New Hair and Office Sequins

Ta dah! Check it out, I have new, all natural hair.

Last spotted in 1998 and a two-year work in progress, it's my all natural hair color. I was more than a bit shocked when I discovered just how dark my hair really is and to be honest I wasn't all that pleased. But it's been a few weeks now (I'm quite the delayed blogger) and it's really starting to grow on me. The cut was inspired by a curly haired Maggie Gyllenhaal and while not quite as dramatic as I was hoping for it did re-dedicate myself to my stylist who I was thinking about breaking up with after a very long relationship.

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I've also got on a very cute, new to me dress. I picked this up on my trip to Portland this past fall on Hawthorne Boulevard in the Southeast. Portland was glorious and I can't believe I never told y'all about it. When I finally wear the dress I got from Fat Fancy I'll give you an update.

It's just a simple black sweater dress that has the most AMAZING 80's shoulder pads and sequins. It's a continuation of my desire to bring sequins to the office, not just the weekend. I've paired my sequined sweater dress with some Duo boots and a headband from a Brooklyn street fair.

Photo credit to my beloved Ateqah.

I'm the Fat Cruella de Vil

A week or two ago the Fat Heffalump asked me if I'd be willing to contribute to a blog post about what fatshion meant to me. I was super touched to be included and quickly sent her a few lines and included the above photo of me. Amongst the things I said I wrote

"Sometimes I get on the subway in the morning, look around at everyone on the train and think about how in a sea of black, I am the fat woman wearing multiple fluorescent colors and a faux fur jacket. And then I laugh to myself and think about how far I’ve come from the days when I didn’t even know where to buy jeans that fit me."

And today's outfit is just an example of how far I've come. Not just in being comfortable in my body enough to show it off and bring attention to it, but also in the array of places I have to shop.

Also before winter finally ends in New York I wanted to show you what I have found to be the best part of my winter. My amazing, vintage faux fur that I purchased at Re/Dress a few months ago. I'd been coveting a faux fur all season and after a few ordering misses I picked this up at Re/Dress in the midst of one of the many blizzards we had. Every time I wear it, it puts a huge smile on my face. I think it makes me the fat Cruella de Vil!

Underneath my coat I had on those multiple shades of fluorescent I referenced. This dress was also picked up at Re/Dress and it was one of their new pieces that they carry. For some reason I don't wear this dress that often, even though I do like it. It often feels like a lot, even for me. The one other time I wore it I met Morgan Freeman.

There are batwing sleeves - fun! The dress comes with a belt that threads underneath the sleeves, but in the most un-bloomie fashion I chose not to wear it. I'm also wearing tights from Target, shoes from Payless and earrings from Primark.

As an added bonus the dress does some nice stuff for my booty. My ass and I are happy.

Photo credit goes to Amy and Ateqah.

My Vest is Bananas

As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes I watch the Rachel Zoe Project. Half the time I think she looks like a crazy lady (cause let's be real she is) and the other half of the time I love her look. I die, do you die?

When Rachel Zoe first started wearing a furry vest a few years ago I thought she looked ridiculous. I swore I would never, ever wear such a thing. And then, slowly but surely as time progressed I warmed to the look until finally I wanted one of my own. Lesson of the day, don't doubt Rachel Zoe's fashion foresight.

So one night I was shopping at the Atlantic Center Target, aka the Target that never, ever has anything in stock when I came across this vest from their newish juniors plus line Pure Energy and threw it in my cart. I wasn't sure how to wear it, but my wise friend Ateqah just told me to keep everything else simple and I would be ok. As usual, she was right.

I chose a simple black dress as my base. It's a straight sized piece from one of Bloomingdale's in house brands and I got it from a Friday fats sale. I'm wearing some crocheted tights from Target and boots from Evans. My necklace is from the Bust craftacular. Unflattering lighting thanks to the MTA, photo thanks to Ats.

Twitter

I joined Twitter and if you're so inclined you should follow me there. Bloomie was taken so I'm @DressWhore . I talk about a lot more than fatshion, but there's plenty of that as well. I haven't yet decided what I think of Twitter, the amount of information coming at me kinda stresses me out. Also it is super not good for my wallet as I keep seeing pretty articles of clothing being posted in tandem with discount codes. In the past week I've bought stuff from Asos, City Chic, and I'm about to purchase a new bikini from Evans. Even with sales and coupons it turns out that the price adds up. This is dangerous land I tell you.

Do you love Twitter and if so why?

"People Dress Up"

A few weeks ago I had to go to Las Vegas for work. Las Vegas is a terrible, terrible, terrible place that I hope none of you ever have to visit (unless of course you like it and then by all means have fun). The upside of Vegas was my proximity to the West Coast. Taking only a few days off of work I was able to sneak in a far too brief visit to some of my favorite people in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, including this one.

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That's me with my best friend Karen. Adorable right? Today is her 31st birthday and I think we have now reached the tipping point where we've been best friends half of our lives. I love her beyond words even if every single thing I wear brings mockery and derision on her part.

While I was out in the Bay Area my friends Tom & Billy suggested a visit to the Alameda Point Antiques Faire. It's this amazing antique market with hundreds of vendors on an old air force landing strip in the middle of the Bay. What is there not to leave about this activity, I was so down. To make it even more enticing Tom told me that "people dress up" for the antique market so if I wanted to I should wear something fun. I had a packed a few crazy dresses that I never got to wear in Las Vegas so Alameda was sounding even better by the minute.

I may have been a bit more dressed up than other folks.

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I was wearing a new dress from Forever 21 with luvees peeking out from underneath. I thought I kind of dressed down the purple lame with some Minnetonka moccasins. Let me just say, they did not dress down the outfit nearly enough.

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I borrowed a necklace from Karen and am wearing Betsey Johnson sunglasses. My frizzy hair is thanks to the wind.

I was beyond overdressed for the market, but it was all good fun because I got to take photos like this.

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Finally here's a group photo of my the 3 lovely hosts who wined me and dined me and successfully made me not hate the Bay Area. Note how they are dressed, including the two men who passed on the advice that "people dress up."

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All photos are courtesy of my beloved, brilliant, beautiful, brainy, birthday bestie Karen. I am a lucky lady indeed.

Sometimes I Wear Pants

Not often, not a lot, but sometimes I wear pants. A fact which can take people by surprise. This afternoon I ran into a friend while running errands who commented "I didn't even know you owned jeans." Ha. In fact I own plenty of pants and plenty of jeans. I am after all, a woman who loves options and large wardrobes.

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The jeans are Not Your Daughter Jeans, purchased for a fraction of their retail price at a Ross in Orlando, Florida. They were this magical, amazing lone pair of jeans in an 18 petite that were just waiting for me to take them home. I've paired the jeans with my beloved purple cowboy boots but it may have been a bad idea. I'm afraid they give me just enough height to make my jeans look an inch too short. Next time I'll stick to flats.

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Almost everything else I'm wearing was a hand-me-down. The t-shirt was from my friend Lauren and the cardigan was from my friend Jamie and both originally came from Anthropologie.

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The crazy necklace once belonged to my Grandmother and I can't quite imagine her ever wearing it. The fascinator was purchased at a Brooklyn street fair.

Jeans are comfortable and keep you warm in the winter, but to me their most fabulous function is that they showcase my ass better than any other article of clothing.

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Happy Valentine's Day

A bit belated, but happy Valentine's Day!

Whether single or in a relationship I always get a kick out of Valentine's Day. I think of it as an opportunity to wear bright colors, eat pastel candy and tell friends, lovers and family how much I adore them. What's not to love?

Getting dressed Tuesday morning I was struck at how little red and pink are to be found in my wardrobe, particularly my winter wardrobe. But I was determined to put together a Valentine's Day outfit and I think I succeeded. Granted I may have succeeded in dressing how a 6 year old would dress on Valentine's Day (especially when you see my nails) but that's often my aesthetic and I've learned to embrace it.

Head to toe, here's how I put together my outfit.





My base is a tank dress from Brooklyn Industries, that I've worn before. Over that I'm wearing a top from Old Navy that I don't really wear very often, topped with a cardigan that I'm betting is about 10 years old from the Gap. The gingham top is long and if I let it hang down, it wouldn't give me the look I wanted so I belted it with a white belt that I got in a Fatshionista sale.



I'm not sure where I got these tights from and my shoes are from Payless.



My necklace says love in Hebrew and it was my sister's present to her bridesmaids over a decade ago. It's a sculpture in Israel that she was married in front of you.

Finally, I give you my nails. It's a good thing I've already admitted that I'm 6. This confirms it.



I used a hot pink base, sparkly pink over it and then a heart nail polish over that.

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Photo credit to my work wife Nicole.

Ugly Boots, Cute Scarf

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We've been having a rough. snowy winter in New York which means that I've been stuck wearing ugly shoes fairly often. I bought these hiking boots a decade ago when my family went on a cruise to Alaska and since then they've basically functioned as ugly, but sufficient winter boots. On the upside they keep my feet nice and dry so I try and focus on that and make the best out of a bad shoe situation. After all I'm wearing a purple scarf with elephants on it, how bad can the outfit be?

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Skirt - Torrid, seen before several times.
T-Shirt - Dorothy Perkins
Cardi - Banana Republic
Tights - Old Navy
Earrings - Mexico
Hiking boots -EMS
Socks - Dad
Scarf - In the pound bin at Spittlefields Market


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And finally I have to give you a close-up of my eyeliner, which is the first time in my life I saw a makeup product reviewed in a magazine and then actually went out and bought it. I don't normally wear eye makeup because I'm too blind to apply it unless I'm wearing contacts and I don't normally wear contacts. I do however wear contacts in snow or rain because those make my glasses fog up making it impossible to see. It was snowing, so I wore contacts and was able to wear my new liquid gold eyeliner from Bobbi Brown. How fun is it!

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Photo credit goes to Miss. A.

Sequins Aren't Just for Saturday

I'm trying not to reserve sparkly clothes just for special occasions so yesterday I wore both sequins and feathers to the office and (at least in my mind) felt like I was still understated, restrained and office appropriate. I think it's because the vast majority of my outfit was black and though the urge to add more color was huge, I managed to resist. What do you think?

A lot of what I'm wearing was brand new. I love when I'm getting dressed and I cut off a clothing tag. Yesterday I got to do that twice.

Top - Evans

Skirt - Forever 21

Tights - Old Navy

Booties - Marks and Spencer

Earrings - Primark

Necklace - Spittlefields Market

Even though I hadn't thought I had a reason to dress up, turns out that I did. Illinois' state Senate voted to repeal the death penalty! It was a big day of celebration in my office and it turns out we had a reason for sparkles after all!

Photo credit goes to the delightful Miss A.

Goodbye 2010, Don Draper is Here to Kick You Out the Door

I hate New Year's. Actually I think despise is a more accurate term. A fact I find fairly ironic since I'm always happy to dress up, and yet New Years Eve - a night made for sequins and dancing and drunken kissing (three of my favorite things) has never been my cup of tea.

But 2010 was a terrible year for me. I mean it was really, really not good, perhaps the worst year of my adult life and I was ready to say goodbye, slam the door on 2010 and start 2011 surrounded by people I love. So I sucked it up, put on an outfit and headed to Manhattan for a party. And in the end I'm really glad I did.

My friends threw a Mad Men party and we were instructed to dress the part. I have never seen a single episode, but I live in the United States so I'm well aware of the characters and the fashion and the clothes. I had a million things to choose from, but in the end I decided to channel Peggy (in full disclosure I kept forgetting her name and calling her the dowdy one). This was a wise move since everyone else used Joan or Betty as inspiration. I was the lone Peggy inspired lady.

I think I did a pretty good job channeling Peggy.

I'm wearing a polka dot dress that I got at Fat Fancy on my recent trip to Portland, with a red DKNY pencil skirt over it. The skirt was a hand-me-down from JLR and I think when I don't have a dress underneath it fits better. The scarf around my neck and my fur shrug are courtesy of my Grandmother. My tights are from Old Navy, my shoes are Sam Edelman and my glasses are an old pair from college which are of course way hipper now than they were when I wore them a decade ago. Candy cigarettes are courtesy of Economy Candy, a store definitely worth checking out the next time you are on the Lower East Side.

Our hosts for the evening went all out with amazing details and almost everyone in attendance was dressed in some amazing outfit. Here is A working the bar. Funnily enough his normal hair worked out just fine for a Mad Men themed party.

Others worked very hard to get their Mad Men hair just right.

I hope 2011 is a wonderful, magical, happy year for all of us. Also I hope all of you had as lovely a night as I did and that you also didn't suffer a 2 day hangover as a result. This is the last shot of the night as I stumbled my way home.

All the amazing, higher quality photos are courtesy of Dr. B and Miss. A. Thank you!