial and Forever 21-ish, some tacky-ass bitches and some devoid of originality, but there were a couple of three REALLY talented peeps).
Crap, of all that was shown this week maybe 2 were wearable and 1 was derivative in a sad way.
But let's start the carnage...
Jerrell's:
This was the winning look and that just about tells you everything.The skirt is a'wigth and interesting in a McQueenish sort of way. The rest of it looks like a mother of the bride in a favella in Rio.
Keebler Elf on Meth ( aka as Blayne)
How can I word this?.... oh, oh, I know..." Textile neoplastic disorder (TND) is characterized by abherrant growths of bridal fabrics thoughout the body, and is considered pernicious, fatal and incurable. Its precise etiology is thus far unknown, but it is thought to be caused by uncontrolled lack of the good taste isoenzyme in the frontal cortex of the brain and by dysregulated egos in vectors known as designers. Presently, the only means of existing treatment are surgical (excision with a pair of Ghinger's and a seam ripper, anesthesia optional), and provide patients with a modest hope for improvement in quality of life (QOL). Active research is necessary to further investigate if the immediate administration of atypical anti-psychotics to designers during full manic/schizoid episodes, would indeed prevent the increased incidence of this disabling and disfiguring condition." The End :-)Terri's:
I am disappointed. Very disappointed.
This looks like a room at my grandmother Medina's house. Comforting for me. But for a couture dress? Bad, very bad. She has a thing for clowns and circuses...
Joe's:
And this would be another bedroom at my nana's.... I did not know PR had morphed into an INTERIOR design show. EVERYTHING looked like upholstery. Which brings me to....Kenley's:
Holy fuck, what was that??? This is like fashion version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau". Kenley obviously possessed by a mad couture obsessed scientist, decided, with disregard to ethics and human decency, to create a chimera of past dresses by Dolce & Gabanna, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Viktor& Rolf. The results, here for your examination, are as you can observe, appaling and nausea-inducing.Korto's
Not Avant-Garde. But being that is is somewhat wearable, met the challenge brief and as at least marginally aesthetically pleasing, to me it was the winner by default.Leanne
This one met the challenge brief and was innovative but seriously who the hell would wear that? Not even Tilda Swinton...
Which brings us to Suede's:
Well, yes Major Nelson... your wish is my command...This cheezy "I Dream of Jeanie" costume is as couture and as Avant-Garde as my ass is tiny and inconspicuous.
Single-handedly the WORST episode as far the the clothes go in a fever-pitched tie with the "Real Women" challenge.
This was more sallient because the memory of Chris March's and Christian Siriano's Avant-Garde dress which was one of PR's 5 best ever is still fresh in our minds.
Intead of signs of the zodiac, these were the signs of the Black Zodiac thus the allusion to one of my favourite horror b-movies "13 Ghosts" one of the most sublime cheesefests ever.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Blogging Project Runway: Digest Version
Well, I have not done my usual Project Runway commentaries because I am now in London, the episodes are not as readily available and because frankly this season, a couple of the designers are a'wight but none have ignited my furor.
I stand by my initial prediction for final 4:
Joe
Korto
Terri
Suede
Maybe Leann sneaks in there.
The Olympic uniform challenge was kind of boring and blah to me.
I always end up comparing with the lines that this rocking Canadian company Roots, puts out for the Canadian Olympic team. They ALWAYS have the hottest and best selling Olympics-related garments.
..
I ( and Prince Wills) have worn their gorgeous hockey newsboy hat.
Compared with the freshness of what Roots puts out, what the PR people put out for the challenge was kind of well, Valerie Stevens or Sag Harbour.
But as usual, Korto's was the best..
Then the obligatory product placement challenge ensued and they had to make something from car bits...
Actually. Korto's coat was a beauty...
The winning look was kind of dromedary on the hips. I did not see Mugler or Galliano at all.
They BOTCHED the drag queen challenge. BOTCHED it.
On that challenge you could do anything. The sky was the limit and NOT ONE OUNCE OF BRILLIANCY...
The utter mediocrity PISSED ME OFF!
The Brooke Shields "Lipstick Jungle" challenge? Shit does anyone watch that show? I really could not care less.
And then there was the DVF challenge. Those cunts...
Sorry but they FUCKED UP!!
This was the chance for a PR designer to go legit. To actually impress this woman and get a good job as a head designer with a MAJOR design label. I am sorry but I would eat one of my relatives in a Oaxacan tamale for a chance like that.
AND NONE of these designers was able to effectively channel the DVF gestalt without resorting to something that looked like a page in the costume section of the McCall's Patterns Catalog. Leanne's was a nice dress... But it was NOT DVF. It was a 1930's high end costume or an Oscar gown. But not cohesive with DVF's line.
The closest to real DVF was again Korto.
This is a picture of me in a REAL vintage DVF so you can see the similarities in cut, print, silhouette and drape.
Working with prints is one of my design fortes. And I would be in sheer heaven in the DVF fabric archive. I was lucky enough to get my hands on DVF yardage and I have not touched it yet.
But these guys really missed their chance.
I always ask myself why has there not been the equivalent of a Kelly Clarkson or a Carrie Underwood coming out of Project Runway?
And I always have to contemplate the possibility that the Project Runway franchise cares more about the ratings and making appealing reality TV than about finding solid and enduring talent.
I stand by my initial prediction for final 4:
Joe
Korto
Terri
Suede
Maybe Leann sneaks in there.
The Olympic uniform challenge was kind of boring and blah to me.
I always end up comparing with the lines that this rocking Canadian company Roots, puts out for the Canadian Olympic team. They ALWAYS have the hottest and best selling Olympics-related garments.
..
I ( and Prince Wills) have worn their gorgeous hockey newsboy hat.
Compared with the freshness of what Roots puts out, what the PR people put out for the challenge was kind of well, Valerie Stevens or Sag Harbour.
But as usual, Korto's was the best..
Then the obligatory product placement challenge ensued and they had to make something from car bits...
Actually. Korto's coat was a beauty...
The winning look was kind of dromedary on the hips. I did not see Mugler or Galliano at all.
They BOTCHED the drag queen challenge. BOTCHED it.
On that challenge you could do anything. The sky was the limit and NOT ONE OUNCE OF BRILLIANCY...
The utter mediocrity PISSED ME OFF!
The Brooke Shields "Lipstick Jungle" challenge? Shit does anyone watch that show? I really could not care less.
And then there was the DVF challenge. Those cunts...
Sorry but they FUCKED UP!!
This was the chance for a PR designer to go legit. To actually impress this woman and get a good job as a head designer with a MAJOR design label. I am sorry but I would eat one of my relatives in a Oaxacan tamale for a chance like that.
AND NONE of these designers was able to effectively channel the DVF gestalt without resorting to something that looked like a page in the costume section of the McCall's Patterns Catalog. Leanne's was a nice dress... But it was NOT DVF. It was a 1930's high end costume or an Oscar gown. But not cohesive with DVF's line.
The closest to real DVF was again Korto.
This is a picture of me in a REAL vintage DVF so you can see the similarities in cut, print, silhouette and drape.
Working with prints is one of my design fortes. And I would be in sheer heaven in the DVF fabric archive. I was lucky enough to get my hands on DVF yardage and I have not touched it yet.
But these guys really missed their chance.
I always ask myself why has there not been the equivalent of a Kelly Clarkson or a Carrie Underwood coming out of Project Runway?
And I always have to contemplate the possibility that the Project Runway franchise cares more about the ratings and making appealing reality TV than about finding solid and enduring talent.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Plus Size Life: UK vs US and Darwin ATTACKS!
After a few weeks living here, I can say that both countries have their pluses and their minuses when it comes to living in them as a plus size person.
I cannot speak for ALL plus size ladies, mostly because I have a very specific taste ( edgy couture) and I am on of those bridgy plus chicks where I can still buy stuff at chez the "God's Choosen" straight sized stores even though they look at me, to quote some people in size acceptance, as if my diet consisted of baby-flavoured doughnuts everytime I walk in one of their upscale hallowed stores.
I think that if my taste leaned more towards the totally alternative or the very conservative, I might have an easier time finding clothes, but the fact that I am contantly looking for size 18 Marc by Marc Jacobs or size 16 McQ or a size XL (and not an idiotic size 10 as XL as per Juicy Couture, but a REAL XL like an 16-18) House of Holland t-shirt makes me at best a dreamer and mostly determined to fill a niche that NO ONE has bothered to address: High End designer contemporary apparel over a size 8. I know that one day I am going to be rich. How come no one but me has given a thought to a "Miss 80" ( Instead of "Miss Sixty')?
Or to Plus DVF? Or yes, even plus size Juicy?
I HAVE CALLED and written all of these companies asking them to do plus lines but they act like I am asking them to have sex with household pets. Yes, I have written AND called Diane Von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs AND Pam and Gella at Juicy and they will make clothes for you if you get knocked up. But if you are fat? Burn bitch and burn in a muumuu.... ARGHHHHHH
So if they don't do it, I will. I will be more than happy to sell my clothes full price and not see thousands of XS garments languish month after month on clearance racks until they end up on the backs of small children in El Salvador and Erithrea.
Which I guess is who they were designed for in the first place.
The buyers at upscale stores make me laugh. They really do. It's like they live in a perpetual state of denial when they they see the XLs and L's sell for full price. The M's go at first markdown and those XS stay there through clearance and past TJ MAXX AND the Goodwill store, until they have to be shipped back to where they came from in a sad cycle of waste.
But they keep stocking 1 XL, 2 L's, 6 M's , 10 Ss and 20 XSs just because they think that because they wish it, we will all shrink on demand.No, not EVERYTHING in Anna Wintour's diabolical agenda moves forward without a hitch...
Most buyers must be fundamentalist Christians, I think. They refuse to accept evolution and that as a species, we are growing bigger and taller with each passing generation. Ok... my grandma: 5'2. My mom: 5'5. Me: 5'8. My daughter: 5'10 and STILL growing? Get the picture? It's NOT an "Obesity Epidemic"... It's fucking evolution. Like MRSA but WAY cuter.
The sad part is the science people are not any better. They know about evolution and yet refuse that it's happening IN HUMANS in front of their eyes. They only acknowledge it when it comes to microorganisms.
They think that we should weight the same as peeps did in the 40's. Since we are taller and stronger and bigger than people were in the 40's and we no longer die of smallpox or polio or work all day in small rural farms, they deem us all not genetically fit and better fed, but "obese". Fuck them and the pocket protector they are wearing. Shit, that would be more sex than most of them get in a year..
And no, most of us who break the BMI commandments do not eat out every meal at a place that serves super sized fries and sit on our ever expanding asses all day.
We just are bigger and taller than average. I walk about 5 miles on a bad day. And I eat like 1500-2000 calories. Usually the same as my skinny compatriots. Sometimes a lot less. Yet they stay skinny and I stay fat. Something in the equation does not compute...
But back to the fashion...
So far I am noticing that a lot less is available as far as specially dedicated plus-size retail outlets.
I have only seen the plus departments at Harrod's ( big but VERY conservative) and Debenham's at Oxford St. ( minuscule and cheesy) and that intriguing little store in Kew.
But other than that zilch. I am being told about this store called Evans. But I have yet to see one anywhere.
In the States I see a Lane Bryant at every mall, and a Torrid every other mall.
In some there's both.
A lot of the brands go up to a size 20 or 22 UK which is like a 16 or 18 and that is what I buy here. Some good ones are Monsoon, the Star line by Julien McDonald at Debenham's
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..table> 
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..table>
and Pink by Thomas Pink.
One thing I direly miss is a place where I can find plus size, affordable hosiery.
My favourite in the US is Assets by Sarah Blakely ( the chick from Spanx) that I get at Target. It's not super cheap ( around 10 bucks a pair) but it wears well and it fits great.
Here big hose is borderderline impossible to find. The only available thing is the expensive Spanx and some ( very few) models of Wolford. And if you are anything over a size 18 I would not attempt ot because that is how far they stretch,
They deperately need a Target here. And the Right Fit Jeans by LB. I am so freaking happy that I got 2 pairs before I left the US and I snagged some of the new Trouser jeans.
I am going to continue to explore what is available here. I mean I KNOW there is Anna Scholtz and everything but I am looking for more other options and things that are unexpected.
I keep trawlling the charity shops too in search of the unexpected find.
Saturday I was looking for a cover up for the ballet because it is COLD and I had to leave my winter coats behind ( the bloody 30k luggage restrictions and all)... I got a great men's tux jacket for a few pounds and an adorable tiny evening bag because NOTHING looks less graceful than a giant diaper bag-like handbag on an evening out. I do NOT comprehend the giant handbag thing...
I had to limit my handbag allowance to 1 bag for the plane.... I almost died.
But so far I have not unearthed miracles like I used to in Montreal.
If anyone has any suggestions of plus- size retail outlets or designers I should cover please let me know.
I really want to support any stores or designers catering to plus sizes.
I cannot speak for ALL plus size ladies, mostly because I have a very specific taste ( edgy couture) and I am on of those bridgy plus chicks where I can still buy stuff at chez the "God's Choosen" straight sized stores even though they look at me, to quote some people in size acceptance, as if my diet consisted of baby-flavoured doughnuts everytime I walk in one of their upscale hallowed stores.
I think that if my taste leaned more towards the totally alternative or the very conservative, I might have an easier time finding clothes, but the fact that I am contantly looking for size 18 Marc by Marc Jacobs or size 16 McQ or a size XL (and not an idiotic size 10 as XL as per Juicy Couture, but a REAL XL like an 16-18) House of Holland t-shirt makes me at best a dreamer and mostly determined to fill a niche that NO ONE has bothered to address: High End designer contemporary apparel over a size 8. I know that one day I am going to be rich. How come no one but me has given a thought to a "Miss 80" ( Instead of "Miss Sixty')?
Or to Plus DVF? Or yes, even plus size Juicy?
I HAVE CALLED and written all of these companies asking them to do plus lines but they act like I am asking them to have sex with household pets. Yes, I have written AND called Diane Von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs AND Pam and Gella at Juicy and they will make clothes for you if you get knocked up. But if you are fat? Burn bitch and burn in a muumuu.... ARGHHHHHH
So if they don't do it, I will. I will be more than happy to sell my clothes full price and not see thousands of XS garments languish month after month on clearance racks until they end up on the backs of small children in El Salvador and Erithrea.
Which I guess is who they were designed for in the first place.
The buyers at upscale stores make me laugh. They really do. It's like they live in a perpetual state of denial when they they see the XLs and L's sell for full price. The M's go at first markdown and those XS stay there through clearance and past TJ MAXX AND the Goodwill store, until they have to be shipped back to where they came from in a sad cycle of waste.
But they keep stocking 1 XL, 2 L's, 6 M's , 10 Ss and 20 XSs just because they think that because they wish it, we will all shrink on demand.No, not EVERYTHING in Anna Wintour's diabolical agenda moves forward without a hitch...
Most buyers must be fundamentalist Christians, I think. They refuse to accept evolution and that as a species, we are growing bigger and taller with each passing generation. Ok... my grandma: 5'2. My mom: 5'5. Me: 5'8. My daughter: 5'10 and STILL growing? Get the picture? It's NOT an "Obesity Epidemic"... It's fucking evolution. Like MRSA but WAY cuter.
The sad part is the science people are not any better. They know about evolution and yet refuse that it's happening IN HUMANS in front of their eyes. They only acknowledge it when it comes to microorganisms.
They think that we should weight the same as peeps did in the 40's. Since we are taller and stronger and bigger than people were in the 40's and we no longer die of smallpox or polio or work all day in small rural farms, they deem us all not genetically fit and better fed, but "obese". Fuck them and the pocket protector they are wearing. Shit, that would be more sex than most of them get in a year..
And no, most of us who break the BMI commandments do not eat out every meal at a place that serves super sized fries and sit on our ever expanding asses all day.
We just are bigger and taller than average. I walk about 5 miles on a bad day. And I eat like 1500-2000 calories. Usually the same as my skinny compatriots. Sometimes a lot less. Yet they stay skinny and I stay fat. Something in the equation does not compute...
But back to the fashion...
So far I am noticing that a lot less is available as far as specially dedicated plus-size retail outlets.
I have only seen the plus departments at Harrod's ( big but VERY conservative) and Debenham's at Oxford St. ( minuscule and cheesy) and that intriguing little store in Kew.
But other than that zilch. I am being told about this store called Evans. But I have yet to see one anywhere.
In the States I see a Lane Bryant at every mall, and a Torrid every other mall.
In some there's both.
A lot of the brands go up to a size 20 or 22 UK which is like a 16 or 18 and that is what I buy here. Some good ones are Monsoon, the Star line by Julien McDonald at Debenham's
.tr>
..table> ..table>.tr>and Pink by Thomas Pink.
One thing I direly miss is a place where I can find plus size, affordable hosiery.
My favourite in the US is Assets by Sarah Blakely ( the chick from Spanx) that I get at Target. It's not super cheap ( around 10 bucks a pair) but it wears well and it fits great.
Here big hose is borderderline impossible to find. The only available thing is the expensive Spanx and some ( very few) models of Wolford. And if you are anything over a size 18 I would not attempt ot because that is how far they stretch,
They deperately need a Target here. And the Right Fit Jeans by LB. I am so freaking happy that I got 2 pairs before I left the US and I snagged some of the new Trouser jeans.
I am going to continue to explore what is available here. I mean I KNOW there is Anna Scholtz and everything but I am looking for more other options and things that are unexpected.
I keep trawlling the charity shops too in search of the unexpected find.
Saturday I was looking for a cover up for the ballet because it is COLD and I had to leave my winter coats behind ( the bloody 30k luggage restrictions and all)... I got a great men's tux jacket for a few pounds and an adorable tiny evening bag because NOTHING looks less graceful than a giant diaper bag-like handbag on an evening out. I do NOT comprehend the giant handbag thing...
I had to limit my handbag allowance to 1 bag for the plane.... I almost died.
But so far I have not unearthed miracles like I used to in Montreal.
If anyone has any suggestions of plus- size retail outlets or designers I should cover please let me know.
I really want to support any stores or designers catering to plus sizes.
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