I have a love/hate relationship with magazines.
On the one hand I love a bit of celebrity gossip. Yet I hate the horoscopes. I adore the amusing photo captions. I dislike the scrutiny that celebs are put under due to their looks. I enjoy the readers’ stories. But I DETEST the fashion advice. This particularly riled me up…
Excuse me?! We should do WHAT?! And for what reason?! I wait for MONTHS to see some sort of fashion advice that is aimed at women who like to cover their thighs and cannot wear strapless dresses and THIS is what I get? A small tiny piece of writing that tells me in delicate terms that my ‘larger frame’ should basically be ‘shrunk’, covered up, have all of the attention drawn away from it because god forbid should anyone realise how fat I am, protect their eyes from how my figure may look in patterns! Oh, and just in case I am not clear on the sentiment there is a ruddy great arrow pointing at a recommended patternless, dark fairly shapeless garment that I should definitely buy in every shade of black and live the rest of my life in. I am ambivalent about my body at the best of times but I firmly believe that you should be proud of what you have and if you aren’t happy then make the most of it whilst taking steps to try and change it into something that you are more content with. The reason that fat women end up hating their bodies is because they are bombarded with endless pages and spreads and features and adverts giving them advice on what to wear that they cannot follow – links to shops that stop at a size 16, unattainable dress lengths, tiny hot pants, bodycon dresses. Then, squeezed in at the bottom of the page there in which fashion advice for the larger female in condensed into the simple line “Big-framed girls should avoid prints and opt for darker colours to flatter the frame.” Get with the times you so called ‘fashion magazines’ and start giving some valid useful fashion tips to those of use who have larger hips, a wobbly bum, a large pair of boobs – those of us who don’t have perfect shop mannequin like figures!
I went to an Evans focus group a few months back and I was lucky enough to meet the gorgeous like-minded Kathryn. Both of us are of a “larger frame” and we agreed that as bigger girls we didn’t want to hide away. Evans have a reputation of making some rather unflattering clothes that aim to swamp rather than flatter and this is NOT what us chubby girls want. We want to look and feel good just like our slimmer counterparts. We may not be able to dress ourselves in the kind of outfits that they can but does that mean that we have to lurk in the shadows in our ill fitting black tents trying to not to ‘upset’ anyone? No it bloody shouldn’t! People may comment and make remarks – well let them, this fat girl will not be dressing like a goth trapped in a marquee any time soon!
Check out this post which is an amazing read on the same subject!
Fuller Figure Fuller Bust 
Love love love you, it is thanks to you and other bloggers I am learning to like and love myself again. X
Also, it’s not like wearing solid dark colors makes you not-fat. People are still going to NOTICE that I’m not a size 6, because they have EYES. So I’m not going to be ashamed of my body and wear a giant black sack just because “fashion” mags can’t be bothered to include me in their vision of good dressing…
I stopped reading these magazines about 3 years ago, and haven’t missed them (and their toxic advice) one bit!
I hear you! My other pet peeve is the advise given for apple shapes. So yes – I carry my weight around my waist – but just because that’s where my fat is doesn’t mean I want to hide my waist under bulky clothing. I want clothing to make the most of the assets I have – not hide them.
I have the apple shape Werona, but sadly I’m not confident enough to show my figure, I want my waist hidden as it isn’t really a waist and I hate the fat rolls of my stomach!
Beauty is subjective, and is different for everyone. I am a 27 year old male, and I find fuller curvier women to be much more attractive to me. My wife is fuller, and most of the woman I dated before I got married where what people would describe as thick or even “fat”, to me they were attractive. I find your size and figure to be beautiful and I would disregard and negative comments and love the body you are blessed with.
Love this post, just sayin’
Work it!
Here here! I’ve been that girl in the far too much dark coloured fabric and you know what people saw? A fat person who was also flipping miserable. I’m refusing to hide my body away these days just because my shape is different to what some magazines say I should wear. I mean, to me, those pictures in this post are all full of girls and women who look beautiful and anyone would be lucky to know. But some fashion journalists would probably beg to differ because you’re all wearing colours and prints. For me its simple – am I going to take fashion advice from someone that has no first hand knowledge of what does or doesnt work? Nope, because that would be like asking someone whom is on a strict no carbs/no anything diet what I should get on my next trip to Hotel Chocolat. At the end of the day, if you’ve not experienced something, at least a little bit, then you cant truly understand it. Would it really hurt these magazines to publish pieces on the proper art of plus size dressing? No, it wouldnt because in fact they’d probably sell more magazines still.
But finally, I heart Fluvia so much…..that post always makes me go ‘hell yeah!’ when I read it!!
Here here lady G. Your blog has made me take more pride in my appearance. I see how stunning you always look so why can’t we all! I did give up reading fashion mags but now see that I have to improvise to get the latest trends. Btw several outfits your wearing look fab talk us through them pretty please!!!
❤ thanks lovely. Which outfits?xxx
Can I also add that because of how you dress, in no way do you look like a “big” girl. So forget dark clothes. Colours look fab
❤ you. That dress above would make anyone look shapeless. It is a fact that curvier figures actually look better in more form fitting clothing that makes the most of what they have. Amen to this post! Don't hide those curves!
+1!
Another excellent post George and you are SO SO right. Show off your fabulous figure – curvy girls look far better in well-fitted clothes than they do in black tents … and add a bit of colour pattern and you reveal your personality rather than hide it. xx
I have read similar comments myself, and I find it so disappointing. Did you read this article?
http://www.curvymagazine.com/features/plus-sizes-pay-like-you-weigh/
I loved this line and felt like it summed up the way many women feel with the regards to the fashion industry:
“Plus size women don’t spend money on clothing as much as straight size women because the industry for years have told them “You are not worthy of beautiful clothes, you can’t be a model, your body is not attractive, we don’t want to see you, and you are not beautiful”. The media have chipped away at women’s positive body image for years. After the plus size woman have been publicly rejected and humiliated,what exactly did you expect?”
Ooooh thanks for sharing that, love it x
Yup – it’s about the quality of the material as well!
K x
WOW that GREEN DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just wanted to send you a big virtual hug for that positive energy that I feel through your posts!
I’m only 5’3″, size 0-2, with 28E bust and I have always been petite girl with small stomach. I don’t understand why some people feel a need to bash on somebody’s body. I was called a rat, I was told multiple times that my boobs are too small by some girls with big boobs, that my hips are so wide mentioned by the girls with narrow hips, I was told that my legs are O-shaped because I have some space between them, I was told to eat more billion times by parents, aunts, and grandparents. But I knew that my so called wide hips are the same width as my shoulders, so they aren’t very noticeable. And also my boobs aren’t big but still they are nice shaped and who said that small boobs are worse? I know also that it’s impossible for me to have no space between legs since my hips aren’t narrow and the angle that legs come out of the hip bones is bigger than other people have. I always felt good in my body and I didn’t understand why I should have so many complexes? Yeah, I have times when I want my boobs to be bigger and my hips to be smaller but which woman never complains about herself?
I love to look at women who obviously come up in so many different sizes and think how I’d dress them up (including hair color, color of clothes, types of clothes, getting a well-fitted bra, etc) and what can I be jealous of for few minutes ( i.e. thick hair, full bum, big boobs, super long legs, perfect eye makeup, outspokenness, physical strength, etc). I’m so sad when people say bad things about somebody’s body just because, instead of finding positive aspects. Also why would I like someone only based on a body type? Like where is the character?
I’m a big fan of your blog. I love to look at your beautiful curves and your outfits! You glow and look very sexy in those colorful dresses and blouses! You also smile in I think almost every single photo posted on this blog and you’re very honest in your opinions, I mean what’s not to love about you? 😀
Thank you for this ❤
I agree with you absolutely. It makes me insanely mad when fashion magazines and websites tell fuller figured women they need to ‘hide those ‘unsightly’ lumps’ and equally offensive descriptions of what are in reality REAL bodies and beautiful curves.
I looked at those pictures and thought “oh my gosh. Those girls look like me! I wouldn’t stand out there!”
George, this post is fantastic!
You are the most wonderful woman ❤ I absolutely adore you! I 100% agree about this subject. Absolutely redundant.
My whole life I have had people wanting me to drape things over my boobs, hide them, make myself “disappear”. Such a drag. Especially being Muslim and Bangali, I didn’t just get it from fashion blogs but from family and friends. I got it in grad school when the head of our department told me I show too much cleavage. I get the need to look more professional, but I don’t think I ever dressed in club clothes.
I think I dress the best now, wearing things that make me feel sexy and beautiful. Screw everyone else.
I agree with this all, until I got to the ‘goth’ insult. There isn’t nothing wrong with dressing like a goth *ahem* 🙂
It wasn’t an insult! Goths wear dark colours, that’s all I was getting at!