I’m enthralled by these new plus sized swimsuits by my new blog crush Gabifresh! I love the bright colors and the way they fit. I mean, damn. If I were a lady/wore lady clothes, I’d be rockin that day and night. 

You can get them at swimsuitsforall.com for $68.

Queer processing time: how do you feel about the fact that the company only goes up to size 24? It seems a little hurtful to call the line “Swimsuits for All” but then not deliver what they promise. I know it costs more money to produce clothes with more fabric, but it seems to me that as size activists, they’d want to, well, be size activists. And not leave anyone out of the equation, or make anyone feel invisible for existing out of their size range.

But hey, there are hot fat people running around in galaxy suits now. And that’s fucking awesome. Maybe they could just change their name so they don’t claim to represent everyone.

Interested in your thoughts. Comment in the comments.

- Sonny

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Anonymous asked: Thanks to you guys I found out how awful Urban Outfitters is. I had actually recently ordered black pants from them because I needed work pants. But then my conscience got to me and I sent them back and wrote as my return reason: "your company donates to anti equality campaigns. I will know longer support you because you do not support me." I know I can't afford to be the perfect consumer, but it's good to know some basic ways I can make a difference.

Yesss! Good for you!

Oh hay queers. Remember how Fourteen sells 8 danderific vests with a variety of fits and styles just for the homie homos? They’re offering 14% off through May 24. Just enter the code 539567 at checkout, and you could have the perfect dandy addition to your next formal event this summer.

You can see me wearing their Silk Vest with Charmeuse Lapel here. Sign up for their mailing list for more deals!

I work for Fourteen. It’s like, a thing.

Follow Fourteen on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Tumblr

flyingflesheater asked: I'm a cross dresser and I work at American Eagle. Let me just say that while I'm sure AE has its faults, I have never once been made to feel uncomfortable about my gender presentation by my managers, other employees or even the customers, and I live in a very conservative area so I feel like that's pretty awesome. There's a level of diversity in our store that is really inspiring to me, and something that I haven't seen in stores like A&E or Hollister (which is right next door to us actually)

This is amazing. I had a really great experience at American Eagle Kids too. (Keep in mind that I am no longer dyke-identified, like I was when I wrote that post a year ago. But the rest still applies!) Glad to hear you’ve had great experiences with them as well. Exciting that such a mainstream store can be a safe place for us. - Sonny

Let’s be real: I care about dressing well, I care about other queers dressing well and feeling good. And that’s why I have this blog. If I wanted to have a blog about only supporting companies with good practices, well, that would be a different blog. We could call it “Fair Trade Queer.” Or something. Spinoffs welcome.

The only brands I’ve been boycotting on Qwear are Urban Outfitters and their affiliate Anthropologie. (Which you can read about here.) If I boycotted every brand that had bad practices, I’d be pretty limited in the Looking Pretty Pepartment.  

But I’m now adding Abercrombie & Fitch and their affiliates (Hollister, and some other brand I haven’t heard of called Gilly Hicks) to the list of brands I will no longer promote in this lifetime. Because of this:

UPDATE 5/16: While the following video does a great job out outlying the issues with A&F, a few folks alerted me that it’s problematic. I completely agree with that article, and considered deleting the video altogether from this post. I decided to leave it here for discussion, but would discourage anyone from actually joining his campaign. 

You can still model them in your submissions, but I won’t link to them. I will also include a disclaimer: “Abercrombie & Fitch actively discriminates based on class, size, and appearance. For similar brands, try Aéropostale and American Eagle Outfitters.” Thoughts? Proposed edits? Contact me.

For a long time I was promoting A&F because I loved their jeans. But the zipper recently broke on them anyway. Along with all my trust. *wipes tear.* 

- Sonny

Come join me to celebrate my new nickname at Jack Tar’s happy hour at Sonny’s in Portland, Maine! Meet the crew + models. Tuesday May 21, 5-7pm. Tees and swag!

Can’t waiiitt. For more Jack Tar, find them on The Facebook.

- Sonny

Photo cred: Caroline Wood

By guest blogger, Courtney 

Hey Qwearlings! I got back from London after spending January there for a Theatre course (liberal arts, y’all). London street fashion seems like the origination of certain hipster styles in the US. Going into most London stores, I found myself drooling over almost every item of hipster-tastic duds, and found myself back in America at the end of the month with a significantly heavier suitcase and significantly lighter wallet.  

I asked a few of my friends who came on my trip to represent some of the awesome fashion we saw there.

Photo cred: Caroline Wood

For starters: TOP-BUTTON SWAG. Literally everywhere. You’ll notice that we are all apparently wearing the same shirt. This is because we are, in fact, wearing the same shirt. We found an amazing store called Primark, which is apparently something like the British Walmart meets Forever 21. There were so many of these short sleeve printed beauties that we, plus two more of our friends, each own two, and none of them are the same. Printed shirts seem to be pretty big, but less plaid (like in the US) and more different prints like the fleur de lis, dots, and birds.

Photo cred: Caroline Wood

Becca (Left)
Shirt: Primark
Pants: H&M
Belt: Urban Outfitters*
Socks: Target
Shoes: Marshall’s

Courtney (Middle)
Shirt: Primark
Pants: Primark
Sweater: H&M
Blazer: Zara
Pocket Square: The Tie Bar
Belt: Lee River
Boots: Aldo

Andy (Right)
Shirt: Primark
Pants: Primark
Belt: H&M
Boots: All Saints

Something else the British seem to love is colored trousers. Andy and I are both wearing pants from— wait for it— Primark! And in the store there were stacks on stacks of colored pants in various fabrics and fits. Most pants on the street, however, are very much slim fit. In fact, I would say most of the London street style I observed was slim fit.  

Other things I saw: crew neck sweaters and sweatshirts, beanies, black boots (like mine and Andy’s), black jeans. And blazers. Going to a club in London, I asked my English friend what guys usually wore when going out. The reply was, “Suits.” And it was true. Tons of slim cut slim lapelled suits, or blazers over tanks with slim cotton pants. Swoon! Check out Topman for more examples of this sort of style.

Courtney is our petite menswear consultant. If you have any questions for her about menswear fit, style in general, or being a rockin badass, send your qwearies here.

*Urban Outfitters donates money to anti-gay campaigns. Learn more about their actions here. Buffalo Exchange and Ragstock are great hipster alternatives

In case you want cutie Andy as a friend on Facebook

What can I say? Raimi and Lee cut hair for 4.5 hours straight. Queers flooded in to shave off their locks. So many people got transformed and cheered on today! R&L are officially stylists/magicians/artists.

Surprise! At the end, Lee gave me a pomp:

I had an amazing time, and look at my new did!!

Thanks to all who came. 

- Sonny (My new nickname)

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