Why DIY, a Rant

[scafleet]

Bless me main-stream fashion, for I have sinned.

I carry the most horrific burden against the: for lo, I am not a size 2. Indeed, I am not even an A-cup or less...but I have reached the fashion-failing grade of D.

As I sit, cowering in my size of 16, I beg your forgiveness humbly. For I cannot exercise to thy bidding with spinal damage, and I have no wish to starve myself. Please continue to see me not as a person, but as the useless dregs of mankind unworthy of thy works.

Yeah, and, anyway...

It's true. I have committed the horrible fashion crime of being a woman with curves. The annoying thing is that I'm not actually all that fat, but I really do have those "big bones" of lore. Heck, in the Army (never join the Army) with a flat stomach: I was a 14. Ergo, cool clothing is not made for me. Most of the time, it's not even carried in my size!!!

To add insult to another really big insult, the cool fashion designers never keep girls like me in mind when making clothes. Oh, sure, if I were over 40 and living in the Florida Keys on a private estate: I could find clothing designed for me. But I don't want to live in a tent, even if it is a two-piece.

That leaves two courses of actions open two me. One, I can become a total recluse and live naked in my home (or in a cave in the Andes, but those don't usually have internet connections). Two, I can say to heck with the mainstream gods of fashion and work on my own stuff. I know what looks good on a woman of my size: and I know how to make it.

So there.

[DIY-Diva]

yay for you! Yes I hear the internet signals aren't that good in secluded, dark caves hiding bunches of nudists and anti-fashhion victems like ourselves. I say we rampage the fabric shops and goodwill stores(although for me i would call it 'les petits rien' because i live in belgium and therefore there are no goodwill stores-just a bleguim version which is sort of small,faraway and crap so i suppose the fabric stores will have to do.)

Repent from these skinny-fitting jeans and large-unflattering stripe patterns and create a clan of the Clothing for Curves! :D

[Remki]

Say heck, say heck! Heck, say hell!

I'm not a skinny-biddy either (size 18, and not loving it, but I refuse to hate myself utterly for it). I don't have the time to make things completely from scratch, but heres another great idea: head down to those off-the-main markets, like Burkes Outlet, Ross, or corner no-name stores where they get everything from Mossimo to design companies you've never heard of. I tend to head down there (our local thrifts suck, really) and grab whatever looks good on you, no matter how plain. Then spice it up with improv-screenprinting, stitch designs, and old tee patches :)

Plus, feck jeans, get some skirts. I wear capris under mine (such a tomboy) but if they're the right cut they can be greatly flattering.

[scafleet]

The annoying thing of it is: this 'thinner then the second dimension' trend has only been around the past two hundred years or so. Go back any further into human (well, at least Western) history - and curves were the only way to go! In some areas of the world, referring to the obesity of a woman is still considered a compliment. I don't think you're allowed to kill anyone who asks "have you lost any weight..." but there's always hope.

So, if you're annoyed with the shtick of size 2 Milan models as I am, look for your inspiration in the past and faraway places. The lines that they liked (the way the body was supposed to look) are a lot more flattering.

Incidentally, I do wear a lot of skirts. Tends to make people think I'm more girly - so they're always so surprised when I have a brain, too. :D

[The Barold]

My wife is one of the bigger beautiful women and she suffers from the same woes it seems sometimes. Not sure if you've ever heard of Torrid (http://www.torrid.com/torrid/index.jsp), but that is where she shops alot for some of her clothes. Its got some cool clothes for plus sized women. But lately its been alot of Baby Phat and Apple Bottoms crap! Check the site you might find some stuff there.

[Coffee]

200 years? More like the past 50!

[Remki]

Actually, it's more like the past 130 years.

The trend towards slimness in fashion began somewhere around the Victorian era, though there had been pocket groups before that believed slimness to be best for some reason or another (often times religious groups believed slimness to be a sign of holiness because fasting was seen as a holy act). In the Victorian era, however, the trend towards restrictions on everything from hair to pregnant women going in public also turned towards bodyfigure and food intake. Helped along by romantic liturature of the time such as Byron, Shelly, and other writers and poets, the trend towrads thin had begun, though the belief that plumpness = maturity took a bit longer to die.

The World Wars of the early 1900's, along with their rationing and belief that contraint would help the country at war, encouranged the trend towards thin. In the begining it had nothing to do with health but was mostly a thing of fashion and of control. Only towards the early 50's and on, when the world finally had real time to look at this "new" trend under the light of modren science and popular culture did it boom into the thing of diets, magazines, and store-bought fashions it is today.

And unfortunatly, because the West seems to influence fashion and trends so much, it has begun to be a prevailant belief in other clutures as well, cultures that have historically valued plumpness as beauty. We all know that being obese is NOT good for your health, but the belief that being as stick thin as a young boy is beautiful in an adult woman is definitly not something that should be accepted as the only true beauty.

Once when I was 14, I had a college friend tell me I had a "goddess figure" and showed me some classical art. That one kind phrase helped me put up with the teasing on my clothes choice (always been out of the mainstream) and my weight until I found my niche group. Now whenever someone says someone is fat, I tell them to check out the classical art that is revered everywhere as beautiful.

And if they make fun of my clothes for not being ambercromy & whatever, I flip them off like the mainstream feckers they are, but thats another story.

:)

[Beetastic]

So glad to find I am not alone.

I have tried torrid I like some of their stuff the only problem is you have to be fairly tall and I am not.

[lafemmedramatique]

Oh, don't I know how this story goes.... I've always thought that I'm bigger than I am... In high school I was always somewhere between a size 5 and a size 9 (since clothing size numbers are never the same anymore), but I was bigger than some of my friends so I thought I was fat.... and then I came to college and gained more weight, and now I'm anywhere from an 11 to a 15 (stupid numbers...)

But I know I'm not fat... Granted, I'm not where I would like to be, since I'm terribly short so it makes it all the more shameful for me to be big as far as society goes, but I do feel that making my own clothing has done wonders to my self esteem. It makes me feel SO much better to have clothing that fits, and fits well over my curves, and I don't have to deal with the numbers game when I make it myself... no stupid little tag telling me I've gained weight, and no stupid clearance racks that have every single thing I had wanted to buy on sale, but only in sizes 0-4...

I know that it's possible for me to lose the weight. My older sister has gotten herself down to a size 2 several times (in high school, after college, and after having her second child), and she looks great, not unhealthy, but she makes herself miserable until she gets there by dieting and exercising like crazy, and telling herself she's fat all the time. I don't want to do that, to be honest. I would like to get back down to about a size 9, if I can, but beyond that I'm pretty sure I would have to make myself sick to get smaller, and to that I say no thank you!

[shewolf]

Y'know, I'm no where near heavy. I wear an 8-10 (US sizing) and I can't find anything. I've pretty much given up that I'll be in fashion anyway :rolleyes: DIY means I can make something I like that my husband won't have an anyerism over!

[MamaSasss]

I, too, am of the curvy ladies. I often try to find things in thrift stores that will fit me and I can turn into personal projects, but it's so rare that Salvation Army or one of the local second hand stores have things in my size that aren't, well....a moo moo. :mad:

Instead, I have found that H&M actually has well made clothes that fit me and most of the time are actually reasonable in price. Plus some of the stuff (the cheaper stuff) is so plain that it's perfect for personal sprucing up with my own style. The only thing about H&M that sucks is the website. It's confusing and I'm not really even sure if you can order from the site (it's just so confusing I can never find an "order now" button). So, if you don't have a store nearby you, poo and drat. Another great store, while it is a little more expensive, American Apparel has some really awesome skirts that are extremely well made AND...everything in there is plain and needs your personal attention to make ten times more glamorous! Yes. Indeed.

Egads...I hope I didn't offend the DIY gods just now. :o

P.S. It's great to hear that there are other women out there that are happy being a size 14. Kudos to you ladies. ;)

[starkrazi]

I am a 16 too. It is hard finding the right size. But i can't sew so i have to shop around for clothes that fit :(

[superdoofus]

"fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months." -oscar wilde (in one of his seldom departures from utter dryness)

i do it because aeropostale and abercrombie and old navy and who the hell ever else just kinda seems to try and dictate what market dictums my "evolution of style" should follow.
fuck 'em. i'm on a cuban guy in his fifties kick right now. so i'm buying 40 year old cabana shirts for $4 from the thrift store that are subtle in their pattern and resizing them for myself. i'm buying trousers that fit great and hacking them into shorts that compliment the color schemes that make me feel comfortable and pleasant at heart.
i went to art school for furniture design and learned not only how to weld steel and carve wood and forge iron, but also how to upholster and use a mattress needle and serge. one day i was slinging a sex red high-nap high-pile fake fur into a chaise lounge before i did a tuck and fold with handmade three inch patent leather buttons and realized that "hey, when i'm done i can swap thread and hem these pants finally, for about five cents worth of thread and fifteen minutes of my time. i've been up for 20 hours straight and the shop is empty..." now i am able to re-fit stuff that strikes my fancy without trying it on and thinking "dang, if only it fit better \this way/"

[coconut_sowhat]

Hell, I'm a size 4-6 (very short though) and store bought clothes dont fit me. If this were the 50s I'd be a freakin model! I too suffer from "big bones" so i couldnt get any smaller even if i ate like mary kate olsen, so whats a girl to do? RECONSTRUCT AND RECREATE I SAY!


Also my mother always tells me i must have lived in the 50-70s (but I'm 16). im not gonna find much that I REALLY want to wear anyway...

[pinoyblaze]

I love u grrl <3 you speak from the heart!! I find it a little annoying finding that cuz I'm a +plus sized guy, the stuff in stores usually don't fit...I have a big bootie (I've learned to love it, thank you very much lol) so you you, I tip my bowler cap (though I don't wear hatz cuz i have a odd shaped head) neway kudos, you r the true DIYer

[WonderlandAlli]

REMKIPlus, feck jeans, get some skirts. I wear capris under mine (such a tomboy) but if they're the right cut they can be greatly flattering.

I'd do that if I can even find skirts worth wearing. If they're not stopping just below the ladybits (I had another word and then remembered its an all ages forum) then they're about as tight as wrapping a scrunchy around a mastiff. :/

[ryanmoore]

amen!!
preach it sister!!!!

[WonderlandAlli]

Also my mother always tells me i must have lived in the 50-70s (but I'm 16). im not gonna find much that I REALLY want to wear anyway...

Maybe you did? There's no rule that you wait 200 yrs between incarnations. (Its just that most people that want attention claim to have been a queen or Cleopatra or whatever in a past life.) Free will continues into the next realm of being the same as we have it here, it's fundamental. So maybe you were a chic 50's fashion model... :)

[Coffee]

oooooookay then.

Or maybe she just jibes well with the aesthetic.

But at the same time, hoorah for curvaceous women!

[nicolecpm]

Bless me main-stream fashion, for I have sinned.

I carry the most horrific burden against the: for lo, I am not a size 2. Indeed, I am not even an A-cup or less...but I have reached the fashion-failing grade of D.

As I sit, cowering in my size of 16, I beg your forgiveness humbly. For I cannot exercise to thy bidding with spinal damage, and I have no wish to starve myself. Please continue to see me not as a person, but as the useless dregs of mankind unworthy of thy works.

Yeah, and, anyway...

It's true. I have committed the horrible fashion crime of being a woman with curves. The annoying thing is that I'm not actually all that fat, but I really do have those "big bones" of lore. Heck, in the Army (never join the Army) with a flat stomach: I was a 14. Ergo, cool clothing is not made for me. Most of the time, it's not even carried in my size!!!

To add insult to another really big insult, the cool fashion designers never keep girls like me in mind when making clothes. Oh, sure, if I were over 40 and living in the Florida Keys on a private estate: I could find clothing designed for me. But I don't want to live in a tent, even if it is a two-piece.

That leaves two courses of actions open two me. One, I can become a total recluse and live naked in my home (or in a cave in the Andes, but those don't usually have internet connections). Two, I can say to heck with the mainstream gods of fashion and work on my own stuff. I know what looks good on a woman of my size: and I know how to make it.

So there.

AMEN to that!! I have cried and sacrificed to the god's Mt. Mall-lympus about my drought of good reasonably priced fashionable items!! I have just made my 1st DIY blouse...and I am very pleased with my work!!

[ladyjanewriter]

REMKI

I'd do that if I can even find skirts worth wearing. If they're not stopping just below the ladybits (I had another word and then remembered its an all ages forum) then they're about as tight as wrapping a scrunchy around a mastiff. :/

F*ck corporate fashion and make yr own! Seriously, take a look at "Sew What Skirts" in the bookstore if you get a chance. I'm finishing up my first FROM SCRATCH skirt now, and hope to have the pics up pretty soon. I mean, from scratch as in drawing the pattern onto newsprint, using a skirt that fits as the basis of the template, and working from there.

It's taking me longer than it should b/c I'm hand-sewing it, and I decided to use bias tape as the waistband (done!) and for the hem (not done yet!) Once I make friends with my machine, this should go way quicker. :rolleyes:

[instantk4rma]

I really don't know where people get off commenting on people's weight anyway. I have a disorder that prevents me from losing weight properly, especially around my hips. That's nothing I can help. I walk several miles a week, I drink a billion gallons of water, I'm toned in most places, AND I watch what I eat (meaning no junk food.) I may be between a 14 and a 16, depending what day you ask and what time of the month.. but that's no reason I'm not beautiful. I have hips the size of most womens shoulders and ankles the size of their thighs. But who cares? Thank whoever's up there my husband-to-be loves me for who I am. He loves that I'm not tiny. He likes that I'm squishable and that I won't break when he hugs me.

[suburbanjungle]

Wow! I love it when people "rebel" like this...aka accept themselves. I think that's one of the greatest rebellions we can be a part of. The media bombards us with "perfect images" and I'm sick of it. If I was in to conspiracy theories, I'd think that a certain group of people know we feel less empowered and will fight less when we're less confident in ourselves. We'd have less time to act, as we'd be worrying about fixing what was never broken. As everyone has been stating, fashion has gotten out of hand. Shouldn't fashion be something original, something you create yourself? More importantly, something you like and are comfortable in?
To me that's DIY in a nutshell/mini rant. And why i enjoy it so much. : )

[TomotheCat]

Lots of wonderful DIYers cater to the curvy gals. Me, for instance, I never make anything with a bust of less than 43", and I'd be happy to commission something for you. Also, if you look on ebay under sellers, you've got "platipuses" "missalphabet" and a bunch of other girls. I suggest "DIY XL" or "DIY 1X" as your ebay query.

You're not alone. Promise.

Bless me main-stream fashion, for I have sinned.

I carry the most horrific burden against the: for lo, I am not a size 2. Indeed, I am not even an A-cup or less...but I have reached the fashion-failing grade of D.

As I sit, cowering in my size of 16, I beg your forgiveness humbly. For I cannot exercise to thy bidding with spinal damage, and I have no wish to starve myself. Please continue to see me not as a person, but as the useless dregs of mankind unworthy of thy works.

Yeah, and, anyway...

It's true. I have committed the horrible fashion crime of being a woman with curves. The annoying thing is that I'm not actually all that fat, but I really do have those "big bones" of lore. Heck, in the Army (never join the Army) with a flat stomach: I was a 14. Ergo, cool clothing is not made for me. Most of the time, it's not even carried in my size!!!

To add insult to another really big insult, the cool fashion designers never keep girls like me in mind when making clothes. Oh, sure, if I were over 40 and living in the Florida Keys on a private estate: I could find clothing designed for me. But I don't want to live in a tent, even if it is a two-piece.

That leaves two courses of actions open two me. One, I can become a total recluse and live naked in my home (or in a cave in the Andes, but those don't usually have internet connections). Two, I can say to heck with the mainstream gods of fashion and work on my own stuff. I know what looks good on a woman of my size: and I know how to make it.

So there.

[storm]

Please don't bite my head off for this, many people have for similar comments. For those of you who don't know this first-hand:being skinny isn't so easy either. When people aren't calling me anorexic, they're whispering about it behind my back. One of my best friends has gorgeous curves, I envy her so much. Guys hardly ever look at me cuz im such a stick. Clothes in stores are nearly impossible to find: I look on a rack and see 4 size 12's at one glance, but can hardly ever find a 4, much less a 0 or 00. Ive actually only ever seen the size 00 once in my entire life (dead serious) so for anyone who says i dont understand what its like not to find anything they can wear, I do, I really, really do. (And to anyone who says Im anorexic, when I fast on religous holidays, by 3:30 im usually so sick I can't stand by myself so f*ck you)

Wow, sorry for the rant. Basically, DIY rocks and is a great way to get what you can't find in stores: clothes that fit and aren't mainstream boring.
:D

[Coffee]

Basically, companies make money by catering to the most average, and to hell with them!

[Kittyangelgirl]

I really do need o take some sewing classes or something, I always get so inspired to DIY. It seems I can never quite find my style at the store, and whenever I do shop I always end up getting so fustrated because I can't find my size or they just don't have what I want. I want to try going to Salvation Army and turning stuff from drab to fab, but my mom has this weird disdain for thrift stores, wtf? Aw well, the price I must pay for living in the upper middle-class and being a long-islander. At least I'll be 18 next year and finally free from this place.

I'm anywhere between a 9-11, it depends on the clothing. I actually lost weight this year, and I didn't diet/starve/binge or anything. But that's probably just because I'm now 17 and my body's basically settling.

But I agree, curves are hot! Guys usually don't like stick/skeleton girls, and any guy that tells you you're fat is a prick. And deserves to be thrown in toxic waste.

[schmolly]

-gives you a standing ovation-
BRAVO!
-bows respectively to thee-
good rant.
:D

[countrygrl96]

I am a size 4 or 5 juniors and I am only eleven... So I can't shop at Limited Too or the 'Girls' section in wal-mart... Yeah that sucks... So I kinda know how ya feel. Also, a trick I have learned is that at the plus sized stores, there is GREAT jewelry for DIY!

[Elsime]

It's wonderful that you people can accept who you are :)

To tell you the truth, being skinny is not much better. I'm a small size 4 (US) and you'd think clothes would fit me perfectly ? Think again. First of all, all the clothes in the stores are made for giants. I mean seriously, what kind of girl is 6 feet tall, especially if she fits into the smaller size ?!? Any woman with my weight who is that tall has to be an anorexic. So everything I buy in a store has to be adapted to my size.

Also, if you are quite thin, you don't have much boobs. This is just the way it is, my chest is so flat I don't think I would even need to wear a bra. So please explain me WHY all the small size blouses and dresses are made for women with F cup sizes ? Anything I buy that doesn't stretch has to be adapted.

So what the hell is wrong with fashion stores ? I believe I have an average body type for people my age and height, why are all the clothes made to fit barbie dolls and not real women ? So hooray for DIY :) AND we aren't brainwashed into buying all these expensive clothes that don't even fit our personnality.

[Coffee]

You know what's fucked up?

A US Size 0 is a UK Size 4.

That's screwed up.

[TomotheCat]

Lol, it's the same with Asian clothes. In the US I'm like an L or XL, and if I order clothes from China or Japan, I'm like a 4X.

You know what's fucked up?

A US Size 0 is a UK Size 4.

That's screwed up.

[Coffee]

But that's because people in Asia are quantifiably smaller than in the rest of the world.

When I was in Malaysia, I could only buy clothes from Reject Shop*, which sold all the clothes that wouldn't sell in normal shops (*actual name of a chain of clothing shops in Malaysia) whereas... Americans are the largest people in the world, generally. You'd think things would be the other way around!

[TomotheCat]

I know. That makes me sad. I think it's mostly genetics. Horray for boobs.But that's because people in Asia are quantifiably smaller than in the rest of the world.

When I was in Malaysia, I could only buy clothes from Reject Shop*, which sold all the clothes that wouldn't sell in normal shops (*actual name of a chain of clothing shops in Malaysia) whereas... Americans are the largest people in the world, generally. You'd think things would be the other way around!

[goofipinay]

Maybe you did? There's no rule that you wait 200 yrs between incarnations. (Its just that most people that want attention claim to have been a queen or Cleopatra or whatever in a past life.) Free will continues into the next realm of being the same as we have it here, it's fundamental. So maybe you were a chic 50's fashion model... :)

ahem
a 4-6 is still model size...it's called PETITE modeling
course, you'd also have to be short x)
don't mind me..I used to..do that...and I was criticized for being an 8 (too big for petite, too small and short for plus)

whatever.
anyway... clothes are mainly made for the hourglass shape (note: dresses)
like... 38 in hips AND bust along with a 28 in waist
they're like that because that's how models are supposed to be made (doesn't matter if they're thin or plus-sized)


for me, I buy brands that are made by african americans... =D mainly cause they KNOW that you can be really curvy in one part and not the other.. or just really curvy in general...AND they know you can be *gasp* short!
heh =]

[Coffee]

*insert potentially sexist/racist references to "Sistas" and also "Badunkadunk" and possibly including the term "Snap Snap Snap" here*

[QuinnSparrow]

I stand at 5'11" wieght 135 and I can't fit in a size smaller then 10 (that's an average some pants run big/small) Why? Because there's a 6" differents between my hips and my waist. Heh talk about a curve.

[exequias]

Amen.

[ladyjanewriter]

I stand at 5'11" wieght 135 and I can't fit in a size smaller then 10 (that's an average some pants run big/small) Why? Because there's a 6" differents between my hips and my waist. Heh talk about a curve.


I'm 5'3 1/2", and at my best weight range I'm 135-140. Right now I'm (drum roll...) 178 :eek: Which is HIGH for me. I'm short!

And, yes, I too have the Junkcadunk in the Trunkcadunk. Big time! One day in 2001 when I was trying on skirts at a size 4 and 119 lbs (too small for me) - the craziest thing happened!

I went to Filene's Basement (not the original one, the chain) and tried on skirt...after skirt...after skirt...after skirt. NOTHING FIT. NOTHING. I had the exact same fit problems! Like, I can be 178 lbs and have the exact same paper-bag waist fit problems (and not in a fashionable way, but major waist gappage). 119? 178? Doesn't matter. I spend the exact same amount of time wrangling with jeans and skirts in the damn dressing room. :mad:

That's why my Skirt-A-Palooza project means so much to me!!! Words can't even express trying on a skirt for the first time and have the waist fit (almost) perfectly on me.

I hope I can iron and sew the hem on my latest skirt today after work. I wanna wear it now! :D

[QuinnSparrow]

[quote=ladyjanewriter;23635]I went to Filene's Basement (not the original one, the chain) and tried on skirt...after skirt...after skirt...after skirt. NOTHING FIT. NOTHING./quote]

I'm not really sure what that had to do with my post that you had to quote me. But I though I'd mention I actually have no real issue with skirts. Even less issue with dresses. Jeans are a different story all together! I'm wonder if sucking it up and going to the gap will really wound my pride. I'm all for DIY and Thrift Storing but I'll save for months and drop major dollars for a pair of jeans that fit.

[ladyjanewriter]

I'm not really sure what that had to do with my post that you had to quote me. But I though I'd mention I actually have no real issue with skirts. Even less issue with dresses.

waist-to-hip ratio annoying-ness. (My waist is muuuch smaller than my hips). Sorry! I can un-quote you if you like.

[QuinnSparrow]

waist-to-hip ratio annoying-ness. (My waist is muuuch smaller than my hips). Sorry! I can un-quote you if you like.

No that's fine I was just really confused! But out of curiosity what style of skirts were you trying on to not find any that fit?

[ladyjanewriter]

Any, it doesn't matter with me. I have to upsize by one size with a-line skirts and just let 'em drop to my hips, or take in darts with the waistline. I'm consistently a size larger on bottom than on top - doesn't matter what weight I am, how much I work out, etc.

[QuinnSparrow]

I usually wear skirts at my natural waist and they just tend to fall over my hips (this however doesn't work with pencil skirts :mad: ) or just go the large size needed to fit it at my hip.

[ladyjanewriter]

I learned that I shouldn't wear anything at my natural waist - my jeans/skirts look MUCH better at a modest mid-rise. Unbelieveably better!

[QuinnSparrow]

I'll never wear pants at my natural waist (I will only break that rule if I got an awesome pair of 13 button navy styled pants) but skirts either happen to look nice there or my shirt it just untucked and covers the fact. But my torso is pretty long so it's not that big of an issue.