Blog Archives
What’s “Ratchet”
We are constantly striving to keep up with whats fresh. Unfortunately, along with the fad of “twerking” has come along the word “ratchet.” Last time I checked, a ratchet was part of a wrench, right? Not anymore.
UrbanDictionary.com defines “Ratchet” as:
A diva, mostly from urban cities and ghettos, that has reason to believe she is every mans eye candy. Unfortunately, she’s wrong.
Typical signs to beware of include, but are not limited to:
- BLARES anything by Drake, 2Chainz, Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Cali Swag District, or any other garbage entertainment rapper
- rowdily quotes “lyrics” from aforementioned artists
- has a weave reminiscent of a bird’s nest after a tempest hit the tree it was in, and is dyed at least thrice
- wears torn leggings/stalkings (mostly of the fishnet variety), unpolished 8″ heels (or higher, depending on how God-awful they look), fitted jean jackets (to accent the blubber ’round their arms and stomach), and 4 layers of caked on make-up to go clubbing
- repeatedly use ludicrous terms such as “YOLO”, “swag”, “boost”, “beaking”, “doe”, “really”, “naw”, “actually”, “twerk”, “coaster”, “dagga”, etc., to make a valid statement when they speak
- have side bangs, despite having incredibly small-ass foreheads to support them
- are commonly overweight and are mind-numbingly stupid; a safe assumption to make would be saying they’re uneducated (as if they could pass the 4th grade)
After attending many parties and clubs, mostly in NYC, I’m seeing more and more “Ratchetness” with the growing acceptance of size. Ladies used to feel like they needed to cover up or couldn’t wear tight dresses if they have curves – these days are no longer. No matter how acceptable you may think your wardrobe is, you need to remember that you are a woman with curves and need some help keeping those curves in place! You can wear a short skirt or slutty dress, but wear tights (ahem, not fishnets), a bra, and shapewear. Come on, do you really want to look like this?
Twerk away ladies, just make sure there are no wardrobe malfunctions!
BTW, who said fat girls cant twerk? GET ‘EM GIRLS!
Stay Curvy and Keep Curious
Related articles
- Room for the Ratchets (aytchschondra.wordpress.com)
- Epic Fail of the Day: Ratchet Girls Twerk on NYC Subway Tracks (bagladyboutiqe.wordpress.com)
- MC: Ratchet Is The New Classy?? (luluchris58.wordpress.com)
The Best Shapewear for Fat Girls! (Caution: Curves Ahead)
Check out our Plus Size Bra Fitting and Review Video Blog here!
I have come to learn that one of the most important, yet most DIFFICULT part of being plus size is having to deal with making the fat look like curves. If not done properly, this could go horribly wrong. The trick? SHAPEWEAR!
No matter how big or small you are, beauty is pain at times. Currently I am wearing a pair off spanxs so tight I can hardly breathe! But after you get used to wearing Shapewear and making it part of your daily routine, you’ll learn some tricks to make it a lot easier.
- Shapewar Tank tops & Camisoles are a lot easier (and sexier) to wear than high waist briefs, and they still cover your ass when you bend over. A must-have alternative to Spanx if you plan on hooking up tonight!
- Spanx have a built in hole in the crotch so you don’t have to take them off to tinkle!
- Bras can double as Shapewear as well – side and back smoothing, bridal corsets, and minimizer bras are made to shape you better.
- Waist cinchers (like Squeem) not only give you an hourglass figure, but improve posture too.
When I was in high school I was too scared to wear shapewear, thinking… “How can I go to school looking sloppy fat one day and sexy curvy the next without making it obvious that there’s Shapewear under here?” There is no easy way. You can either start off a little at a time, or go balls to the wall and just do it! I started off slow, and now am a Shapewear junkie.
Here are MY spandex staples:
Best Brands & Where to buy:
- Spanx -When it comes to undergarments, Spanx is the leader of the pack. Affordable, durable, and practical.
- Squeem – Gives you unbelievable curves! no, really – unbelievable – as in, too good to be true and its pretty obvious when you wear one. But damn sexy anyways. Better for big booty girls, rather than us muffin top chicks.
- Lipo In A Box sold by QVC and on Amazon.com – The quality is by far, the best – this coming from someone who has tried them all. Though pricey, totally worth the money. Goes up to size 2X (they stretch!)
My Choices:
- Camisole: Lipo in a Box Long Tank (original fabric) – I have to admit, I wear this garment almost every day. When I first took it out of the package it was so tiny, but you step into it like a swimsuit and BOOM! Takes off 20 lbs. Its durable fabric has held up for probably a year now, and every time I wash and dry it, it shrinks back to its baby shirt size. It doesn’t ride up, so no adjusting all day. Flattering neckline fits under most shirts without noticing.
- Bottoms: Spanx Higher Power Brief – Again, you get what you pay for – High Quality. Great to wear under a dress , too tight jeans, anything! I avoid the thigh slimming version because it seems to cut me off mid thigh and create some unlovely lumps.
Hope this helps you ladies find the best shape for your body!
Stay Curvy and Keep Curious
Related articles
- VIDEO BLOG: Bra Fitting, Reviews, and Advice for Plus Size Gals
- Shapewear Trends (singletonelmer1.wordpress.com)
- SPANX’s New Star Power Shapewear Collection Is Here! (shefinds.com)
- Look Slim and Sexy with Shapewear Camisole (listfree.org)
I Weigh HOW MUCH?!? That Doesn’t Look Right..
When I look in the mirror, I don’t think, “So this is what 225 pounds looks like?”
When I look in the mirror, I do think, “So this is what I look like.”
Why the difference? Because for so many years I never felt like I weighed as much as I did. Maybe it was my lifestyle – the fact that I wasn’t bullied or made fun of for being fat – but I just didn’t feel like the fattest girl in school, but I was. This was all fine and dandy until one day riding the escalators up to the plus size department at Macy’s, looking at the wall-to-wall mirrors around us, I asked my mother, “Do I fatter than her?” She said yes.
I’m not mad at her for being honest. I think that moment changed my life forever (though not necessarily in a good way). From then on, I became obsessed with the number on the scale. I switched between anorexic and bulimic habits – starving for days, then eating more than anyone could imagine in one sitting, and sticking my fingers down my throat to make myself throw up. I don’t think anyone noticed the problem. I mean, duh, fat girls can’t be anorexic or bulimic! Anorexia is only for girls that look like this:
Right??
WRONG.
In my case, what I saw in the mirror was smaller than what I really was. I saw pictures of other people that weighed the same as me (290 lbs.), like her:
Jamie – 290 lbs.
But I felt like this:
Laura Johnson
But I really looked like this:
Me – 2008 – 280 lbs.
I eventually realized that, on top of my depression, I have some form of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. According to Wikipedia, BDD is…
“…A type of mental illness, a somatoform disorder, wherein the affected person is concerned with body image, manifested as excessive concern about and preoccupation with a perceived defect of their physical features. The person thinks they have a defect in either one feature or several features of their body, which causes psychological distress…”
BDD is known to effect 1-2% of the population. It is most usually linked to people with anorexia, and pretty much works like this:
Though, much less common, my case of BDD worked a bit in the opposite way, like this:
Weird, right?
Well a huge help for me was learning. Learning about proportions, metabolism, how medications effect my weight, etc. I think what snapped me back to reality was being integrated into the BBW/size acceptance world in my late teens. I HIGHLY recommend this website to give you an idea of how your weight looks proportionate to your height. It really gave me a great comparison, and helped me learn how to present myself (especially in modeling). Here is my comparison:
So all in all, don’t be in denial of your body. Be aware of your height, weight, and proportions, only for the sake of dressing well! Try (as hard as it may be) to focus on whats really in the mirror as opposed to the number on the scale. Just like age, weight is just a number!
Stay Curvy and Keep Curious
Magazines need to GET REAL!
I’ve always been a magazine lover. Seventeen was a staple in my life, and now it’s moved on to Cosmopolitan for the past few years. I love reading the articles (especially even in Maxim) but I always seem to flip right through the fashion sections without looking twice. As I wrote about yesterday in ‘#REALTALK – We All Secretly Want To Be A Model,’ even most plus size models don’t fit most real plus size girls image. In modeling, if you’re size 6/8 or under you’re called “straight size,” and anything over that is “Plus Size.”
Most editorial-geared plus size magazines, such as say, EVOLVE, UK’s #1 plus fashion online, tend to use smaller plus models, like the gorgeous size 14 up-and-comer and reader of Curvy And Curious, Annoula Dritsas who is currently competing in the top 5 contestants to be on the cover. Like her picture on EVOLVE’s Facebook page to vote for her!
More and more plus magazines are popping up, especially online. Plus Model Magazine is probably the most popular right now, especially since the stunningly gorgeous and star of NUVO TV’s hit show ‘Curvy Girls,’ Rosie Mercado hit the cover as a size 22, making plus model history. I was blessed enough to meet Rosie at Catherine Schuller’s Runway Bridal Brunch in June, and I gotta say…. it was like the world moved in slow motion when she walked in the room. She is even more beautiful in person! [ #GirlCrush ] We all love Rosie, but I can’t rock this dress like you! Us fat chicks just can’t win when it comes to magazines… The pieces in plus magazines are much too mature or risque for younger girls to relate to.
See my green eyes of jealousy???? hehe
Lets GET REAL magazines! I want to see something I can wear, like every day. Not super skinny bright colored jeans, not maxi dresses or mini dresses, not evening gowns. REAL clothes for REAL girls!
Full Blossom Magazine seems to be on the right track…. Keep it up!
Anyone think after Vogue Magazine banned anorexic-looking and underage girls we may see some plus models in the big [drum roll please]…… SEPTEMBER ISSUE! I’d love to see that.
Let this site be our new resource for real clothes for real girls!
Stay Curvy and Keep Curious
Fatkini: Would you rock it? (Poll)
Yay! Summer is here! Slip n’ Slides, pool parties, summer concerts, tanning, hitting the beach with my…… oh shit.
… bathing suit [eeeeeep!]
When I was 13 and had shed some lbs., I tried on my first bikini. I’m not sure which was worse – the look of horror on my face or my baby fat on display in the mirror looking back at me. Settling for ugly one pieces, I always thought, “Maybe next year..” Well ladies, that year is here!
This was my first year really following Full Figure Fashion Week, and there seemed to be a big focus on swimwear of all kinds, but something new really caught the world’s eye. The Fatkini.
For this summer, bodacious blogger Gabby Gregg, aka GabiFresh, decided to start a BIG movement, and many mainstream designers followed – the FATKINI. You heard right – BIKINIS for FAT chicks. Unthinkable, right? Well take one look at these and reconsider:
Cute, right?? The high waist bottoms create a perfect hourglass and come up high enough to cover your belly insecurities (or in my case, belly stretch marks, ugh) and the bralets are very flattering. Different designers, make different rises, and some designs are slimming with black panels on the sides. Great for pear, triangle, rectangle, and hourglass figures – apples beware, unless you love your body the way it is and are ready to turn many heads at the beach (not in a good way). You DON’T want to end up like this:
MY tip: don’t buy online – go to the store and try it on. Bathing suits NEVER look the same on the hanger as they do on you, and they are usually non-returnable. When trying on, focus on what it does for your body (nips the waist, boobs look awesome, you feel sexy) rather than the “bad parts.” If you’re not comfortable with it, then don’t feel pressured to get one. Personally, I’m going to wait till next year to see if the style takes off, as well as what improvements they’ll make for next year. I’d love to have shapewear incorporated into the bottoms, and also more designs with a skirted bottom to hide the belly bulge.
My Curves And Curls has a fabulous guide to plus size swimwear and Fatkini shopping.
Stay curious and keep curvy. Happy Shopping!
Curvy and Curious 