I love a good blog meme. Following in the footsteps of Pretty in Plus, Two Many Cupcakes and Fat Heffalump, I’m going to define my style in five items (actually, I’m cheating and using five ‘items/themes’ because it was just too hard otherwise).
I’m not a fashionable person. I don’t know much about designers, I don’t follow trends and I will never ever wear stilettos. That said, I do think fashion is important and can be quite political. The way we present ourselves through our clothes/accessories/hairstyles tells the world a story about us before we even open our mouths. The limited options available to fat people mean that the messages we are able to send with our fashion are, in a way, censored. By refusing to cater to us, fashion labels are controlling the way we can present ourselves. To send an accurate message, fat people must try harder; we have to be adventurous, resourceful and inventive.
So though I am not a fashionable person, I do have style that’s all my own. Blogs – both reading and writing them – has really solidified my sense of style. I now have a much better idea of what I like the look of, what I like to wear and what (I think) looks good on me. Thanks to this awareness, when I put on my outfits now I feel more like myself than I ever have.
Frances in Five Steps
1. Big chunky jewellery
To me, an outfit feels unfinished without accessories. To the disappointment of my mother and big sister, I don’t like ‘proper’ jewellery (gold and gemstones and all the rest); the material dominating my jewellery collection is plastic. My brand of choice is Dinosaur Designs for their bright colours, solid chunk and for being homegrown.
2. Sneakers
I vividly remember insisting to the Boyfriend at the beginning of our relationship (around 6 years ago) that girls did not look good in sneakers. Time makes fools of us all! The picture above was taken for my very first OoTD in July 2009. I had left a pair or two out of the photo because they didn’t fit in the frame and I have added to my collection since then. I have – give or take a few – around 15 pairs (which is absolutely nothing compared to some), mainly low tops, mainly Nike, mainly colourful.
3. Dresses
I never used to wear dresses. I was a massive tomboy from age 8 to 18. I wore a lot of jeans (predominantly men’s jeans in my late teens, in a vain attempt to hide my hips), band tshirts and my much loved Dr Martens 8 holes. I gingerly started buying dresses when I was 18 and they now dominate my wardrobe. They’re cute, they’re easy and they allow me to not wear pants (lordy, how I hate pants).
4. Kitsch
Plastic jewellery shaped like a Space Invader? Check.
Multiple bags shaped like fruit? Check.
This ridiculous jumper? Check.
Way, way too many Mambo Loud Shirts? Check. (I’m planning an outfit post in them sometime this summer, despite the fact they make me look like a big fat Hawaiian dude.)
5. Colour, colour, colour
I just don’t feel right when I’m wearing too much black. I’ve always liked wearing colour, but it was Katie over at What Katie Wore and her fantastic style that really pushed me over the edge.
I find myself going through colour phases, where a lot of the clothes and accessories I’m drawn to are one particular colour. I just finished with a purple phase and am now attracted to everything blue. Bright yellow is my constant weakness: I have three dresses, a jacket, a skirt, two bags, a pair of sneakers, two necklaces, two rings, a shirt and a pair of tights all in sunshine yellow.
What five items/themes sum up your style?
