Monday, May 19, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Fat Tuesday: Dear Target
Dear Target,
I don't get you.
For the longest time, if I dropped by your "Women's Plus" department, I couldn't find anything that would be appealing to a plus-sized thirty-something. All of your plus-sized clothes were for women much more...matronly than I am. Even though I am closer to 40 than I am to 30, I still don't want to wear something my grandma would wear.
I've never understood why you have so many cute clothes in your misses section and yet only stocked things which vaguely looked like circus tents and the like in the "Women's Plus." Maybe you don't think chunky chicks shop at your store? Or maybe you want to discourage us from shopping there altogether? Send us over to Evil*Mart instead (who is starting to have cuter clothes for luscious ladies) because we're a "lower class" of person?
But, last summer, to my delight, I discovered that you had cute, young dresses and shirts and more (oh, my!) in that little corner next to the dressing rooms where I had been disappointed so many times before. In fact, it seemed to be bursting at the seams with fashionable frocks, and I felt like you had finally heard my silent prayers.
I guess it wasn't meant to last, because, when fall began, the number of cute clothes began to shrink and the number of clown clothes grew once again. Still, you'd conditioned me to keep checking back every time I dropped by on a whim.
So, imagine the combination of excitement and dismay when I saw this sign on February 13 in an empty Women's Plus department (well, it wasn't actually empty but overflowing with clearance items from your other department):
Excitement because, I couldn't help but think, "New? New! This means they're going to start having clothes that I'll want to wear! Clothes that, like the thin girls, I can walk down the street in and feel proud."
Dismay because, well, look at that sign: "Women's Plus Collection arriving early February." Um, Target, February only has 28 days this year, which means that, by the time I took this picture, the month was half over. Where are my "new" clothes that this sign promises?
I went back to your store this week, and, what did I find? Did I find brand new, cool, funky, comfortable, affordable clothes to fit my size 22 physique? Nope. I found this sign. Still. No clothes that I could wear and like myself in. Disappointed? Yeah, a little.
Dear Target, I do hope when your store actually gets some new clothes in my size (looking like it'll be in at least March by this point), that I will be writing another blog post extolling the virtues of your garments. Until then, I wait, half hoping, half dreading, what I'll find the next time I wander down to that corner next to the fitting rooms.
Sincerely,
Andria
I don't get you.
For the longest time, if I dropped by your "Women's Plus" department, I couldn't find anything that would be appealing to a plus-sized thirty-something. All of your plus-sized clothes were for women much more...matronly than I am. Even though I am closer to 40 than I am to 30, I still don't want to wear something my grandma would wear.
I've never understood why you have so many cute clothes in your misses section and yet only stocked things which vaguely looked like circus tents and the like in the "Women's Plus." Maybe you don't think chunky chicks shop at your store? Or maybe you want to discourage us from shopping there altogether? Send us over to Evil*Mart instead (who is starting to have cuter clothes for luscious ladies) because we're a "lower class" of person?
But, last summer, to my delight, I discovered that you had cute, young dresses and shirts and more (oh, my!) in that little corner next to the dressing rooms where I had been disappointed so many times before. In fact, it seemed to be bursting at the seams with fashionable frocks, and I felt like you had finally heard my silent prayers.
I guess it wasn't meant to last, because, when fall began, the number of cute clothes began to shrink and the number of clown clothes grew once again. Still, you'd conditioned me to keep checking back every time I dropped by on a whim.
So, imagine the combination of excitement and dismay when I saw this sign on February 13 in an empty Women's Plus department (well, it wasn't actually empty but overflowing with clearance items from your other department):
Excitement because, I couldn't help but think, "New? New! This means they're going to start having clothes that I'll want to wear! Clothes that, like the thin girls, I can walk down the street in and feel proud."
Dismay because, well, look at that sign: "Women's Plus Collection arriving early February." Um, Target, February only has 28 days this year, which means that, by the time I took this picture, the month was half over. Where are my "new" clothes that this sign promises?
I went back to your store this week, and, what did I find? Did I find brand new, cool, funky, comfortable, affordable clothes to fit my size 22 physique? Nope. I found this sign. Still. No clothes that I could wear and like myself in. Disappointed? Yeah, a little.
Dear Target, I do hope when your store actually gets some new clothes in my size (looking like it'll be in at least March by this point), that I will be writing another blog post extolling the virtues of your garments. Until then, I wait, half hoping, half dreading, what I'll find the next time I wander down to that corner next to the fitting rooms.
Sincerely,
Andria
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Fat Tuesday: Standing in the Checkout Line
A couple of weeks ago, I was standing in the checkout line at Evil*Mart and started reading the magazine covers. Here are a few:
"Look Good in Cozy Clothes"
(Isn't the point of wearing cozy clothes being comfortable? And, you know, warm?"
"How They Did It: Half Their Size!"
(You know I'm going to open this magazine and it's just going to tell me all about their amazing diet and how they walked a little more. I always get sucked into these kinds of stories. And I'm always disappointed.)
"Improve Your Diet"
(Okay, maybe this one isn't so bad. But, still, it feels like all the magazine covers are against me!)
"Get An Insane Body: It's Hard, But You'll Look Hot!"
(Yep, that's what matters, seventeen year old girls: Looking hot! *growls*)
"Hollywood's Secret Diets: Get Thin Fast"
(Because losing weight quickly has always helped me before!)
"Outsmart the Over-40 Hidden Fat Trigger To Lose 1 LB Every Day!"
(This is another one that I get sucked into every time. Of course there's a hidden fat trigger! That is the only reason I'm fat. Because of that darn hidden fat trigger!)
"Lose 20 LBS in two weeks on the DUKE DIET DOCTOR'S LAST-CHANCE DIET!"
(Wait, this is a doctor's diet? I might have to go back for this one...)
Sorry this is so blurry. I was afraid that the Evil*Mart security was going to tackle me.
"The Bikini Body Plan"
(I already have a bikini body...just nobody's gonna be wanting to see it.)
I was getting, not surprisingly, very irritated by the many, many covers that touted hot bodies and losing 50 pounds a month.
But, I decided not to get mad. Instead, I decided to think of other headlines for magazines.
Like...
"Enjoy Wearing Whatever You Want When You Want!"
What do you think? What would you like to see on the cover of a magazine? Tell me in the comments!
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Fat Tuesday: 2 Reasons I Hate Photoshop
I hate Photoshop. Why?
Well, first, is that I have no idea how to use it. Seriously, Adobe, could you create some product that I can actually figure out and use? Because, right now, the best I can do is save my documents as a PDF. And that's just because it's an option for Pages (at home) and Word (at work).
I sort of think that Photoshop was created to make people who think they're intelligent, educated human beings and transform them into monkeys hitting the keyboard, hoping that SOMETHING will work!
And then, of course, there are things like this:
Did you SEE that? People who wield Photoshop are like magicians! They can totally change a human being (perfectly normal human beings who, if they walked down the street, you would think, hey, that person isn't ugly) and make this person into something that will never be seen in nature! (Or, again, walking down the street.)
Back "in the day", when magazines airbrushed the models on the front covers, there really was only so much that could be done, you know? But now, with Photoshop, they (I don't really know who "they" are; perhaps "they" are actually the robots who are plotting the demise of the human race; I know they've been working on getting rid of human teachers for years) make a person perfect.
Perfect.
There is no competing against perfect. Not for me. Not for the, as the video points out, the elementary school girls who read magazines and think that they're fat.
Photoshop, I hope you feel some shame for making the rest of us feel like hideous beings in comparison to your glittering images. Although, as you are computer software, I know you have no feelings. But you and your robot companions better be careful, because I'm watching you.
Always watching...
Well, first, is that I have no idea how to use it. Seriously, Adobe, could you create some product that I can actually figure out and use? Because, right now, the best I can do is save my documents as a PDF. And that's just because it's an option for Pages (at home) and Word (at work).
I sort of think that Photoshop was created to make people who think they're intelligent, educated human beings and transform them into monkeys hitting the keyboard, hoping that SOMETHING will work!
And then, of course, there are things like this:
Did you SEE that? People who wield Photoshop are like magicians! They can totally change a human being (perfectly normal human beings who, if they walked down the street, you would think, hey, that person isn't ugly) and make this person into something that will never be seen in nature! (Or, again, walking down the street.)
Back "in the day", when magazines airbrushed the models on the front covers, there really was only so much that could be done, you know? But now, with Photoshop, they (I don't really know who "they" are; perhaps "they" are actually the robots who are plotting the demise of the human race; I know they've been working on getting rid of human teachers for years) make a person perfect.
Perfect.
There is no competing against perfect. Not for me. Not for the, as the video points out, the elementary school girls who read magazines and think that they're fat.
Photoshop, I hope you feel some shame for making the rest of us feel like hideous beings in comparison to your glittering images. Although, as you are computer software, I know you have no feelings. But you and your robot companions better be careful, because I'm watching you.
Always watching...
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Fat Tuesday: A Special Guest Post
This blog post was written by my dear cousin Nicole. She asked me if she could write a post for Fat Tuesday, and, of course, I said, "Yes!" And I'm so glad she did, because this post hits spot on with many of the reasons that I started Fat Tuesday. So, without further ado, here is Nicole and her beautiful daughter Zoey:
This is Zoey.
She’s almost 8 years old. She is a dancer, a musician, a
writer, a swimmer, a rainbow loom jewelry maker, a singer, a friend, a
bookworm, and my daughter.
I recently came across a Dove advertisement on YouTube that said that 6 out of 10 girls
will stop doing what they love because they feel bad about the way they look.
Here-you can watch it for yourself. It’s short. I’ll wait for you.
Are you back? Oh good.
When I saw this ad I began to cry-because my beautiful daughter Zoey is a LOT of things, but one things she isn’t is stick thin.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think she’s perfect. She is a very active girl and I’m not the least bit concerned about what her waist size is at age 8. Unfortunately it seems that manufacturers of children clothing don’t seem to agree with me that Zoey is perfectly sized for an 8 year old girl because clothes for 8 year old girls are made for little girls that have legs the size of toothpicks and a waist the size of my wrist. I’ve been struggling to find clothes to fit my perfectly sized daughter almost since the time she stopped wearing diapers.
See, they make toddler sized clothing with stretchy waist bands that are wider in the waist and bottom because these clothes have to fit on a child around a diaper. But as soon as you outgrow toddler sizes I guess it is assumed that all little girls suddenly become twigs.
In the past in order to find jeans that Zoey is comfortable in I have typically buy the “loose” style jeans and I buy a size larger then her normal size. This gives her the room in her waist and legs she needs to feel comfortable in her jeans but then they are WAY too long. So we ALWAYS have to roll her jeans. Which is ridiculous because look at her!
She’s a perfectly proportioned little girl! So why aren’t her jeans????
I walked into Old Navy recently to try and find some jeans for Zoey. I was intending to buy a size up, as usual. This shopping trip, however, I discovered that I had a very limited selection. It seems that this season the style is Skinny jeans, or Super Skinny jeans.
I walked over to the boy section and boy jeans come in Slim, Regular, and Husky. Now granted, no girl wants to wear clothes that say Husky on the tag-but I was sad and mad and confused at the idea that it’s ok and even expected that there will be boys who fill out and bulk up at this age but that girls but not okay for girls. 8 year old girls are apparently expected to be Super Skinny.
As a mother I dread the thought that someday Zoey will realize she doesn’t fit into Super Skinny jeans, and that she’ll think this is somehow a bad thing. I dread the day she stands in her swimsuit at the pool or her leotard and ballet and feels inferior to the twiggy girls. I pray this day never comes. I pray she is always able to look in the mirror and see the same beautiful, talents, smart, brave little girl that I see.
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