This thread has been very interesting and instructive. I haven't posted in it because I didn't want to counteract the positive thoughts with my own tale of woe (fat+bullies=depression). It is striking how so many of our negative experiences revolve around the issue of appearance, whether in terms of being treated preferentially and receiving unwanted attention because we are "pretty" or in being rejected or dismissed because we are "ugly". I have never been all that interested in feminist thought and I am not well-versed in it at all, but strangely the more I read and think about fashion and style the more I begin to understand what feminism is all about. Well, I think I do, anyway.

I'm also finding it interesting that my perception of fashion as a hobby is changing, too. For many years I have rejected fashion as something that only vapid and shallow people are interested in, but I'm coming around to the view that it is sensible to invest in your appearance if for not other reason than it is an important medium of social communication. And, well, I'm here, aren't I? '-)