Yes, it’s a BFD post! I’m hoping to get back into posting more regularly, and to that end, going through a slight backlog of e-mailed questions. Thanks for your patience (and feel free to re-send anything you’d like an answer to). Today’s question comes from Melissa, who writes: I need a cute crossbody bag for […]

Filed under: Ask BFD, Fashion, Meta, Question, Tidbit | 20 Comments »

Armed with a gift card in my hand and Nordstrom love in my heart, I headed to the nearest Nordstrom Rack, in San Leandro, California, to do a little shopping. The first thing I noticed is that Nordstrom Rack does not exactly provide the full Nordstrom Experience. I’ve been to Nordstrom proper many a time, […]

Filed under: Fashion, Meta, Personal, Review, Work | 232 Comments »

BFDiva Laurie sent me a very exciting email recently: she’s been chosen to be on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss. It is a spinoff of their Say Yes to the Dress series, and it’s about, as you may guess, shopping for a wedding dress. The Big Bliss spinoff focuses on plus-sized brides. […]

Filed under: Ask BFD, Fashion, Personal, Sex & Romance, TV, Video | 9 Comments »

Well, would you look at that, it’s suddenly the week of Thanksgiving here in the US. You know what that means, right? Parties. Dress ups. Cocktail hours. Company shindigs. And the downside to all of that glam? The family gathering. Some of us are lucky enough to have happy families, supportive and warm loving families […]

Filed under: Fashion | 13 Comments »

Beth Ditto recently walked the runway in a Jean Paul Gaultier show, and she looks fabulous. Gaultier is, of course, the same designer who used Velvet D’Amour in a previous runway show. More pictures at HuffPo, where they pair the slideshow with this recent quote from Ditto: “It’s really interesting to me that people will […]

Filed under: Beth Ditto, Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Tidbit | 13 Comments »

Over at The Rotund, Marianne recently posted a piece about the normalizing power of shoe shopping. Because they are never JUST shoes. They’re what I was, for a long time, allowed – when you’re fat and your options are limited, sometimes shoes become the thing you use to express yourself… It’s one of the only […]

Filed under: Fashion, Fat Positive, Question | 52 Comments »

With a special shout-out to Brianna, here are some links that popped up in Google Reader this week! 1. From Feed Me: Fat women are paid less than men in the workplace. So obviously, we should lose weight. Wait, what? Fat women are paid less than women who aren’t fat; fat men, on average, earn […]

Filed under: BFDudes, Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Gabby Sidibe, Humor, Links, Personal, Work | 4 Comments »

1. Gabby Sidibe was on one of four covers of Elle Magazine featuring young Hollywood stars. But she was the only one whose body was cropped out. Oh, and her skin was lightened, too. 2. Levi’s has come out with new “Curve ID” jeans, with different cuts similar to the Lane Bryant Right Fit concept. […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fashion, Fatism, Gabby Sidibe, Magazines, Meta, Race & Ethnicity | 21 Comments »

We already knew that, but here’s a quote from this interview (embedded below) with Perez Hilton where, at around 5:50, he says this: If I were to do a clothing line, it would be for sizes 16 and higher. Because I really believe that those women are truly a neglected population, and when I visit […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Tidbit, Video | 23 Comments »

On the heels of the feminism debate in the comments, I have some news for the guys: your pants size may be lying to you. A supposed 36″ pant measures 41″ at Old Navy and 39.5″ at Dockers… and doesn’t seem to measure 36″ anywhere. There’s a chart at that link, but before you click, […]

Filed under: BFDudes, Fashion, Fatism | 18 Comments »

This next question actually was left as a comment, but I thought it would be worth turning it into an entry. Hello all, I’m Lisa. I’m 32, 5’4″ short and weigh about 300lbs (it fluctuates). Would that I could say that I have the blessing of an hourglass shape, but no. I’m one of the […]

Filed under: Ask BFD, Fashion, Question | 28 Comments »

So I was over at a friend’s house watching Project Runway last night, and I immediately knew I’d have to come home and write a quick post about it. So, they did their “real woman” challenge again where, instead of models, they have regular women to design for. In this case, it was women wearing […]

Filed under: Fashion, Project Runway, TV | 54 Comments »

Michelle Fonville speaking out about her treatment at the nail salon reminds me of another form of speaking out: writing a letter of complaint. Recently(ish), BFD reader cb wrote in to share part of a survey she’d filled out after shopping at the Gap’s online store, and the response she received. She rated her online […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fashion, Old Navy | 29 Comments »

The days are growing shorter and the air smells like freshly-sharpened pencils. After Labor Day, bare legs are verboten if you adhere to Miss Manners, so what’s a girl to do? Tights, baby. Tights. Finding a decent pair of plus size tights is a bit of a challenge. Sometimes tight purveyors make gigantically long tights […]

Filed under: Fashion, Fat Positive, Weetabix | 26 Comments »

Cubicalgirl in the comments alerted us to the existence of this shirt, saying: It’s got the universal man/woman icons on it, only the woman is bigger and it says “Team Player” underneath, the implication being that the guy wearing the shirt will “take one for the team” and chat up the fat friend so his […]

Filed under: Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Humor, Sex & Romance | 19 Comments »

1. Found in my referral logs, this Ask Moxie thread has suggestions for places to shop for professional workplace attire if you’re plus-sized. Lots of links in the comments. I may be fat, but I don’t want to look frumpy too. If you or any of your contributors know of good places (aside from Lane […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fashion | 6 Comments »

A review of Hanes Just My Size is behind the jump. If clothing reviews are your thing, than click on through!

Filed under: BlogHerOff, Fashion, Review | 25 Comments »

This seems to be the week for celebrity women to advocate for body positivity—or at least, it’s the week I found all these links! First off, from Becky on Twitter comes this story about Penelope Cruz, who says you don’t have to be thin to be pretty. “I would close down all those teenage magazines […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feel Good Friday, Feminism, Gossip, Hayley Hasselhoff, Huge, International, Kids, Magazines, TV | 7 Comments »

In case you’re not familiar with eShakti, they have an amazing concept. They will customize their garments to your exact specifications. You break out the measuring tape, you tell them exactly what to do so their clothes will fit your body, and they will do it. It’s like magic, especially if you are hard to […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fashion, Personal, Review | 17 Comments »

The picture of an old-timey Lane Bryant ad came from Roger Ebert on Twitter, who described it tongue-in-cheekily as a picture of a “tragically fat young woman.” And speaking of Lane Bryant, my dear friend Pippit sent in a link to an article about Full Figured Fashion Week that ran in her local paper, the […]

Filed under: Fashion, Old Timey, Video | 53 Comments »

What are people searching for that brings them to Big Fat Deal? And how can we help them? Let’s dig into the Sitemeter and find out! what is the most ridiculous diet of all time My nominees are the Tapeworm Diet, the ever-popular Baby Food Diet, and the Intravenous Diet. But I’m sure someone will […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fashion, Humor, Jennifer Aniston, Meta | 14 Comments »

1. Some reviews of Huge! Or as The Frisky put it, “Fat People Were On TV And, Whaddya Know, The World Didn’t End.” Entertainment Weekly L.A. Times ABC News MTV STLToday New York Times The Frisky 2. An awesome 18-year-old spent a month following Seventeen magazine dictates and blogging about it, calling it the Seventeen Magazine Project. Her intent […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Fat Positive, Gabby Sidibe, Huge, Magazines, Media, TV | 5 Comments »

1. Stella Ellis, of BettyConfidential.com, put together a story all about how to stay hot when you’re hot (via Shine). It’s a beauty and fashion round-up that’s got a ton of gorgeous dresses I covet, and some very cheering words about being comfortable in your skin and whatever you put on it. The important thing is […]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Humor, International, Media, Photoshop | 2 Comments »

So, let’s talk about “real women.” We hear this phrase a lot, often in the sense that “real women have curves” and that, by extension, skinny women are somehow not “real.” And this article from the Sydney Morning Herald articulates the problem: Women have been caught in a pointless feedback loop as we debate what […]

Filed under: Advertising, Celebrities, Fashion, Feminism, International, Race & Ethnicity | 30 Comments »

1. We talked about April Flores, the plus-size pinup and adult film star awhile back. She’s in the news again, criticizing the ridiculous American Apparel for their sizing prejudices, and talking about her work, body confidence, and fat prejudice. As if you needed more evidence that she’s both gorgeous and awesome. I now know that […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Beth Ditto, Celebrities, Comics, Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Humor, Media | 11 Comments »