“It Can’t Possibly Look Good on Me”

If you are a plus-size woman and you see images of beautiful women (usually thin) wearing gorgeous clothes on TV or magazines your reaction may be: ” Amazing outift, but it’s not for me.”

I must confess that I used to think like that everytime I saw an outfit that I liked, and like a knee jerk reflex I would think: “It won’t look good on me. I’m fat.”

After years of having this harmful mantra hanging around my head, I started to wonder (and it was part of a much bigger process of learning to love myself and accept my body), “WHY NOT!? Why can’t it look good on me?”

One answer to this question was rather objective: because it doesn’t exist in your size. And that answer was hard to beat.

As we all know, offerings in plus-size clothing are not the same as “regular” sizes (although they’ve been improving a lot), and for a long time these slim pickings restrained my outfit aspirations. Thus, I only searched for inspiration among plus-sized fashion icons.

But after a while of blogging about fashion for everyBODY, getting to know great fashion and FATshion blogs I started to understand that inspiration doesn’t have to be restricted to the plus-size world. Sure, it may be easier to relate to people with a similar body shape and size, but you can find inspiration anywhere, because Inspiration has no size!

Where’s This Inspiration, Then?

It’s all about adapting and experimenting, and, with the risk of sounding repetitive, it’s about making fashion your own.

You can adapt your own clothes by purchasing pieces that are similar to what you’ve seen and what you like. You can literally make a plus-size version of some inspiring dress or skirt, for example, with a little help from a seamstress. You can customize or take sewing classes if you choose. You can wear an accessory that reminds you of someone you admire. You are free to create and make it your very own version of something you like!

Even plus-sized stores are making plus-sized versions of clothes that were made famous by artists, movie stars and other pop culture references.

Today, I want to show you that you can get inspired and make your inspiration work for you. For that, I had a lot of help from my fellow FATshion bloggers, to whom I give a HUGE thank you!

Getting Inspired From a Lot of Different Sources!

What makes you feel inspired? I’ts a modern, urban look? Romantic? Casual? Retro and vintage? Red carpet’s outfits? Celebrities? Artists?  Movies, tv series? all of the above? You name it!

Inspiration is everywhere, we just need to find it!

Queen Diva, from Diva In Deep Thought, finds inspiration everywhere (this is even a category on her blog!). She’s always ready to get inspired by something on the internet, in her daily life, or a woman on the elevator.  I can relate to that. Everything I see may become a fashion reference in my outfits or my creative process.
In this picture, our Queen Diva is wearing a Khloe Kadarshian. “>leopard print top and a mini skirt based on the looks of Chole Kadarshian. .

Juliana is wearing an outfit she saw in a fashion editorial, worn by the brazilian top model Isabelli Fontana. She created her outfit with things she already had in her closet, and she didn’t have to spend any money. This is another great feature of finding inspiration: our closets may have hidden treasures that are brought to light when we get inspired by someone else’s style!

Keo Becker spotted a fashion trend that she enjoyed, and she made it work very well for herself! Look how gorgeous she looks with her neon pink high heels.

Valerie got inspired by two of the most famous pop singers in the world: Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

Val is wearing an Asos’ cage shouder top that itself was inspired by a dress worn by the singer.

On the next photo, not only her looks are inspired by Lady Gaga, but she’s wearing a funny and original necklace made by Les Créations de Marie Rose, portraying Gaga herself.

As we are talking about adding accessories that inspire us, another great example is Thayne’s Gossip Girl‘s inspired looks. She loves Blair Waldorf’s style (actress Leighton Meester’s character), and she has incorporated her hair accessories in her daily looks - like these beautiful hair bands we can see in the picture.

TV and movies are a great source of inspiration when it comes to outfits. Major TV hit Sex and the City has been inspiring women from all over the world, especially the main character Carrie Bradshaw (who has become one of the most famous fashion icons ever) played by Sarah Jessica Parker. In these picture, I’m wearing a black dress openly inspired by Charlotte’s (played by actress Kristin Davis) romantic and classic wardrobe.

Since we are talking about fashion icons, I can’t stress enough how much I love the style of the unforgetable Audrey Hepburn, so I paid an homage to her great style by wearing a version of her looks on Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I can tell you, impersonating her was a lot of fun and, why not, kinda magical!

Another movie (well, series of movies), that has been an inspiration to women of different generations is the Twilight Saga. The worldwide famous love story between a human (Bella) and a handsome vampire (Edward) has been warming the hearts of women of all ages (and sizes, I must add!). Bella’s casual, yet romantic look has caused a fashion fever, especially among teenagers. Plus Size brand Torrid has developed a collection based on the saga (including clothes, accessories and more)  that gets updated every time a new movie is released. Here we can see Bella’s green hoodie, worn in the first movie and her party green dress of the second movie, New Moon.

Lilli Hingee, from Frocks and Frou Frou also gathers romantic, delicate and retro references to get inspired. The movie An Education , that takes place in 1960’s London, was the source of inspiration of Lilli’s look in the first picture. In the second picture, she was touched by Emily’s (Some Girls Wander, a “straight” fashion blog) style. Lilli admmits that she admires Emily very much, because “her style is gorgeously feminine and retro, and she manages to pull off hats, fingerless gloves and knee-high socks with an aplomb that I can only dream about.”

I hope this post helps you add some inspiration to your fashion life!  Where do you usually get inspired to create your outfits? I’d love to hear from you 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.