Yesterday I was headed out to a fatty meet up across the bay and as per usual, I was stressing on what to wear. WHAT TO WEAR!?!?! It is the question that never truly gets answered. We are left constantly unsatisfied with our own wardrobes and styles and long for some mythical perfect outfit of splendor! Psshht! I’m slowly but surely getting over that concept, but I still struggle. I am always fearful of over or under dressing. I am usually a jeans and cute top type of gal, but have begun to explore, experiment and play with fashion more than, well, ever before! I am loving it, too! Overdressed? Oh well, ain’t like I’m doing manual labor, it’s just a meet up after all, so I went for it. I went and tried to put together the nuttiest thing I could with what I had. Mind you, I love lots of colors, but usually don’t go for anything super bright. But I’m getting there. I tested the waters of the color Hot Pink with great delight. So, yesterday I really dove in head first into colors…no, I mean COLORS!!! Prepare your eyes, babies, prepare them, shield them and remember that fashion and fatshion should be fun!

Bam! COLOR! But I felt like a little kid and maybe not in the best way. So I asked my husband to snap a pic and I text it to Nicole to ask if it was too much (I also had a yellow cardigan to go with it, ha!). She responded that it may be bit too much but that she liked it over all. My husband said it did in fact look like I was trying to dress and as a kid and I did feel a tad silly in it. Perhaps if I had a specific occasion for this type of technicolor outfit I would rock the hell out of it, but I just didn’t feel that the meet up (first impressions being what they are) was the right time or place.

So I headed back to my bedroom for a  wardrobe change and I actually love what I ended up wearing even more than the mega-brightness you see above. All of what you see in these outfits are mostly newly swapped or given pieces and I am so grateful for such opportunities when I am out of work and without the moolah. And yes, the TEGGINGS!!! The hot pink ones above as well as the black ones below are made of awesome sauce! I can’t say enough about them and feel compelled to own all of the colors they come in! Oh yeah, the outfit:

I friggin’ love this dress (it has pockets)! I got it at the Cupcakes & Muffintops event last month and it fits like a glove! It’s so me! I love daisies! And that gigantic purse is actually a “bocce” bag from Tokidoki for Le Sport Sac in “arancia.” I’m a major Tokidoki fan and lusted after the Le Sport Sac stuff for ages before finally tracking down this little baby for myself when I opened my cafe two years ago. Who knew it would fit so perfectly with this outfit?! I love it! And yes, the wingtips are Doc Martens (via eBay). You can’t see it, but I have the black flower headband rockin’, too!

Best of all, I had a great time hanging out and meeting new fatties, catching up with good friends and just enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon in Oakland. Woo! Thanks to Lisette for organizing the meet up! Thanks to Jeanette for driving me all over the place! Thanks to Nicole for the help, the dress and for hanging out even though you got blisters from having to walk so much, and hanging out with me. Thanks to Marilyn Wann for being so rad and kind and just a great listener and advice giver! <3

Now, for more fatty events!!! I am hitting Club Anton in Oakland on Friday for their Full Figure Entertainment night! Then on the 23rd is Big Moves Bay Area’s “Fat Dance: Oh What A Feeling!” in Oakland. And what I truly cannot wait for (but in a way I’m nervous because I’m gonna sing some karaoke, y’all) is Marilyn Wann’s “Squak & Gobble” B-day & Fundraiser bash in Oakland on the 25th! Woo Hoo! I suddenly fucking love September! Ha-ha! It’ll be the fattest month of my 2011, that is for sure! Thanks for reading. Hope you have a fat-abulous day! <3

You know when you get a new bra, how it’s suppose to just fit the last row of tabs? It’s sort of tight/snug, but not unbearably so, so you just deal. Well, that is how it was for me at least. But the last time I bought a pack of bra extenders I found out the hard way that they simply don’t (or very rarely) come in a row of five like my actual bras do. Having just purchased four new bras and not wanting to just deal with the initial tightness of them, I decided to take matters into my own hands…literally!

I took a pair of scissors and snatched the two broken bras from my trash can and cut the hooks and tabs out of them. You can see in the first photo here that one side is all tabs and the other is a row of hooks. I wasn’t sure at first how I’d go about attaching them, but I just went ahead and dove in head first! I simple flipped the hooks under the tabs and sewed them (I do have a machine, though I’m not fully skilled at using it yet) on the opposite side (facing the appropriate way so that they could be used of course). I couldn’t manage to sew a straight-across line with all of the hardware in there, so instead I went in short bursts between each hook:

You can see on the beige one (’cause I used black thread) where my stitches are. I made one black and one beige since that is what I had on-hand and pretty much all I wear. And they worked like a fucking charm, I tell ya! Perfection! They fit, I don’t even notice them when they’re on and best of all my new bras fit spectacularly! It took me all of five or so minutes and didn’t cost me a dime! I love stuff like this.

Do you have a cheap and simple DIY projects you’d like to share? Hit me up! I’d love to post about it here and try it for myself, too! notblueatall@notblueatall.com

Hey everyone! How are you? How was your weekend? I had a bit of a long one. Whew! Can’t believe it’s only Tuesday actually, but I’m feeling good.

Today’s Tank Top Tuesday submission comes from yours truly! I hadn’t received a submission from a reader in awhile and the last couple were from my very generous friends. So I wanted to jump back into the fray with you all, sleeveless and proud! Okay, no, that’s not entirely true. By the time this picture was taken I was proud, but most of the evening I felt terribly self conscious. I even grabbed a matching cardigan “in case I got cold” which is ridiculous as it was very hot that day. We had some friends over for dinner and I wanted to look cute, but…Nicole gave me this dress. Isn’t it lovely? I adore it! It’s not something I would ever buy for myself, but would fawn over in it the store only to walk away from it. Isn’t it strange how I was fine being sleeveless several different days last week (more tops from Nicole! Thank you gurl!!!) yet this dress put me right on edge?! My husband was very kind and encouraging, even when I threatened to change about four times. I think that’s the key though, to getting over this hump? Repetition! Because I was fine in the sleeveless tops I wore that week, but the dress? Why did it freak me out so? By the end of the night I couldn’t have cared less about my damned arms, but at the start I was beside myself with “OMZ! They will see my armz!”  And I am so sick of that! Why should I have to worry about how my bare arms make someone else feel? I’m done!

Okay, and then I see pics of myself like this and I think, “Wow! I look younger than I feel! Ha-ha!” Just sayin’! The dress is from Old Navy, but no clue as to when she bought it. It’s a 4x and is roomy up top, I may take it in a tad so it won’t pook out on the sides as much. but I love the colors! The accent looks red, but it’s a coral color trim. Lovely!

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms for future Tank Top Tuesday posts! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion/venting area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

**Friend of the blog Erylin, has a clothing swap coming up in Kansas city mo. we will be having one on September 25th at the north Kansas city library right off of armour and I-35. (if you need more info leave a reply and we will connect you somehow). **

This week’s Tank Top Tuesday submission comes from Nicole of AWellRoundedVenture & the podcast SuperFats! She confessed that she took these back in November and just never got around to posting/submitting them, but just take a look at these pictures and tell me it wasn’t worth the wait?!

Can you see now why Nicole is my fatshion hero? Yep, she is and you know why, now! I have been reading Nicole’s blog for a long time now and I love what I read and see every time.  Do go read her latest post (I promise you won’t be disappointed) and say hi! She may even talk me into doing more fatshion posts! What?! I know!!! Ha-ha! Thanks Nicole for your submission, your strength and your talents! I love ya, gurl! <3

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms for future Tank Top Tuesday posts! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like included in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion/venting area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

**Friend of the blog Erylin, has a clothing swap coming up in Kansas city mo. we will be having one on September 25th at the north Kansas city library right off of armour and I-35. (if you need more info leave a reply and we will connect you somehow). **

Fat events, that is!

Have you ever been overwhelmed by goodness? By love? By friends? That’s kind of where I’m at today. Last week was my first “solo” effort since closing the cafe and I was busy, y’all! Ha-ha! I lunched with fabulous ladies and hung out with rad fatties (okay, some were the same people) and then went to Cupcake & Muffintops yesterday! Whew! I should be tired from it all, but I’m more energized! That is what the fat liberation community does for me. Every time I attend an event I walk away exhilarated! And I am! In fact, I’m so excited that I couldn’t even think of what to write for today’s post! Not that this is anything new, ha-ha!, but I wanted to write something meaningful or deep or whatever…yeah, that ain’t happenin’!

A commenter recently wondered where the fats were at in their home town/state. I felt this way, too! I can’t be the only bad ass fat ass around! And I am most certainly not! I will say it took a bit more work on my part to open myself up to new people. To be open minded, but also open to new friendships, philosophies, lifestyles…all for the better! I can honestly say that my views on many things have changed because of the fabulous people I have met through the fat liberation community. And I highly encourage any and all to do the same. Start a meet up group! Create activism in your area where none existed before! Be radical! Get political! Stand up & be heard! You could buy a “Yay! Scale” and use it in your activism (it is the coolest thing to see people’s reactions!). Start a zine! A newsletter! Or plan a clothing swap!

This one gets people out of their hidey holes, I think, most! Why? Because fat people don’t often get included in such things and finding fatshion, in your size, that fits, that isn’t a gazillion bucks? That is fantasyland, right?! But it doesn’t have to be! You could do a small swap with just a few people or a big ole one for all to attend and enjoy! I encourage gender inclusiveness and an overall sense of community building, but that’s just me. You can have a theme or a costume party or a craft day, whatever. Just dip your toe in the fat liberation community waters in your area. I promise you’re not the only fatty in town!

Where to start? Well, I got my fat activist training wheels on LiveJournal.com’s Fatshionista community. So I would start there. Read the posts, check out the tags, see what resources are there (there could already be a local meet up you haven’t heard about!) and then consider posting your own query about your town/area. It’s that simple! You start by planting that seed and if you nurture it, that baby will GROW! You could also try to get other local groups involved. GLTBQ groups, Feminist groups…there’s so many who could identify with our cause, I’m sure they’d love to help/join forces!

My first meet up didn’t go so well and I wasn’t as open and accepting as I am now. It was a diverse group, but I think too many severely different personality types. We lunched and shopped and that was the end of it. I tried to organize a meet up a few more times and finally it did work out. Though it ended up never being truly a monthly thing, more like every other month. But you know what? I have made some fabulous friends from that group and I wouldn’t trade that/them for the world! It is hard to put yourself out there, but try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Nobody is perfect or expecting you to be (and if they are? Fuck ’em!). Just keep it friendly and casual until you know what you want to do with the group. And if you do any of this stuff? Hit me up! I’d love to promote you! Take pictures! Have fun with it! I’m dying to throw a fatty dance party myself and I will, in time. =0)

For now I say this: If there is a fat event, attend! Support! Promote! Spread the good fat positive word! If there’s not? Consider getting your hands dirty and starting your own! Start small and open yourself up to the possibility of helping grow this spectacular fat liberation community in your area. You won’t regret it! <3