Vanity Sizing? July 8, 2007

Vanity Sizing: Clothing Labels Lie!

We’re all familiar with it. At one store we wear size X in jeans, and at another store we wear 2 sizes smaller! Are we really smaller than we thought, or larger than we thought? Why can’t there be standard sizes for women? Well don’t expect that to happen anytime soon…

The competitors in the fashion industry have been making clothes larger, but marking them sizes smaller! Why? Its psychological and self-esteem benefits of the consumer, lead to monetary benefits for the seller! Wearing a size or two smaller than we expect usually causes an instant “high” that causes us to go straight to the cash register for purchase. Whereas, if we end up struggling trying on clothing that’s too small, or those that fit posess a tag with a number too high for us to swallow, our shopping experience makes us upset, depressed, and we end up buying very little, if anything at all. You know the strategy works! It’s much like the ideal that many dressing rooms are now posessing mirrors that stretch you vertically, making you appear more slender than you really are, resulting in purchases you otherwise may have not made.

More information on this article by Kristina Maury here.

More Fattie Art July 7, 2007

Fattie Art by J. Rose. She has some rather unique fattie pin-up style paintings, as well as erotica (not X rated), and portraits. She also offers doing personal portrait artwork upon request. Check it out!

EDIT: It appears J. Rose’s Fattie Art website is currently down. She does however have a myspace page found here.

UK Singer Mika and the Butterfly Lounge July 3, 2007

Thanks to a comment left by “Tina” on my blog post in search of fattie-related songs, I’ve learned of a new UK singing Artist. His video of, “Big Girl (You are Beautiful)” may be viewed below:

I love the light-heartedness and catchiness of the song .

Anyways, Mika is a near 24 year old man, who’s recognition and popularity has been rising since 2006. He was once trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva) a Russian opera professional, and used to sing classical music. “Grace Kelly” was his first song to hit number one on the UK charts last year. If you’d like more information on Mika and his musice you can explore his site here.

I think whenever you’re feeling down, you should just play the song I’ve shared in this post. You can’t help but smile when listening to it .

FYI!!! In the song he sings, “Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady…” He’s referring to the first Size Acceptance Night Club in Orange County, California by the same name, Butterfly Lounge, and you can visit their site here.

On the site Kathleen, the owner, explains the story of Mika coming to write “Big Girls (You are Beautiful):

“After the show the crowd was sent outside I was able to meet with MIKA. I went to shake his hand and found that instead we were hugging.

He grabbed both of my shoulders and said to me, “I wrote you this song; Big Girl (you are beautiful) this is your song!” 

We talked about the BBC special I had done years ago with Victoria Wood…he said to me when they got to the part where The Butterfly Lounge was featured…the show took a turn and sent a message to everyone saying, “Love yourself for who you are!” He told me he was so inspired that he started writing our song right then!…It was a moment I will never forget; He gave me tons of signed posters and a few full CD’s for the nightclub. He told me he is there for us! I have to say MIKA has a huge heart and it as genuine as they come! He is absolutely adorable, just an FYI for those of you who want too know. He told me that as soon as his schedule opens up that he will be personally visiting our nightclub! (Looks like it will be sometime in April) He also asked for our logo and is having shirts printed out and will be wearing them very soon!!!”

Eat light yogurt, and you’re sure to find a man! July 3, 2007

In case you haven’t come across the uproar that’s quickly spreading on the internet, here’s a recap.

Itambé fit light yogurt has an ad campaign featuring plus-sized models posed for re-creating famous moments in movie history previously portrayed by thin actresses.

So what’s the big deal? The Brazalian caption reads, “Forget about it! Men’s preference will never change. Fit Light Yogurt.”

Oh where to begin! First of all, I can’t imagine being one of these models, allowing a yogurt company to humiliate me and insult my body nationally.

Second of all, hopefully we all know, that men’s preferences DO vary, and there are men who can find women of all sizes attractive, and of course those who exclusively find larger women attractive…But honestly, I’m not really suprised by seeing an ad like this, particularly in Brazil. Many women struggle with their self-image, and allow that part of themselves to be the most influenced by OTHERS’ views and rules of society. Hence, the ad probably is going to result in the sales it’s after. And as Brazil has been dubbed the most “plastic-surgery addicted” place in the world, it’s no surprise that it’s hosting an ad such as this.

But beyond the weight issue, I want to tackle ANOTHER issue. The ad is telling us, that we as women should behave, eat, and look, how MEN want us to! It’s unbeleivably sexist and based on very (or so I thought!) old-fashioned ideals. Don’t you dare tell me that I need to base my self-esteem on the acceptance or lack their of, I receive from men, or I need to be skinny and beautiful for the sake of MEN! For God sakes, it’s digusting!