My friend Zindzi of Zindzi.com grew up in South Africa, the child of anti-apartheid activists. Then she traveled and planted her roots in San Francisco. She is one of those people you meet and you can see that she has a kind soul. Continue reading
Category Archives: Custom Made
Where Can I Buy a Plus Size 4X Bikini, or even a 12X Bikini?
Well it’s swimsuit season and and OMG what if we want a bikini? Here is what I found:
Pennington’s
Print Ty Voglio 46DD Top – 4X Bottom Swim Top – Swim Bottom
Black Ty Voglio 46DD Top – 5X Bottom Swim Top – Swim Bottom
J. D. Williams, U.K.
Over 15 Bikinis to a U.K. Size 32 = U.S. Size 28 or 30
Big Gals Lingerie
Bikinis Sizes 1X – 12X
Black Cat Bikinis – Up to 6X – Made to Order
Well, it is pretty awesome that we have more fatshion bikinis to choose from all the time. Do you think you might wear a bikini this year?
Peace…affinity
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Plus Size Bracelets
You have probably noticed I love bracelets, especially bangle or wrap bracelets. I wear them most every day and have purchased them everywhere. I have big hands, like my Dad’s, and my wrist is 7 1/2 inches, so I have rarely purchased a bracelet at an accessory store or at a regular retail site. So what do I do? The bracelet above is two Victoria Emerson’s wrap bracelets that I connected together, and I love that they alternate black and crystals. The two of them go around my wrist about 8 times, rather that 10 times as they are expected to do, and I love wearing them. I have had them a couple of months, we will see how they hold up. You could certainly make something like this for even less than the sale price that I paid. HERE are some YouTube tutorials of varying difficulty. There are over 2,000 plus size bracelets on ETSY.
FROM THE TOP DOWN
Fine Jewelry purchased in Ireland
Torrid Bangle – Hollow
Old Bangle – Lane Bryant
Variety of necklaces and small bracelets attached together and wrapped
Torrid Solid and Hollow Bracelets
DIY Bracelets: For “gold days” I have taken my mother-in-law’s, as well as my own costume and fine necklaces and tiny bracelets and connected them together to use as a wrap bracelet. It makes me SO happy to be using jewelry that was sitting in my drawer and I love the look.
Torrid Bangles
Since I am retired and I can wear whatever I want, my standard everyday look has been rhinestone bangles for the last couple of years and I have been buying them at Torrid. But sometimes a rhinestone will fall out the first day, the bracelets have fallen apart after everyday use or occasionally one of them will not fit. But I do love them and I keep trying.
When we went to Europe last year I wanted a memento so I bought this sweet stretch bracelet in Cannes, and it does not even turn my wrist black when I wear it. LOL. I occasionally buy a regular bracelet with stretch. I really wanted some vintage bakelite bracelets but all the bangles were WAY too small so I settled for a stretch version on EBAY.
You can buy Plus Size Bracelets from these sites: ASOS Curve, Lane Bryant, Torrid, avenue, Sonsi, OneStopPlus, debshops, Domino Dollhouse. I would love to hear where you are buying plus size bracelets and how they are holding up for you.
Peace…affinity
Some photos: Leori Gill
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Fabulous Custom Made Plus Size Clothing
I got a note and a photo from my friend Nicole Maron recently. She had had her amazing friend and designer extraordinaire Kelly Williams custom make this three piece ensemble – top, skirt, headpiece – for the 1920’s themed wedding she was attending.
Nicole got many compliments, including that she looked like “She just came from Prague”. I love the gorgeous ensemble and it looks like it would feel fabulous to wear.
This is what Nicole has to say about her friend Kelly as a designer:
Kelly is a unique talent who understands the three-dimensionality of real bodies large and small, and who can create anything from custom costumes like this to perfectly tailored coats to fun casual wear to glamtastic modern party duds to sophisticated work clothing. She is also an *excellent* patternmaker. I think she deserves an angel who can start a clothing line and hire her as their lead designer, but she is looking for any good design job leads. You can see some of her older stuff at foompa and she offers sewing classes at Craft Haven. Really you should get her to take you on a tour of her own closet – she designed and made everything in it!
Kelly and Nicole, thanks for sharing with me, I am always thrilled to be able to share something truly different with my readers.
Peace…affinity
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The Raygun Gothic Rocketship Takes Off
The Raygun Gothic Rocketship has been at Pier 14 for 2 1/2 years. It has been a fun piece of art for San Francisco. I am very sad about the Rocketship’s departure and I feel like a little bit of San Francisco is leaving. When I was the blogger for the Black Rock Arts Foundation I wrote about the Rocketship a lot, as you can see if you click here. Now it is leaving and last night the Space Cowboys put on a street party. While I was there I met the lovely and interesting, Miss Kitty Stryker, who was part of the Rocketship crew. I loved her uniform, and loved it even more when she told me that when she had it made she told the designer that she needed ruffles and cleavage and fun. So I thought you might like to see how that turned out.
And yes, the party rocked and then the Bay Lights came on. It was a special moment, that last time these two fabulous pieces of art would been seen together.
Peace…affinity
photo: David Yu
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eShakti Clothing – A Plus Size Review
Cat Oake
Cat Oake
Cat Oake
I have been watching eShakti for awhile. It is everywhere in my Facebook Groups. I am thrilled, these buyers had posted their candid photos (I love that they take their own photos with their phones) and they are willing to let me share them. Because of that you will be able to see the range of clothing that eShakti sells, and they look fabulous. And then, fellow blogger XXELLE put up a coupon code up for eShakti that is good until March 10th, (those details are at the end of this post) so I knew it was time to review eShakti.
eShakti carries sizes 0 – 36, they offer customization, they do not keep any clothing in stock, they cut to order and their clothing is made in India. You have two choices, you can order clothing according to their sizing chart, and then have minor customization, or you can order custom sizing specifying all of your measurements. Customization is just $7.50 for both custom sizing and custom styling, and it is free with your first order.
I had never ordered anything from them because my personal experience with custom made clothing has not been very good, I tend to buy online and then have my clothes tailored. But I ordered a dress last week, completely custom and we will see how it goes when it arrives in several weeks.
Per Cat Oake recently:
I had been buying items from eShakti and adding several inches to the bust and waist as well as saying I was 5’11” tall when I’m actually only 5’5″. Well, things were coming larger and larger. I think they have been finally figuring out that they need to add extra ease to the garments for fat people.
Anyway, I recently changed my ordered measurements to be just an inch larger in bust and waist and VOILA! Perfect fits in the last two garments that arrived. No need fix ’em with the sewing machine or just live with the extra volume.
In addition, I loooove the fabric in the dress shown. It’s a eyelet using silver threads. (That is the dress at the top). You can only customize using the options on the customize tab with eShakti and fabric is everything, when you buy their more expensive pieces the fabric is better and they look better.
Madelyn McWilliams
Madelyn McWilliams said:
I pretty much ordered a size larger than I usually wear. I usually wear a size 26 (22/24 top and 26 bottom) but I got a 28. The way it’s cut at the top i could use a little more room but it’s not bad.
Here are some more photos of other fabulous women wearing eShakti:
Aimie Thomas
Katie Bot
Cardigan: Annex Woman
Dress: eShakti
Tights: We Love Colors
Shoes:: Payless
Necklace: My grandmother’s
AnnMarie Elle
Cardi: Old Navy
Top: eShakti
Jeans: One Stop Plus
Headband: Sephora
Good luck to all of you if you make any purchases. Consistently I saw the suggestion to buy a larger size than you usually wear and to add some inches to your height, the clothing tends to run short. Thanks to everyone on FatToo Anonymous that was willing to share their photos with you and me. They look fabulous don’t they!
Peace…affinity
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Obsessed by Plus Size Necklaces and Collars
Photo: Art & Fashion
Okay, I am obsessed, we have to have another post about how to make necklaces and collars work for you if you are plus size. I am moving, more about that in another post, and I spent last evening looking at collars and necklaces as discussed in my prior post (rather than packing), because there are so many statement pieces out there right now, like the one above. It is kind of a summer spring Annie Hall look. Who knows what this cost, hundreds of dollars perhaps? But you could recreate this look with this, in fact I may have to.
HAREMDESIGN on Etsy
HAREMDESIGN on Etsy $45 including shipping. It has a silver chain at the back which could have an extender if needed. Or you could add a long ribbon so it starts further down and surrounds the necklaces below, more like the inspiration pieces above. There are other bibs or large lace collars on Etsy that are cheaper, but the lace look may be too lacey for me, although Torrid says the lace and denim look is trending right now. You could combine it with the necklaces below by putting them all on a ribbon, together or separately. I think it would look amazing, or maybe something a little more in the same shade and color of the collar above. Or this heavier but still spring summer look:
Statement Necklaces by VintageStarrBeads on Etsy
Statement Necklaces by VintageStarrBeads on Etsy about $30 shipped.
And here are several more statement pieces, all from Etsy, because I love that someone is actually making most of these. That some woman has found a market for tatting or lace or crochet, or crafting, a talent that she thought was not marketable. YAY!
lacetime on Etsy
EPUU on Etsy
From EPUU on Etsy
From KBazaar on Etsy
From KBazaar on Etsy for under $10 with shipping.
BellaJewelry4u on Etsy
From BellaJewelry4u on Etsy. Most under $20 plus $5.95 shipping from China.
From OrangePlus at Etsy
OrangePlus from Etsy $24 plus $18 shipping from the Netherlands
This season is all about the statement necklace look. Be brave and try something a little wild, you will be glad you did, hopefully. I will try to stop now and get some packing done.
Peace…affinity
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Plus Size Necklace Reviews and Neckline Cheat Sheet
I came across this fabulous Neckline Cheat Sheet from Charming Charlie. Seems like I am always struggling with “what is a good look for this neckline?” I have some special plus size favorites for some of these:
Collars: Separate collars are all over the fashion magazines this season. I love the Domino Dollhouse Spiked Collar. I have not tried it on but since it is on their site I assume it will fit a plus size neck. I do not wear much in the way of crewnecks or I would have already bought it. Etsy Lace Collars tend to be hand made and could be tied with a ribbon to make them fit, and you can get a lot of visual impact for a nominal price and dress up some of your less interesting clothing. This lace collar is less than $10 with shipping (which may have been sold by the time you read this) and would look fabulous on black. Do you think you can wear a collar with a turtleneck? I may have to try that.
D.I.Y. Cyber Goddess
Necklaces: I tend to wear necklaces that I have made or have been made by my friends that are artists but if you are looking for an edgy look Domino Dollhouse is once again my first choice. I love Torrid, I wear their bracelets everyday, and Torrid necklaces run about 17 inches and often come with a 5 inch extender. Sonsi costume jewelry necklaces come in a wide variety of prices and styles. The photo above is of a set on this page that I am seeing everywhere. Sonsi also has a fine jewelry necklace line.
Faux Pearls: Etsy has over 5,000 Faux Pearl Necklaces listed right now. If this is the look you are looking for you cannot help but find it here. I love this Vintage Triple Strand necklace (which may have been sold by the time you read this). The smallest strand is 22″ and the longest is 28″, for less than $20 shipped. That would work for me even with a turtleneck.
Facebook: If you use Facebook, FatToo Accessora has lots of jewelry. But buyer beware, there are no returns and carefully view what you are buying. I find I have about a 50% success rate on this site for receiving items that work for me. But when I get what I am looking for, often I cannot find it any place else and I love that.
And it goes without saying that Goodwill and other thrift stores are a great place to shop if you are out and about. Goodwill is often the most inexpensive because they have not been curated or handmade as they might have been in on Etsy or a smaller thrift store.
Shop carefully, check that the necklaces are long enough or that you are willing to wear a necklace extender, but they are out there for a good price, and currently I am loving the vintage or edgy look as you can tell from this post.
Peace…affinity
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The Camera Skirt and the Domino Dollhouse Jean Jacket
I fell in love with this custom designed Camera skirt on one of the Facebook plus size thrift stores. The designer has a store on Etsy, Lilipops Designs. She designs childrens clothes but will take custom orders for skirts that reflect her children’s dresses. I was interested in the camera skirt because I take a lot of photos for this blog and the Burning Man Blog and I was the blogger for the Black Rock Arts Foundation blog until April 2012, so I just had to have it. The cropped size 4x Jacket is from Domino Dollhouse.
I wore it for the first time last weekend when we went to a lecture by Sean Orlando, a friend of ours who is on an Artist’s Fellowship at the De Young Museum.
The Project he is working on with other artists is the Urbanauts, described as:
Urbanauts is a speculative exploration of urban infrastructure and its relationship to the everyday experience of the contemporary city. Through a series of interwoven conversations, urban expeditions, design charettes, and conjectural artworks based at the de Young, Orlando will collaborate with Rebar to examine and explore the ways in which urban inhabitants relate (or don’t relate) to the largely unseen mechanical systems, societal constructs, and cultural imperatives that mediate and structure life in the built environment.
Then I was browsing Sex + Design Magazine, which I love and there was an article title “The Instagram Becomes a Reality” and there was my camera from my skirt (kinda).
It makes me really happy when I can wear something a little artier or homemade rather than thrifted or bought from a retail plus size store, so wearing this skirt amuses me, as I hope it does you.
Peace…affinity
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Plus Size Team Shirts from the NFL Shop
Here comes the Super Bowl and my friend Lisa Tealer is just in time to show you her fully customizable San Francisco 49ers Team Shirt from the NFL Shop, size 4X. You can also order this one in a size 4X but I am not clear you could receive it for the game this weekend.
Lisa Tealer is a former aerobics instructor and health club owner. If she looks familiar, you may have seen her posing as a plus size clothing model and she is a board member and director of programs for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. An amazing woman to know.
Thanks for the tip from our friend Cinder Ernst.
Peace…affinity
