What is that Smell?
I had this small piece of fabric in my stash that I have had for years. It is really pretty. That’s why I bought it. I shouldn’t have. It’s made of polyester. I purchased it before I made the decision to cease and desist with synthetic fibers. Actually, I purchased it before KOS! I originally intended to use it for a skirt, then a lining, then a blouse. I keep seeing this fabric when I view my stash and decided to just whip something up. I decided on a top. It wasn’t really enough to do anything else; plus it is that slippery type of material and it’s hard to work with. I wasn’t in the mood to do hardcore sewing I decided on an easy top. I know there has to be a name for the garment I made but I don’t know what it is. It’s like one of those African women’s outfits where the fabric is folded in half and 2 seams are sewn to contain the arms and separate the torso. Anyway….. After the garment was all finished and I really liked how it turned out, I had enough to make a headwrap out of the leftover material. Can y’all see where this is going?
Have ya’ll ever smelled the “fat girl” smell? It is the smell that comes off usually a woman who is overweight. I say that because I have never smelled it coming off a thin woman. It’s not an ‘unclean’ smell, but it is not a pleasant smell either. It’s sort of a tangy odor. I had an old friend who smelled of this so severely that everything she touched and everywhere she went she left this smell. When I smell this on other females, I started to associate it with overweight women. I, being a ‘cute chubby chic,’ am always on guard against this smell. I shower, powder, perfume, and remove any hair that I suspect will leave this smell in my aura. Now I have figured out where that comes from. POLYESTER!!!!
After I completed the garment I tried to iron it down with a warm iron. The seams weren’t lying down as smoothly as I wanted them too. And normally ironing makes fabric do what you want it to. Natural fabric, that is. The seam was still puffy. That was probably the trigger. I showered, performed my usual toilette, got dressed and went to the movies. It was humid as hell. Can y’all see where I’m going now? I started to perspire and then it happened. I started to smell a ‘fat girl.’ I looked around me to see where that smell could possibly be coming from. Everything I had on was either freshly created or fresh out the dryer. Then I lifted the neckline of the blouse to my nose and sniffed it. The fat girl I was looking for was me. I would have gone home and changed my shirt, but I was too far from home and I had a movie ticket in my hand. I went on in the theatre and sat away from other folks wondering where it all went wrong. Then it hit me.
Plus sized clothing is generally made of polyester! That stuff doesn’t breathe; therefore trapping in all moisture and product (perfume. lotions, powders, deodorant, etc.) smells. Those smells combine and BOOM!.... The fat girl smell. I’m horrified. Manufactures claim, and I don’t necessarily disagree, that making plus sized clothes is more expensive than standard (why do they call it standard when most adult women in this country where a 12 or higher?) clothes. So that is the reason why they use so much polyester in our garments. But plus sized clothing is more expensive that standard clothing for that same reason. Why raise the price and lower the quality. That does not sound like Equality to me.
Anyway…. This incident has inspired me to begin purging the synthetic garments from my closet like I said I would. They already make me itchy, now they have the unmitigated gall to make me smell bad too. Ummm….. NO! There is a nice pile on the closet floor. And the new blouse and headwrap (made my head sweat with no outlet) is on the bottom of that pile.
Lesson learned!
Peace.
Have ya’ll ever smelled the “fat girl” smell? It is the smell that comes off usually a woman who is overweight. I say that because I have never smelled it coming off a thin woman. It’s not an ‘unclean’ smell, but it is not a pleasant smell either. It’s sort of a tangy odor. I had an old friend who smelled of this so severely that everything she touched and everywhere she went she left this smell. When I smell this on other females, I started to associate it with overweight women. I, being a ‘cute chubby chic,’ am always on guard against this smell. I shower, powder, perfume, and remove any hair that I suspect will leave this smell in my aura. Now I have figured out where that comes from. POLYESTER!!!!
After I completed the garment I tried to iron it down with a warm iron. The seams weren’t lying down as smoothly as I wanted them too. And normally ironing makes fabric do what you want it to. Natural fabric, that is. The seam was still puffy. That was probably the trigger. I showered, performed my usual toilette, got dressed and went to the movies. It was humid as hell. Can y’all see where I’m going now? I started to perspire and then it happened. I started to smell a ‘fat girl.’ I looked around me to see where that smell could possibly be coming from. Everything I had on was either freshly created or fresh out the dryer. Then I lifted the neckline of the blouse to my nose and sniffed it. The fat girl I was looking for was me. I would have gone home and changed my shirt, but I was too far from home and I had a movie ticket in my hand. I went on in the theatre and sat away from other folks wondering where it all went wrong. Then it hit me.
Plus sized clothing is generally made of polyester! That stuff doesn’t breathe; therefore trapping in all moisture and product (perfume. lotions, powders, deodorant, etc.) smells. Those smells combine and BOOM!.... The fat girl smell. I’m horrified. Manufactures claim, and I don’t necessarily disagree, that making plus sized clothes is more expensive than standard (why do they call it standard when most adult women in this country where a 12 or higher?) clothes. So that is the reason why they use so much polyester in our garments. But plus sized clothing is more expensive that standard clothing for that same reason. Why raise the price and lower the quality. That does not sound like Equality to me.
Anyway…. This incident has inspired me to begin purging the synthetic garments from my closet like I said I would. They already make me itchy, now they have the unmitigated gall to make me smell bad too. Ummm….. NO! There is a nice pile on the closet floor. And the new blouse and headwrap (made my head sweat with no outlet) is on the bottom of that pile.
Lesson learned!
Peace.
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