With a Great Pair of Jeans I could Rule the World!

I am a jeans and t-shirt kinda gal. Sure I love getting all dolled up for a night on the town or a fabulous brunch with my lady friends. Who doesn't? But when all is said and done I feel the most like myself in a great fitting pair of jeans and an old comfy t-shirt. This is where my affinity for glamourous accessories helps me out, a lot. Not to brag, but my ability to rock this look got me past many work dress code issues; often finding myself the exception to the rules due to my ability to style up just about anything. We all look our best when we feel good, and this is how I feel best!

I am forever on the search for a great fitting pair of jeans. If you follow me on Instagram this probably comes as no surprise. Currently, I'm pursuing a great Boyfriend fit...this one's taking a while. I've been a fan of the Skinny cut since before it was called that. I think it's the most flattering on me, personally. About 13 years ago I bought a pair of "Backseat Betty" jeans from Z. Cavaricci and it was like we were one...they knew just where to sit on my hips and had the perfect balance of stretch and weight. I should have buried them when I blew out the seam inside my thigh one late summer night rather than chucking them into the trash. I have never found their equal to this day, but the search goes on.

Women’s bodies come in a myriad of shapes and sizes, but it often seems clothing comes in about 4. I'm sort of hourglassy from the front and like the number 8 from the side. This basically means I'm very round with a smaller waist and a BIG butt. Finding bottoms that fit me is ridiculously hard. If they fit my butt and belly I am usually left with a HUGE gap at my waist just above my butt. Many of us have this issue to thank for ass crack and panties showing when we sit down, bend over or even walk sometimes. Plus, I'm not really a belt girl, so cinching them isn't a good option. I spent many hours in April dressing and undressing in gross messy fitting rooms in pursuit of my dream jeans. Luckily for you, I brought my handy dandy phone along for the ride so I could share the adventure with you, my Zaftig Gals!

I started my search in Macy's and was terribly disappointed. They were all fairly pricey (no surprise there) and nothing fit well at all!

I actually liked these green jeans from Michael Kohrs for $99.50, but I just knew I'd never really wear them. As for the Seven jeans....no thank you this time.

I tried all jeans on in a size 18 and I was really shocked by the fit here. These $99 Lucky Brand jeans were HUGE on me in every way. If you're tall, this might be a great brand for you.

I actually liked these jeans from Hydraulic for $64, but the rear view just didn't do me justice. It is worth mentioning that they were CRAZY comfortable.

I was so discouraged. If these "designer label" jeans couldn't make my booty sing, what would? Cue: Forever 21!

These are both the same jeans, just different washes and length. The darker wash is their regular length and the lighter one (on the right) is the "short" one. 

Just $14.80 for a dreamy pair of jeans that cradle my butt and fit just right?!?!? YES PLEASE! I know just last week I was singing the fight song for our indie designers and I stand by it. However, as I said in that very post, if the price is right....well, you do what you gotta do. I've worn them twice now and I just love them. One note: they are super stretchy and a little thin, these aren't going to last forever, but I'll get my money's worth from the for sure!

Indie Plus Size Designers, the Next Endangered Species?

I love shopping. No big surprise there, right? I'm going to go ahead and guess you probably do, too. Our love of fashion and style and the bits and baubles that go with it binds us together. It's what our little corner of the Plus Size Community is founded on. That said, where we choose to spend our money purchasing these divine garments and accessories has power. Someone smarter than me once said "every dollar you spend casts a vote about the world you want to live in".

Please don't stop reading now for fear of a political rant!!

 I am not going to waste your time railing against the evils of the big bad companies manufacturing all their goods overseas (or even here in LA) sweatshops. We all know about them. I, for one, do my best to not patronize them; and I also can not claim to never patronize them. Times are tough, I know.  Recently I was on the hunt for a new pair of jeans. I went everywhere looking, dressing and undressing, gasping at price tags and sighing at poor fit quality. In the end, I bought a fab pair of jeans from Forever 21 for a modest $14.80. What can I say, the fit was great and the price was right!

 That said, I want to talk about the other places to shop. I want to talk about the talented, passionate and all too frequently struggling designers out there. I want to talk about why we need to send our hard earned dollars their way before the Indie Plus Size Designer's become a thing of the past. If we are Facebook friends, you have probably seen me posting about CULT of California and the current Kickstarter campaign. If you haven't heard of CULT, go here to see my review from their fashion show at POSH LA. This is a line we need in our lives, a line worth helping, a line worth talking about! Not only is designer Jen Wilder crazy talented, but she's a good person. The line is 100% Made in the USA and that is something I am wildly supportive for. While so many of us (bloggers and supporters) have professed our love and desire for her clothes, it seems her backers didn't see the sales they'd wanted, leaving her with a conundrum. Ever the fighter, CULT's Kickstarter campaign was launched. It got me thinking. Why do people think we don't have shopping power?

So, I did some research. According to Apparel.edgl.com the plus size slice of the apparel pie generated $7.5 BILLION dollars in 2012. After shelling out those billions and billions of dollars, 62% of us were still openly disappointed with the fit and quality of the garments we bought. That's roughly $4,650,000,000 spent on clothing we DIDN'T EVEN LIKE!!!! I'm willing to bet my slice of pie that's due to so many "straight" size retailers trying to get a piece of the action by scaling up their designs and offering them to us (H&M, Forever 21, even Eloquii by Limited). As I said before, sometimes the fit is right and so's the price. I get it. However, I have a proposition for us.

We are smart, opinionated and fashion savvy. Rather than railing against Target for their "manatee" mistake or getting all uppity about a store that doesn't even want us as customers saying something offensive let's put our collective spotlight and support (I'm talking shopping dollars here, ladies) on the fierce, wonderful and wildly diverse Indie Designers who already love us! They know our bodies, many of them are one of us too! Here are just a few of my favorites.

CULT of California

Jibri

 

 

 

 

S.W.A.K.

 

Stefanie Bezaire

Domino Dollhouse

There so many more, I know. Please tell me who your personal favorite indie designers are and let's spread the word about them! We are a community and these women are the ones pouring their creative energy and passion into making sure we look fab! Let's support them. Let's put our money where our mouths are and make a difference!!

Hold Me Closer Zaftig Dancer. A Delightful Guest Post By Heather Witherden.

I got an email a few weeks ago from a fellow comedian, Quinn Greene :

" Hey Heather, I'm shooting a kid-oriented rap video for the Manitoba Dental Association this week on Wednesday.

I was wondering if you might be interested in playing a character in the video. We're looking for a lunch lady character who gets spun around by the kids in the cafeteria and then breaks into dance in one scene, embarrassing the kids."

I arrived onset at the school cafeteria and went to hair and makeup: French braid, hairnet, apron. Now it was time to shoot the scenes. The kids had to run past me as I carried a stack of lunch trays and after a couple of takes, we got the shot the director wanted. Now it was time for me to dance. 

This video shoot didn't require an audition of any kind; I was chosen mostly based on my ability to look like a middle-aged lunch lady. I'm actually fine with that, surprisingly. What the director did not know was that he had just inadvertently hired the funkiest, freakiest forty-four year old suburban mom comedian known to man. Yes, ladies and gentleman, prepare to witness the fresh moves of Heather Witherden, dancemaster. 

I bust some moves and threw down so hard that even the moms of the child actors came over to congratulate me on my skank crunking (thanks OnlineSlangDictionary). It was amazing. Some of the kids even looked up from their Angry Birds for a second, it was that good. My epic grooves will now go down in history for the greater good of getting kids to properly brush their teeth.  Will my contribution to humanity never cease? I am an amazing person. I felt like a million bucks.  Actually, I felt over-caffeinated due to the free coffee from craft services, but you get the idea.

Truth is, I love dancing. I take any and all opportunities to dance. As a child, I was forced  involved in Ukrainian folk dancing, which led to Ballet ( for a solid dance foundation) and since then I've been in hip-hop classes, belly dance, African dance and burlesque. Once I pop, I can't stop. Take me to a live music show and I will end up dancing by or on the stage. I will eat your dry wedding chicken dinner provided your DJ has James Brown and Janelle Monae in his playlist. I could probably hire myself out as a bachelorette party just by myself, just add party hats, I am that entertaining on the dance floor. My style has been described as ' arrogant' and I'm perfectly okay with that.

I'm not a punchline, I take my dancing seriously. If you don't want to have fun, don't come out onto the dance floor with me. However, please note that my dance is pure improvisation. Choreography is a straightjacket I cannot abide. I see couples who have clearly spent their Tuesday nights counting to 8, in some little dance studio, learning to rumba. They have the emotional connection of an Instant Teller. Push the buttons, make the dance. NO. I say NO. Dance is freedom, not rules. I understand that you need to learn the basics but then you also need to let go; after all, if the universe has entrusted you with a world-class ass, it's your destiny to go shake it.

Dancing Lunchlady

Moonlight Madness Burlesque

Now Available For Bachelorette Parties!

Heather Witherden

Winnipeg's Favourite Wisecracking Mom
http://www.heatherwitherden.com

The 3 Numbers a Lady Never Reveals, Revealed

 No, it's not your annual salary or how many people you've slept with or you ATM PIN (though those are equally guarded). I'm talking about:

AGE

WEIGHT

DRESS SIZE

The unholy trinity of insecurity. The reason my driver's license claims I weight a full 42 pounds less than I actually do.  The reason why in my mid 20's I would claim to be 30 so people could gasp and tell me how great I looked. It's the reason why I cut the tags out of my pants for years. Those lies didn't change anything. In fact, looking back, they only strengthened the grip my insecurity (so often mistaken for vanity) had on me. Today, I'm planning to change that.

I am 37 years old. Yep, that's right. I am in my late 30's. In an arena ruled by trendy 20-somethings (many unhindered by family responsibility and, let's face it, gravity) I have found myself fearing irrelevance. The women I so look up to like Nicolette Mason and Gabi of Gabi Fresh appear so accomplished and influential and more than 10 years younger than me. I have often found myself doubtful that my contribution to the blogspere is even relevant. But after much contemplation I have come to the conclusion that yes, in fact, it is! I hate to sound cliche, but variety is the spice of life, right? Age is more than getting older; it's experience, perspective and even wisdom. 

247 pounds. That's what the scale said last week. In my adult life I have fluctuated from close to 270 pounds to a svelte 197 pounds, but I always land back around 230. It bears mentioning that the brief 6 months spent at my "slender 197" were the result of my (then) boyfriend's constant comments that he'd "never been with a big girl" and how that was "okay because I was so pretty". The shame and deep pain these "compliments" gave me caused me to drop close to 60lbs in 6 months, for all the wrong reasons. I'm not going to lie and say I would not like to be a bit more fit, but in my journey I'm just not there yet. However, the number is nothing to be ashamed of. I am more than 247 pounds; I am funny and kind and even pretty. 247 is just a number.

About 13 years ago I had the distinguished honor of being part of the development, launch and successful growth of one of the very first (if not the first) junior plus retailers. In early meetings we talked about sizes and garment labels: should we hide the tags lower in the garment so it won't show? should we make them removable? should be create our own sizes, apart from the "straight" sizes? In the end, we chose to drop the "X" from 1X, 2X, etc...and simply use 1,2,3 and 4. And although I was never part of this discussion, vanity sizing was implemented as well. Now, all these years later, I find myself asking if that was the right thing to do. Probably not. Does the number on a label really matter? Do we think cutting the tags out of our clothes is going to fool the guy or girl in our bed who's seen us naked? Or our friends when we're all in a dressing room? Does it make my size 20 body appear slimmer if I lie? It does not, in fact. You know what it gets me? Gifts in the wrong damn size for my birthday, that's about it. 

So there we have it: 37, 247, 20. As I'm writing this and staring at them so bold on the screen I feel....well, lighter in a way. I'm not what some call a Fat-ivist, Fat Activist or whatever label is used. I admire many women who are, don't get me wrong. I am, however, a supporter of women in general. I am a woman who loves other women and will use any opportunity I can to help other women find their strength, their self love and their freedom from the weight of insecurity. 

3 Earth Loving, Bunny Cuddling Beauty Brands for you to check out.

Happy Earth Day, Zaftig Gals!!!! In honor of the mother of all gals, our dear Mother Earth, I've decided to share some wonderful socially and environmentally conscious cosmetics companies with you. You may not know this, but I'm a bit of a hippie and go ga-ga for brands/products that can meet my glamour and indulgence needs while managing to be kind to our planet and animals.


I'm going to start with my newest love, tarte cosmetics. Founded in 1999 by Maureen Kelly with a passion for "healthy nourishing cosmetics", tarte manages to have fabulous products all 100% free from: parabens • mineral oil • phthalates • triclosan • sodium lauryl sulfate • synthetic fragrance • gluten and NEVER TESTS ON ANIMALS! To top it off, all tarte packaging "are made from recyclable or post-consumer recycled material and can often be re-used to help reduce environmental waste". And did I mention that the make up is actually really great?!? Like, long wear lipstick  that is moisturizing and actually last and a pore minimizing primer that changed my face in under a minute! I could go on and on, but I'll just show you some pretty pictures and let you fall in love.

clean slate™ poreless
12-hr perfecting primer

$30.00

pampered pout maracuja lip exfoliant & LipSurgence™ lip luster set

$30.00

 

cheek stain

$30.00

Of course I have to include Aveda in this list. Since 1978 they've been leading the pack for environmentally aware cosmetics. This is a company that defines itself not only by their stellar products, but also by their sense of accountability to our planet. Truth be told, I'm mostly in favor of their skin care. For my taste their make up just doesn't have what I need. Nevertheless, this is an iconic and groundbreaking (no pun intended) brand and I support them fully.

Botanical Kinetics™ Purifying Creme Cleanser $21 - $49

Botanical Kinetics™ Hydrating Lotion $33 - $77

As I am such a big fan of kitchen beauty, I would be silly to not share LUSH with you. Their story started in the UK during the 70s and I think the best part is how they got their name, "One customer suggested LUSH, which is defined as being fresh, green, verdant and drunken women and we thought it fitted us very well.". How awesome is that? They even award $250,000 annually to organizations fighting animal testing!

Karma Solid Perfume $10.95

Catastrophe Cosmetic Masque $6.95

Of course there are many other brands out there doing their part to save the planet, cuddle the bunnies and keep us looking and feeling foxy like: Burts Bees, eco-tools , nvey and Alba Botanicals that I love and support, too. Who's your favorite? I'd love to hear!

Internet Browsing is the New "Window Shopping". Let's take a stroll, shall we?

Sadly, I am down with an awful cold this week. However, I have more than enough time to leisurely scroll my way through my favorite websites for some refreshing "window shopping". So, why not share some of these great finds with you, my wonderful Zaftig Gals? Oh my wallet hurts just looking at all the goodness!!!

Evans is such a great place to find wardrobe staples and seasonal wardrobe pops. 

Evans Grey Lace Panel Shirt. Pair it with jeans or a pencil skirt and you're set!

Evans Navy Bird Print Tab Up Shirt. Such a delight! Leggings and ballet flats with this bad boy for me.

Evans Orange Butterfly Print Shirt. I see myself in rolled up denim sitting seaside.

Evans Seedbead Scarf Necklace. I have been searching for this forever! So Chic!

Front

Live Unlimited Black Drape Top. You simply can not go wrong with black and I LOVE the detail in back.

When I'm looking for something really feminine and fun for a night out ASOS Curve always does me right. 

ASOS Multi Sequin Strapless PeplumAre you Dying right now?

ASOS Curve Multi Colored Spiked Shoulder Top. This is truly a special occasion top, but I'd FIND an occasion for it!

ASOS Curve Green Skinny Jean. Green is my very favorite color without a doubt and jeans are always my go-to for bottoms. Perfection!

ASOS Curve Metal Bow with Cutouts Belt. Highlight your waist with this darling little thing!

ASOS Black Jersey Top with Dip Back. I could live in this thing. LIVE IN IT!

ASOS Ripped Boyfriend Jeans. Perfect to pair with that back top!

And who doesn't love shoes?!?!? Zappos has it all! Now, I don't do heels. I love them. I even buy them, but I just about never wear them. I'm clumsy (been know to trip while standing still) and I'm addicted to comfort. That does not mean that I can't have fabulous footwear.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Mouse Sling Backs. Eek! How cute are these?

BCBG Misha Flats

Steve Madden Kovert Black Flats. Timeless and perfect.

Seychelles Feesia Burgundy Flats. Retro feel without looking costumey.

Mel by Melissa Mel Nectarine. Just for fun!

Kitchen Beauty. A New Way to Feed Your Face.

In March I shared my all natural silky leg recipe. It's generated such a great response that it has prompted me to share some more of my kitchen beauty with you. Now, lord knows I love luxurious creams and treatments as much as any lady.  However they are often A) way too pricey for me to indulge in regularly, B) full of chemicals and C) the result of cruel animal testing. So what's an environmentally friendly, animal loving, wallet challenged glamour girl to do??

Head to the kitchen!

Brown Sugar, Baking Soda, Coconut Oil, Kosher Salt, Apple Cider Vinegar, Olive Oil, Potato, Tomato, Lemon, Banana and Vanilla Extract

Today I will be sharing two great recipes with you and a couple basic tips. Don't you fret, though, I  have more up my sleeve for next time.

Simple 3 Ingredient Body Moisturizer

3 simple ingredient body moisturizer

I use this straight out of the shower all over my body. It's worth mentioning that I have suffered from Ketosis Pilaris for my entire adult life and this is the ONLY thing that's ever made a difference. One of the great thing about kitchen beauty is how simple everything is to make. All you need to do here is:

*Melt about 3 parts coconut oil (make sure is 100% pure organic) and 1 part   olive oil together. Make sure not to get it too hot, just get it to a melting point.
*Add about one cap of apple cider vinegar (I find this helps keep a good texture when it cools)
*Remove from heat and whisk together for about 60 seconds
*Pour into your choice of container and let cool

**Add Kosher Salt and use in the shower for exfoliation, too!

***I've also just thrown it all in a food processor and whipped it up, too. I like this method better, but see what works for you.

I keep it on the ledge just outside from my shower so I remember to use it. Room temperature seems the ideal storing temperature anyway. I should mention that A.C.V. does have a pungent aroma. I don't mind it; it dissipates quickly. However, should you find it offensive, you could play around with adding essential oils to mask it.

The stages of making your moisturizer

Tomato Sugar Face Scrub

All natural face scrub for your pretty face

Tomatoes are just full of antioxidants that are amazing for your skin; in particular they have Lycopene. It's easily absorbed into the skin and provides added sun protection. Sugar, as we know, is a great exfoliant.I just did this an my face feel glorious!

Here's how you do it:

*Slice the top off one organic tomato to use a scrubbing pad. This works well as nature has given it that little handle already.

*Press it into some good, soft brown sugar

*Rub it on you pretty face. You'll need to dip back into that sugar a couple times.

*Leave it on your face for about 10-15 minutes before you rinse it off to get the maximum benefits.

* Rinse. All done!

2 Perfect as They Are Kitchen Finds for Your Face

Apple Cider Vinegar is a Great Toner

Organic Coconut Oil Can be a Marvelous Moisturizer

Now you go try! Send me your feedback or even your own recipes! I love hearing from you!