Hello luvs, can you believe it? It’s time for the 12th installment of the blog spotlight series. For the benefit of new readers to this blog new I will say I started the blog spotlight because with all of my responsibilities I can not give you all the “skinny” on fat fashion. There are many, many blogs out there. Many of which that I read that cover a lot of things that I do not. As oppose to just featuring bloggers on my blog roll I thought it would be a good thing to not only link you to the blog but, give you a glimpse into the person behind the blog.
So, allow me to introduce you to Gazel (pronounced Gay-Zul) the 20 year old student and aspiring high school teacher from the Philippines residing in Winnipeg, Canada behind the blog Bonjour Gazel.
Gazel is from a Filipino/Chinese mix family. She moved to Canada when she was 5 years old. Gazel is currently a university student and fully bilingual in French and English. She can also speak Tagalog and Mandarin.
I love the vintage quality of Gazels style. She mixes thrifted pieces with main stream labels to create at great easy style that doesn't take it's self to seriously.
My favorite quote from Gazel was "I've always been a shopaholic since I've been genuinely interested in clothes. So I guess the 8th grade my mom always took me shopping, it gave me a great feeling of joy from buying stuff and since then it's been stuck".
You'll have to click "Read More" for the rest!
1.) Hello, how are you doing today?
I'm good. I just finished my last shift at work for the term. Sad that I don't have any income to spend for the month but happy that I have a month off, woo hoo! I'm doing this now obviously and I just finished eating breakfast on campus. :)
2.) Is there a story behind your blog tittle?
No, there isn't really. Except that I love Hello Kitty and I thought the blog name "Hello Gazel" sounds really dumb. SO... I made it French and added my name. How un-original.
3.) What made you decide to be a ad free blog?
My vision of my blog was not to generate money but to post my outfits. My standard still stays today and will remain that way. Money signs aren't in this girls eyes!
4.) There are so many fashion blogs both plus and straight sized. What is it about your blog that brings a unique perspective?
I think what makes me unique is that I'm Asian and you dont' really see many Asian women out there that are plus size and confident. So I want to be that Asian girl who is. The Asian standard is being petite, skinny and doll-like ... and I'm anything but. I've always been someone who rebelled and never listened to rules in those aspects and I still won't conform to be a dowdy, matronly look that Asian people usually associate with fatness.
5.) Can you define your fashion and body evolution a little bit? For Example what styles did you experiment with before you settled on your current one and how did your weight/size affect that if at all?Oh GOD. Well. I'll start with the 6th grade: I wore t-shirts with brand logos on them and Adidas sweatpants. Then I branched out from there and started wearing jeans, but still being a walking advertisement. This remained until the 11th grade where I had moved schools into a totally different environment. The school I went to before, the fashion sense there was SO concentrated on brand names. Everywhere you went girls wore Hollister, Abercrombie, FCUK, American Eagle, etc. it wasn't really unique and if you wore something else people WILL laugh and stare. So I didn't know any better. I switched to a more suburban school (the school I went to before was really urban in a sense) and not gonna lie, there WERE a bunch of hipsters and artsy people at my new high school so I emulated that a bit (but not completely) ... from there I discovered livejournal's Fatshionista and the rest is ancient history.
For the record I'd still dress the same even if I were a thin person.
6.) I know personal style can be hard to define but, can you please try to define yours?
Hmm, let me ponder on that or a moment. I guess I like trends. I try to follow them. I don't really have a style right now I stick to. One day I want to dress a "tough girl" look and the next I want to dress like a delicate princess. I'm still in the process of experimenting but I try to be as feminine as possible, while still maintaining the "tough" look (with boots and such). I love to dress like a girl but if you ask my friends and boyfriend, I am totally one of the guys. One of the guys in a skirt! Hee.
7.) Recently thrifting has become very popular; it seems as if everyone is doing it. I see that you incorporate quite a few thrifted pieces into your wardrobe. Why do you think thrifting has become so popular?
First, I believe thrifting has just become trendy. If you look on Lookbook.nu there's a bunch of people who "thrifted" things. It's because people strive to be so unique and avant-garde that they thrift, or it could be because it's just cheap, or because that trends rehash every few years. Whatever it is, that's my thought on it and I thrift for the reasons I stated above. Being avant-garde is questionable because even I'm not that brave to be that "unique".
8.) Because this blog is called Fat Shopaholic I have to ask you this next question. Do you consider yourself a shopaholic? Since you started your blog have you begun shopping more than you did before?
I've always been a shopaholic since I've been genuinely interested in clothes. So I guess the 8th grade my mom always took me shopping, it gave me a great feeling of joy from buying stuff and since then it's been stuck. Of course I shop a bit more now that I blog but not that much. I really love clothes, but I'm not the type of girl who buys a piece of clothing once and never wears it again. I am all cool with remixing and recycling.
9.) What are the plus size clothing options like in canada? What is like being plus sized in canada in general? Do you experience any prejudice ?
One word: abysmal. The clothing selection here for plus sizes is just pathetic. There's NO stores you can go to. Sure, there's Rickis but it only goes up to a size 18. There's also the Reitmans company who dominates the plus size scene. For those who don't know Reitmans owns Addition-Elle, Penningtons, MXM, Reitmans and Smart Set respectively.
Being plus sized in Canada is difficult if you want to be trendy. It's difficult if you have a phobia of shopping online. Though in terms of prejudice, I haven't experienced a lot, but there has been some cases. Since I've seen a really extreme side of fat-hate (in Asia) Canada is way tamer, at least by 1000 notches. The only prejudice I've experienced is from my extended family, unfortunately.
10.) You feature pictures of your food exploration often. Do you have a separate food blog or do you plan on expanding and starting one?
I DID have a separate food blog, it's kind of stagnant right now. I may resume it in the future but I would find the content of my food blog boring at this point since all I post is sushi... I had originally planned to post my OWN recipes on there, but I got to lazy taking pictures of my food each time.
11.) How do you feel about the state of blogging right now? What role do you think fashion blogging plays in fashion overall?
I personally love blogging and I believe blogs are having a more prominent role in the fashion industry. Look at all the bloggers who get invited to events and are even given free samples to give away or review! Or what about the blogger and designer collaborations! Really cool.
12.) Finally, do where do you see Bonjour Gazel in the long run?
Same as it always has been: I'll never abandon my blog, I'll keep posting my outfits, I'll keep posting other things and I'll keep posting until blogger goes out of business.
If you would like to be considered for blog spotlight please email me at fatshopaholic@gmail.com
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