Letting Go of “Slimming” Ideas in Fashion

As we’ve been talking about here at Your Fashion, Your Way, we have the right to wear what we like and what makes us feel good, regardless of whether or not it makes us look thinner.

To have fun with fashion, it’s important to let go of preconceived and strict ideas and to allow ourselves to really chose what moves us, not what others think they want to see.

It might be hard at first, because many of us have been trying to hide our so-called “flaws” for so long and to dress to look thinner. Even in plussize communities sometimes we see fashion advice in that direction.

So, learning to embrace the fat and start wearing what you love (and not only what creates an illusion of thinness) is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Some say you can lose pounds by wearing specific kinds of clothes (there are even books about it!) and I aknowledge that some of those tricks might have some effect, but if you always get dressed with the goal to look thinner than you are, fashion may become torturous for you.

So, my advice is: Dress your body with confort and beauty and tell the world, “THIS IS MY BODY!”

To help and inspire you in that journey there are the plus size (extremely freeing) commandments, written by Marie Denee, and the first two myths in our ongoing series about debunking fashion taboos like wearing white or wearing stripes. We’ve also done interviews with some great FATshionistas that are a living example of how FAT can be FASHION, such as Valerie, Marie Denee, Litha Bacchi, Lu Anne (aka Weesha) and Lilli Hingee.

One of our interviewees, Litha Bacchi, wrote a great article about how her perceptions on getting dressed have changed since she started her blog The Chubby Girl’s Practical Guide , featuring pictures of some important brazilian FATshionistas, which you can also find in our stripe’s post. She’s given me permission to translate her work and share some of it with you.

FATshionistas Don’t Want to Look Thinner, by Litha Bacchi

“This blog began kind of shyly, with few of my own opinions and a great deal of reproduction about what I’ve learned about the visual effects clothes can have. I guess the tips were mostly about how to look thinner, how to hide this and that, how to look taller, etc. Basicaly, how to be closer to the “perfect body type” society imposes.

Well, dear readers, I hope you’ve noticed how the blog has changed. How I’ve changed. And, by the way, how fatshionistas around the whole world have changed, too.

We don’t want to look thinner.

We want to wear what we like, what’s fashionable right now, and what’s in tune with our self expression.

We don’t want clothes made “for fat people.” We want the same clothes that are made for thin people in bigger sizes. We want the freedom to wear what we wish, to be creative, and to explore the fashion world by combining textures, patterns, and colors.

We want to be like any other fashionista. Why can’t we wear stiletto heels if we want?

I enjoy less and less giving tips on what looks best on each type of body. Each day I admire more bloggers like Papu Morgado, Camila, Thayane, Becky, Sakina, and Gabi.

You may think that I’m being contradictory here, but I must say, no, I’m not. Just like other human beings, I think, I develop, I change, I evolve. I read tons of blogs every day, even though I don’t have that much free time to spend. I gather new fashion references every day. And I can tell you for sure:

No, fatshionistas don’t want to look thinner.”

Fashion doesn’t have to be about looking thinner anymore! It can be a way to express who we are!”

With that idea in mind, let’s try to chose our clothes based on what we love, on what we find beautiful, on what’s confortable. Choose your favorite colors, patterns and textures. Let go of standards, feel free to make fashion your own!

Please share your toughts in the comments!

Patricia Morgado is a Brazilian teacher, jewelry designer and a self acceptance and fashion blogger. She has a degree in Pedagogy and a Master's degree in Human Rights Education. She believes that the key to a happy life is learning to love ourselves. She also believes that fashion is for everyBODY. You can find her jewlery work at Madame Papu's.