In The Thick Of It
Fat femme. Fat fashion bargain hunting. Living in Chicago.
inthethickofitfashion@gmail.com
The Devil’s in the Details
Accessories can take any outfit from “just something i threw on” to an actual pulled-together look. I used to be annoyed that sometimes the only thing I could ever find in a store was accessories, because they carried no clothes in my size, but the reality is that it’s allowed me to amass quite a collection of really cute accessories. A good outfit has a mixture of colors, patterns and textures in the clothes and the accessories should also reflect that mix.
If nothing else, having some key pieces - a weird necklace or some big earrings that you can throw on that will upgrade an outfit is worth even a small amount of money.
And other thing - for those of you that wear glasses, they can be additional accessory that is fun to change up. Over many years, I’ve added new pairs to my collection.
This skirt you’ve seen before, but I wanted to show you how I’ve paired it with some new accessories (and a new top!)
The Outfit Details
Sea-foam shirt - Forever 21+ - 1X
Faux Leather Jacket - Forever 21+ - XL
Patent flats - Target
Sea-foam Necklace (worn as a bracelet) - Forever 21
Pink/silver ring - Fossil
Triangle rings - Stone and Honey
Skirt - Forever 21+ - 1X
Hand Collar Clips - gift
Earrings - local shop
Rose Scarf - vintage/thrifted
Jacket - Guess - XL
Glasses - SEE
Stripes on Stripes and Oxfords and Toronto
As you may recall, I visited toronto earlier this spring and had a wonderful time. I went back earlier this fall for a quick weekend trip for S’s birthday. This time we spent a lot more time exploring the neighborhoods.
We ended up finding some great thrifting in the St. Clair West area of town. At one shop, they were having a 50% off everything sale, and I found these amazing vintage UK leather oxfords. They needed a little repair, but I brought them home to my cobbler and got them fixed up - total cost with repairs was $25! Then in the next shop, I stumbled across this amazing striped wool coat for only $15. I scooped it up and got it cleaned and repaired when I came home.
The highlight of the toronto trip was seeing Molly Nilsson at a tiny little venue on S’s birthday. Her music is comforting to me - her voice is so deep and pure. Seeing her there and talking to her before the show was just a dream (that’s her album in the first photo)
Molly Nilsson - Hey Moon
Molly Nilsson - I Hope You Die
Clothing Details
Black/White Striped Dress - Old Navy - Sz XL (currently available on their site)
Oxblood Sweater Tights - Nordstrom
Oxblood Belt - H&M
Black/White striped coat - thrifted, vintage
Oxford Shoes - Thrifted
Star cut-out gloves - H&M
Clutch - vintage
Quill earrings - etsy
Necklace - etsy
If y’all haven’t yet - please take TWO seconds (literally that’s all it takes) to vote for me in the Curvy Blog Awards. Just click the box next to #82 and you’re done!
The Plum Sweater Dress and the Perfect Bag
Ah, yes…the time of year for sweater dresses and layers and perfect weekends filled with walking around, drinking warm beverages and looking at people. It was also a weekend for a massive closet “edit” which means that I found some things that had been buried in the back and I have a HUGE bag of clothes to sell/exchange. But during that, I found this sweet sweater dress that I just thought would be perfect for this weekend. It’s a little too big, but who cares - it’s flowy and sweet and one of my favorite colors.
The Outfit
Plum Sweater Dress: Forever 21 (3x)
Gray Leggings: HUE (M)
Wedges: Topshop
Necklace: Forever 21
Rings: Stone and Honey
Bag: the onishi by valhallabrooklyn
I’m 5’9” approx 220# queer fat femme!
Vintage black Sunday Dress
Click to Enlarge image
A quick trip to the thrift store this weekend resulted in a mid-century modern dresser (for less than $10!!!!) and this sweet black vintage dress. I decided to wear it on Sunday for some drinks and veggie bbq at my favorite gay bar in uptown.
While I adore the shape of this - I’m considering a few alterations. I will probably shorten the hem a few inches (to about knee length) and I’m going to switch out the button on the chest pocket to something a little more flashy. Regardless - it’s a very easy-to-wear dress that looks really lovely with little effort.
Black dress - vintage - Sz 16
Braided black belt - nordstrom - Sz 1X
Quill earrings - Ashleigh Christina on etsy
Necklace - Forever 21
Bracelet - Forever 21
Ring - Stone and Honey
Gray leather Purse - Vahlalla Brooklyn (my absolutely favorite bag!!)
Chain Flats - unknown origin
I’m 5’9” approx 220# queer fat femme!
Fly AWAY! The pink bird dress
I must admit that because I live in a place that is NOT HOT most of the year, that I tend to buy clothing that can work well layered for the colder months. Basically, I don’t buy a lot of “summer” clothes. I favor dresses with sleeves to spaghetti strap maxis. I haven’t purchased a lot of new items this summer but when I saw this sweet dress at forever 21, I just had to have it. It’s even a touch SWEET for my usual style (though I think it will look AMAZING paired with tights and tough boots this fall). I really dig it for these hot summer days. It’s great with my platform suede shoes and a vintage bag.
Bird Dress - Forever 21+ - 1XL (current!) (look at the cute faux leather details!)
Pink Suede Platforms - Chinese Laundry
Black circle Bag - vintage
Citrine crystal necklace - etsy
Earrings - Forever 21
I’m 5’9” approx 225# queer fat femme!
I spent the weekend making fancy collars to wear with non-collared items. I had fun putting them together.
I’ll probably have a few for sale on my etsy page in a few days, but let me know if you’re interested in a custom one!
2) Bugging out
3) By the sea
The “effing dyke” hoodie outfit.
So over at Effing Dykes there’s a theory that lezebelles love hoodies. Honestly I do agree with her that there are a lot of dykes that wear hoodies, I’ve just never really been one of them. Well maybe for a second in early college. But mostly I’ve been a v-neck sweater girl when it comes to warm layers, at least once I moved to Chicago. In texas, there isn’t really the weather for wearing layers, which is why I didn’t have a lot of layering style sense when I first moved to the midwest from my warm home state.
But as it gets colder, I find that my femme tendencies take a back burner for a few weeks, as I fully indulge myself in my love of tight blazers, skinny jeans and knee-high boots. I’ll get back into dresses with leggings/tights once winter hits (weird, I know).
So here I am being a bit more butch than usual. It’s a look I REALLY love on others, and can appreciate on myself as well. And while I don’t think that a hoodie is an absolute necessity for a gayelle like myself - I’m certainly rocking it while I’m in the mood.
Jacket - ‘Casablanca’ size 46 - thrifted
Hoodie - forever 21 (two years ago) - Sz L
Cami - St Eve via nordstrom rack - Sz XL
Jeggings - Target - Sz 18 (i love these jeggings)
Socks - H&M
Suede/Leather Boots - Lands End* (from the outlet store) - Sz 11
Crystal Bullet necklace - Etsy
Earrings - walmart (crazy i know - but I was stuck in the suburbs for a wedding and lost one of my earrings and found these - they’re amazing!)
Glasses - SEE
*Lands End does not make this exact riding boot anymore, and I honestly have never before found a boot in a store that has fit my 18” calves - this was a totally amazing score. Seriously Amazing. I can highly recommend their boots and I plan on getting another pair. This pair looks promising, as does this pair. The caveat being that the shaft size does get larger with the shoe size, and note that I do wear a size 11 shoe, so your mileage may vary.
Vintage Floral Dress
So the fall snap in the air, had me digging around in my closet for some new ideas. I bought this dress YEARS ago and never could figure out if I liked it enough to wear it. I decided today was the day to try it out.
It worked out really well - even on a super windy day.
Vintage Floral Dress - Sz unknown
Blue Cardigan - thrifted - Sz L
Belt - Anthropologie (2008) - Sz XL
Tights - Hue - Sz 4
Shoes - farylrobin - Sz 11
Crystal bullet Necklace - etsy
Porcupine earrings - Etsy
I’m a 5’9” queer fat femme and approx size 18
Saturday brunch outfit
Sweater tunic - H&M
Zipper Sweater - Mac & Jac
Leggings - Target
Boots - Not rated brand
Feather Earrings - DartHeart on etsy
Glasses - SEE
Big Mama Style purchased one of my handmade skirts recently and wrote a lovely review.
She looks AMAZING in it if I do say so myself.
photo from bigmamastyle
I have two orders I’m working on right now - but I’m offering one more on my Etsy Shop InTheThickOfIt
