Big Bum Fashion Fan: Amanda Piasecki

Who are you?

I'm Amanda Piasecki, I coined the term "Fatshionista" and I started the online community of the same name.

What sort of things do you like to wear?

I like a tough, hyper-feminine look that has a sense of humor about itself at the same time. I like drawing attention to my enormously curvaceous proportions and giant ass. At my best and most resilient, I enjoy exaggerating everything about my size and rocking hot, gruesome, femme monstrosity. At my most weary and over-it, I work a surly, fat Russian Riviera look. For a long time, I attempted to dye my hair the same color red as every woman in communist Poland had, but no one made the connection except my immigrant family, and my skin looked terrible. Now it's a less belligerent Californian henna color. I am one of the least invisible people I know, even when I'm trying to be – I receive a lot of street hassle, from come-ons to fat bashing, and everything in between. I do the best with it that I can, and sometimes my outfits are a way of fighting back or making a visual inside joke with other outsiders.

My clothes come from everywhere, but mostly from eBay these days. I also shop at thrift and consignment stores, and get some of my clothes made by sellers on Etsy, like Jane BonBon and Ureshii. I'm a clothes horse, but have to limit my spending, so I try to prioritize using my wardrobe budget on used clothes, then small designers, then big sweatshop chains.

Whose style do you admire?

I'm most inspired by other fat queers who rock bold looks with limited resources. I also love old people's fashion – not simply vintage. One of my favorite fashion blogs is Advanced Style.

Give us some fat fashion advice!

I think that the best style is born from resourcefulness and aesthetic inventiveness rather than through cash outlay. While we're incredibly lucky to have an alterna-fat-girl chain store here in the US, since the rise of Torrid there's part of me that feels like we've lost something now that it's easier for young fatshionistas to assimilate into their subcultures of choice. Fatshionistas used to almost universally be masters of creativity, inventiveness, and making something out of nothing, and this is a value that I'd love to keep around as plus-sized clothing gets slightly more accessible.

What would be your dream find at the Big Bum Jumble?

I'm psyched for lots of British fatties to have a gleeful moment of fashion abundance at the Big Bum Jumble! As far as I'm concerned, wide shoes are much easier to find and much more stylish in the UK than in the US, so I'll gladly Paypal shipping for any interesting-looking UK size 7E or wider shoes that don't find homes!

What else would you like to say?

Fashion is great and all, but making up for a fat glory deficit through cool clothes is way less important than being a radical, badass mofo.

There's more here: Rad Fatty: Amanda Piasecki

PS Wanna be featured here? The answer most surely is "Yes!" Drop us a line: bigbumjumble@gmail.com and it shall be done.