How This All Started →

This blog is the first step in a much, much larger project that will eventually become a podcast and hopefully something even bigger somewhere down the line. But before I get there, I had to start somewhere. And where I started was with intense frustration.

Maybe the best Black Panther t-shirt ever…

See, fans have a language all our own. And part of that language, and one of the ways we signal our fandom to others, is by wearing a t-shirt of that fandom. It can be straight forward or referential or an inside joke. It can be official merchandise or it can be fan made. Whatever it is, it’s a huge flag that says, “I LOVE THIS THING. IF YOU GET THIS T-SHIRT, THEN YOU LOVE THIS THING TOO. COME TALK TO ME ABOUT IT.”

Unfortunately, for people of size (like me) access to the fan made shirts is limited and access to the official merchandise is almost non-existent. For most franchises, if a larger size of official merchandise is offered, it is no larger than a 2XL. When it comes to sites like TeePublic or Redbubble, where some truly creative designs are happening, their “plus size” stops at a 3X. Even when sites do have sizes that go up as high as a 5X, the color selection is limited (usually black, grey, or navy if there is a color selection at all), and they are only cut for men. Not for women.

I can’t even tell you how many boxy, black t-shirts I own that are too wide in the shoulders and too narrow in the waist because it is cut for a man’s body. It’s a lot. I mean SO MANY.

There is some hope. Her Universe has partnered with Torrid to provide some larger size fan merchandise. Still, their coolest things, like the cosplay dresses and coats, are not sized for the largest bodies. TeeRico (Lin-Manuel Miranda’s official merchandise shop) is really receptive to listening to their customers’ demand for larger sizes, but even they struggle to provide anything larger than a 4X and not in a women’s cut.

Also, plus size doesn’t stop at a 3X. It goes to 5X, 6X, 7X and beyond. And all of us have things we love that we want to share with others.

The bottom line is my tag line: Fat fans deserve merch.

So, we’re gonna talk about that. I’m going to blog about it and I’m going to have a podcast where I talk to fellow fat fangirls about cosplay, representation, and everything in between. Welcome to In My Size.