And just like that, I ran out of words

A mirror selfie of Meagan in the Lost and Led Astray store. She is wearing a leaf green dress and black compression leggings.

Tried on a green dress and then bought it in black. Classic Meg.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened up my laptop, signed in to this website and hit the “new post” button. I’m full of thoughts, feelings and opinions. There’s so much I want to say about what’s going on in our world, in my life, in fashion. I want to write so badly. But as the publishing history on my website will indicate, the words are stuck. I feel like I have so many things to say but when I try to get them out of my head and on to a (digital) page, I just can’t make sense of them. And so I stopped trying. I stopped writing. View Post

Going to the gym

A fat Māori woman with lipoedema is sitting on a leg curl and extension machine in an empty gym. She is taking a selfie in a mirror.

Exercising in a gym means I’m less likely to put off my workout if it’s cold or raining.

Gyms can be intimidating places – especially if you’re a fat person. I’m sure we’ve all seen the fatphobic advertising that some gyms use, know of people taking photos of other gym goers to make fun of them, or heard about trainers who shout at you until you cry, throw up or both. All of these things are vile, so it’s not surprising that a lot of people are really hesitant to go to the gym!

Despite all of these things I’ve found some really awesome gyms over the years, it’s just been a matter of finding the right one. Recently I’ve had a few people asking how to get started, so I thought I’d write a longform post for the gym-curious. View Post

Setting body boundaries

Even though it’s 2022 and by now we should all know better, some people insist on making comments about other people’s bodies. How big or small they are, how they’ve changed, unsolicited opinions … yuck. Can we just not? Over the years I’ve gotten better at setting boundaries around how other people talk about my body, and how they talk about bodies around me. Part of this has come around from being a parent, and part of it because I got to a point where I realised that I don’t have to tolerate other people disrespecting my body.

We are heading in to the holidays and some of us will be seeing family members who like to make comments about our bodies. We are also heading in summer in Aotearoa New Zealand, and on top of that a new year. Basically it’s prime time for diet chat, unsolicited comments and general body bullshit. View Post

Sustainable plus size fashion

Meagan, a fat Māori woman, stands in front of a yellow door in a black wall. She is wearing a brick red dress with brown marl stockings and black lace up boots.

This dress has easily been one of my most worn items this year.

Over the last couple of years I’ve been thinking a lot more about sustainability and how my love of fashion can be more sustainable. I’m a fashion lover through and through. From making my family sit through “fashion parades” whenever I got new clothes as a kid, through to sharing my style on my blog and Instagram as an adult, I’ve always loved clothes. The way I dress expresses my style, my personality, my mood… and it’s fun!

I’ve been a fashion writer and internet oversharer for more than ten years now, and after reading books like Consumed by Aja Barber and talking at length with friends online, I realised that some of the ways I’ve been talking about fashion and style are not sustainable (either for me or for the planet). Did you know that over 100 billion garments are made every year? I want to limit how much I’m contributing to that over-consumption, while still sharing what I’m passionate about. View Post

Lipoedema

From my teenage years well into my 30’s, I thought my arms and legs looked the way they do solely because I was fat. Even though most other fat people that I know don’t have arms and legs that look like mine. But I have family members whose bodies look like mine – I guess I thought it was a genetic thing. Just how our whānau looks, you know? View Post

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