Fat Bubble: Loud Bodies
Hi friends, and welcome to the Fat Bubble where each week we celebrate fat culture, fat leaders and fat futures. It's always my pleasure to send out this weekly review of resources, to expand and strengthen the fat affirming bubble you're creating for yourself in this world.
Are you on the Bridgerton train? I'm not (yet); I famously take an age to watch any of the 'must watch' shows. BUT it did inspire me to choose this week's focus, which is a slow fashion clothing brand that I have loved for a long time, and who have been designing romantic, whimsical clothes for all bodies for an age - it's Loud Bodies!
Loud Bodies are a slow fashion brand created by Patricia Luiza Blaj, based in Romania and shipping worldwide, who design the most beautiful pieces for your wardrobe; their pieces really say 'main character energy' to me! And their time has truly come with the inspiration of Bridgerton; I love this video they did, riffing on that theme.
Loud Bodies are truly a trailblazer in the fat sustainable fashion community, and has long been vocal about the responsibility of all clothing brands to offer inclusive sizing. Loud Bodies offer a base size range of 2XL-10XL, with all pieces also being available in infinity sizing. They are passionate in their belief that the clothing industry should be legislated: firstly, with universal sizing, and then with a minimum size range that would extend to a true 3/4XL, and tax breaks for those who commit to offering sizes beyond that. They role model for the whole industry, in how to offer responsible, lovingly drafted clothes for all bodies. And they show that, if a small business set up by one passionate person with a family loan and strong values can offer truly inclusive sizing, then all brands can.
What I love about Loud Bodies, alongside their values, is that they have such a definitive style - they have been offering corsets and full skirts and florals and clothes to romp around meadows and hay barns for as long as I've been following them! And, as I've spoken about before, it can often be difficult for fat folks to have access to a range of clothes that gives them the style of who they want to be; it really feels that Loud Bodies does that for the romantique babes.
The sustainable fashion industry doesn't always feel accessible to people in bigger bodies but, in many ways, they do so much better than the high street. It's a popular story that sustainable fashion doesn't come in fat sizes, but one of the reasons I wanted to mention Loud Bodies is because I see how hard they work to offer all clothes for all people, and they can get swallowed up in the myth that sustainable clothes are only for straight sized people. In fact, I can name a couple of handfuls of brands off the top of my head that offer infinity sizing, and I can't name you one on the high street! And whilst sustainable clothing is, of course, more expensive, Patricia will often take the time to remind us of the actual cost of making clothing whilst paying people a living wage. Val&Co, who I have profiled before, also speaks so well to this, as does Aja Barber, of course!
Loud Bodies are currently raffling off a €200 gift card in support of Palestinian fundraising efforts, and you can get involved to win here.
Oh, and since you asked, the brands that rolled off the top of my head for sustainable clothing with infinity sizing are Connolly Goods, House Of Flint, Peridot Robes, Lucky Sew and Sew, XI Atelier, Free Label and Emperor's Old Clothes are the brands I can name that offer infinity sizing - can you think of more? I'd love to know!
Until next time, friends, wishing you safety and joy.
FAT SNACKS
💗 Obsessed with these landscapes of the body by Misha Japanwala
💡 A useful summer reminder here from Fat Black Luxury!
🎤 Goosebumps and hairs on end for this breathtaking performance of the OG Effie, Jennifer Holiday!
💪 Love this fitness and body movement reminder from Latoya Shauntay Snell
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
Fat Bubble: Bethany Rutter
"And the two areas of my life where my body was really made into a problem was romance and fashion. So, for me, that story is around stuff around bodies and the value of yourself as a teenage girl, and when you feel as a teenage girl that stuff isn’t available to you because of your body...." Read more here.
