Reposted from reddit.
Hi all, I’m in my mid 30s and live in a short plus size body (110kg at 161cm or 5’3″). I’m around a size 18/20 on the bottom half and 14/16 on the top half.
I thought some people here might enjoy reading my story on how I’ve found my sense of style. My weight has flactuated a lot over my life. I had weight loss surgery in 2016 and have slowly gained a good chunk of it back. I’m currently going through a treatment plan for super effecient gut bacteria that’s corelated with obesity. I’m not too fussed about the numbers on the scale, my sense of self worth is not connected to that number. But it is annoying when clothes don’t fit comfortably anymore.
I would say my sense of style is:
- 1950s rockabilly
- Corporate dyke
- Comfy, round the home look
It all started in highschool. I was in a 1950s themed musical. Think grease meets warewolf coming of age story. This musical started my obsession with the 1950s circle skirt.
Here is my latest outfit:
The jacket is second hand, the purse is my first fashion statement purse from beautiful bags etc (I’ve never been much of a handbag person), the shoes are a blokes size and the dress is a kitten d’amour. I love my kitten pieces and I wear them to bits. I know some of you here think it’s over priced polyester and that’s ok. I haven’t found an alternative yet but open to suggestions.
I’ve started opting for men’s shoes recently. I broke my ankle in 2017 and I’m also flat footed. So I need quite a fair bit of support. Even though these shoes are a size too big (I’m a 38 and mens generally start at 40), with my inner soles and some thick socks it’s not too bad. It’s definitly comfier then trying to fit in some women’s shoes.
Talking about shoes, I do have a pair of purple leather boots that would go well with the first outfit. But they aren’t comfortable for lots of walking. There are from American duchess.
In this last picture there is my first kitten d’amour outfit (bottom right), it had a 1950’s roller diner vibe. The other two are review. The red polkadot halterneck was my personal brand explampified at one point. I find bugs in software (hence the bug hunter in my name) and I use a lady bug motif in a lot of my personal branding. This was my tech conference presenting dress for a few years.
The red textured skirt is another review that I tred on. i didn’t buy it but I loved the texture. Unfortunatly I live in Sydney and there aften isn’t the climate to wear this type of outfit for most of the year. My preffered style is lots of layers and a big winter coat (which isn’t great for Sydney):
A pair of kathmandu hiking boots are my go to shoe. I replace them with the exact same shoe every 1.5 years. They support my ankle, fit my inner soles and are water proof. Great for when I’m riding on my motorbike too. I’ve riden my motobike with dykes on bikes in the mardi gras a few times. It’s a lot of fun.
I have also experimented with my hair and gender expression over the years. A shave/short cut is always fun. I had a side shave for two years of the pandemic that I was able to maintain but every time I shaved my head the line would slowly get less straight. The corset was a steam punk outfit for pax down in Melbourne a few years ago. The bottom right was when I spoke at my first tech conference. It was just before I got my first tailored suit.
Talking about tailored suits, the left most image here is a suit I’m getting tailored for my wedding soon, shane avenue did the initial fitting/consult for it. I’m wearing some second hand prada shoes that I got from the real real. They are my first foray into more high end brands. The shoes aren’t comfortable but they go well with the suit.
The second dress is a uniqlo dress, it is possible to buy things that fit comfortably for larger bodies there. I always thought it would be tiny asian sizes but I have been ablt ot find a couple of comfy things there. The third image is a second hand heart and roses dress.
I like bow ties. Bow ties are cool.
Here are some more corporate vibes. The top is a velvet boden jacket that I recently got second hand. It has matching pants (but they are too small). I loved this jacket all of this winter. Unfortunatly the weather is warming up. The bottom left is a princess highway suit that I also wore all winter and now the pants are busted due to thick thights. The bottom right is a pinstripe oxford suit that I had pre pandemic.
That suit was part of a photoshoot. I did two around this time:
One was more professional and was for generating a linkedIn profile picture. The other was definitly a bit more fun and was more rockabilly. It did help me with exploring this sense of style more.
Here is how my body shape has changed over time:
I’m not as heavy as I was before, the one good thing about this weight gain is my boobs now feel a little more in proportion. I had a lot of excess skin when I was lighter.
Sometimes I just like a fun print shirt or some casual gym clothes. The following shirt here had boo bee’s written underneath it.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you are able to have fun with fashion regardless of what size you are.
It’s easier to experiment with style when starting with second hand items but it can be a challenge to find good pieces.
If I don’t instantly love a piece when I try it on, or if I can’t imagine wearing it every single day I often don’t by it.
When clothes put an instant smile on my face I know i’m onto a good piece.