Monday 18 May 2015

Plus Size Wars | I'm Back


So as you might be able to tell, I haven’t posted in a few months. The main reason for this is simply being FINAL YEAR OF UNI. I literally can’t believe how fast university has flown by, it upsets me if I think about it for too long! Last summer when I created this blog, I was absolutely obsessed with writing it and planning new blog posts. Slowly, this blog became my last priority between trying to balance university, work and a blog, whilst still having a social life. The amount of times I have gone to write my first welcome back post, but decided to wait a week is unreal. I still buy new things and think ‘ooh, I can add this to my monthly favourites!’ but never get round to doing it. But tonight (when I wrote this) I watched a programme called Plus Size Wars, and it really inspired me to get back into blogging.

If you don’t know me personally, then you probably don’t know that I’m considered plus- size/fat/curvy/chunky/whatever you want to call it. I have never really blogged about it before, as to be honest, I’ve never really thought that many people would be interested in what I was wearing as I’m not a size 8. But watching the programme really made me realise that there is quite a large audience of people interested, and many people are going places because of it!

There is so little places for younger plus sized women to shop, as many shops sell matronly, unflattering styles. Fortunately I can still shop in places such as Topshop as their size range goes up to a size 16, but most of their styles wouldn’t suit my size. I don’t want to wear crop tops, yet I don’t want to wear unflattering ‘old people’ dresses. Slowly retailers are bringing out plus-sized ranges, mainly online retailers, but they still offer stylish plus-sized garments.

Plus-sized retailers such as Evans are starting to see the potential in a new younger target market, and have targeted three young fashion bloggers to feature in their new campaign. I think this is a really clever move by Evans, as there is a previous stigma attached to their brand. Many people, including me, previously saw it as an older peoples shop, with no fashionable items. Through using plus-sized fashion bloggers, they are able to promote their more fashionable ranges to a new target audience.
Many people have criticized the programme and plus-sized models as promoting obesity and being unhealthy. Although I understand what they’re saying to some extent, I don’t think the programme is actually inspiring people to put on weight. I think the programme is trying to remove the idea that just because you’re fat, doesn’t mean you have to be ugly and unfashionable. As the programme mentioned at the start, over 60% of the UK are considered obese, so why is still so hard to find fashionable places to shop? Just because you’re fat/plus-sized doesn’t mean you should have to be shamed into wearing oversized t-shirts and hiding in corners. I think these bloggers and models give plus-sized girls the confidence to love fashion no matter what size they are.

For as long as I have remembered I’ve always been considered as fat, so I’m used to it. I’ve always loved fashion and over the years have found ways to dress flatteringly for my size. I’ve decided I’m going to start blogging more about clothing I’ve bought, my fashion etc. as I’d like to help anyone out there who maybe struggles to find plus-sized clothing. I’m still going to write about my usual beauty and lifestyle posts, but start to add some more personal fashion posts to my blog. Although I’m pretty confident in myself, I think as a plus-sized gal I should maybe help the #PlusSizeWars in every way that I can!


Kelsey xxxx

PS. Sorry for the lengthy post! I'm just so excited to get back into blogging. I promise I will be uploading regularly from now on.

No comments:

Post a Comment