OOTD: The Oblivion dress part 2, and the BUST Craftacular

A few weeks ago, BUST magazine held a craft fair here in Boston. I went with a few friends, and wore my Oblivion dress from Domino Dollhouse, because I’m in love with it and can’t stop wearing it–in fact, I am wearing it right now as I write this post.

Dress, socks, and necklace: Domino Dollhouse (see my earlier post featuring the same dress here), cardigan: Torrid via eBay, shoes: LL Bean

On our way to the craft fair, we came across a bar called The Gallows, which was the perfect background for a picture.

OOTD: Time travel

I wasn’t sure what to do for the Alternative Curves December theme of time travel, until I realized that I had never posted pictures of what I wore to my friends’ wedding and rehearsal dinner back in June. The dress I wore to the rehearsal dinner is very Edwardian, and although the accessories aren’t, I think it still counts.

Dress: ModCloth, shoes: Clarks, fascinator: H&M (old), necklace and earrings: So Good, bracelets: Deb Shops, clutch: eBay, rhinestone ring: ASOS Curve, rose ring: really old

I love this dress so much. I’ve only worn it once since the rehearsal dinner, but I’m definitely planning to wear it again this holiday season.

Wednesday Fa(t)shion Inspirations, 12/10/14

Iridessence

Kristine IRL

OOTD: Vampire queen

I finally got my first free item to review for my blog, huzzah! After more than two years of blogging, it’s about time. Trying to get free stuff isn’t my main focus–and I’m plenty skeptical of the commercialization of fatshion blogging–but it’s still nice to be offered something to review once in a while.

Plus Size Lingerie Boutique offered me a free item, and I decided to go with this goth-tastic vampire costume. You can find all of their vampire costumes here.

Costume: c/o Plus Size Lingerie Boutique, boots: Hot Topic (old), necklace: Boohoo, flower crown: Crown & Glory

I ordered the largest size, 3x, hoping it would fit even though my measurements were slightly bigger than the size chart. Unfortunately, it turned out to be way, way too small–I could barely squeeze into it. I’d recommend this costume for someone who usually wears at most a 16/18.

Holiday gift guide part 3: more black-owned businesses (and musicians) to check out

I keep coming across more awesome stuff from black-owned businesses, so I decided to make another holiday gift guide featuring them. I’ve also included a few music videos so you can find new music to buy for yourself or others. You can also find more resources for finding black-owned businesses at the bottom of this post.

Accessories and makeup

–Sweethearts Revenge sunglasses, FlyJane, $28
–Shoulder spikes, The Thicky Chicky, $15
–Blue feather headband, Boutique DeBandeaux, $45
-Lipstick in Kamikaze and Night Owl, The Lip Bar, $20
–Turn It Up bling coat, Ginger & Liz, $12
–Victorian wrist cuffs, AmyEcho, $18
–Purple feather headband, Boutique DeBandeaux, $25

Bath and body products

–Shea soaps, BeeLux, $6 each
–Pumpkin pie body butter, Belle Butters, $13
–Pomegranate kiwi sugar body polish, Pooka Pure and Simple, $20
–Pomegranate body butter, Pooka Pure and Simple, $14.99

Sunday links, 12/7/14

Thursday night’s protest on the Boston Common.

Eric Garner/Mike Brown/#BlackLivesMatter
(I know this is an overwhelming amount of links, but 1.) this shit is important and 2.) there’s been so much necessary and powerful writing, I couldn’t pick just a few pieces.)
–Can you breathe? Reflections on non-indictment, activism, and black life.
–White America’s scary delusion: why its sense of black humanity is so skewed.
-This is painfully true, and be forewarned that the painting at the end of the post might make you cry: The 10 stages of what happens when there’s injustice against black people.
-Katherine Cross writes about why she was not surprised by the Eric Garner decision, as a trans woman of color who has seen her sisters regularly face brutality from the NYPD.
–Meet the BART-stopping woman behind “Black Lives Matter.”
–This country needs a truth and reconciliation process on violence against African Americans–right now.
-Another incredibly fucked-up decision: charges were dropped against the police officer who shot 7-year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones while she slept in her own home.
-In a rare example of someone (although not a cop) being held accountable for killing a black person, Renisha McBride’s killer was found guilty of murder.
-“Twelve years after getting my Vassar College faculty ID, I sit here and know that the nation can’t structurally and emotionally assault black kids and think they’re going to turn out OK.”
–This stops today: seeking strategies to end discriminatory policing. A key point: “support [solutions] that take power and money away from the cops, and those that give power to the people.”
–Police “reforms” you should always oppose. Likewise: Body cameras won’t stop police brutality, and Eric Garner is only one of several reasons why.
-An important analysis of public space and power: After Ferguson, we have to ask: who owns the streets?

Fat bias in medicine maims and kills. #DiagnosisFat

Tuesday night, Lesley Kinzel started the hashtag #DiagnosisFat to talk about the ways doctors mistreat and misdiagnose fat people due to their assumptions about weight. People have been telling these stories in FA spaces for years, and some of them have been collected on the blog First, Do No Harm and on the “Bad Doctors” tag of This Is Thin Privilege. But seeing so many stories pour out so quickly, all in one place, was powerful and horrifying.

They range from the merely shitty to the breathtakingly cruel:

It just never ends.

“I can’t breathe.” – Eric Garner’s last words, illustrated by Shirin Barghi (source)

Last night, a grand jury declined to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who choked Eric Garner to death.

I don’t have words.

But I follow a lot of brilliant and thoughtful people on Twitter, so, read their reactions.

Here in Boston, there will be a protest tonight at the tree lighting on the Common. If you live elsewhere, check the Ferguson Response Tumblr to find an action in your area.

Now, because all of the news lately has been so intensely horrifying and painful, here are some snuggling puppies:

source

Wednesday Fa(t)shion Inspirations, 12/3/14: variations on the Little Black Dress

Naught Couture

Curvily

Support black activists, projects, and organizations for #GivingTuesday

Etang and Tammy of Your Body Raks

One of my friends posted on Facebook that she’s looking for black-run projects to donate to today, which I thought was a great idea. Here’s a list of suggestions:

–The Girls Raks Bellydance and Body Image Program: a body-positive bellydance course for young women in Oakland, CA, taught by fabulous fat dancers Etang Inyang and Tammy Johnson (pictured above).

-Janet Mock is running a book drive to get books by trans people of color to trans prisoners around the US.

–Black Girl Dangerous, one of the blogs I read regularly, “seeks to, in as many ways possible, amplify the voices, experiences and expressions of queer and trans* people of color.”

-Another regular read: HoodFeminism, which you can donate to here.

–The Black Youth Project (BYP) “is committed to producing research about the ideas, attitudes, and experiences of young black people; providing a platform for their voices and perspectives; and mobilizing young people and their allies to make positive change and build the world within which they want to live.”