OoTD No. 31 – This is more like it

In my last OoTD post, I wrote that I had not yet found an outfit that was worthy of my sickening Buffalo x Solestruck platforms. A couple of you left lovely comments saying that my first attempt at styling them had already hit the mark, which was terribly sweet of you.

Sweet but wrong.

Because now I look bloody amazing:

The dress is by Lazy Oaf, a London-based brand that I LOVE. I so wish they would expand their size range so all fatties can have this much fun with their clothing. (Domino Dollhouse’s latest collection is the closest a plus size range has come to speaking to me the way Lazy Oaf does.) This dress is marked as a size UK12-14, but it’s incredibly stretchy so I was able to fit my UK18 size body into it without much trouble. That said, my width and height does mean that the dress rides up like a mofo on me, requiring a black mini underneath to prevent flashing the odd flap.

I can now tick ‘Oversized chambray shirt’ off my ’90s extravanganza’ shopping list. Next target: a mini leather backpack. I’m already trawling etsy…

Dress: Lazy Oaf – size L. Currently available. (It’s also available on Asos.)
Denim boyfriend shirt: Asos – size UK18. Currently available.
Black skirt (worn underneath): Supre – size XL. Old collection.
Shoes: Buffalo x Solestruck – size 10. Currently available.

I am 1.72m/5’8″, somewhere between 90 and 95kg/200 and 210lbs and I normally wear an Australian size 16/UK size 18/US size 14-16. My measurements are 107-96-114cm/42-38-45 inches.

OoTD No. 30 – My mad fat obsession

Have you experienced the glory that is My Mad Fat Diary yet? (If you haven’t, a wonderful person has uploaded all of season 1 on youtube. It’s only six episodes, so you can/should/will knock it over in a day.) MMFD is a British TV series set in Lincolnshire in 1996 that follows a fat, 16 year old girl named Rae as she tries to navigate friends, family, boys, and life outside the hospital after four months of psychiatric care. It’s hilarious, heartbreaking, sometimes triggering and is the best best best best best best best.

Sharon Rooney - who plays Rae - is spectacular and has the most wonderfully expressive face I’ve ever seen. The writers have captured the mindset of a 16 year old girl perfectly (which is perhaps unsurprising, given the show is based on real life Rae Earl’s real life diary); I see a lot of my teenage self in Rae, and going by the #mmfd tag on tumblr, so do many young women. On top of all that, one of the things I love most about the show and its popularity is the fact that a poor, fat, female protagonist is openly and vocally loved by the viewers.

Though Rae has severe body image problems, she is strong and resilient with an awesome sense of humour. She is comfortable with her teenage sex drive and she is attractive to boys. Not only that, she is attractive to objectively good-looking boys.  Not only that, but fans are ACTIVELY AND FEROCIOUSLY SHIPPING a fat character and her totally lush love interest. It’s bloody brilliant and I never thought I’d see the day. Well done, Shaz

ANYWAY, back to me. In the last month, my relationship with MMFD has gone from seen-a-few-gifs awareness to a full blown, all-consuming obsession. Like, to the point of reading fanfiction on tumblr. To the point of downloading the season 1 playlists and (re)acquainting myself with the awesomeness of Oasis, the Stone Roses, and early to mid-90s dance music. To the point of finally getting on the 90s revival bandwagon and hunting down the perfect chambray shirt (on its way from Asos to me as I type), the perfect leather backpack (search is ongoing), and the perfect platform sneakers:

I AM LOVING MYSELF SICK RIGHT NOW.

I’ve been desperate for a pair of Buffalo platforms since the Spice Girls were at their peak (both in popularity and height, ba doom tish). All glory to Solestruck for letting me live out my pop starlet/club kid/giantess fantasies. And I am a deadset giantess in them. Normally I am around 5’8″ but in these babies I am at least 6′ tall. Not so long ago, I used to get self-conscious about my height and whenever I had to wear heels I would walk with a bit of a hunch to appear less domineering. Not anymore. I feel positively Amazonian. I feel like I could stomp on people. I am loving it.

The shoes arrived last week so of course I wanted to wear them out the first chance I got. Unfortunately, my first chance was dinner at a fancy restaurant so the accompanying outfit is not as loud and inappropriate as I would like (though I suppose it does draw attention to the shoes)…

There’s room for improvement here, but this is a decent start.

Dress: Aje for Sportsgirl – size XL. Old collection.
Necklace: Sass & Bide. Old collection.
Shoes: Buffalo x Solestruck – size 10. Currently available.

I am 1.72m/5’8″, somewhere between 90 and 95kg/200 and 210lbs and I normally wear an Australian size 16/UK size 18/US size 14-16. My measurements are 107-96-114cm/42-38-45 inches.

OoTD No. 29 – Fashion is catching up to me

On weekends I basically live in some combination of the following: graphic print tshirt, denim shorts or jeans (preferably in a colour other than blue), high top sneakers, and if the weather requires, a sometimes-printed and always-colourful polar fleece jumper. (Now, I know I don’t post my outfits on here very often – I’ve been living here for the past four years am only up to my 29th OoTD – so you’ll just have to take my word for this. My IRL friends can vouch for me if needed.)

I’m happy with my weekend get-up. I was aware that it wasn’t very girly nor very stylish but it was very me, so I dug it.

Apparently I wasn’t giving myself enough credit because it turns out that I am a massive trendsetter: my style of dressing is now in fashion. Beyonce’s gone street, the Spring Breakers costume designer must’ve raided my wardrobe while I was asleep, and everywhere you look women are wearing high tops (even if most of them are wearing those hideous sneakers with the wedge in them… seriously, just buy some regular Dunks and give your calves a break).

So, given my new status as a fashion doyenne, I can only assume that 6 months from now I’ll be designing numerous capsule collections for various high end and high street brands, sitting front row at fashion weeks around the globe, and diving into pools of cash like Scrooge McDuck. Can’t wait.

Hoodie: Matthew Williamson for H&M via eBay – size XL (men’s)
Tshirt: Lazy Oaf – size M/L. Old collection.
Shorts: Witchery – size 16. Old collection.
Sneakers: Nike Air Flight 89 from Hype DC – size 8 (men’s). Old collection.

PS. SYDNEYSIDERS: I’ll be a guest panellist at Cherchez la Femme on Sunday 21 April 2013. In the words of the organiser, “It’s like feminist Q&A… with drinks. CLF features thoughtful, uncensored, and irreverent takes on pop culture and current affairs from an unapologetically feminist angle.” It’s at the Vanguard in Newtown and may be your last chance to see me before I’m famous Get your tickets here.

I am 1.72m/5’8″, somewhere between 90 and 95kg/200 and 210lbs and I normally wear an Australian size 16/UK size 18/US size 14-16. My measurements are 107-96-114cm/42-38-45 inches.

Q: What’s big, naked, and shakes all over?

Photo by Georgia Laughton of Logic Bunny Photography

A: Va Va Boombah!

Va Va Boombah is Melbourne’s (and, as far as we know, Australia’s) first burlesque night featuring fat performers. Given that I am both a fat dancer and a massive perve, unsurprisingly I think this troupe is AWESOME. (Just quietly, I very much want to perform with them one day.)

VVB has their next show coming up in Melbourne in just under a week’s time (details can be found at the bottom of this post), so I had a wee interview with co-producer Jackie aka Chubby Vagine to find out what VVB is all about.

Why did you establish Va Va Boombah?

Va Va Boombah actually started on twitter, when one of my co-producers, Aimee Nichols (@wordsandsequins) tweeted “Why is there no fat burlesque in Melbourne? I can’t be the only one who wants to see fatties shake it”. Our other producer, Lisa-Skye (@thelisaskye) immediately thought of me, and Va Va Boombah was born.

Be we didn’t (just) start Va Va Boombah so we could perve on hot fatties. There are a lot of messages telling fat people that we don’t deserve to exist, let along to be on stage in front of an audience, so we really wanted to create a space where we could strut our stuff, and assert our right not only to be, but to be seen.

What drew you to burlesque over other forms of performance?

I’ve been interested in fat burlesque ever since I heard about Big Burlesque: The Original Fat Bottom Revue in the US. Burlesque has been a part of fat activism in the States for well over a decade now, but to the best of my knowledge, there hasn’t been a troupe in Australia before us.

Burlesque shows in the mid-19^th and early 20^th century actually used to be variety shows with all sorts of different acts, and that’s what our show is. We have singers and acrobats as well as fat ladies getting nekkid.

I think the fat ladies getting nekkid aspect is actually really important. Dominant culture tends to desexualise fat bodies – it tells us we’re ugly and undesirable. So when we get on stage and perform in ways that are overtly sexual, we’re claiming that for ourselves, and for anyone in the audience who wants it. And importantly, we’re claiming it in a way that’s about our agency and creativity as performers and as people.

Do you see Va Va Boombah as a form of activism?

Absolutely! Heather MacAllister (aka Reva Lucian), who founded Big Burlesque, said “Any time there is a fat person on stage as anything besides the butt of a joke, it’s political. Add physical movement, then dance, then sexuality and you have a revolutionary act.”

Va Va Boombah is very much an activist project in that we’re trying to change perceptions, create new opportunities, and build community. And so far, we seem to be doing pretty well!

What feedback has Va Va Boombah received so far?

We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response so far. Our first show actually sold out – the venue had to put out extra seats on the night to accommodate the door sales!

There hasn’t really been a show like this in Melbourne before, and the audience was really enthusiastic. There were a lot of fatties there, and for some people it was the first time they’d seen people who looked like them on stage, which I think can be a very powerful experience. A lot of our new performers saw the first show and wanted to be part of it!

We also had people say that they hadn’t expected fat performers to be so talented, so that was pretty satisfying. As much as Va Va Boombah is about creating opportunities for fat performers, we’re also committed to putting on a really top show.

What kind of performances can people expect from your January show?

The upcoming show is circus themed, and very much a variety-style show. There’s singing, dancing, acrobatics, ukulele, and even opera, as well as the more classic burlesque acts.

After the show, there will be a body-positive dance party with Steampunk DJ Omega playing until the early hours. We hope everyone sticks around for a dance with us!

Photo by Georgia Laughton of Logic Bunny Photography

Event details:
Va Va Boombah
Friday 18 January 2013 (opening 7.30pm)
Thornbury Theatre – Ballroom, 859 High St Thornbury
TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE

VVB has many homes on the internet, including a website, a facebook, a twitter, and a tumblr.

2012: The End of the World

Here we are at the end of another year. Like sands through the hourglass and so on and so forth. Sydney, the beautiful bitch that she is, has turned on a cracker of a day to farewell 2012: sunny, clear skies, cool breeze. The Boyfriend and I found time for a quick swim at Clovelly (my favourite beach) this morning and are currently prepping for a BBQ at ours tonight.

So this post isn’t a massive text dump, here’s the outfit that features my go-to dress of the summer party season:

Dress: Camilla – one size. Similar styles available.
Bag: Secondhand from Broadway Betty
Bangle: Dinosaur Designs. Similar styles available.
Sandals: Witchery – size 40. Old collection.
Lipstick: MAC Girl About Town

I’ve been waiting to show this dress off for months. I bought it specifically for my aunt’s wedding in Bali; as the sweatiest person alive, I needed something floaty and elegant that was made from natural fibres. Even at almost 50% off, this dress exceeded my budget but as it’s utterly perfect I bought it anyway. I had been coveting a Camilla dress or kaftan since I first saw her designs as a teenager. The vast majority of Camilla’s clothing is one size fits most, and given her kaftans and dresses are so shapeless, they really will fit most of us. The fact that I own a dress by a designer I’ve loved for over a decade, that will always fit AND that I never need to iron? To awesome for words.

But back to the day at hand.

For better or worse, 2012 was massive year for a lot of us. In my close circle of loved ones to my wide circle of internet friends, there have been life-changing events: serious health issues, break ups, moves overseas… Me and mine haven’t been spared. In a twitter conversation with Phebe of Lightning Heart about exactly this, she wondered if this is what the Maya had predicted; not the apocalypse, but great upheaval in our lives. I think she may be onto something. 2012 did not bring about the end of the world, but it was the end of the world as we knew it.

I hope that 2013 is less eventful.

Frances Lockie, published writer

Check me out!

An exciting thing happened this week: Girlfriend, an Australian monthly magazine for teen girls aged 14 to 17 years of age, published a story on fat stigma. Even more exciting: I’m the one who wrote it!

Girlfriend has really cool, feminist editors; some of the stories they’ve featured in recent months include street harassment, transgenderism, and a critique of the idea of ‘real women’ (interspersed with posters of One Direction, naturally. SO GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT OF MY HEEEAAAAD AND FALL INTO MY ARMS INSTEEEAAAD…) They hold the young women of Australia in such high regard and I’m stoked to be published in their pages.

Click here to read the story.

Half-naked and overdressed all at once

You may recall that in my last post I was slightly shitting myself as I was about to perform samba in my passista costume for the very first time. Well, I did it and here are the photos to prove it.

Gratuitous butt shot

I was very nervous when I stepped out of the change room for the first time but, like with all things that push me out of my comfort zone, I took a deep breath and faked it. I strutted about like I was meant to be wearing that outfit (because I was) and like I deserved to be on that stage (because I did). Then the wind nearly blew off my headdress so I was far too preoccupied with keeping it on my head while doing all the steps that I didn’t have time to be self-conscious.

Achievement unlocked: Appearing half-naked on stage in front of a crowd of people. What else ya got?

On Stocky Bodies, and on being a fat dancer

Almost a year ago, a handful of Aussie fat bloggers and I agreed to be part of a fat embodiment research project led by Dr Lauren Gurrieri of the Griffith Business School. The purpose was to document the everyday lived experience of fat people, and the end result of our discussions was Stocky Bodies.

Stocky Bodies is a stock image library that aims to provide positive and diverse representations of life as a fat person. It stands in opposition and as an alternative to the typical ‘headless fatty‘ photo that accompanies most stories on fatness and obesity. Photos were taken by Lauren and by Isaac Brown of the Queensland College of Art.

When organising the photo shoot, Lauren and Isaac explained that the images should show my life and what I do with this fat body of mine. For me, that meant eating out…

going to the beach…

and dancing.

Let me tell you, rocking up to dance class with a couple of photographers in tow was by far the most confronting part of this whole process.

Fat is pretty taboo in the dance world. The ideal dancer is seen to be long, lean, and muscular. In the dance community, there’s a lot of discussion of weight loss, the relative goodness and badness of different foods, and negative self-talk about certain body parts. The negativity surrounding fat in dance is so well-known that I think a lot of fat people are discouraged; even though I’m only a size 16, I am frequently the fattest person in my classes.

This feeling of exclusion is not helped by the fact that dance attire is not made for fat bodies. Workout gear is notoriously hard to find in plus sizes (though Cult of California is doing their best to change that). Costumes for performances are another obstacle. I am a samba and Afro-Brazilian dancer; when we perform samba no pé, we wear tiny bikinis and feather headdresses like this:

(John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these bikinis are very hard to find in plus sizes. I have had to pull out of a performance because I couldn’t find a bikini in time that fit. There are also very few fat samba no pé dancers, which makes the idea of jiggling (and, lord, do I jiggle) in a g-string bikini all the more intimidating.

So, with all this knowledge and baggage, I was pretty uneasy about bringing Lauren and Isaac to class. Not because I’d find them intrusive, or that they’d see me at my most red-faced and sweaty, but because I’d have to explain why they were there. I knew that I had to come out to my fellow students as fat. As proudly fat.

Being a fat dancer is challenging and definitely tests my comfort zones, though I am finding my way. I’m lucky enough to have found a dance group that is reasonably body positive. I found a company in the UK that makes samba bikinis for any size (though plus size bikinis have a 25% surcharge); I finally have one to call my own and it is a beauty. I will be wearing it onstage for the first time in a week and a half, and to be honest, I’m a bit nervous about it. But that apprehension is why I feel almost obligated to go through with it. If I want to see a diverse range of bodies in dance, I should be up there showing some diversity. I should, and will, be showing people what this fat body can do.

Fat stigma is so passé

I’m pretty aware that there’s been a lack of Serious Content on this blog for a while. The month long (or more) hiatuses punctuated by the odd outfit post have not been intentional. I haven’t run out of opinions and the world certainly hasn’t run out of fat stigma. I just get so bored of it, you know?

Today I read an opinion piece by satirist/writer/radio host Dominic Knight talking about fatness and happiness and how it doesn’t matter how happy we are because we’re too fat… or something. I started picking it apart and refuting his arguments before thinking to myself, “HOLY CRAP, THIS IS SO BORING.”

The same dull statements about how fat Australia is. The same tired old fat jokes (sumo wrestlers! LOL!). The same predictable conclusions about eating well and exercising more.

I’m at the point now where I don’t really get angry when I see yet another anti-fat article. I’ve been in fat activism for so long, and have so many friends with rad body positive attitudes, that the only reaction I’m capable of is “Really…? Are we still talking about calories in/calories out like no one’s ever thought of it before?! REALLY?!”

It bores me. But since the same arguments keep coming up, I guess the same rebuttals need to be made. Second verse same as the first…

BUSTED: SUPER ULTRA MEGA BORING OBESITY CLICHES

I’m positive that this list is not exhaustive. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Australia/New Zealand/America/UK/[insert developed, English-speaking nation here] is the fattest nation in the world.
Nope. When a country is breathlessly declared by journalists as being THE FATTEST NATION IN THE WORLDDDDDD, what they actually mean is “The fattest nation out of a list of approximately 30 nations that make up the wealthiest countries in the world”.

According to this 2010 list (with data sourced from the International Obesity Taskforce), USA is 18th, Scotland is 32nd, New Zealand is 35th, England is 38th and Australia is 47th. So there.

But HEALTH!!!!!!!!!
1) Health is determined by a set of behaviours, not a set of body shapes. Moving regularly, eating well, getting enough sleep, not smoking, drinking in moderation, maintaining a work/life balance… they improve health outcomes for people of all sizes. And here’s the rub: You don’t know a person’s healthy, or unhealthy, behaviours just by looking at them.

2) Health is a privilege. People who treat eating well and exercising regularly as things that are easily achieved are putting their ableism on blast. Those behaviours aren’t possible, or are only possible to a certain extent, for some people with physical, mental and/or psychological disabilities.

3) Fat stigma is more pervasive than you think. It’s pretty challenging for a fat person to go to a gym when they know that judgemental eyes will be watching their every move. It’s intimidating for a fat person to go for a run when they’ve had insults, or even rubbish, thrown at them from passing cars. (If you can’t imagine such things ever happening to anyone, that’s your thin privilege in action.)

4) Diets don’t work long term and may cause more harm than good.

5) People are able to prioritise health for themselves. That means they can choose to not prioritise it. That means they can be the Bad Kind of Fatty. And if someone chooses that lifestyle for themselves, they still deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

There’s overweight, and then there’s obese
OR I’m talking about people who are fat because of their lifestyle
No, you don’t get to be a jerk to anyone. There is no level of fatness, or pathway to fatness, that justifies arseholish behaviour.

No one enjoys being fat
First of all, if people don’t enjoy being fat, I’d wager that a good deal of that is due to the stigma they experience and the stigma they have internalised. For most people, having a fat body is not a barrier to anything.

Second of all, there is a great number of us who are happy with our bodies, thank you very much, and do not take kindly to people making gross assumptions about our happiness.

There were no fat people in concentration camps.
This argument is beyond vulgar and yet it is trotted out all the time.

People in concentration camps were starved and tortured. Their suffering is not a motivational “See? You can do it too!”-style example of thinness.

“There were no fat people in concentration camps” is a longer way of announcing “I am a massive tool”.

Fat people are ugly.
No one’s forcing you to enter a marriage with a fat person; your long years of passionless misery broken only by gin-fuelled screaming matches, torrid affairs in dingy motel rooms, and enduring the spiteful tongues of your resentful children over the dinner table at their annual Christmas visit. We don’t want that life either.

Find someone you do find attractive and try to have sex with them. Fatties will do the same. Everyone wins.

[Insert fat joke here]
Making a joke at the expense of any socially and culturally stigmatised group of people is lazy comedy. Do better.

OoTD No. 28 – Winter dressing, summer style

Though I love summer in Sydney, I am growing more appreciative of the cooler months. The air is fresh, my kitchen smells of roasts and stews and apple crumble, and I can wear something more substantial than thin cotton tops and double pluggers.

And it is starting to get quite wintery in Sydney, but that’s no reason to stop blinding people with summer-style colour.

My dear apple bag has been quite neglected of late, but after seeing Jackie’s amazing collection of bags that look like other things on Show Tell Share, I was inspired to dust it off.

I’m lightly obsessed with these ridiculous shirts. They were made by Mambo in the ’90s (before they decided to reinvent themselves as just another beige surf brand) in a bunch of iconic designs. The ones by Reg Mombassa – like this one – are just so wonderfully Australian. I’ve tracked down quite a few on ebay, and despite the shirts being something a middle aged man would wear to a barbecue, I love them dearly. They’re a summer staple, but when my wardrobe was particularly empty and my laundry pile was particularly big, I decided to winterise them with a natty bow tie and v-neck jumper.

Jumper: Second hand from Twirl Vintage Co – size M
Shirt: Mambo Loud Shirt via ebay – size M.
Jeans: Jay Jays – size 16. Old collection.
Shoes: Asos Marky Traditional Brogues – UK size 8. Similar styles available.
Bow tie: Asos. Old collection.
Bag: Mink Schmink. Old collection.

I am 1.72m/5’8″, 95kg/209lbs and I normally wear an Australian size 16/UK size 18/US size 14-16. My measurements are 107-99-120cm/42-39-47 inches.