Instead of posting this on my Patreon account, I thought I'd post this here as a little Blogger post, merged with a theory that will go on to be my small business mission statement, for the sake of women everywhere who are shorter than 5 feet 6 inches tall and are struggling with weight issues, particularly with clothes and Halloween costumes. Particularly, case in point- gowns, dresses, and cosplays.
And I mean the kind you buy in a store, never online.
Here is exhibit me: This year for Halloween, I am absolutely stumped on what to wear for a perfect Halloween costume for any potential October plans in the late fall. In fact, I think I've always had this ongoing issue with finding something that fits properly. This goes for all clothes as well.
Every time I went to Marshall's, Burlington, T.J. Maxx, Hot Topic, even my favorite store of all time H&M, I had the biggest issue of finding dresses and jeans that actually fit my curvy body. The jeans would either be too long that I'd trip on the seams of the foot cuffs of the pants, or they'd be too tight that I couldn't close the zipper.
Whenever I head into a store, it's always the same issue- I can never find the right size that fits my waist or fits the length of my leg. Sometimes even petite clothing won't fit my legs because they might be a little too long- I'm exactly 60 inches in height and no taller. I stopped growing taller at 16, if you can believe that. I had no growth spurt in puberty at all and I reached 5 foot nothing inches on the nose. I hate being short because I'm only 7 inches away from being a model, even if I became a plus size model. But even then, I don't want the fame unless I become a writer. Being on the New York Times Bestseller List is good enough for me.
I pored and pored over the internet to look for costumes in my size, and I eventually went to the Spirit Halloween store in Bel Air at the Harford Mall not too far from here, and I was shocked and saddened by how many plus sized dresses and costumes they had for ladies in the sizes 12-20 region. When I went to DORS, I was 140 pounds and a size 12 petite in 2016. Now that it's 2022, I've gained about 40 pounds for no reason at all, I'm now 180 pounds and my jeans that I wear now, St. John's Bay, are a size 16 short. And my jeans only graze the back of my heels and are just slightly tight around my belly button.
This is getting ridiculous. Shouldn't there be more costumes and dresses for women who want to look glorious as well as pretty in pink on Halloween? Or conventions? Or their wedding day?
I think I'm getting ahead of myself. But still, women are even finding it harder and harder to find a wedding dress that fits them because there is no such thing as petite-plus size wedding dresses too. It's almost impossible unless you go to Amazon or Etsy online. And don't you hate shopping online for dresses that don't fit online?
This article that I found online whilst I was Googling away set my mind at ease, at least a little. Women in not only the United States, but in Canada as well, are having it harder and harder to find a suitable outfit for everyday wear, even for work or school, especially if you're under 5'3": https://www.petitepoire.ca/being-petite/advocacy/yes-you-can-be-petite-and-plus-sized.html
I'll confess that I'm absolutely terrible at advocacy because it's been almost 15 years without going to a leadership retreat and there is definitely something I'm missing. For the life of me, I know I'm in desperate need of a life coach.
But this sounds like something's been building up all along. I read this article and said, "Oh my god, how many women in America are struggling with too many curves and too short? There are lots of women whom have the same issue as me? Unbelievable."
It was a call to arms. I wasn't going to take it lying down anymore. Plus size short women needed some help to find better designs that were breathable and functional for everyday wear. The same goes for Halloween costumes too. I'm sure that women my height and my weight had problems looking for store bought costumes that actually worked for Halloween, or for going to a convention at that. I've seen a handful of people advertise costumes they make or sell on Instagram, and only one or two actually make cosplays that are made for plus size. There might be a market for these as I go along.
That said, I'm still taking commissions, but from this moment on, my mission is clear: Find a way to give back to people like me whom are struggling to find costumes and clothes that don't necessarily require weight loss to wear beautiful and pretty things. I may be a pessimist, but I also think that the Body Mass Index, BMI, that they teach you in health class and medical practices is completely FLAWED. The BMI is wrong because I try to eat healthy and exercise the best I can, and I know my limits on certain foods- I don't even eat fast food anymore. I'm still boycotting McDonald's and Burger King with a passion, and I never eat at Chick Fil A for even more reasons than diet, for the CEO of Chick Fil A is against LGBTQ and nonbinary human rights. I love waffle fries, but I can get them cheaper at a grocery store than eat somewhere where all their money goes to funding Donald Trump's disgusting idea of taking away women's health rights and taking away transgender and nonbinary rights to people who need it. Trans is beautiful and Love is Love, that's what I believe. I've always said everyone deserves love and I mean that.
You deserve to look beautiful and you deserve a nice costume on Halloween and nobody should judge you for how you look on Halloween or at a convention. Cosplay is meant to be FUN. Cosplay is for FUN. Don't hate yourself, no matter what pronouns you use, for what costume doesn't fit you. You are beautiful the way you are and I see you as a lovely person. Cosplayers come in all different shapes and sizes and you should be comfortable as you are in your skin. That includes us short people with actual curves. I've always had an hourglass figure since I was in high school and college, but I've always had a weird looking belly since I joined DORS and WTC in 2015-2016 to find a real paying job, and I feel like society has been growing down.
If you've ever seen my all time favorite Anne Hathaway movie, The Devil Wears Prada, you will see the dark side of the fashion industry and how flawed it actually is. In real life, the actress Anne Hathaway is very tall and a vegetarian, but her character, Andie Sachs, says she's a size 6, which Nigel, played by the incredible actor Stanley Tucci from Captain America: First Avenger, says to Andie that the size 6 is basically a plus size at this time in the present day. He has pointed out that weight loss is the key to making it in the fashion world today, which is a huge misconception and myth about finding a happy medium with finding clothes that fit. In Runway Magazine, the magazine run by glamazon editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), all you see are tall and skinny models wearing clothes that are very fashionable and in a dreamy world of perfect high end expensive designers from Calvin Klein to Lagerfeld to Versace and Chanel. Huge poppy glittering romcoms liven things up about the fashion world being absolutely beautiful and perfect, such as Head Over Heels and Confessions of a Shopaholic, but the darkest side of fashion is shown in Devil Wears Prada, that not only is the workforce industry hell on heels, but in the fashion industry, it really isn't pretty for it requires stomping on a lot of people's feelings and making enemies out of friends in order to get that promotion and get to Paris, France for Fashion Week in the fall.
In context, the movie is awesome with a killer soundtrack and the costume changes on Anne Hathaway are just amazing (my favorite is the little white coat and hat outfit they put on her in the montage on top of the vintage song "Vogue" by Madonna), but even then, those clothes would probably feel tight on me and also too tall for people like me since the fashion industry doesn't necessarily cater to women under 5'4". Believe it or not, there are real celebrities under 5'4" whom have possibly tailor made clothing when they walk down the red carpet: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Melissa McCarthy, Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who and Victoria, Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Kravitz, America Ferrera, Avril Lavigne, the list goes on! Oh yeah, and I almost forgot- Ariana Grande is my height too- 5'0" on the nose.
But has any of these fine celebrities created a line of clothing for petite plus size? The answer: none of them. But I know someone definitely made a glittering fluffy ballgown for Ariana Grande for the Grammy Awards, making her look like a stunning princess of pop music. Though I don't listen to her music, I really do appreciate her taste in fashion and philanthropy.
The bottom line is, I think I came up with a new mission statement for my Patreon and for designing costumes for women like me with finding the right clothes from sizes 12p-28p. Petite plus size is definitely a thing, and it's definitely a marketable cause for women who want to find costumes in their size instead of buying a costume that will drag on the floor and get messy, dirty, or get snags on their hem line and need repairs. I want to buy a royal empress costume on Ebay, or even buy that purple celestial robe on Spirit Halloween in plus size, but the problem is, what if they are too long in the skirt area? That is always a major issue where I'd have to pick up the billowing skirt and sacrifice my sanity for fashion.
Ladies, if you're reading this, you know exactly what I mean by this. You don't want to sacrifice this kind of sanity for the sake of fashion and looking and feeling good, right? You want to feel comfortable instead of constantly getting mad at the costume because you keep tripping on it.
Here's my Patreon for more info: patreon.com/arachelbethahrenscreation
Don't forget! There will be a follow up to Long Live the King of Broadway coming soon in October! Alexander and I have decided to go to Baltimore on October 16 for a Sunday matinee of Hamilton at the Hippodrome Theatre in Charm City. Look for me there, and I will be reporting live as it happens, in the room where it happens!
Love y'all! Everyone deserves love, no matter what size you are. Even you. Especially you there, reading this article. I love you.
With love, The Lady in the Blue Box
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