Half a Woman. Or Less.

I sew. Right? I'm inspired by designers...by all kinds of things. I tend to fall in love with a particular pattern maker or designer & religiously buy all their patterns...even if I end up never sewing ONE. It's a sickness, I'll admit it.

But I'm drawing the line at Khaliah Ali...who turned my pattern world upside down a couple of years ago when she debuted a Plus line through Simplicity. Cute, trendy styles in larger sizes. No One was DOING THIS. She, simply put, rocked. She personally modeled the patterns...and looked great. Proof below.


Then, shortly after, she chose to have gastric bypass surgery to lose weight. Frankly, I don't see her weight as being of the "gastric bypass surgery" level in those pictures. (But perhaps she had already started losing weight when these were taken? I really can't say. )

What I CAN say is that in her next collection she still looked fabulous, but obviously thinner...and her patterns were now available in smaller sizes (not just Plus). I was saddened by the GB Surgery information. It seems like such an extreme measure to take to lose weight.


And....sadly...this is a current collection photo from her Simplicity line...


She no longer looks good.

Her color is off, she's wan and somewhat "peaked" as my grandma would say. She just doesn't look well. I've seen this look in many a GB patient, frankly. It's usually due to MALNUTRITION.

People. STOP. Just stop. There is no reason to risk your life to fit into smaller jeans. There's no reason to give up your health, your sanity, a million thoughts a day because you feel that you're too "fat". Just eat. Ok? Love who you are, what you are, and if you don't....work on fixing THAT. And I'm not talking about body size. What if you were blind? Or paralyzed? Or on dialysis because of failing kidneys? Or sick with Stage 4 ovarian cancer? Would you be having gastric bypass then so you can be thin? Nope. Thin would probably be the furthest thing from your mind.

As a society we spend way too much time worried about the size of our a$$es. Mine is currently "too big" according to society's standards. I will never win an Oscar in a bone skimming (oops, I mean body-skimming) silk slip dress.

I won't say I'll never win an Oscar though.

You see, I believe in my self worth. I believe that I am something to be reckoned with. And that has nothing to do with the size of my a$$. It has everything to do with the person I am inside. Talent, ambition, grace, style. These things have nothing to do with a number on a scale that doesn't exist outside of gravity.

Love yourself. Whatever and whoever you are. Because you are really that special...and you can DO ANYTHING. Believe that...and you'll see how unimportant that number sewn into a scrap of denim really is.

a.