definatalie’s bits: Honesty about being fat and poor and a blogger.
Today I felt like a huge failure because I can’t afford to buy clothes in the Boxing Day sales. I feel like a failure because I can’t really afford to be a fatshion blogger when I don’t have new clothes all the time. Also because I couldn’t afford to go to NY for the YFF conference, and I was…
WORD. Thanks for sharing your truth.
I really like afrotitty’s comment: “Thanks for sharing your truth.” The intersection of fat and poorness is something that I think the fatosphere talks about a lot, but not often from a personal perspective. The fatosphere, and the blogosphere generally, has grown to be structured such that it’s often difficult for poor people or people with disabilities (who are often the same people) to participate in. I’m glad you’re pointing that out.
And for what it’s worth, Natalie, I really enjoy your Tumblr and your blog. What you call “whinging” has value and I’m glad to read it. I love your anger and your honesty and your diy haircuts.
(If you’re looking for ways to work around not having new things, I think showing us ways you remix the same pieces would be amazing. I enjoy outfitblogs for fatshion inspiration and for the work they do in normalizing fat bodies, but for me it would be so practically useful to see a post of “three ways I wore the same [dress/skirt/shirt]” from someone who is much more visually creative & talented than I am. And if you’re not into doing that, maybe I’ll get off my arse and do it myself.)
Oh you know what? I first saw outfit blogging on Bits and Bobbin’s site through the Wardrobe Remix flickr group. A group all about remixing your wardrobe items. And then I forgot all about that when I got into the Fatshionista lj community because I was introduced to online shopping, so I thought that I had to just buy what I could when I could and show that off, to show that fat people could dress well. And that’s problematic, that thing of holding fat people to the standards of straight sized people, because clothes are harder to find and afford if you’re fat… ESPECIALLY if you are deathfat. I realised that somewhere along the line, but internally I still had the “Newer! More! Don’t look like a slob who wears the same clothes!” chant in my head.
That’s why discussing this off-blog, on tumblr, is valuable for me. I think I will try to focus on remixing more, thanks for that. Even if you are aware of poor/ fat shaming and how crap it is, you can still poor/ fat shame yourself… I really appreciate talking to you and all my tumblr lovelies because it helps me peel back the layers of internalised shame.