Claire Chattermonkey: Ive been interested in fashion, probably since the release of Sex and the City. And just remember watching how much fun the four women in that show had with fashion. A friend of mine always complimented me on what I wore, and she was, like, “Oh, you always look really good,” and “Its really good how youve obviously got limited selection being…being fat. How do you manage to look so good?” And I took it as a compliment. It didnt really sound like a compliment.
I think, “Well, I wonder if there are plus-size bloggers out there,” so I started having a look, and I set myself a challenge, and thought, “Right, 10 days, 10 dresses, take a picture of me every day, and Ill put that up on my blog.”And it started from there really.
The biggest thing, as someone my size, that I found is, not many stores cater for me, and Ive had to be quite creative in what I want to wear.
Plus-size blogging has been growing massively. When I first started there was maybe 20 of us. There must be hundreds of plus-size bloggers now, and brands have realized that there was a real market for them to reach out to the bloggers, and… and use them as…as a guide, and thats really what brands have tapped into.
Woman A: Were quite an outspoken group, and I think were quite sure of what we want, and I think, yeah, some brands have really responded well.
Woman B: I tend to like kind of, quite simple, minimalistic things, and its an absolute nightmare to get things like tailored kind of trousers that are slim, whereas, when youre non-plus-sized, thats easy.
Claire: Were a cheap alternative to advertisement. Were giving what a lot of people shout for. Were not plus-size models. Plus-size models are often size 14, 16, and that body looks very different to someone whos size 24, 26. So, when you see someone whos a size 26 wearing an outfit, you get a better idea of how youre going to fit into that.
Ive always been the biggest of all of my friends, and thats been a really positive thing about moving into plus-size blogging is that Ive met people whore the same size as me. Its a really nice feeling.
克萊爾·查特蒙其:大約從《欲望都市》播出開始,我就對時裝產(chǎn)生了興趣。我還記得當(dāng)時看到時裝給劇中的四個女人帶來了如此多的快樂。我的一個朋友總是稱贊我的穿著,她會說:“噢,你總是穿得很好看,”又說:“真的好看,你這么……這么胖,顯然選擇很有限,你是怎樣穿得這么好看的?”我將這些話看作恭維,盡管那聽起來真不像是好話。
我想:“啊,在網(wǎng)上是否有穿加大號的人在寫博客呢?”于是,我開始留意,然后向自己挑戰(zhàn),作出了一個決定:“10天,10套服裝,每日拍一張照片,將它們放到我的博客上去?!蔽揖褪悄菢娱_始行動起來的。
我發(fā)現(xiàn),身材像我一樣的人面臨的最大問題是,沒有多少服裝商店可以滿足我的需求,我一直要別出心裁地為自己的穿著想辦法。
加大號博客一直大批增長著。剛開始的時候,我們大概只有20人,現(xiàn)在,已有數(shù)百名加大號的博主加入。各服裝品牌生產(chǎn)商已經(jīng)意識到,通過與這些博主建立聯(lián)系可以開發(fā)一個實實在在的市場,還可用這些人的需求作為市場導(dǎo)向。這是品牌廠家真正得以開發(fā)利用的資源。
女士甲:我們是一群直言不諱的人,并且我認為我們很清楚自己想要什么,我覺得,一些品牌已經(jīng)有了好的市場回應(yīng)。
女士乙:我傾向于喜歡那種比較簡單、簡約的東西,但如果找到的是一些裁剪得體的衣服,比如細長的褲子,那絕對是一個惡夢。當(dāng)然,如果你不是加大號的身材,那事情就容易得多了。
克萊爾:與廣告比起來,我們是更經(jīng)濟實惠的選擇,我們給許多有迫切需要的人提供了幫助。我們不是加大號模特兒,加大號模特兒通常穿的是14、16碼服裝,這個尺碼的身材與穿24、26碼的人看上去非常不同。所以,如果你見到26碼身材的人穿著一套服裝,你會對自己穿上這身衣服是個什么樣子更加心中有數(shù)。
一直以來,我在所有朋友中都是身形最大的,進入加大號博客群后,一個好處是我遇到了與我一樣身材的人。這種感覺真好。