Too Big to Blog?

Today anyone plugged into the fashion blog scene (I utterly refute and refuse the term "blogosphere") has probably asked themselves this question, or some variant today: can someone be too big for a fashion blog?

So, we all instinctively want to say "No! Fashion should be for anyone who wants to adapt it creatively for whatever their body type," but Scott Schumann has left me in doubt.

On the fashion blog par excellence, the Sartorialist, Schumann featured Angelika, a blogger out of Milan, rocking some seriously bad ass shoes. Unfortunately, Schumann offered a brief write up about the young lady, something he does not always or often do, saying " I loved that she's a bigger, curvier girl than most of the other bloggers who you see in the the press and tend to represent the genre," and admiring "the sturdy but beautiful shape of her legs."

So, as you can imagine, the Sartorialist has been inundated with offended and outraged comments. I am very much in sympathy with them. This girl is certainly larger than the average waif featured on the website, and, let's be honest, body affirmation is not why anyone goes to the site, but she is not big and she is not curvy. I must admit, I am wholeheartedly tired of the wordy "curvy." It is a euphemism for fat - let's just put it out there. Unless you are Kim Kardashian or Christina Hendrix, by "curvy" you probably mean "plump." And I'm not hating on that either. I think most of us are a bit plump and that is fine. But stop throwing around "curvy." That said, I prefer "curvy" to "sturdy." As one comment reads, let's not use the word "sturdy" to define anything other than antique mahogany furniture, shall we?

But, as I spiral deeper and deeper into the world of blogs - friends', fashion and food are, no joke (but alliteration is always a joke), my favourites - I think that Schumann is making a point that is being missed amongst all the outrage. This girl is big for a fashion blogger (though there obviously has to be a distinction made between a fashion blogger who uses self-as-subject, which this girl does not appear to be doing). I am following four fashion blogs, Sartorialist aside, that feature teeny tiny girls. My friend Kathy told me recently that she wisely culled any of these sorts of blogs that have been functioning as thinspos (such a terribly depressing bit of eating disorder terminology for you - thin-inspirations). But, what can I say, I really do appreciate the fashion! And, alas, I am yet to encounter a fashion blog that features a girl who is more similar to my body shape (which, if you're curious, I would classify as athletically pear-shaped. Not. Curvy.).

I do follow one blog, Hey Good Lookin', which features the lovely Evey, who I know personally, and does not strike me as a size 2 (though I will admit I am completely ignorant to what her actual dress size is). Immediately upon writing this, however, I feel the need to apologize to Evey; "Evey, sorry man, I don't mean you're fat!" This is exactly the problem.

Sigh.

It is no secret, given my penchant for fitness and continually trying to drag my diet together that I have some body aims of my own, so I would never go on a truly hypocritical rant about loving your body the way it is (in fact, I will very likely in the future go on a rant against that particular breed of rant). But can we dress our bodies fashionably the way they are?

Yes please.

If anyone knows any fabulous fashion blogs that I must check out, particularly ones of the "body inclusive" or "body harmony" varieties, please share.