OOTD: Bee-autiful in blue polka dots

OOTD in my laundry room mirror

Photo description: a selfie taken in front of a rectangular mirror in a laundry room. My body is only visible from neck to ankles. I'm wearing a black waist-length cardigan with a royal blue and sky blue polka dotted empire waist dress. Black leggings are visible underneath the dress.

This dress was actually my second garment from Gwynnie Bee, a clothing subscription service geared for sizes 10-28.  Because I had a free garment for getting a referral credit, I accidentally had this in two colors at the same time (whoops!).  This was my first attempt at wearing an empire waist in a non-stretch fabric and I'm in love with this cut on my body.  Even though I was in quite a bit of pain that day, I felt dolled up and adorable!

OOTD: More Gwynnie Bee, office edition

OOTD from a couple weeks ago

Photo description: a standing selfie taken in an office bathroom with stalls. My hair is pulled back, with clear glasses, large circular earrings, and a brass forearm crutch. I'm wearing a camel colored collarless blazer with a brown multi toned tea length dress.

This blazer and dress combo was another outfit from Gwynnie Bee.  I was having a really rough pain day (hence the pulled back & somewhat greasy hair), but I was trying to compensate by looking pretty.  This dress got a lot of compliments at work!  It was also decently comfortable, although the arms on the blazer were a little snug.  It also came with a decorative belt, but my spine said "no" to anything sitting firmly near my cyborg bits.

So far, I'm pretty happy with Gwynnie Bee...I just wish I could have more control of what garments come at what time, but it's been satisfying my desire to shop but keeps me to a better budget with the membership cost (free to try with this link, then starts at $35 per month depending on how many garments at a time you have).

One of these days I'll have an OOTD (outfit of the day) with my wheelchair.  Because my office and campus as a whole aren't particularly wheelchair accessible, I've been toughing it out with my crutch and pain meds.

Fitness, fashion, fatness, frustration

Bad photo with tight top

So I use a neat survey site called CrowdTap that asks various questions about various companies and products, one of them being Old Navy (I generally love Old Navy as my fashion preferences are usually pretty plain but functional and semi-sporty).  I got the opportunity to sample their Active line using a coupon that gave me a pair of compression pants and a top.  I was pretty excited, but a little nervous since the coupon was for in-store use only and their plus sizes are offered only online.  I generally fit in their XL or XXL straight sizes, but their sizing is consistently inconsistent.

The photo to the right shows me, a pale short & fat woman, wearing fitted black capris with teal trim on the calf, black socks, fitted teal top, with my right hand on my hip, left hand holding on to a table for balance.

So I went to one of the local shops with my partner to see what we could find.  I was really excited by some of the colors, but really dismayed that it was hard to find anything I wanted in anything bigger than a medium.  I lucked out and found some compression pants (which seem to help with some of the leg spasms that I get when I try to work out using my legs) that were in my size with teal mesh insets (ON calls the color "Pirate Cove").  The coordinating tops though stopped at a women's XL.  Since I own some of ON's tops in XL, I poked through the rack to see if I could find the biggest XL I could find (I think my other half was confused by this until I showed him the several inches difference between the biggest XL and another XL of the same color).  I decided to risk the smaller size as the only options in store for the XXL were an eye-piercing pink and a see-through white.  I'm not comfortable with how the XL hugs my tummy rolls and the sleeves are too tight for a good TRX workout (or anything with a lot of arm movement).

The photo was taken for the CrowdTap challenge that gave me the free clothes.  The top would be awesome in the right size for working out at the gym as the fabric is a nice technical (quick-drying) fabric.  The pants would be awesome if they were a bit shorter (but I'm 4'11" so I think everything should be shorter!) and if they had a drawstring in the waist to keep them up.

I just wish I could find the XXL top locally in the teal "Pirate Cove" color!  I also wish that the plus size clothes, especially the activewear, were available in stores because of the odd sizing issues that I always have with them.

I'm a (fashion) hypocrite (OOTD from Saturday, on wheels))

I have a confession to make.

I bought pants. Twice.

Some of you may have remembered my vow to give up pants that I made in May.  Well....

#1:  It started off with a Labor Day sale through Eddie Bauer.  When I was a bit smaller, they had a curvy cut of chinos that was serviceable (they do come in plus, but I haven't tried them...they're expensive)).  It wasn't perfect, but with a shirt that hit at hip length, it was no big deal.  I found out that they have plus sizes on their webpage, and they had a curvy boot cut jean on sale for $19.99 with free shipping.  Since I have an Eddie Bauer store near me, I figured that the worst that would happen is that they don't fit and I just bring them back to the store.

I bought two pairs of jeans at two different sizes because my hips were at one size and my waist at another, so I wanted to give the jeans an honest try.  With the larger size I had to keep reminding myself that my self-worth has nothing to do with the number on the tag, and that sizes are arbitrary anyhow (despite my Health At Every Size stance, sometimes old thoughts creep back in).

The good news is that I found jeans that fit my body shape (although Eddie Bauer doesn't have petite or short lengths in plus sizes, so they were about 6-8" too long).  The bad news is the fabric didn't feel right against my legs, although not many fabrics feel good with the nerve damage lately.

Verdict:  jeans returned due to the fabric.

Locker rooms aren't usually good for self-photos

#2.  I have a variety of rewards cards that give birthday coupons, and Torrid always emails me a $10 off a $10 or more purchase coupon as a part of their program.  I've fallen in love with their leggings, so I went to the mall and figured that I would probably end up with leggings or some jewelry.  I decided to check out the clearance racks (partially to see if they had some fun geek shirts) and ended up finding a pair of cargo pants that had a drawstring waistband and a curvy-looking waist-to-hip area.  Dubious, I tried them on and they fit perfectly (partially due to the drawstring).  Magic!

Just fyi, the pic to the right doesn't do the pants justice (locker rooms at the YMCA aren't known for fantastic lighting or places to park oneself in front of a mirror). The pic doesn't really do me justice either, but I think I'm just having one of those days where I don't like any of my pictures.  I also promised one of my readers to post a fashion-related picture post of me in the wheelchair because clothes fit differently based on different ways of moving around the world.

Even better is the length.  They have buckles to make them be either a short capri or crop on an "average height" person....which means that the crop length is perfect as regular pants for me.  The D-rings also make a little jingle sound when I move that always makes me smile.  The cargo pockets are perfect for when I'm using my wheelchair so I can access my phone & wallet easily, but aren't so bulky that I scrape the pockets when pushing or using a cane.

Verdict: I have pants!!  That fit well (even if they get a little short when using my wheelchair), have easily accessible and functional pockets, and the fabric isn't annoying.  Hooray!

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So, I'm not a complete skirt convert.  I admit it.  Maybe if I can get myself a Maccabi skirt or a Utilikilt, maybe I'll be converted...maybe :-)

OOTD: casual Friday (on Thursday)

I'm wearing lipgloss!

I'm posting on my laptop, so I don't have my horde of Paralympics links to share with you today.  So I'm going to just post two pictures that I took yesterday.  One showing off my hair & makeup, the other a full body shot of my outfit (I'm wearing jeans...I'm not completely converted to skirts, but I can't resist wearing jeans to work when I have the opportunity).

The first photo is a self-portrait headshot of my haircut & color that I got at my local Aveda salon.  This is part of my self-care regime that I've been doing for a while (it started with my inability to dye my own hair and became something that contributed to my mental well-being).  Last time I got my hair done, my stylist put some lip gloss on me that resulted in a lot of comments from coworkers and friends.   So I decided to pick it up at the appointment.  I don't think I got a good photograph of it, but I like it.  I'm feeling somewhat motivated to learn some techniques for other makeup.

Work bathroom self-photo!

As for the outfit, it's pretty darn casual.  The jeans are an older style of Right Fit jeans from Lane Bryant (oh how I wish they hadn't redesigned them!), the jersey cardigan from Old Navy, the t-shirt also from Old Navy (their t-shirts have become part of my usual uniform as they are comfy, fit comfortably, and work for both work & casual), shoes are from Shoe Carnival, and the cane is from Folding Sticks (the only place I've found with a folding cane shorter than 32").  The watch is my red Polar heart rate monitor that I used to use for spin classes & triathlon training.

I'll probably have more actual content in the next couple days, but my Labor Day weekend is currently taken up with a little bit of birthday celebration, research, and schoolwork.  Have a great weekend!