I decided to throw legal caution to the wind and link to all the plus size clothing stores I could find on the web. Some of the stores have pure crap in my opinion, but I've been bitching for years about the lack of plus size clothing stores so I'm just gonna zip it and link up. I honestly couldn't believe how many stores came up in the Yahoo search.
Of course, most of the stores listed are stores that already make thin-person clothes and have expanded their selection - but that's cool, I'm not complaining. But what I'd really love to see is some great plus-size boutiques that design and make their own clothes based on a concept, rather than to just cover the basics. We need some style and pizazz! We need sweet and cute dresses that are well-made and could make it to the pages of Glamour mag. (Yes, so they can be accessorized with some insanely large and wide leather belt with ugly "nailhead" studding on it... sorry, but have you seen the last two issues? I mean, bathing suits with belts?? Please save me!)
You know what surprised the hell out of me was to see that Eddie Bauer is now making up to size 26. Eddie and I, we go way back. Picture me in 1998: a size 20-22, a starving student transitioning into a starving graduate with an extremely low paying first job, a horrible shopping addiction, and a handful of store credit cards. Eddie Bauer pretty much outfitted me for said first job... preppy and cute with an affinity for twin-sets. (They also had excellent bedding - it was the first time I'd spent over $100 per sheet set - but that's another story for another time.) Eddie and I were on top of the world! Until I realized I could no longer keep up with minimum payments and had to succumb to Consumer Credit Counseling. And then again when I surpassed size 22. Eddie and I haven't spoken since then, but maybe we'll give it another whirl.
*****
Now, about that TV show to avoid... what exactly is up with TLC's stupid fucking "Honey, We're Killing the Kids!"? Along with "The Biggest Loser" and "Celebrity Fit Club", they don't try to hide how contemptuous they are of the fat folk they're trying to "help". "Honey" uses computer imaging/age progressions to show the parents what their fat kids are going to look like when they get older if they continue eating/not exercising on the same arc that they presently are. Hmm, interesting how little normal looking (but fat) 10 year old Johnny progresses into a fat balding fag! Yes, one earring, sloping puppy dog eyes, a bad comb-over and hygiene issues. And little normal looking (but fat) 8 year old Jenny progresses into a bedraggled trailerpark princess... thinning dirty hair pulled back into a messy low ponytail and all.
I would have never noticed this myself - never! - had I not been accidentally watching "The Soup" on E! one day. They did a bit that pointed out how ridiculous the whole age progression thing was.
You know, I get it... I get that kids are less active and more overfed today than at any other time in history. I get that obesity is at an all-time high. But I tend to lean towards the theory a different TLC show, "Shalom in the Home", is touting. Hello - PARENTS are the problem! Don't make the fat your kid is wearing the scapegoat for your own poor parenting. If you want your kid to be in shape and eat right, then you need to model that behavior for them, make it the norm in your household, and try to make it interesting and fun in some way. That's probably part of "Honey"'s theory too, but given that I've never made it through an entire show without throwing the remote at the wall, I wouldn't know. That Dr. Hark woman is a real piece of work.
And besides, I wonder how many people effectively lose weight and become healthy, especially in the long-term, as a result of scare tactics? (Which, by the way, was kind of a fun show.)
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