Dress: Miller’s (Australia) via eBay, flip-flops: Old Navy, headband and necklace: Claire’s, earrings: Betsey Johnson via eBay, cardigan: from a friend
I bought this dress from the lovely Natalie of Extra Large as Life, and it fits perfectly–I’m convinced we’re body-shape twins. 🙂
I keep coming across disheartening reminders that having a successful career rarely translates into financial stability.
s.e. smith, a writer whose work I’ve followed for years on XOJane and elsewhere on the social justice internets, recently posted a list of tips for freelancers. In the introduction, ou* admitted:
Alas, the fact of the matter is that while I have been freelancing for seven years now, I still don’t have what I would call a wildly stable or successful career, and it’s highly likely that will never realistically happen. The same is true of many freelancers, especially in an economy where intellectual labour is valued less and less, which translates into lower fees for your work or dreaded offers of ‘exposure’ in offer for your free work.
The same day, I came across Susie Cagle’s post Eight years of solitude: on freelance labor, journalism, and survival. And it’s just depressing:
More newspapers and magazines want to profile me and the strange work I do than hire me to actually do it. Other writers and illustrators chastise, how can you complain about getting that kind of promotion? The year I got the most TV and radio spots and magazine write-ups, I made about $17,000.
Even though freelance writing doesn’t appeal to me for a number of reasons–I do best with external structure and routine, I need to be around people, and I just enjoy writing more when my rent doesn’t depend on it–it hurts to see how little our economy values people with skills and interests similar to mine. It’s incredibly frustrating to see so many people doing such good work but barely making enough to live on.
Sometimes I think, if teenage me could see all the clothing options I have now, she would be so happy. I mean, how much fun is this entire outfit?
Jacket and leggings: Domino Dollhouse (at rock-bottom discount, hells yeah), dress: ASOS Curve, sandals: Clarks, purse: LeSportSac via eBay, necklace: Betsey Johnson via eBay, earrings: Claire’s, baby barrettes: probably CVS or Walgreen’s, skull ring: Kelsea Echo, sunglasses: Sweet and Lovely, belt: Re/Dress
Why are nearly all fatkinis halter-style and high-waisted? Neither of these things is comfortable on me (especially the halter, UGH–my neck hurts just thinking about it), but I want to be able to wear a bikini.
I want to rock out with my belly out. I want to wear something other than the one-pieces I’ve always worn because I had no other options. I want to walk onto the beach fat and proud, not ashamed of the stomach that I hated for so long, wearing something just as cute as thin girls get to wear.
Where are the regular-rise, non-halter fatkinis? Anyone? Bueller?
This is not so much an OOTD as a this-dress-didn’t-quite-work-for-me-but-it’s-so-pretty-let-me-show-you-it-anyway of the day.
I’m still on the hunt for a dress to wear to my cousin’s wedding (and still hoping this dress comes back in stock, because it’s the prettiest). I ordered this floral prom dress from Evans to try it out, and unfortunately it doesn’t work for me–which is so sad, because I’m in love with the print. Photorealistic florals are so my jam.
It looks ok from the front, but from the side…well, I’m not going to show you the side-view, because it makes me look pregnant. I don’t mean it shows off my VBO, which I’m not opposed to doing–I mean it literally makes me look like I’m about to have a baby. And that’s just not a look I want to go for.
This dress would look gorgeous on someone else, but on my body, it’s just not meant to be…. *sigh.*
Even my plates love waffles.
Fa(t)shion
–Youtheary Khmer’s spring collection is amazing!
-Danimezza rounds up ten gorgeous plus size dresses.
-Joanna rounds up lots and lots of pretty florals. *swoon* Sadly, many of them are not available in the US.
-San Diego people, check out the rad fatties yard sale and swap!
–The Big Fat Flea’s tumblr has some awesome fatshion.
Fat Acceptance
-If you’re in Michigan, check out Amanda Levitt’s talk on fat visibility at Oakland University.
–My weight problem isn’t my weight.
-I’ve been frustrated by this too: must every YA action heroine be petite?
-I so wish I could be in Portland for Big Sexy: A Sexy Showcase for the Fat and Fabulous!
–Congress on Obesity: ego over accessibility.
-I love all of the pictures that Accidental Disney Princess posts of herself dancing, and these ones are especially beautiful.
Climate and Sustainability
–Reclaiming abuelita knowledge as a brown ecofeminista.
-Hells yeah: Massachusetts emerges as the hub of the fossil fuel divestment movement.
-A haunting piece of art about politicians’ inaction on climate change.
–No, we’re not just “environmentalists.” It’s much more than that.
-Andy Smith points out how indigenous people are successfully using social media to fight for their rights, costing corporations hundreds of millions of dollars.
-Zadie Smith writes a moving elegy for a country’s seasons.
When our broken economy and the all-too-real threat of civilizational collapse are just too scary and depressing to deal with, I distract myself with everything related to Frozen. I’ve already watched it four times, and I listen to “Let It Go” constantly.
I posted a few Frozen-related videos here; here are a few more great ones. What are some of your favorite distractions?
Sometimes I think, my generation is fucked.
And then I realize, in ten or twenty years, we’re going to be even more fucked: when many of us are raising children and caring for aging parents at the same time. So much shit is going to hit so many fans–and that’s not even counting the havoc climate change will be wreaking on the world. Or the civilizational collapse that’s hanging over our heads.
Sometimes it’s really, really hard to feel hopeful about the future–my own or the world’s.
The only thing that helps is enjoying the present moment: laughing with my friends, singing along to every song in Frozen, celebrating Pi Day with an apartment full of friends and pie, feeling my feet firmly rooted into the ground in warrior pose, petting my various furry neighbors, getting completely absorbed in a book, wearing pretty twirly dresses, taking in the silence that blankets the world when it snows.
Right now, that has to be enough.
Tutus And Tiny Hats 