I love that New York Magazine took the time to aknowledge plus size clothing lines. If there's SO many fat girls with money to spend, why do the lines always flop? 
And why has no single line made every fat girl look fly?
Their big conclusion: fat people are harder to fit than thin people...with their crazy out of control bodies...
and it takes more fabric to cover a fat girl's body, eating away at profits...
What exactly would this mark up need to be? A dollar? Four? Ten? I know plenty of plus designers, and I know that extra fabric and buttons is not why they're going out of business. There are just as many size 6 girls bitchin' about ill fitting jeans as there are size 18 girls.
The point is, (and you can quote me on this): The trouble with Plus-Lines is there aren't enough of them. There aren't enough designers catering to each of the body types and outlooks on life...she might be fat, but she ALSO might be a southern belle, or a punk rocker, or a corporate tool, or a harajuku girl...she might be fat but have no tits, or carry her weight in her thighs.
How many clothing lines exist for thin girls and THEIR varried body types? Thousands? The sexy club girl that shops at Bebe is NOT shopping at LL Bean, but you don't see Bebe coming out with cordoroy pants and snow boots. The boxy young asian girl with no tits who buys Marc by Marc Jacobs at Bergdorf isn't wearing Catherine Malandrino. Yet every plus line tries to fit the entire plus population. This isn't fashion. This is segregation. This is stereotyping. You're saying all fat girls are just fat, defined by their size. Here is your fat uniform, fat girl, go forth and be judged. Torrid comes the closest to defining their target audience, young, punk, and trendy...and even they could use a more specific fit model.
Good businesses focus their product. Restaurants that streamline their menu do better. Businesses that have a specific target market do better. Fat is not specific enough.
I hear Beth Ditto is coming out with a line. Now THAT could be GREAT! talk about specific target market audience.
love
nati
Day 5 of Jay Miller's Middle Eastern Crash diet. It's not Middle Eastern, it's not healthy, but let's all support the hot guy with a million friends and a wife while he tries to get a little bit hotter. boo fuckin' hoo.
oh and I'm like 300lbs and I never eat any of that shit he's missing so badly. As a matter of fact, I ate an orange and 2 soft boiled eggs for breakfast yesterday. (you'll get that joke if you watch the rest of his vlogs)
love
nati
Laura Johnson is my favorite work out partner. No fat girl kicks my ass like she does, and she knows SO much about health and diet. I'm staying with her for a few months until I move to LA. We chant and hike and cook...it's great.
love
nati
Thanks to Adam Savage (@donttrythis) from Mythbusters for twitting about this Newsweek article giving Oprah shit for pedaling health advice that isn't approved by the FDA and the popular scientific community. They color her as a new age hippie cult leader. Then highlight specific shows they feel are especially harmful to the health of her "impressionable" followers.
Oprah is an educated seasoned journalist that spotilights interesting stories, asks probing questions and creates venues for dialog. I expect her to talk about controversial alternative medicine and books she likes to read. I want to know what Suzanne Somers is putting up her vagina and TMZ aint covering it!
I seem to recall Walt Disney and Howard Hughes also getting flack for being over the top, 'hair brained' and road-paving. You can thank them for a lot of medical and technological break throughs. This article holds Oprah responsible for dumb people's actions like bewildered parents blaming Death Metal bands for their depressed Midwestern teenager's suicide.
I'm buddhist. I loved the Secret, and I actually understood it. Just because some people didn't get it and are now refusing medical treatments in favor of positive thinking is not Oprah's fault.
I'm a lover of science too, and I respect Adam, but can we all really say that what he does on Mythbusters isn't also influential and dangerous and not completely scientifically sound? What he proves or disproves can't be published in a science journal. I don't base my life on his findings.
I also do not base my life on the FDA and their shady shit...and their shit IS shady, don't get confused. They claimed that even 7lbs extra weight is dangerous for the body at the same time Phen Phen made the claim that it's drug helps people lose an average of 7lbs...this is not a coincidence. And look into their public statements about high fructose corn syrup...it's like the UN, great intentions, lots of back door politics.
My point: Listen to your body. Take it all in and edit for your use only.
love
nati
While hanging out at Bar 4 to see a Paxen Film screening for the new Bay Rizz series, I met a cute jew with cute jew sideburns and knowledge of Madeline Kahn in History of the World Part 1 (no no no...YES!) named Justin Terry. A month or so later, I decide to find this punk on Facebook and start a friendship. In the process, I find another Justin Terry. I really dig his work and so will you. See? Platonic stalking pays off.
love
nati
I'm saving money and getting fit, so I moved out of my expensive apartment and instead of meeting people "for drinks", I suggest a walk in the park, a kickboxing class or salsa dancing. Recently, a fellow blogger, Adam, of The Life Vicarious, offered me a guest pass to the Reebok Gym gym and roof top pool. Sounds awesome, I love me a good swim, but I've never met this guy in person and even though it's only a platonic hang out session, I realize there are a few things I'd have to do to be pool presentable.
+ $100 Tanning
(5 sessions to hide my wretched spider veins and many scars)
+ $100 Waxing
(Brazilian Toe-to-Tummy...hair removal is the bane of my existence and trust me, shaving is not an option)
+ $100 Swim Suit
(i haven't owned once since I went surfing 4 years ago - oh and if you click on the link, that's my friend and former roommate, Nicole LeBris. cool chick. great plus model.)
Is it me? Or is being social really expensive? It's easier to sweat it out ugly-style on a 50 mile bike ride with my X-boyfriend or hike alone in Central Park with hairy legs. I did the calculations and it would cost about $500 a month to keep me fabulous. Don't get me wrong, I love being pretty, and I love to take care of myself, so maybe I need to get a second job to support the pretty me.
love
nati
