Fat Friday Spotlight - Chubby Pigeon

Rebecca, the brassy and sassy lass behind Chubby Pigeon, recently and quite brazenly signed up to be part of the FatGrrl Plus-Size Rebellion (TM). Ellie and I decided there was just one thing to do: put the screws to her and find out just what makes this Pigeon tick. The result? We find her to be worthy - a very worthy addition to the Rebellion (TM). Read on…

1. Tell us a bit about you. How did the modern-day Chubby Pigeon evolve?

There are two reasons that come to mind when I think about how my mission evolved. The first is I desperately needed a hobby. Being a Social Worker is emotionally consuming and I found myself always depressed frustrated and angry and I lacked an outlet for these emotions; millinery art took care of that.

The second is I began to feel that the beauty I saw in myself and other chubby women went unnoticed. How many times have we dolled ourselves up for someone or for no one in particular to only have silence greet us and that self-doubt resurface. How many times was I going to open a book, a magazine, a website, or a door to see what society defined as beauty before I hung myself. I have always been chubby yet have always had self-confidence; however in recent years this confidence started to diminish. I found myself hating skinny girls because I wasn’t thin and everything I thought was good about myself suddenly became bad. You see during my adolescent years I was referred to as an ‘amazon’ by this boy in school. I had no idea what it meant but by the way he muttered it, it couldn’t have been good. As I grew older I embraced my hips, tits, and ass and found myself admiring other girls with these same assets. I started going to therapy and work with myself everyday to increase my confidence and also began talking with other women. I found all of us were in the same boat and that boat was not only depressing is was sinking. So I threw out an anchor and it stuck.

I made Chubby Pigeon to display what I think beauty is. I want to have an outlet where I can display my fetish for beautiful chubby women wearing ornate hats. As women in this society we are exploited, pitted against each other, oppressed, and are given a list of unattainable expectations by men who hold over us an ideal that I would never want to be; the same men who find self confidence to be sexy but do so little to build it. So here it is, Chubby Pigeon, welcome to my nest.

2. What drew you to millinery? Wait a minute….what the heck is millinery, anyway?

A Milliner is someone who designs and creates hats, hats being the millinery creation. It was an occupational term I myself was unfamiliar with until my best friend referred to me as a millinery artist. It sounded classy and somewhat interesting so I thought ok sure, I’m a millinery artist!

I have always had a fondness for hats that most likely grew out of the hatred for my curly hair. My great grandmother collected the most unique hats with feathers veils and gaudy jewelry. Some I was fortunate enough to have passed down to me when I was younger. To me, hats signify class and represent a time when people cared about their appearance. They are a symbol of self-expression and allow women a certain freedom to express themselves through fashion, not that my hats represent fashion. In fact, I honestly have no idea what fashion is.

3. How long have you been taking pictures and making hats?

I really began making hats two years ago when I was finding it harder to locate hats within my price range. The prices of antique hats in thrift stores skyrocketed so I thought how hard could it be to make hats? I have been photographing women for as long as I have been admiring them. Confident curvy women and hats are two fetishes I have always had so combining the two seemed obvious.

4. Is there any particular “look” you’re going for with the hats?

I begin by asking the model what she feels most confident and sexy in. It is my goal to make every woman feel beautiful and sexy in the photos, to create a sexual power some didn’t know they had. That look really varies from woman to woman. The time period, color, size, and style of the hat is born from the idea of how the model defines her own unique style, I just embellish it. I obviously have my own tastes that spill over in my work. I thrive on old time photos, saloons, and bordellos so I suppose I try to make every woman look like such.

5. How would you the describe the kinds of folks that are drawn to your creations?

I work with all types of women, however women in burlesque shows seem to be my biggest fans and I their’s. I have gotten requests for work from a variety of people- renaissance fair goers, sex workers, red hat society fans, sci-fi projects, and gothic/punk girls, however my love lies in burlesque.

6. According to Webster’s Dictionary - Chubby Pigeon Edition - how do you define “sexy”?

Sexy? Haha, how much time do I have? Sexy is self-confidence. Sexy is not letting others tell you when or how you look good but just being comfortable with who you are. I have an affinity for fishnets, corsets, and of course hats, so with that being said I guess sexy is a whore from the 1890’s. Sexy is also intelligence and voicing your opinion, even when you know others won’t agree. Sexy is knowing who you are and not being afraid to wear tight clothing even though society tells you you’re fat.

7. What are some of the challenges you meet along the way in working with and against conventional beauty standards?

I think the Chubby in Chubby Pigeon automatically throws some women off. Often times I approach women to tell them about my project and ask them if they would like to be involved. However, when I hand them my business card and they see the name Chubby Pigeon they sometimes look offended. Living in Los Angeles, the land of image conscience knife cutting vomiting impossible ‘beauty’ standards, the word chubby sometimes offends women. I feel the variety of women I work with often stigmatizes me as well.

I have submitted my work to some magazines that feature plus sized models and they have informed me that my models are ‘not fat enough’. The flip side is when I try and feature my work with other magazines my models are ‘too fat’. The word fat is so subjective. Our society seems to teach women at a very young age that certain sizes are normal while others are not. Is a plus size a 10, a 12, or a 24? There is size that seems to define thin, with negative sizes surfacing in women’s clothing, however if you cant find that same clothing in your size does that make you fat? Or does it allow retailers to cater to certain body types?

When I think about conventional standards in any genre it seems so bland, I like that women come in a variety of shapes and shades and I find that so sexy. With an ‘alternative’ style surfacing as common ground today I had such high hopes for a wider variety of women in fashion. With companies like Suicide Girls and Hot Topic being so popular and selling ‘alternative’ fashions I thought more woman/girls would be able to express themselves. However it has become increasingly obvious that the word alternative is no different from the norm in that it defines sexy as thin and not fat.

8. What would your coffee table book ideally consist of?

Ideally I would like the book to display a variety of women-fat, thin, young, old, black, brown. If I only displayed fat women in the book would only those people who find fat women attractive open it? It is sort of like dating websites that cater only to fat women, I don’t want someone to like me because I am fat anymore than I don’t want someone to not like me for being fat. It’s ME I want them to like.

9. What would you like to see of mainstream media regarding fat models, actresses, fashion?

I would like to see clothing for fat women that actually fit. My mother is a fat woman and when I was younger I remember going with her to stores that cater to fat women, stores like Lane Bryant. It became obvious to me that ‘fashion’ did not exceed size 12. Not only were the models featured on the ads in the store thin, most of the clothing they wore was cut completely differently than that sold in the stores. Why is it that mainstream fashion for fat women is earth tone and lose fitting? Why not just bring back the muumuu?

What I would most like to see is clothing available to all, in all sizes, within affordable price ranges, and made by workers who earn a fair wage. I don’t watch a lot of TV or movies so as for actresses, I would just prefer better writers and more educational programs. I am happy to see models like [Mia] Tyler gracing the stage however what I would like to see more is people making their own stage.

Mainstream media has taught us what is to be valued and what is not. It decides and assigns our political and religious beliefs, reminds us of our shortcomings, and instills fear in our minds that leads us to open our wallets. I would like to see more independent thought among people in the United States. In a country as diverse as ours why do we still allow corporate owned media to define our opinions and beliefs for us?

10. Any other words of wisdom for FatGrrls everywhere?

You have this one life, don’t spend it letting other people tell you who you are and never allow someone else to define your worth.

Filed under Fat Fridays, Fat(Riot)Grrl |