The Ultimate #ThrowbackThursday - Famous Plus Size Fashion Bloggers' First Ever Posts

We've all got our favourite bloggers, and some of them have gained significant notoriety in both the plus size and mainstream fashion industry. My own personal style has really evolved over the past two and a half years since I started blogging (I've had some terribly cringe-worthy moments, and some great ones) so I thought it would be interesting to revisit some of my favourite bloggers' first posts. While I was reading, I realized these pictures would make for an amazing #throwbackthursday post, and I got right down to work.

Gabi Gregg of Gabifresh

Marie Denee of The Curvy Fashionista

Nadia Aboulhosn

Stephanie Zwicky of Le Blog de Big Beauty

Allison Teng of Curvy Girl Chic

Jay Miranda of Fatshionable

Tanesha Awasthi of Girl with Curves

Ragini Nag Rao of Curious Fancy

Jessica Kane of Life and Style of Jessica Kane

Lilli Pascuzzi of Frocks and Frou Frou

Rebecca Agosta from The Plus Side of Me

Nicolette Mason

And of course, me!

The difference between the then and now is remarkable - but what makes it so? Is it the use of better cameras (or more-experienced photographers)? Perhaps it's the elevated sense of personal style that the bloggers are exuding? That's certainly a part of it. But no, that's not it. Then what is it?

They have started a revolution. They have come out as proudly fat in a society where the very concept of body positivity is completely foreign to most people, and body shaming runs rampant and (mostly) unchecked. They are visionaries who are leading the way towards a world in which our bodies are our own - a world in which the choices that we make about our body, from what we put in it, to what we put on it, from who we share it with, to who we don't, are our own - where our bodies are no longer up for others' commentary or discussion; where they just are, existing in a world where value is not placed on our physical instantiations - and bodily adjectives are no longer qualified with value (fat/short ≠ bad, skinny/tall ≠ good). Utopia!

The act of dressing well as a fat woman is a politically radical act. These women have made themselves visible in the most beautiful ways, and demanded that they not be overlooked. They have shifted the politics of representation of fat people by using the democratizing force of social media to include their own true and real representation as a part of the dialogue. They have subverted the staid and stale tropes that exist that say that fat women are lazy and/or ill-disciplined slobs who are ashamed of their bodies. They have proclaimed loudly that they are beautiful, strong, fashionable, and unwilling to be ignored by society and the fashion industry.

It's this act of revolution that they are wearing well. And that is the difference between the "Then" and "Now" pictures. They have come into their own as women railing against a largely thin-focused industry and world. They're fighting back. And it's never looked better on them.

Addition Elle Flagship Grand Opening

Hey All!

So on Wednesday, I got to attend the grand opening of Addition Elle's new flagship store at Queen and Yonge. It was really great to catch up with a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while! I've been so busy lately and it was great to finally have a chance to just relax and mingle a bit. We were invited to have a look around to see the changes Addition Elle has made, both in terms of their fashion and their in-store experience. I have to say that I'm very impressed. This seems like a completely different Addition Elle than the one I remember from a couple of years ago when I first started blogging. They have some great stylish pieces this season, and from what I've been hearing from the brand's execs, Fall '13 is going to be even more impressive. They were serving hors d'oeuvres and champagne, and Ashley Graham was there to chat with customers. Here are a few shots I took at the event =D

I picked up the sheer lattice-shoulder top, but in black instead of mint :D

Flaws of Couture bloggers Sasha and Garcia with Addition Elle's social media maven Jennifer Patterson

The always-lovely Sarah St. Fleur of Queen Sized Flava

I love what I wore! Dress and Jewellery - Addition Elle/Shoes - Enzo Angiolini

GabiFresh and I

Lots of lovely blogging ladies (L to R - Me, Fat in the City, GabiFresh, Rawrmanifesto, Franceta Johnson, Big Hips Red Lips, Killer Kurves, and Friends in My Closet... Missing from the yearbook photo [aka behind the cameras] Round Raglan Road and Geek with Style)

Addition Elle Blogger Styling Event

Hey Everyone!

So back in August, I was invited by the lovely people at Addition Elle to participate in a blogger styling challenge. I, along with 8 other top Canadian fashion bloggers, were challenged to create two unique looks from Addition Elle's AW2011 collection for a Facebook contest. It was an amazing event with professional models, hair, makeup, catering, and photography. AE even hired a stylist to come in so we could make use of all his shoes and accessories to help put our final looks together! They even shut down their flagship store early for the photo shoot!

The delicious spread at the shoot! I borrowed this picture from Alison of 'Round Raglan Road - I hope she doesn't mind!

Me at the "Step and Repeat" AE backdrop at the beginning of the event

Me and all the other lovely bloggers with the VP of Marketing for AE

Sasha and Garcia from Flaws of Couture

Alison from 'Round Raglan Road and Sarah from Garters and Stockings having a chat!

Alison from Round Raglan Road being interview by AE

Once we all got acquainted and had a few munchies, it was time to start pulling pieces off the rack to use in our looks. This event took place at the Addition Elle flagship store, at the corner of Yonge and Temperance in downtown Toronto, so any of the pieces you see in the looks can be picked up there! There were nine bloggers there, and we each put together two outfits, so the photo shoot was pretty briskly paced! There were 3 models there who got to work with three different bloggers each, and I got the beautiful Zara Hemmings, who totally turned it out! 

I decided to do one casual look and one more formal outfit. When I saw the red leopard waist length jacket with the draping in the front, it was love at first sight, and I built my first look around that piece, adding simple, casual pieces that would allow the jacket to make its own statement. I chose Apple Bottom Jeans, a simple black tee with lace detail at the neck (to add some texture), a faux snake skin belt (which I thought would go nicely with the leopard because it's kind of animal inspired as well), the model's own shoes, which are purple with red piping (and which sort of bring a lot of the different elements of the outfit together), and I topped it off with some stunning jewellery from the stylist's collection, which was gold with deep green hues. There was a whole dressing room filled with the stylist's goodies that we were allowed to play with!

Here are a couple of pictures of my first (red leopard) look. This is the look Addition Elle has chosen, out of the two I put together, for the competition.

They even made me get in front of the camera! LOL... Here's me with Zara in the look I picked out for her. The cheetah and the leopard, friends at last! MEOW!

My second look came together after I came across the most stunning Joseph Ribkoff jacket on the second floor. It has a very deep hood, kind of like a hood that you would expect to see on a cape, but the actual jacket itself is very structured. It is fitted through the bodice and has a flared, bubble hem, pouffy skirt, which you all know I am in love with. Honestly, I would say it was my favourite piece to work with. I really want it! I thought it might be nice to style a formal wear look with the jacket, since Winter is coming (sorry, but it is!) and people will have Christmas parties to go to. I absolutely love the deep aubergine colour of the strapless satin dress, and I decided to style it with a lot of silver jewellery because I wanted extra shine. I love seeing looks where the stylist has piled on loads of bracelets, so I decided to try it for myself, and I must say, I really like how it turned out. We took some shots with and without the jacket, so you can see all elements of the outfit clearly. Here they are!

So all in all, I had a really great time styling Zara for this shoot and working with some of the amazing stuff from Addition Elle. I think the looks turned out really nicely and I'm quite happy with them! 

So remember how I said this was for a Facebook competition? Well it launched just two days ago, and I NEED YOU ALL to VOTE for me!!!! LOL. It's just a few clicks of your mouse away, and I'll love you forever! As an added incentive, if you're based in Canada, each time you vote you will be entered to win a $150 Addition Elle gift card that you can put towards some of the items you've seen here, or something entirely different! You can vote once per day, and I would love it if you did!!! Click here to be redirected to the Facebook contest.

Another great thing about this event was getting to meet all the other fabulous bloggers hosted by Addition Elle. You should check out their blogs too, if you get a chance. Here are the links to them. Meet Robyn of Fashionista514, Sarah of Garters & Stockings, Alison of 'Round Raglan Road, Sashagai and Garcia of Flaws of Couture, Kristania of Monochroma.Chic, Sunny D of thatshardcore, Kendall, and Isabelle of La Vie C'est YeYe.

So my dears, what do you think of the outfits I styled? Did you see anything that has you running to Addition Elle? Remember to VOTE!