NotBlueAtAll

I'm just a fat gal with a blog and an opinion. Well, lots of opinions.

Hi, I’m NotBlueAtAll…

February21

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m NotBlueAtAll. Welcome to my blog. This here blog-a-ma-thing is all about Fat Acceptance! I often post about my own abuse survival, many topics of the TMI variety and sometimes fat fashion, too! I can be pretty random at times, but try to stay on-topic as much as possible. I offer myself as everyone’s  (FA)Auntie Fats and hope that if you’re an abuse survivor or in an abusive situation now that you reach out, and if there is no one else, I’m right here and I will listen!

I’m a 33 year old married lady with a pug and a tabby-cat. I own and run my own business. I’m a death fatty and I don’t even try to hide it! Radical stuff, no? I’ve been actively participating in Fat Acceptance (or FA) since 2006 and lurked for around a year or two prior to that. For me it all started with an article in BUST magazine about the U.K. Chubsters. This lead me to some blogs and eventually the Fatshionista community on LiveJournal.com. This is where it all came together for me. I realized that everything I’d been told simply wasn’t true. I met people online and later in real life (IRL) and they and FA continue to rock my socks on a daily basis. Because of that community I gained confidence and strength and started this blog! While it was at first all about art (or my concept of it) it soon turned into a strictly FA kind of thang! In June of 2010 I was invited to join the Fierce Free Thinking Fatties Feed and later the Notes From The Fat-O-Sphere Feed. Woo! Oh yeah! I also do podcasts with fellow fats and fat bloggers. It’s always a blast!

I have the greatest readers. Not in numbers, but in wit, humor and integrity! We support each other when times get tougher (because they’ve been tough for how long now?) and stand up for ourselves and others! We are strong and we are fattastic!

Of course, I’m on Twitter and Tumblr and you can ask me anything on FormSpring!

Get in touch or just hang out here, all of the action is in comments! I’ll be right here, answering questions and offering advice, building relationships and helping some heal from theirs. I’m like that weird girl in school with the best taste in music and movies and cool posters on her walls. Yeah, that’s me! So, relax and take a look around. I won’t bite ya!

<3
S

***Currently accepting any/all questions for a weekly “Dear Auntie Fats” post. You can email them here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com Ask anything at all: sex, relationships, health, music, movies, you name it! You will remain anonymous.

Fatshion Post: Eshakti Review With Pics! Woo!

January27

So, I had a couple of glasses of wine the other night and just felt rad and so I finally got around to taking pics of my Eshakti.com order. I share with you a review of what I bought with pics of myself wearing them. And just to kick things off right, here’s a pic of my fave day-off outfit:
Photobucket

I said to my husband, “Holy crap! Is my chest always so red?!” He said, “No, but it’s like when your cheeks get flushed, so does your chest.” Thanks reality for putting me in check. *flips off reality*

I have bought a few pieces from Eshakti.com since first hearing about their radness from Lesley of Fatshionista/TwoWholeCakes fame. While they were/are all lovely, I just don’t wear them much and I can’t really figure out why. In fact the one dress I lusted after, bemoaned when they discontinued and then bought the second they brought it back, I haven’t even worn yet! Nuts! But I still adore their stuff, it’s all so unique and fabulous and the customizing? Yeah, where else can ya get that at an affordable price? NOWHERE!!!

When I received a gift certificate for Eshakti, well, I took my time and chose what I knew I would wear! Since this wasn’t my money anyway, I went with two things I always want but never buy: A dress & a skirt!

Here’s what I got:

Lace Version Link Here

Cotton (Cinnamon)Link Here
Skirt Link Here

Ruffle front lace dress

The black dress I got was
actually a jersey knit-cotton.
The pic is the same, but in lace.

Here’s the pics of me in them:

And now for my review:

OMZ! I always choose the custom sizing option because I’m a death fatty and at the tiny price they charge for it it is so completley and utterly worth it! I don’t care what size you are, get the custom option! For real! I got to choose arm opening size, skirt length…you name it! That said, I received my items a few weeks ago and hadn’t even tried them on. I’m not crazy, just confident that they would be fabulous and fit right and I haven’t been feeling very camera ready lately, ya know? But I threw them on last night and instantly felt amazing in them. I have zero complaints. Well, I have one request: MORE Gift Certificates, please! Ha! That’s it though.

The dress is a thick cotton knit jersey, double layered, with puff sleeves (squee!), POCKET! (double squee!) and it falls right where I want it! (I think it was just below the knee on me). The neckline is slightly more modest than I’m used to, but no problem with that either. It just means I never have to worry about the boobages peaking out without warning. Some dresses they just do that. They’re very friendly apparently. Ha-ha!

The skirt! Oh this skirt! It comes in a few colors, but the purple just spoke to me. I could wear this skirt to almost anything and look fabulous and fit in without worry. From casual to formal, this skirt rocks my socks! I am still not used to wearing skirts, so I am unsure where I want it to sit, but it would depend on what top I pair it with, I think. So here’s the pics:
Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

Since I never do fatshion posts anymore, here’s a Bonus pic of a B&Lu dress a great friend gave me over the weekend:
Photobucket

Now if I could just find the right purple tights…
Also, just won these on eBay and shall be pairing them with both of my eShakti items, WOOT!!!
Doc Martens “Ellen”
DR.DOC MARTENS SHOES ELLEN PLAID FABRIC  39 8M EUC

On Fitting In…

January17

My usual morning routine: *alarm goes off* Jump out of bed, head to the restroom to relieve bladder, take a shower, moisturize like the dickens, blow-dry hair, get dressed while being attacked by a tabby, put on shoes while being mauled by a pug, kiss husband goodbye, head to the grocery store for supplies for the cafe, buy said groceries, drive 45 minutes to the cafe, park and carry many bags, drop bags and turn on many machines, prep/load groceries to their proper places, open cafe for business, make a cappuccino for myself. Ah!

I’m a no-fuss kind of gal. I don’t put on make-up unless I have tons of extra time (I always make a mess) or it just tickles me to do it or I have an occasion to wear it. I only started to blow0dry my hair in the morning when I got my hair cut short, it’s so fast and easy this way. Before, when my hair was shoulder-length or a bit longer, I would simply pull it back while wet. My work uniform is basically jeans and a top, rarely varies. Running a cafe is messy work and coupled with an apron this uniform allows me comfort and durability. I exclusively wear Keen brand shoes to work as they are the most comfortable I have found.

I don’t dress for anyone else but myself. This hasn’t always been the case, but it is now and I’m quite fine with that. In my last career (corporate trainer in customer service and computer skills), I had to look professional. I was surrounded by the upper reaches of the corporate ladder and thus had to “fit in” or look a certain way. When I was first promoted to this position, I barely had a thing to wear. I relied on Lane Bryant and Avenue because they were local and I could just pop in and buy one piece at a time. When I found LB’s Madison Trousers (R.I.P.) I was in love! I have short legs, ginormous ass/thighs and a waist (not a small one but it’s there). Their 28P fit like a dream! My first pair were black, but I later got them in grey and a heathered beige. LB’s camis also saved me plenty of times when I didn’t have much to wear but a cami and a cardigan! Man, those things rocked!

When I began to give presentations and things in front of large quantities of people, I sought out blazers and more classically professional gear. And there in lies the expensive bit! A blazer, even the halfway decent one I got at Avenue, costs hella money, yo! I think I paid $49 just for my plain, simple, classic, black blazer. Yikes! I also already had a tuxedo style one from LB that I would pair with dressier tops. I mixed and matched and added little things to these staples as I went along. But that wasn’t the end of the fitting in thing. Oh no!

OMG! SHOES! For many a fat, shoes are the playing field leveler! Anyone can wear shoes, duh! NO! Here I was in an office full of fancy ladies: fake nails, perfect tans, flawless make-up, dressed to the 9’s and very high heels! What?! Oh Noes!!! Yeah, I was doomed. I had never worn the things, never had to and never felt terribly inclined. At this point in my life I knew I had wider than average feet, but I was still shopping at Payless Shoe Source because that’s where I’d always bought my shoes! Not only that, but I would later discover that I’d been wearing the wrong size shoes for many years! (I was wearing 7’s and 7W’s, but I’m truly an 8W.)

I bought some shoes with shorter heels. I tried wedges and chunky heels and everything in between. Kitten heels were in suddenly and I had one patent leather pair I adored! But they all fucked up my feet like nobody’s business! I would dread having to walk or stand for very long. I would make excuses to not go on lunch dates with work pals. I was missing out! Because of some silly notion that I had to wear heels. When a new co-worker moved into our office we bonded over shoes and our in-common wide feet. I shared catalogs and we placed orders together. It was like when you first start dating someone and everything is just clicking.

When I broke my foot on the job (just walking, nothing crazy, wasn’t even wearing heels that day), I knew I could never worry about fitting in or wearing heels again. I had had enough! Not to mention that I had to wear a splint on my foot for what seemed like ten years (a few weeks). What became so apparent to me then was how important comfort and support are. Not just in footwear, but fashion, friends, significant others: Love and support and comfort are necessary to be your best you! Radical stuff, no?

While I love fashion’s wild side and often wish I could do my eyeliner evenly (let alone those lovely winged liner styles) and wear my hair in all sorts of over-the-top dos, it’s just not me. I’m a Doc Marten’s and denim gal. Gimme a flannel and a granny dress with combat boots and watch me conquer the fucking world! Sure, I go through phases when I wear a certain style OUT! But in the end I just wanna be comfy, ya know? I just want to be me, whatever that means on that particular day. When I find myself in the job market again, I’ll wear my business attire, but the shoes will be my own choice! I shall not bend to peer pressure or long to be someone else.

I was reminded of this several months ago when a friend began a new job. This friend and I had so much in common, especially when it came to dressing comfortable and not wearing make-up, things like that. This new job she started, well, most of the ladies she worked with had fake nails, wore Mary Kay, smoked cigarettes and dressed more fancy than she was used to. She resisted at first. I encouraged her to stay true to who she was. In the end though, they won. She started smoking again (after having quit for quite awhile), got fake nails, started buying make-up. While this is hardly the reason we’re no longer friends, I have to admit it was a bit bizarre to see someone I thought I knew transform, almost before my eyes, into someone else entirely. It made me sad, ya know?!

My point is (what? a point? I know, right?! ha!), when you get dressed in the morning, ask yourself who is it all for? If it’s not for you, then who? And why? Are you being your best you or trying to fit into something you’re not entirely comfortable with? I encourage everyone to do this:

Question        every        damned        thing!!!

<3
S

Designer Daydreams

December23

Oh! Lesley’s post about Doc Marten’s Boots brought me right back to my freshman year of high school! *Grunge-swoon* I am finding myself super drawn to that way of dress, yet again! I just love the combo of something femme with something more masculine: granny dresses & docs! Yo! And I was just never without a flannel. I would often wear *gulp* a tie-dyed half-tank top with a big flannel over it (my dad’s usually) with jeans. I couldn’t afford docs. I had never even owned anything name brand. A friend of mine recently asked me, “How could you have gone your entire life without owning a pair of Levi’s?” My response, “Easy! I was poor and then I was too fat!” Ha-ha! It’s true.

I didn’t own my first pair of Doc Marten’s until I was 18/19 years old and I had snagged a miraculous pair of the classic air ware bouncing sole 8 eye boots (in classic black leather) at Ross for $20!!! I thought it was a fucking joke at first. So I went up to the checkout counter and, with heart a-flutter, attempted to buy them…and then did, successfully! I felt like I had robbed a bank that day! And whoa did I love the hell out of those boots?! I could do anything in them and did! I wore them and nothing else (shoes anyway) for years. Until they died and I had to find more comfortable shoes for work. *sigh* I have yet to find a similar pair since (I’m now 33, yo).

It is interesting to me though, when a person looks me in the eyes and asks why I’ve never owned _____. I always ask myself, “Do they not see the size of me? Are they oblivious? Are they stupid?” The answer is usually the second one, oblivious! How could someone who has never been fat or had to shop for fat-fitting clothing know or understand what that entails? They can’t! And often come across as ignorant, unfortunately. But you know, when I explain that they don’t come in my size, they usually look surprised or sad. Sad! And then I find myself comforting their sadness. WTF?! Now I try to say things like, “They don’t come in my size and so I won’t give them my money.” This helps both parties I think. Maybe…I don’t know.

But shoes, well, I love shoes! They take me places! Ha!

My second pair of Doc Marten’s were also purchased at Ross for the same price as the original ones I got but were the oxford style in brown. I love them! I trekked all over Europe in those bad boys. I still wear them often. I feel so much taller and stronger and just bad-ass in them! I feel like I am daring the world to fuck with me while wearing them. Sadly, they’re not comfortable enough for work  anymore so they only get worn on my days off. I am now searching for that original style pair. I scour eBay. I hope & dream. I can’t afford ’em, but who knows, another $20 pair could some my way someday. A gal can dream!

I’ve never truly longed for anything designer labeled until this year when the Beth Ditto line for Evans came out. I told myself not to look, why torture myself?! But I did! And oh how I wanted it all! But I’m still okay with not having those things. They’re lovely, but not for everyone. It does make me happy that such a thing exists in my size. I can only hope for more and more and more. I admit that I was devastated when Isaac Mizrahi came out with his line for Target that only went up to a size 16 (or was it 18?). I rushed to my local Target and found the massive display and then, Ack! Nothing for me. I ran over to the shoe department and was surprised, suddenly, how ugly his line was and sort of walked away all limp and puddley.

There are other major designers whose styles I love: Stella McCartney, Betsey Johnson, Vera Wang & Anna Sui to name a few…but they won’t get my hard earned moolah until they can cloth my 300+lbs ass! *middle finger* And my struggle to find knee-high boots to fit my giantess calves? Forget it! I’m (almost) completely done with that. “But Sarah, didn’t you just find a pair at Avenue that fit your calves?” Yes, I did…but they ain’t comfy and they kind of piss me off because they start out looking damn good and then start to bunch and buckle around my ankles leaving them sore and me cranky as hell. WTF?! AVENUE!!! *shakes fist*

I guess I’m at a point in my life where comfort trumps all. I just refuse to suffer for fashion and style. I love looking like me no matter what’s on my body and so that is that. I’ll keep my eye out for those Docs and granny dresses, but for now I’ll just stick with what I got and what I know. And try my best not to lust after what I cannot have. Certainly my poor dear of a mind will appreciate it. Ha!

What item instantly brings you back to the good old days? What have you lusted after but could never have? Tell me about it!

New Podcast: Feat. Brenda & Julie of The Busty Traveler!

December22

Notblueatall Podcast Episode Two (Player at the bottom)

Or on iTunes (Please subscribe if you can, Thanks!)

My guests this time were Brenda & Julie of TheBustyTraveler.BlogSpot.com Do check it out!

The post we were talking about “Double Double Featurette”

We talked about her friend Psycho Sue’s Blog: Sew Misunderstood-Fashion for Wayward Girls

Brenda’s Skirt tutorial!

Road to Wellville Trailer

This is the Etsy shop I got my “Know Fat Chicks” button!

Post on the LiveJournal Community Fatshionista about activism and grass roots ideas

My post with the business card that has a positive body message.

You Are Beautiful

Scene from Heathers that Brenda quotes:

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