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Tuesday 21 August 2018

T-Shirts, Ya Big Tease!

As a tried and true 90’s grunge-kid, and devout Gen-Xer, t-shirts were always just the obvious choice and a staple of my youthful wardrobe. When I started working in the music industry I switched from tie-dyes to band shirts. Never gave it a second thought. But as I grew older, and my body grew fatter, I could no longer find the cool band shirts in my size. I slowly got rid of most of them and incorporated actual blouses and tops meant for grown up lady persons, much to my shock! Ha-ha!

As I flung myself ass-first into fat fashion, and eventually fat liberation, I never thought about all of the t-shirts I longed for buy couldn’t get in my size. If you’re into bands or have worked in that industry, or even in tech, you know how t-shirts can kind of make you stand out or allow you to bond with others over a shared nerdery of that thing. It’s kind of beautiful! So imagine my dismay when that became increasingly impossible to find while I was working in music and later even more so working in tech.

As my love of pop culture expanded and I embraced my geeky-weirdness, I still couldn’t find the shirts I truly wanted. Until one day I found the holy grail: a classic logo for The Ramones on a black scoop neck tee at Torrid! I paid full retail for that thing because I was so over joyed! (Even bought a matching one for my puggo, but he hates it. The snob!) I kept checking but never found another in-store that I liked enough to get. They started to have a lot of old band revival sort of t-shirts for awhile, but none that I needed.

Until I randomly came across a used t-shirt on eBay from Torrid of the Ghostbusters logo, but with flowers instead of the red circle! The New Ghostbusters movie was about to be released in theaters and my younger brother and I are huge fans, so it was meant to be! I was ridiculously stoked, but more so when it arrived and fit like a dream! I paired it with a floral skirt I got at Cupcakes & Muffintops a few years ago, also from Torrid.

The dorkiest!

My bro is also wearing a Ghostbusters shirt with a quote from the classic,
“We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!” (I had bought for him the previous x-mas from 6DollarShirts.com)

Time went on and as I worked for more tech companies and found that none carried a 3x, let alone above that. Then it was up to me to order swag for places and I started to order more of those larger sizes! Why not use my position to broaden the best parts of fat liberation! Having access to basic things like t-shirts, especially when you work in tech, is so big! Feeling excluded for your body size is the pits! When I was onboarded at my last company they didn’t have 3x in anything, but everyone else got a shirt and a hoodie. Imagine an open office workspace sprinkled throughout with dots of red from everyone’s shirts and hoodies. Except me and like 4 others had none. When they came out with a black version for employee appreciation, I made sure they ordered shirts up to 5x! And my 3x fit like a dream! I’d wear it now if I didn’t hate what that place did to me. Ha!

And then a few weeks ago I was shopping for a gift on Threadless after getting an email about a sale they were having. I was looking at stickers. I wasn’t even looking at shirts or anything else. I had assumed they would’t carry anything in my size, and in women’s that’s still true. Then I got another email from them hyping their new extra soft tee and well, I was like, “Challenge accepted!” and gave it a browse, thinking at worst my lil’ bro might get a new shirt out of it. NOPE! I found the best t-shirt ever! I’m super obsessed with it and this outfit that resulted from it’s purchase:

Tigress took this pic of me outside of Big Moves Annual Cupcakes & Muffintops on August 4th!
I’m so in love with this outfit it’s ridiculous! Ha-ha!
I loved it so much and they keep having sales so I ended up ordering this one, too! Mystery Date
I wore this with my beloved Torrid stretch velvet pencil skirt as seen above, got so many compliments.
It fits the same as the men’s extra soft tee and is still quite soft. I also got this one in the men’s 3x.
I haven’t worn it yet and didn’t realize that it’s a completely different shirt! It’s not the men’s extra soft tee, as my other one is.
This one I bought at the San Francisco screening of the documentary Fattitude!
If you have the opportunity DO NOT MISS THIS FILM!
I wore it to work last Friday and a contractor/electrician stopped in his tracks and said, “Wait, what does your shirt say?”
So I straightened it a bit so he could read it. “Oh! Nice! I like that!” I got a 4x and it’s so comfy and roomy it will for sure be a staple.

OH! And I just got a Black Panter t-shirt on Poshmark, also from Torrid in a 4x:

People tend to think that Fat Liberation (acceptance/positivity/etc) is about so many things and really, for me, it’s only about access and autonomy!

I’m not saying I’m gonna give up my love of tie-neck, ruffly, femme blouses, but I am very much enjoying this new phase of love for t-shirts. Sizing is still an issue! The extra soft men’s 3x from Threadless fit well, but I wouldn’t fuck with a 2x, and they don’t even have a 4x. (For reference: I have a 54″ bust, and 62″ hips, typically a plus size 26/28 at most retailers.) Other retailers have much better sizing, but I gotta say, I fell head over heels for the design of this Sorcerer tee.
Please share in comments or on other social media where you saw this post/link with what your favorite places to buy plus sized t-shirts are!
Rock on!
Rad Fatty Love to ALL,

<3
S


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