We all can! Woo! It’s true! Re/Dress NYC now offers teggings and more on their website: http://www.redressnyc.com/

I’d longed for some teggings since I first heard Marriane of therotund.com mention them in a podcast. I think I even waxed philosophically with Golda about it in my own podcast! Ha-ha! I lusted after them like they were some sort of lost treasure that only a few were privy of it’s whereabouts.

No more! While at the Cupcakes & Muffintops event in Oakland, the ever flabulous Marilyn Wann allowed, neigh, invited me to touch and stretch her hot pink pair of teggings…and I did with great delight! It was at that moment I was convinced that I required them for sure. And so I ordered myself three pair: Dark red, Hot pink and Black!

Today was the first day that I wore them. And can I just say that they will absolutely fit almost anyone! I have 63″ hips and there is plenty of room for more! They are thicker than tights, thinner than leggings and stretchy as hell! I love ’em! I will say the crotch thing is always an issue for me, but it’s not terrible in these as the fabric isn’t at all binding. Yay! The waistband doesn’t roll. They stay up quite nicely. I have no complaints at all. This is shocking and flabulous!

This first pic shows the see-through-ness of them with my knees all bent and stuff:

This one is just standing there, you know, lookin’ good, I guess:

Teggings from Re/Dress $18, Dress from Ross (Dress For Less $10), Belt Torrid (2/$5 dealio), Headband Ross $4, Necklace Kohl’s…I think that’s it! Ha! I’m not so good at remembering these things.

I am quite pleased with these and I hope you will be too! I give them my fullest endorsement. No, I’m not being paid, though I would gladly take more teggings as payment for this glowing review (more colors!). Ha-ha! Thanks for reading.

There is so much awesomeness going around right now that I thought I’d share some of my faves with you! Woo!

First off, can I just say how much I fucking love LOVE! love Virgie Tovar?! She is amazing and incredible and is doing a video series, “Virgie Tovar’s Guide to Fat Girl Living” and they are flabulous!!! Here’s episode one to whet your appetite (believe me, you won’t be able to stop!):

Dr.Pattie Thomas & PDA Nation want to hear Your Story (and for more resources, links, etc http://revolutionsresources.blogspot.com/):

Please consider submitting your own story through video or text (you can comment on the videos on YouTube).

Amanda Levitt of FatWaitress & Love Your Body Detroit just opened a fabulous fat positive Etsy shop to raise funds for more fat activism: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LYBDetroit
Do check it out, buy something for yourself (like the fat rights tool kit!!! OMZ!!!)

And a bit of not so greatness, but I hope we can have an impact before it comes out…I first heard about this from Marilyn Wann and wanted to share it with you: Please go to the Amazon pages (US and UK) and post a comment responding to the godawful children’s book, “Maggie Goes on a Diet.”
I was personally shocked that the story itself is about a 14 year old going on a diet, but the targeted age for readers is 4-8 years old. Yikes!!! I hope that you will read the discussion and consider adding your own voice! <3

FattiBoomBallatti here:

So there must be a special place in hell for the plus sized bridal dress industry, or perhaps the wedding dress industry in its entire. I mean it is such a freaking racket. To back up here for a little bit and explain my strong sentiment I decided to get married this September, back in May. The reason why I did this was that I wanted to “get er done” rather than obsess and get all OCD on it should I wait for next spring. So I started off on my adventure wanting: champagne colored tea length, A-lined dress. Did I eventually find it? Not….quite.

So my H2B goes online for about an hour, orders a full linen suit online made to his order, it comes about 3 week later and looks fabulous on him… no alterations needed. Oh, and it cost him under $150. Contrast that with the epic journey into wedding dresses that I have had. First I learned that many of the couture gowns need to be ordered 6 months in advance, and THAT is only for them to make it in a STANDARD SIZE.  Why does it take 4-6 months if you are making them in standard sizes??? Oh, that’s right so you can charge holy hell for them….

From there you would then have to alter it to your specific measurements. Now… why the HELL can’t I get a wedding dress as easily as my beaux got his suit? I’ll tell you why my little darlings, snuggle in close…. Because the bridal industry exists on continuous shots of body insecurity that it feeds on like a zombie feeds on brains.

So I quickly realized that I would have to buy “off rack”. As I do not have time for a couture piece nor do I have time to have something made to order in time. So what did that mean for a girl like me? It meant David’s Bridal. And that was after another consignment wedding shop that had exactly 2 dresses in my heifer size… exactly two and most places stop making them after 14 which if you know anything about wedding dresses they are sized two down, so women bigger than a 10 or smallish 12 can go stuff themselves I guess….. I wear a street 16 and I am apple shaped and that translated into a size 20 at that store….

So I made my appointment at David’s Bridal and arrived on a Friday morning the same time 3 other women came con entourage to try on dresses. They were all about 5-8 years younger than me, thinner than me and unlike me, who came alone, had a gaggle of ladies to pass judgment/praise. Even though I walked in at the same time and had my appointment I was seen last and while the rest of them got the nice full mirrored dressing rooms in the middle of the store on the lovely dais for longish trains I was relegated to the “large and roomy” dressing room in the back and next to the bathrooms with only one mirror partially obstructed to try things on. Talk about feeling like the ugly redheaded stepchild here like they didn’t want shoppers to walk by and see me in the store.

Now of course it would seem every dress I wanted they did not have in my size and in the end I bought a dress I kinda liked in a size too big but I was not thinking straight. I was panicked about finding a dress and confused by the treatment I receieved so I found one and got out. It was a longish tea length, missing the sash which they never gave me and is not in champagne.

So it took me a while to mull over my treatment. Was it because I am in my 30s? Was it because I am fat? For so many reasons or maybe the culmination of them all I felt marginalized, unimportant, and as a first time bride I did not feel at all like the special feeling they say all Brides do when getting their gown. I did the one thing I told myself I would never do again… settle on something because it fit and not because I really liked it.

So I kept looking for dresses and found some I liked online. One was a vintage swing dress with champagne lace overlay and champagne flowers I was like, yeah that’ll do just fine! so I ordered it which came in almost at my exact measurements. Now here’s the thing… I wear a size 16, depending on how the waist is since I am a total Apple… I am most likely considered inbetweenie status…. And the dress that I got was a bit tight in the waist but it was the largest size they carried…. Was sized as a “XXXL” on the tag….. really? Wtf? An XXXL? SRSLY?!?!?

I have something to say to clothiers who go S,M,L, XL, XXL, XXXL and so on…. There is something incredibly WRONG with utilizing this standard of measurement as if to say, “If you are beyond a large… well really we don’t have any words in English to suit your fat ass…. You’re just fucking…extra”.

How the hell is a woman not to feel marginalized, unseen, invisible if   (and this is key)   there is no language in use to describe her? We are all just extras… with no appellation of our own. Too much, overdone, above, beyond the ability to script new words for.

If I had it my way I would pass a law requiring women’s clothing to go by inches just like men’s clothes do, or hey why not have fun with it? Make the sizes colors or flowers or adverbs… come on, anything but shitty, hateful, fat shaming “XXXL”.

So anyways I kept the dress and may end up wearing it for the wedding but this whole wedding dress fiasco has really been just that. A fiasco. At a time when a woman should feel beautiful, special, loved, pampered the whole bridal wedding dress industry instills the opposite so they can fill their greedy little coffers.

So, on my wedding day I will feel beautiful, special, loved and pampered… but it won’t be because of the dress.

I discovered these undies not long ago at Target, like right on the damn shelf! For $8/$9 a 3-pack! They have all of the things I was looking for in a new underwear, plus when I actually wore them they ended up being more comfortable than any of my old ones. Woo! So I bought a second pack a month later. They just stay put and I love that! My old ones were JMS brand hi cuts, but they were always too big no matter what size I got. I felt like I was swimming in ’em. But not these! These babies were just what I needed. So I wanted to replace the old with the comfy-new and headed to my usual Target store. FAIL! They ran out. None in my size, none even in this style anymore. OHNOES!!!

I tried a few more Target stores, but no dice. I was devastated. But then I remembered my own online shopping rule of thumb: Knowing exactly what you want will get you what you need! So I went online and found them at the same price (plus shipping, boo!) and ordered two packs! I just got them in the mail today and was delighted at the new colors I got in the assorted pack. Woo! I had found the same ones on a web site, but then found that the exact same site sold through Amazon, but for a dollar less in shipping. Not sure why, but my budget is beyond tight and so I went through Amazon. No regrets! They’re perfect! Exactly what I wanted. And was even surprised in a good way with how they arrived:

 

Well, it seemed pretty classy to me to have it wrapped in tissue with a nice seal/sticker like that. They had this cute insert that had a picture of a woman’s legs with 5 pair of underwear on going up the legs…it said, “Please wear yours while you try on ours.” I loved that! Ha-ha! Anyway, I love these undies and would recommend them to anyone seeking cute and comfy cotton ones that are affordable, too. They go to a “14” but that’s like a 30/32 U.S. I bought the 13’s and they are perfect for my 28/30 ass. Trouble would be finding them, but I got them here. But who knows, they could be at your local Target/KMart/Walmart.

What are your favorite and comfortable underwear? (Sorry, but I hate the p-word.)

Last night B & I watched a “Unique Eats” episode we recently taped (it’s on the fabulous Cooking Channel). It was all about BBQ! Whew! I hadn’t thought myself much of a carnivore, more omnivore, but the gorgeousness on that show was more than I could deny myself from enjoying or even fantasizing about! My husband Loves BBQ. He misses his grill and just having access to one, but our new apartment, and apparently state law, says we cannot have a a charcoal grill and only certain propane ones are allowed at all. Without money to buy such a contraption (and he much prefers charcoal to propane), we won’t be doing any grilling this summer. So watching this particular episode was bitter sweet for him.

The show basically visits popular spots within the theme of a given episode. Foodies and chefs comment on their favorite dishes and the preparation of them. It’s glorious food porn, y’all! The chefs and foodies do a great job of making your mouth water with their descriptions. I love hearing the unique stories of how these restaurants and food trucks and whatnot get started. Very interesting characters! The thing is, I don’t even eat red meat usually, but this one place had this ridiculous brisket and my eyes were poppin’ outta my head, I tell you what! *drools*

And then the proud fatty in me began to enjoy and delight and the use of the word “fat” in the segment about a Brooklyn, N.Y. restaurant called Fatty ‘Cue! They have a dish called “Master Fat”!!! Already band names and secret underground fatty club names spring to mind, but it’s not that kind of fat. No, “Master Fat” is this liquid-gold from all of the various rendered animal meats that they cook in a giant cauldron of infinite wonder! But what truly grabbed my attention was this one guy, Zakary Pelaccio, I don’t know if he’s the owner or manager or chef, but he’s a rad fatty for sure! And his look was fucking hypnotizing!

(Can’t find a picture from the episode) How to describe? Okay, he had big hot pink plastic glasses. Red hair, red & white Striped scarf triple wrapped around his neck. Just so stylish and unique and quirky and awesome?! Ack! I’m so bummed there’s no video or pics from his interview part. I can’t explain it. But he was just magnetic and awesome and brilliant and stylin’ as hell! I couldn’t take my eyes off of him!

Anyway, it’s a rad show. Fatty ‘Cue seems to have nothing but fantastic reviews and I’m sure they’re already hugely successful. I was just so struck by this dude. I dunno. So, yeah.

This has been a post. Ha-ha!