WEBSPIRATION

I started this bloggy thing because I felt I wasn't finding much that inspired me. But I have found a *few* quite lovely and inspiring fat fashion blogs, though, and one of them is leblogdebigbeauty.com by the delightfully fat and French Stephanie Zwicky.

Stephanie Zwicky

Her style runs a little more upscale than mine, she's a PROFESSIONAL MODEL, and she's dripping in brand names and spendy shoes (good for her!) Check out her site - she's certainly getting amazing clothes from advertisers, but she also seems to truly care about quality gear for the fat lady crowd. She's got an advocacy streak, which I adore.

I think she's the real deal. And, even though I don't really care about brand names, I've been DYING for a pair of those Miu Miu sunglasses ever since I saw them last year. I mean. Look at them.

Stephanie's coveted Miu Miu sunglasses

PLUS: POSING IN FRONT OF THE LOUVRE. Art nerd twitterpation.

Stephanie Zwicky

Not too shabby, Notre Dame

I couldn't find the link to this specific post, but I've long admired this outfit.

Check her out. Love her.

TM COLLECTION

Seriously, I am in love. 

I don't quite remember how I found TM Collection out of Portugal, perhaps it was through the exquisite Selvedge magazine, but it was love at first sight. Teresa Marie, whoever you are, you're reading my mind:

All photos from TM Collection 

Apron-styles, linen, silk, and wool, embroidery, folky details, layered elements... it's like my clothing fantasy. Scarves! Suspenders! Plus, dare I say it, a bit of a Bananarama vibe, too.

Don't get me wrong. I can't buy any of these clothes. They do not come in my size. However, I'm still inspired by the artfulness of the garments, and the textures, and the colors.

Time to fire up the old Viking.

BANANARAMA-O-RAMA

I've been thinking a lot lately about what inspires me, clothing-wise, and other-wise. When I think of fashion I love, the list is long. But lately, I keep coming back to Bananarama.

YEAH, I know.

I did not LOVE Bananarama in my teen years. I liked them just fine. But I loved their look. They had a somewhat popular 80s androgyny thing goin' on, with baggy overalls, big shirts, floppy hair. I mean, what's not to like? They looked like they spent all day painting in the art studio. Or, in this case, working on cars:

This was not a look I carried with me into adulthood. I only recently have begun to rethink my early Bananarama inspiration, as I trace my fashion roots. Last night I watched a BBC-produced documentary about the band, and it turns out they were actually totally kick-ass feminists and continually gave producers like Malcolm McLaren the brush off when he tried to control their look or sound. "We didn't want to be anyone else's product. We were doing what we wanted to do. We didn't need other people's ideas."

Personally, I'd be nowhere without other people's ideas. Thanks for the inspiration, Keren, Sara, and Siobhan. Jacquie, I barely knew you...

BLOG LEGS

First Blog Post EVER. It's gonna be a little funky at first. Gotta get my blog legs.

Here's the deal: I love clothes, and fashion (well, kinda love-hate) and I'm a 40-something fat lady. For me, clothes are about self-expression, fabric, history, and (usually) comfort. In my travels around the blogosphere, I've yet to find a fat fashion blogger that really ZINGS me. I find lots of fantastic, young, body positive women. I am so happy for these young women, and inspired by them even though we're separated by generations. Their attitudes are infectious. However, I find their clothing and taste... not quite my style.

Today I googled the words "Fat Fashion Middle Aged" and found some very unpleasant things. Most of the words in my search have, sadly, very negative connotations, even though they describe exactly what I'm looking for. I did not delve too deep, but did find one blog that seemed promising. A former fashion designer, my generation... sounded good! She was also a writer (nice), interested in local politics (okay!), and very vocal about how much she hated her fat body (WHOOPS!)

So I went to my friends at Facebook, and asked the following:

where are the inspirational fashion blogs for stylish 40-something fatties? the body positive young ladies dress in ways i can't relate to, and all of the middle aged bloggers complain about their bodies in ways i won't relate to. you're fat, it's fine, get dressed.


Everyone was like, DUH, Becky, just do it already.

Ok, then. Here I go.

photo: david drafall