Miss Piggy

We're not shallow, lipstick-and-shoe-obsessed girls here at TFFF Towers, y'know...well, we're not just shallow, lipstick-and-shoe-obsessed girls. Sometimes we expand our cultural horizons and watch the telly, read magazines, or, er, shop for homeware instead of fashion. How deep is that?

On that note, let's talk Live Action Telly, or, as it's more commonly known, theatre. The papers here are currently full of news 'n' reviews for the latest Neil LaBute play to be staged in London. Fat Pig, starring TV's Robert Webb (of the embarrassingly excellent Peep Show), Kris Marshall (of, um, the BT ads), Joanna Page (of the piss-poor Gavin and Stacey, that people will keep insisting is good, even though THEY ARE WRONG (I'll brook no argument on this)), and Ella Smith (of that Holby City episode, one time) as the eponymous 'fat pig'; is basically a theatrical version of Shallow Hal.

Robert Webb's Tom falls for Ella Smith's Helen; his colleagues, Joanna Page's rejected Jeannie, and Kris Marshall's Carter, mock him soundly for dating a fattie. Meanwhile, from what I've gleaned, Helen happily chows down and teaches them all valuable life lessons. Or something. Given it's LaBute, I'm guessing there's not an awful lot of hugging, sharing and learning going on...

Robert Webb and Ella Smith in Fat Pig, at Trafalgar Studios

Now, your correspondents haven't actually read or seen the play, so I can't pass judgement, but I thought I'd share some of the stuff that's floating around, and open it up for discussion.

Here's some choice quotes from the articles and reviews:

"Other people may consider it a problem – they think that if you wanted to be thinner, you could, and there's also that transition we make from fat to lazy. But why are we so judgemental about other people? Helen is insecure – she says she's 'pretty OK', but that's not really OK. Not that that's anything peculiar to people who are overweight."
Neil LaBute
The Independent

"Famed for exploring the heartlessness of America's heartlands, LaBute treats the Tom-Helen affair with superb emotional accuracy. Their first encounter is beautifully done: Helen swathing herself in self-deprecating irony ("big people are jolly, remember?") and Tom, in a don't-mention-the-war manner, desperately trying to avoid all size jokes. All their scenes ring tenderly true, with LaBute showing how two people, in spite of social pressures, can be drawn together by shared tastes, sexual appetites, and matching conversational rhythms."
Michael Billington
The Guardian

"LaBute is often described in interviews as a bear, even a big cuddly bear, and in the programme he makes it clear that he identifies with Helen, the 'overweight, sensible and perfectly lovely heroine of Fat Pig' who, like him, is 'a stress eater'. But as he would agree, there's a rather obvious difference, which is that she's a woman and more easily mocked than most plus-sized men. Indeed, Kris Marshall's Carter can't disguise his hilarity when his office chum, Robert Webb's Tom, falls for Ella Smith's Helen, who stuffs herself with pizza or whatever else is going."
Benedict Nightingale
The Times

"He is uncharacteristically soft on his fat heroine. To be as overweight as Helen is not normal, but LaBute doesn't inquire why she has put on so many surplus pounds, jeopardising both her health and her romantic life. All he's concerned with is the cruelty of the thin mocking the fat, and our lack of courage in accepting human differences."
Charles Spencer
The Telegraph

So, opening this up for discussion -- a change from our remit of fashion, I know, but worth talking about nonetheless. For me, a lot of the reviews (particularly that Telegraph one) focus on 'why is Helen fat?' rather than on the broader (no pun intended) points of the play; preferring instead to judge the character (and therefore the actress) as 'not normal', unhealthy, greedy, all the usual suspects.

I'm Mrs Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Thanks for the Paris recs, you guys: I'm super-psyched for my shopping extravaganza. So much so that I bought new tan leather boots today in preparation. Why give Paris all the credit card love, right?

Now, onto Miss J's latest brainwave of brilliance. We, the contributing writers of this site, and actual professional fashion peeps to boot, are going to share with you our 2008 Hot Lists. Unlike the hot lists/what's cool now/must-haves that you'll see in glossy magazines, which are more or less paid for by PRs and corporations, these lists are 100% genuine. If we love it, covet it, and stare madly at it whilst security edges towards us, concerned by that evil glint in our eye, it goes on the blog. If a PR offers us bribes, but we're not so taken with their wares, we turn down the bribes. (Unless it's like, a YSL Downtown bag. We're not insane.)


Clockwise from top left: Motherfucker gold chain, $12.99 from Girl Props
Vogue Covers, £24 from Amazon
Adele's 19 album, around £8 from Amazon
Undercover x P.A.M. Black Mass Lamp, price on request from selected dealers
Ms Angie Dickinson, priceless
Thrrrob rouge powder, $28 from Benefit.com
Juno Hamburger Phone, $15.99 from Sourcing Map

Hamburger Phone, as inspired by Juno

I'm sensing a general Michael Cera and Ellen Page backlash in my 'hood right now, and let me tell you, I'm against it. I won't have a word said against Juno, my girl EP (nor her tomboyish Oscars appearance), or my desperate need to have a hamburger phone just like our heroine's.

Petrol-blue trench from Peekaboo Vintage

Tragically I had to leave this on the hanger, and have no photograph, since it's not available online, and security dudes are kind of twitchy about peeps taking photographs of stock in case customers are secretly super-fly catwalk designers ripping off ideas. But if you were to imagine Angie Dickinson in turquoise trenchcoat form, well, that's what this fabulous coat would be like. My entire look is basically Angie inspired right now. I can't explain it, but I try and channel Ms Dickinson daily.

Vogue Covers: On Fashion's Front Page

Love it or hate it, you can't deny it – like Summer Roberts, Vogue is undeniable. This collection has covers from the heady days of models on the cover, illustrations from back in the day when Conde Nast was too cheap to fork out for a camera, and the current lousy era of Siennamilleritis, a nasty condition that affects fashion magazines like moths destroy clothing.

Undercover x P.A.M. Black Mass Lamp

You know how some days, you're reading Elle Deco and thinking, "Wow, this is lame, and kinda beige"? Whatever happened to the days of pimping out your pad serial-killer style? With this awesome lamp there's no need to go on a multi-state spree to collect enough skin for a lampshade – the designers behind Undercover and P.A.M. have done the work for you. [No humans were harmed in the making of this boss light.]

19 by Adele

Plus-size heroine, supercool teen (and damn all these kids on my lawn making successes of themselves whilst they're still, like, 12, or whatever), and soulful singer – Kanye West called her single, Chasing Pavements, "dope!!!!!!!". (Exclamation marks Mr West's. See what happens when you're a college dropout? Your punctuation goes all flooey.) Also, I covet her umbrella in this picture. Rhianna's not the only one with awesome taste in rainwear.

Thrrrob Face Powder by Benefit

Benefit's powders are all practically perfect in every way, but this new pink blush is doubly so. When you are very pale owing to the drains in this house, a la the heroine of Daisy Ashford's The Young Visiters [sic], and you must excuse yourself to put some rouge on your cheeks, use this pleasing pink powder.

Motherfucker necklace

Five very wise philosophers, aka the Spice Girls, once said, "Silence is golden... but shouting is fun." This necklace is both golden AND shouty, and is therefore awesome. I'd love to be tasteful and considered each day, but a girl can only fit so many little black cocktail dresses into her wardrobe before she gets bored and has to pull on her stomping boots, fix on this necklace, and go out spoilin' for a fight.

So that's my brain right now. In 2008, I want to be Angie Dickinson, wearing pink blush, crude jewellery, sitting in my serial-killer lair listening to Adele whilst calling up cute boys on my burg' phone and flicking through Vogue covers. Possibly accessorised with nail polish in Schiaparelli pink, but y'know, I'm not fussy on the details.

You know you love me, xoxo Gossip Girl Harriet Olivia

All you need is positivity!

We here at Too Fat For Fashion love us some J.Hud, so when we heard this quote, from the Avon Foundation Gala earlier this week, we had to share it:

"I have the height of a model, the breasts that people pay for and the lips that everybody wants, so why should I change? I wouldn’t change myself for anything or anybody. That will never happen."

It kind of reminds me of that fabulous Grey's Anatomy quote (back when the show was still good and zeitgeisty, okay?!) from Cristina: "You are eight feet tall. Your boobs are perfect. Your hair is down to there. If I were you I would just walk around naked all the time. I wouldn't have a job, I wouldn't have any skills, I wouldn't even know how to read. I would just be... naked."


Jennifer Hudson showing off the figure in question. No news yet on fashion credits -- if anyone knows the designer behind these fab dresses please email TFFF at the usual address!

Shall We Dance

The New York Times has an interesting article this week about the Danza Voluminosa, a troupe of plus sized dancers changing attitudes about dance in Cuba.

The prima ballerina of the Danza Voluminosa troupe weighs 286 pounds, and as she thumps gracefully across the floor, she gives new meaning to the words stage presence. Her body is a riotous celebration of weight — of ample belly and breasts, of thick legs and arms, of the crushing reality of gravity.

I thought the article was intriguing - the world of dance (particularly ballet) is one of the most body conscious fields in existence, the idea of an all plus-sized troupe is quite daring. I honestly can't recall ever seeing a dancers on stage who weren't very lithe. I found the opinions of the dancers themselves to be very open and honest - they all seemed to feel as though they were struggling with their weight and expressed concern about that but at the same time they felt uplifted by their ability to use the power of dance to empower themselves and others.

For the dancers, working with Mr. Mas has changed their lives. Several said they suffered from constant embarrassment and guilt over their weight before they began dancing. But dancing has taught them to accept, if not love, their bodies. They also say that after a performance, they feel self-esteem that is foreign to most them, having suffered from the gibes of their peers since childhood.

Barbara Paula, 29, who weighs 275 pounds, has been dancing with the troupe for five years. She said it still felt strange at times to be on stage, as if she were constantly discovering the potential beauty hidden inside her body, which for years was a source of shame for her.

“It’s something new,” she said. “I don’t have this complex anymore that because we are obese, we cannot dance, we cannot walk in the street.”

Full NYT Article

Admittedly I do not come from a dance background so perhaps someone could speak more on the subject of body politics within dance? I'd be quite interested to hear opinions or experiences with regards to that.

Special thanks to Rosa for sending me this article

Naked Ambition

We are in the midst of a pop culture event, the latest issue of NME features a very nude Beth Ditto and an equally revealing interview. How ever you may feel about Beth this is a big deal. I don't think I've ever seen an image quite like this in a magazine let alone on its cover. Usually when one thinks "nude + singer" it conjures images of uber svelte women like Christina Aguilera or Fergie. Those are the sorts of pictures were used to, quite frankly I don't think magazines like Blender would actually exist without that sort of imagery but this is the first time (at least as far as I can remember) that I've seen a plus sized woman represented in such an overtly sexual manner by a mainstream publication. What I like about this cover is how she is represented as sexy and cool, there is a certain devil may care attitude but its paired with a very pin-up look. Kudos to the powers that be for leaving her rolls intact. Its rare to see a plus sized girl in a magazine without every roll airbrushed into oblivion.


Click for NSFW version

Her NME interview features a few interesting tidbits about her views on celebrity, fashion and her new friend Kate Moss:

"You can't hate a person for dieting, and you can't blame a person for feeling shit about themselves. You have to blame the machine that feeds it, the thing that makes people feel like that. There are lots of things that are part of that machine, and it's too easy to lay the blame at the feet of women - men don't know what it feels like to be a woman and be expected to look a particular way all the time.

. . .

"Kate is amazing. I spent one night talking to her and she just said the most amazing things about bodies," explained Ditto. At first I didn't think I was going to like her, but she just turned up to one of our shows and said, 'Do you know what I hate Beth? I hate it when people tell my big girlfriends, 'You have a beautiful face...' I mean, that's a really radical concept."

- Beth Ditto

I find it interesting that she and Kate would mention the "such a pretty face" syndrome. I have always had a problem with all variants of that statement. There is almost nothing more patronizing than to hear that you have a beautiful face knowing full well that what the person really means is "You have a pretty face, too bad about the rest of you." Its one of those rather brutal backhanded complements that many women have to deal with on a daily basis. I don't know how others feel but personally I get irked each time I hear that.




Though I'm pretty sure Beth's title as coolest woman on earth will remain unchallenged for some time I am also very curious to see how people respond to this cover. Granted this isn't the first time Beth has posed nude but this is easily the most revealing NME cover I've ever seen. Do you love it or do you hate it?