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fatshionista
Post-Big Thr!fty
As I mention frequently, I am a fan of secondhand clothing.
I come by this honestly, as a daughter whose mother's art clients often added in bags of pricey clothing their children had outgrown and as a granddaughter whose grandparents frequented yard sales where glitzy clothing like fairy princess dresses (old prom dresses) and movie star clothes (outdated peignoir sets and faux furs) were cheap.
Growing up and growing fatter, secondhand clothing has become harder to come by. My local Goodwills and vintage and resale shops don't carry a lot (if any) plus sizes and if they do, the larger sizes are often hidden within racks upon racks of smaller, "straight" sizes.
I am still a fan, though, since buying secondhand often gives me greater variety and more options. I can stay within my budget and still get a lot. I see brands that my normal shopping travels may not expose me to. I try on different sizes hopefully. And secondhand clothes don't make me want to "save them for good" as much as I'm wired to do, so I'll actually wear the more delicate, special items without constantly thinking, "But I paid so MUCH for this!" or "But then it won't look new!"
Ebay helps, with its searchability, but so much depends on accurate descriptions and measurements. Nothing beats seeing an item in person.
Buying clothes here on LiveJournal is like Ebaying, but more focused, and when sales posts were allowed here in this community, it felt like I was buying from friends since I had read so many of the sellers' regular posts and clothing commentary, and even sometimes had seen photos of the sellers' in the clothing they were selling.
Ten years ago, when Deb and her NOLOSE crew organized the first Fat Girl Fleamarket in New York, it was like a wonderland. Tables upon tables, boxes upon boxes, racks upon racks of super-cheap clothing...that would fit me. Things I could touch, hold up against me, try on right there. My scarcity mentality about fatshion abated somewhat.
I started holding fat clothing swaps in my home with some success, although I was sometimes the biggest fat there and so had little to try on besides the clothing I had contributed.
Deb's Re/Dress store in Brooklyn was another wonderland. A real store with clothes organized by type and size, carefully hung and arranged, at price points I could afford.
With The Big Thr!fty, I wanted to create a little fat wonderland for others, for my community up here near Boston. I wanted people to walk in and think, "This is all for ME." I wanted them to be able to stay within their budgets and still walk away with more than they expected. I wanted them to have the kind of thrifting experiences that smaller sizes have at flea markets and stores like the Garment District. I wanted them to be surrounded by community. I wanted to leave with bags full of new-to-them clothes and heads full of size-positivity.
I found a venue, local and priced right. I sketched out a logo and gave it to a graphics designer co-worker to craft into an actual design. I reached out to Deb for help with language on postcards and in publicity blurbs. I posted everywhere, including here, as much as possible, hoping that each post would catch one new person's eye. I solicited volunteers from strangers and friends to hang postcards, post blurbs, haul and sort clothing, staff size tables, etc. I started collecting donations, using the leftovers from a recent swap and a huge personal closet purge as my jumping-off point.
My Core Fat (my local fat friends) and I devoted a handful of late evenings to pre-sorting in my basement, determined to get clothing divided up into bags labeled by size and type (denim, dresses, shoes, and accessories all were bagged up separately), hoping to make set up at the space as smooth and painless as possible. (This turned out to be one of my smartest ideas evah!) The day of set up, I pre-sorted by myself for several hours as donations kept arriving.
I brainstormed with a crew of Core Fat and we came up with a bunch of size-positive, fat-friendly signs to hang throughout the space to encourage supportive conversations instead of diet-y talk or negative body comments.
I also made signs to encourage branching out a bit to other size tables:
The Friday night before The Big Thrifty, my pre-sort volunteer crew and I transformed this church basement space
to this welcoming, clothing-filled room.
Saturday morning, before we opened, the line stretched out the door and onto the sidewalk.
It was...an incredible day. Seriously, truly incredible. I met people I had only known from online/emails. I watched clothes my friends and I had donated get carried away triumphantly by excited shoppers. I saw shoppers helping each other, passing clothes back and forth over tables. And over and over, I heard how excited people were who had never had the chance to attend something like this.
At the end of the day, as volunteers were breaking down tables, taking down signs, and bagging up leftovers (35 bags went to the Big Fat Flea and a conservative estimate of 75-100 bags were dropped off at the local Goodwill)
I wished it could have gone on longer, that it could have lasted two days, that it was happening again the following Saturday.
That night I sat by myself in the empty space for a few quiet minutes
and started planning for next year.
Until then, I'll wear the awesome stuff I scored at The Big Thr!fty, like this dress!
Eyeglasses from Zenni Optical; butterfly necklace from Dots
If you are interested in holding your own version of the Fat Girl Fleamarket (now called the Big Fat Flea to be gender-inclusive), per Deb's urging, I'm writing up a little How I Did It. The Big Thr!fty really was a low-stress, fun event to hold and, especially if you have your *own* team of Core Fat, there's no limit to what can be done!
(By the way? After expenses, the charity I selected for this event, NOLOSE, is receiving a check for $4,021.23!!!)
I come by this honestly, as a daughter whose mother's art clients often added in bags of pricey clothing their children had outgrown and as a granddaughter whose grandparents frequented yard sales where glitzy clothing like fairy princess dresses (old prom dresses) and movie star clothes (outdated peignoir sets and faux furs) were cheap.
Growing up and growing fatter, secondhand clothing has become harder to come by. My local Goodwills and vintage and resale shops don't carry a lot (if any) plus sizes and if they do, the larger sizes are often hidden within racks upon racks of smaller, "straight" sizes.
I am still a fan, though, since buying secondhand often gives me greater variety and more options. I can stay within my budget and still get a lot. I see brands that my normal shopping travels may not expose me to. I try on different sizes hopefully. And secondhand clothes don't make me want to "save them for good" as much as I'm wired to do, so I'll actually wear the more delicate, special items without constantly thinking, "But I paid so MUCH for this!" or "But then it won't look new!"
Ebay helps, with its searchability, but so much depends on accurate descriptions and measurements. Nothing beats seeing an item in person.
Buying clothes here on LiveJournal is like Ebaying, but more focused, and when sales posts were allowed here in this community, it felt like I was buying from friends since I had read so many of the sellers' regular posts and clothing commentary, and even sometimes had seen photos of the sellers' in the clothing they were selling.
Ten years ago, when Deb and her NOLOSE crew organized the first Fat Girl Fleamarket in New York, it was like a wonderland. Tables upon tables, boxes upon boxes, racks upon racks of super-cheap clothing...that would fit me. Things I could touch, hold up against me, try on right there. My scarcity mentality about fatshion abated somewhat.
I started holding fat clothing swaps in my home with some success, although I was sometimes the biggest fat there and so had little to try on besides the clothing I had contributed.
Deb's Re/Dress store in Brooklyn was another wonderland. A real store with clothes organized by type and size, carefully hung and arranged, at price points I could afford.
With The Big Thr!fty, I wanted to create a little fat wonderland for others, for my community up here near Boston. I wanted people to walk in and think, "This is all for ME." I wanted them to be able to stay within their budgets and still walk away with more than they expected. I wanted them to have the kind of thrifting experiences that smaller sizes have at flea markets and stores like the Garment District. I wanted them to be surrounded by community. I wanted to leave with bags full of new-to-them clothes and heads full of size-positivity.
I found a venue, local and priced right. I sketched out a logo and gave it to a graphics designer co-worker to craft into an actual design. I reached out to Deb for help with language on postcards and in publicity blurbs. I posted everywhere, including here, as much as possible, hoping that each post would catch one new person's eye. I solicited volunteers from strangers and friends to hang postcards, post blurbs, haul and sort clothing, staff size tables, etc. I started collecting donations, using the leftovers from a recent swap and a huge personal closet purge as my jumping-off point.
My Core Fat (my local fat friends) and I devoted a handful of late evenings to pre-sorting in my basement, determined to get clothing divided up into bags labeled by size and type (denim, dresses, shoes, and accessories all were bagged up separately), hoping to make set up at the space as smooth and painless as possible. (This turned out to be one of my smartest ideas evah!) The day of set up, I pre-sorted by myself for several hours as donations kept arriving.
I brainstormed with a crew of Core Fat and we came up with a bunch of size-positive, fat-friendly signs to hang throughout the space to encourage supportive conversations instead of diet-y talk or negative body comments.
I also made signs to encourage branching out a bit to other size tables:
The Friday night before The Big Thrifty, my pre-sort volunteer crew and I transformed this church basement space
to this welcoming, clothing-filled room.
Saturday morning, before we opened, the line stretched out the door and onto the sidewalk.
It was...an incredible day. Seriously, truly incredible. I met people I had only known from online/emails. I watched clothes my friends and I had donated get carried away triumphantly by excited shoppers. I saw shoppers helping each other, passing clothes back and forth over tables. And over and over, I heard how excited people were who had never had the chance to attend something like this.
At the end of the day, as volunteers were breaking down tables, taking down signs, and bagging up leftovers (35 bags went to the Big Fat Flea and a conservative estimate of 75-100 bags were dropped off at the local Goodwill)
I wished it could have gone on longer, that it could have lasted two days, that it was happening again the following Saturday.
That night I sat by myself in the empty space for a few quiet minutes
and started planning for next year.
Until then, I'll wear the awesome stuff I scored at The Big Thr!fty, like this dress!
Eyeglasses from Zenni Optical; butterfly necklace from Dots
If you are interested in holding your own version of the Fat Girl Fleamarket (now called the Big Fat Flea to be gender-inclusive), per Deb's urging, I'm writing up a little How I Did It. The Big Thr!fty really was a low-stress, fun event to hold and, especially if you have your *own* team of Core Fat, there's no limit to what can be done!
(By the way? After expenses, the charity I selected for this event, NOLOSE, is receiving a check for $4,021.23!!!)