There are many plus size used or new clothing sites on Facebook, but be careful because I have found them to be addicting. I just bought this coat from Jessica Kane yesterday for $40 shipped. Great deal, I am sure she did not wear it much and I know Lane Bryant sizing so I knew it would probably fit, but I could just as easily have missed it if I had not been online.

The FatToo groups have the most complete rules and the sellers are individuals. Some of the other sites allow small business owners.  One other tip, if you later want to find something, if you can remember what group it was in, there is search capacity for the groups, on the upper right hand of the page under the cover photo.  It would really help if you kept track of what you bought and from whom, so you can go back and let them know you received the item.

Most of these groups are closed.  Go to the far right side of your screen and click the * and click to ask to join the group.  Women only!

I am going to list a few and you can see what might work for you:

FatToo: Sizes 20+  over 3,300 members

FatToo Grand: Size 28+  269 members

FatToo Accessora: Shoes, purses, belts, etc. 954 members

FatToo Incognito: Costumes  657 members

FatToo Night: Nightwear, intimates 788 members

FatToo Fancy and Bridal: (new in 2013)

FatToo Anonymous: All the fashion, chat, spillover from the group FatToo. Post pictures of yourself wearing your FatToo Purchases  532 members

Dress for Less:    Clothing Sizes 3X+   285 Members

Thick Thrift: Clothing and Miscellaneous Sizes 16 -28  57 Members – mainly one person listing, but since she lists some things in my size I am going to follow her – not on Facebook, but has a Facebook page

for Fats sake: Clothing size 14+   949 members – I do not subscribe to this group since the clothes run smaller

AccessorSIZE:  Everything (Some adult items)  527 Members

Fatshion: This group provides a spot for people to show what they are wearing and where thy got it.  Kind of like a “superblog”.  I read it everyday!

Cautionary Tales: Beware, get to know the site a little before you send anyone any money.  Almost all transactions are done thru Paypal, so you are trusting someone to send you something.  If there is an ongoing problem with someone they will probably get banned from the group, but you could lose your money in the interim.  There is also the sizing issue.  There are no returns for the most part so check the sizing and be sure you ask for the measurements where you might be unusual.  I have smallish arms but a big waist, since I am an apple shape. In addition there are quality issues, I bought some summer clothes recently and they were in pretty bad shape and had been cheap to begin with, but some other things have been great. On the other hand, I have NEVER bought a piece of clothing at a thrift store unless it was a plus size store and those are few and far between.  So I am loving these online thrift stores and am willing to take an occasional loss to get something fun at a discount.

There are many other groups but I cannot really tell you about them since I do not belong to them, but you can search at the top of your Facebook page for plus size clothing and mostly you can tell who the vendors are and what groups might be more individual sales groups.  If you know of any other on-line sites that you love, feel free to share them.  Ciao Bellas…affinity

In the spirit of shopping my closet before Burning Man this year I pulled out a skirt that I had silk-screened 10 years ago but never really found a way to wear it.  So I designed a t-shirt on Custom Plus to match the skirt.  I purchased a 4X but I think when I have a shirt made next time I will buy a 3X in this tank top.  Custom Plus is the only place on the web that I have been able to find that will make a woman’s t-shirt in a 4X and I love them for it.  The art in the background is EGO envisioned by my friend Laura Kimpton and it burned on Saturday night.

My necklaces are pieces I have collected over the years, given to me by artists and other Burners.  The EGO necklace did not fit since it is designed to fit tightly around my neck and it was given to me at Burning Man this year, but I have since added a necklace extender and now it fits perfectly.

I thought you might like to see my scooter.  Burning Man is a bike culture but I am allowed a scooter because I have a Disablilty Sticker for my car.  You can also see my little dusty shoes.  Most people wear boots but I find them way too warm on the desert so I wear regular lace leather shoes from our local plus size consignment store, Seams to Fit.

And last but not least  I thought you might like to see my hat with a rhinestone hatband made from wedding rhinestone ribbon and the Imagine Peace button is from a Yoko Ono art exhibit several years ago and one of my favorite belongings. Yoko had gifted hundreds of them to the attendees of the exhibit. You can see the new tattoo is doing very well and just as a reminder it means means “affinity” or “kindred” in Sanskrit. Great year at Burning Man 2012! Ciao Bellas…affinity

 I stopped by the the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance Convention in San Mateo a couple of weeks ago to see my friends and to checkout the trunk show from the plus size clothing stores, who often carry clothes 4X and larger.  And there I found my long time friend Marilyn Wann, a force for good in the fat acceptance world.  She is even in Wikipedia, gotta love that.  I asked her what she was wearing this year and she could not say enough good things about Annalogy, They carry sizes to a 5X, which is a size 30-32.  I love their styling I can see a sophisticated business woman wearing some of the looks and yet some of the other pieces are very versatile and could fit in any wardrobe.

Here is what my friend Marilyn had to say:

Yes! I was squeaking with delight! I *LOVE* *LOVE* *LOVE* Annalogy’s Anna Roberson’s fashion sense! She uses fabrics that are modal (a kind of super-soft rayon) with a bit of spandex. My total favorite fabric! And she styles them into exactly the kinds of garments that are going to let me live the fantasy of wearing modal every day and feeling like I’m in a cozy bed all the time! Squeak of delight!!!

My friends met me at the trunk show and we then ended up dancing in the hall with two of my prior aerobics teachers, Deb Burgard from the 1980s and the Cinder Ernst from the 90s and the 2000s (is that how you think I should express the period of 2000-2010?) and my good friend Carol Squires.  It was old home week, a combination of two teachers that have been very important to me and a friend I do not see very often, but danced with for years, and the delight of dancing to songs that I know so well my body was just thrilled.  Just SO much fun!    Ciao Bellas…affinity

I have had very little time in my life when I have not had any responsibility, one maybe two jobs while attending law school, working lots of hours or even more recently volunteering for the Burning Man Project.  It has been interesting.  I made a silly mistake recently and my goal has been to not beat myself up too much and enjoy each day as it comes.  So this morning I woke up with NO plans.  My husband is already at Burning Man helping to build the city.  And then, it just popped into my head, I think I will get a tattoo today. I spent a couple of hours thinking about design and then creating a template for the tattoo artist to use.  It is Sanskrit and it means “affinity” with a more literal translation of “kindred”. A friend suggested the Black and Blue Tattoo shop and the artist, Matt was very kind. It barely hurt, just little pin pricks until the last 5 minutes and then it got a little uncomfortable, it took about 1/2 hour.  It is my first tattoo, I have wanted one for a long time and it was an exciting adventure to go on all by myself, without even discussing it with anyone.  Ciao Bellas…affinity

My long time friend, Sue Bishop also goes to Burning Man.  So this year she thought she might try wearing a salwar kameez or three.  What is a salwar kameez you ask?

Salwar Kameez is (also spelt shalwar kameez or shalwar qameez) (Hindi: सलवार कमीज, Urdu: شلوار قمیض)? It is the dress worn by both women and men in northern South Asia and Central Asia. It is a unisex dress similar in manner to shirt and pants worn by both women and men in the west, per Wikipedia.

I think of them as Indian and would not have thought they were worn in other countries, but that may well be the case.  So Sue went shopping, and here is what she found.

 Sue started her shopping in Berkeley, the two salwar kemeezes above were purchased there, and this is what she had to say about the experience.

The Berkeley shop is Roopam Saris, 1044 University.  Yelp has a lot of negative reviews based on customer service but, even though I wasn’t shopping their high end merchandise, I was treated very well.  The daughter who helped me volunteered to ask her father for a further discount on a sale item that I bought (the gold and red one).  Here the largest size was 52 (bust measurement).  The 52 in the casual (poly) suit was too big for me.  The 52 in the “party” suit I bought (the blue suit) is a nice loose right.  My bust measurement is 44, so a 50 should be about right for a loose fitting top.  However, the gold and red, which is a 50, needed a few more inches which I added.  Many are sold as sleeveless with short sleeves included that can be sewn on, as I did with the gold one.  The pants are of nearly infinite size.  I looked at Saree Palace nearby which, while very large, has a limited number of 48-52s.

 

My best recommendation is 786shop.com.  They have an enormous selection and they strongly recommend that every customer have their pieces made to fit at no extra cost.  The suit I ordered was made to my exact measurements.  They have a very thorough custom measurements page.  I wanted a loose fitting garment so I added an inch or two at the bust and hips and got a great fit.  I could choose sleeve length, pants type and overall fit.  My choice was from the Designer Cotton Lawn collection and was one of the most expensive at $117.  Many in this collection are made using pre-printed panels so they have a maximum width of 52 inches.  I don’t think most of the other styles have this limitation. There are cotton lawn options in their casual collection that cost under $50.

I was nervous about buying from a Pakistani website but I followed it for year and saw that it was looking more and more like a mature business.  The functionality on the site is pretty good and they responded promptly to emails and delivered the finished suit as promised.

I thought you might like to see who your fellow readers are.  I love that the internet is making the world smaller since I believe “I know you, You are just like me.”

Ciao Bellas…affinity

This is not really a fashion post but it was such a cool day I just had to share it.  Last fall we bought tickets at an auction for the Black Rock Arts Foundation Art Tour.  Most of the art is destined for Burning Man 2012 and is BIG ART. But the piece that I fell most in love with is Michael Christian’s foot that he is making for another piece.  The question with art for me is always why do I love this piece more than others?…affinity