Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Thoughts on Fast Fashion


Hi guys,

This week marks my last week trying out Gwynnie Bee (a plus sized clothing rental service), which has come with just one real success.  Everything else just didn't work for me in some way or another.  Which is why I love being able to try things on before buying them, but when it comes to shopping Bryan is not such a fan of going with me.  It means I buy more online and try to make my shopping trips fast or with someone other than my husband.  I always look forward to our week at the beach each year knowing I'll get to have a trip to the outlets where I can spend an afternoon trying all kinds of thing and hopefully coming home with a few good finds.  This year was no exception, however I'm waiting to unveil new things with my fall capsule.  However, I did find myself trying to buy more than I needed, which is something I hope to continue changing with the capsule wardrobe.  I want to get to a point where I'm less tempted to buy things I already have a similar one of and also move towards more ethical and perhaps sustainable clothing.

Ethical and Sustainable Clothing


I know it's not something most of us think too much about, but more often these days I think it should be.  Almost all of us buy these clothes, and we don't often think much of it.  Perhaps we feel some guilt, but it's a habit we like.  For some of us it's hard to afford more expensive clothing after all. But clothes are often made by people, frequently children, in poor conditions who are underpaid for their labor.  This is covered up by subcontractors who sent jobs to cheaper factories and workers so that we can have the trendiest and cheapest clothing that fast fashion can offer us.  The process is explained more fully in this John Oliver video. (Warning - he's funny and informative, but uses foul language)


My goal in the next year is to transition to more ethical brands, which can be tough in plus sized fashion.  But I know I can at least move closer to this ideal with each capsule I build.  At the moment I'm compiling a list of places that carry plus sized fashion that fits this description and will be sharing it with my readers and keeping it updated as well as I can.  You'll be able to find it in the top navigation bar along with more information on some of my other goals and a more detailed profile, so that all you new friends can get to know me better.  You'll also notice I'm transitioning to a new look for this blog, so feel free to give feedback along the way.  And if you've heard of any great plus sized clothing brands who are doing things right let me know and I'll include them on my list!

Outfits


And now here are a couple of the outfits I've worn over the past few weeks, including a new kimono which I am in love with, which replaces the geometric top in my capsule.  I found I wasn't comfortable in the top, so it will be finding a new home soon as I prepare to give away/sell more of my clothes that don't properly fit while I create my fall capsule.  This first outfit is from a date night right before the family reunion.

Kimono - ASOS, Camisole - Kmart, Shorts Levis via Amazon, Sandals - Modcloth
This next outfit is from our double date night at the beach with Davey and Keri.  We dressed up a little, I ended up being the least dressed up since I decided not to wear the Gwynnie Bee dress I'd brought with me.  More details on that further down.
Kimono - ASOS, Necklace by my friend Amber Goulet (detailed view below, you can find her blog here), top - City Chic, Shorts - Lane Bryant, Sandals - Modcloth

I love this pendant to death, it used to have a leather cord, but it wore out and I switched it onto a silver chain I had.
Earlier this week we went to the memorial service for our nephew who passed away recently, so this is what I wore to that.
Top - Catos, Skirt - Torrid, Sandals - Modcloth

Gwynnie Bee Tests

So now for the Gwynnie Bee picks, first off the clear winner, a lovely asymmetrical top that's a Gwynnie Bee exclusive by Isabel + Alice.  I ended up buying it because I loved it so much.  I wore it to this week's date night in fact!


Tunic - Gwynnie Bee, Necklace - Forever 21, Jeans - Torrid, and Fjip-Flops - Old Navy

Dress by Adrianna Papell, just a bit too big.

 

Dress by ABS, fit ok, except for that zipper.


 

Dress by Triste, fit fine, but required shapewear to be smooth looking....and I wasn't going to put up with that as hot and humid as it was at the beach!

There you have it, loads of stuff about clothes, and so far not a lot about more ethical ones, but we'll get there.  So hang on tight,  I look forward to making the journey with you all.

Love,
Lydia



Thursday, August 13, 2015

Comics Part 1

Hi folks,

Here's some reviews of comics I've been reading lately, with another post on the way!




Let's get started with Manifest Destiny Volume 1 by Chris Dingess, Matthew Roberts, and Owen Gieni.  I wanted so badly to like this comic, and with a quick scan of the art and the general premise I thought it looked great.  However, despite the cool idea of Lewis and Clark actually finding and dealing with more supernatural obstacles the way women were treated in the book was a huge turnoff for me.  And I can't say that minorities were dealt with much better, which if you're rewriting history to add monsters and such...why not make things more interesting by making more strong characters we might not historically see on those roles?  So this book left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth and I'm on the fence about reading the next one.  If I do it will be at a library because I don't think I want to fund people who think this way, because honestly I'm not sure if all the crudeness they added is even historically warranted.  Le sigh.

Amulet Volume 1 by Kazu Kibuishi is the start of a great YA graphic novel series.  It starts as many in the fantasy genre do with a couple kids finding family secrets that could potentially be dangerous, plunging into a new world, and maybe getting in over their heads in a tricky situation or two.  

Amulet Volume 2 sees the siblings growing and dealing with more responsibility as they try to save their mother from her predicament.  The story builds up the world more and continues developing just who our antagonists are.  I was slightly underwhelmed by the first book, but felt that this one started to build the pace nicely.  Bryan selected this series, and I think it's a pick worth checking out, especially for kids 7-12 who might be interested in comics.

Thor: Godess of Thunder Volume 1 by Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman is a comic I picked up out of curiosity since I'd heard about it via The Mary Sue (a great website for female centric geeky news!).  This book does not disappoint, if you've been watching the various Marvel superhero movies you'll find this book pretty easy to approach.  There's a bit of backstory, but it's explained enough that I didn't feel the need read previous stories covering it.  Pretty much all you need to know is that the new Thor is a lady, but not Thorita, She-Thor, or Ms. Thor, just Thor.  I can't wait to read more of this series!

The Sculptor by Scott McCloud is a great book by a classic comic book author.  I'd read his book (which I recommend) Understanding Comics as one of the texts for my college course on the history of comics and animation.  Anyway, The Sculptor is a love story from the male perspective, first and foremost, but it also looks at the act of creation.  As an artist I love that part of the book.  Meg's story gets the short end of the stick here, but I still really enjoyed this book and recommend it.  Be warned you may cry.

Rat Queens Volume 1 by Kurtis J. Weibe and Roc Upchurch is a comic for those who love tabletop RPGs and games like Dungeons & Dragons.  The twist this story takes is that our heroes are actually all heroines.  The 4 ladies can kick butt, deal with rivalries, a town council that might be out to get them, and some romance on the side.  Each chapter could easily be seen as a roleplay session, and I must admit it makes me want to start an all lady game group just to get awesome scenarios like these going.

Rat Queens Volume 2 by Kurtis J. Weibe, Roc Upchurch, Stjepan Sejic, and Ed Brisson is the follow up story that continues developing our heroines.  We see bits of their various backgrounds, which include some surprises and depth to the world.  The story arc that was started in the last book is continued to a dramatic conclusion.  Oh and there's a subversion of the "damsel in distress" trope.  Win!

So, I hope this gives you all some new ideas for comics to pick up, or perhaps steer clear of.  I'll see you all Friday with some new outfits, and thoughts on fashion!

Love,
Lydia