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Monday, October 31, 2011

Eloquii

The Limited opens it's plus-size fashion collection, Eloquii, online in a few hours. With the number of brands making exclusive plus-size clothing being so few it is exciting to see one that has taken the time to listen to the plus-size community.

With "Big" being all the rage on t.v. and the news it will be interesting to see how many more well known brands will jump on the band wagon. We hope they truly do their best work.

Chelsea Settles

So many opinions have been aired about the show Chelsea Settles. Most have been good but some have been erroneous in my opinion.

One blogger stated that they were disappointed that it was not more about the fashion industry. In all honesty, it was never meant to be about the fashion industry, it was to be about a young woman and her struggle with weight loss.

What is surprising to me is how much more we get from Chelsea. Yes this young woman is struggling with weight. Yes this young woman is attempting to make a career for herself in the fashion industry which is notoriously image conscience.

What we get with this show and it's rather naive and sheltered star is more. We get truth. Yes, I understand that this show is made by the same people that made The Hills and Jersey Shore. Shows notorious for their less than "real" reality. But there is something special about this show. At least about it's star.

Chelsea is honest and open. I cheer for her and cry with her. I want her to win and succeed.

The last episode had her going back home to be with her mom after she had her kidney and pancreas transplanted. Her mother does fine but Chelsea feels like she can't go back to California. Her guilt is belayed by her aunt and cousin that reminder her that her family is around to take care of her mother.

In recent pictures Chelsea is noticeably thinner so we can assume that her weight loss has been coming along nicely.

We look forward to seeing more of what this uniquely honest reality star brings us.


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Beautiful. Fluvia.

Well known to the plus-size fashion world, Fluvia Lacerda is becoming well known to the fashion world in general. Her latest appearance in Beautiful Magazine has shown again how gorgeous she is. The cover says it all, 21st Century Supermodel. It reaffirms that no matter what your size, a woman's true beauty can shine through.

Beautiful magazine is a new UK periodical that is changing the face of women's magazines. Trying to reverse the damage done by mass media publications is the mission of Sue Thomason the creator of Beautiful. She says, "If you look at the cover of the average women's magazine, dieting and weight loss are mentioned about eight times. These are not lifestyle magazines, they're diet industry advertisements. Beautiful is different."



Monday, October 17, 2011

Bridal Bliss

An area of plus-size fashion that is, in my opinion, not covered enough is bridal gowns. If the main stream fashion industry is finally beginning to see common sense of making clothes for majority of women, the bridal industry is blind to the fact.

The latest 2010 figures from the National Center for Health Statistics puts approximately 65% of American women in the overweight category and of that figure more than 35% are considered obese.


That means that the majority of women are over size 10. Most bridal shops, including high-end, only carry sample dresses which of course are not plus-size in any way. And if they do they are "Ball gowns" and "A-lines." Come on.


In this article on Huffington Post's website from Xochitl Gonzalez. She confronts this issue head on. As Co-founder of Always A Bridesmaid she has experience in this subject in spades.


One bright spot is the show "Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss." Let us hope that more light is shown on this subject.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Chelsea Settles

Watching MTV's Chelsea Settles, several thoughts and feelings go through my mind. First thought is how surprised I am at the naked truth this young woman is willing to expose to her fellow MTV generation. The first five minutes you see her ordering food, eating it, saying how much better she feels then weeping guiltily about it. Wow. Second is the comparisons I made to Big Sexy.

This 23 year old girl with all the hopes and dreams as anyone her age may have has allowed us to see everything about her life. Even the most embarrassing parts.We see her struggle with food right up front. Not even the girls of Big Sexy talked about what role food played in their lives.

We learn a lot about Chelsea in this first episode. We meet everyone in her life. Her mother, grandmother, cousin, boyfriend and her future roommate briefly on the phone.

She lives with her mother who is seriously ill with diabetes. She is very supportive of Chelsea and wants her to pursue her dreams even though Chelsea takes care of her.

Her cousin Jerel is her best friend and is moving to L.A. with her and is her biggest fan. We also briefly meet her grandma who teaches her how to do laundry and assures her that she will be around to help her mother when she leaves.

When we meet her boyfriend, we have already learned that he is in the army and has cheated on her. He is not very supportive of her dreams and wants her to move to his base, marry and have kids. Right away I don't like him. But that may be a premature assumption. He is young as well after all. We will see how this plays out later.

We witness Chelsea's experience as she goes to the gym to start her transformation. It is heart breaking to see her being measured. Not what her measurements are but her reaction to exposing so much of herself to the trainer and to us, the audience.

The comparisons of Chelsea Settles to Big Sexy may seem to be only that they are all plus-size women. But they are all trying to make their way through life and the fashion world as large women and how they face the obstacles in life Something many of us can relate to.

Where the ladies of Big Sexy are confidant and sure of themselves, Chelsea is anything of the sort. It is interesting to see how vulnerable she is. She is only 23 after all and taking her first steps into the larger world. The ladies of Big Sexy are in there 30's and established in their lives and have the experiences that Chelsea is now facing.

Chelsea is a newborn to the world she wishes live in. She is tenderhearted and vulnerable and we want to take care of and hope the very best for her. With the BS girls we go along for the ride. We know they will be okay.

One example of the differences in Chelsea to the Big Sexy ladies is the club. Chelsea heads out confidently to her cousin's birthday party at a local club where she waits in line to get in to only be told to stand aside as others are allowed in. Where the BS girls tell the bouncer off about charging them extra to go into the club, Chelsea stands aside and eventually leaves frustrated.

After, she is followed to her car by several drunk asses calling her awful names, bringing her to tears. She does the right thing by ignoring them but I had wished the BS girls were there with her to slap some sense into those flippin' jerks.

I was appalled by those people and I am filled with rage every time I think of their callous and juvenile behavior. It is hard to watch and I hope that the MTV audience feels the same injustice I do.

Afterward she confesses that that was the first time anyone has outright called her fat to her face and she is devastated and you feel her pain.

What I think people will find interesting about this show is watching Chelsea attempt to reinvent herself and grow into a successful adult. As we watch her attempt to lose weight and change her eating habits we are treated to her honesty and bubbly enthusiasm for fashion.

I look forward to seeing Chelsea take control of her life. You want her to win and see her change for the better. I think we will be delightfully rewarded.


Sunday, October 9, 2011

Chelsea Settles

On Tuesday October 11th at 11/10 central, MTV premiers Chelsea Settles. A reality show somewhat off track with the normal MTV fair of young suburbanites living together trying to 'keep it real'.

The show documents Chelsea Settles' (I believe that is her real name) moving west to L.A. to pursue her dream of breaking into the fashion industry. Not necessarily high concept for reality television. What makes this one different is Chelsea is a plus-size woman trying to break into an industry that is very weight conscious.

Touted as 324 lbs, Chelsea is not a small girl even in plus-size terms. According to the show's website, she will be pursuing her dreams as well as trying to loose weight, keep her relationship together and deal with a demanding boss.

 As America becomes more conscience of the fact that many of us are considered overweight, it will be interesting to see how this MTV generation takes to this subject matter.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

IGIGI's Fall Iconic Collection

Fall is looking Glamorous! Head designer and founder, Yuliya Raquel, has designed a collection inspired by the women of Hollywood's Golden Age.

In this story in Fibre2Fashion.com Yuliya expresses what this collection is about.

"I am so excited about this collection where I was inspired and influenced by the glamour of these beautiful and powerful women who were the original, trend-setting style icons. They took their individual style to such exponential levels that they have continued to awe and impress fans around the world. The strong sense of style that each of these women created transcends time and celebrates the power of femininity for women of today and they will continue to do so for generations to come." - Yuliya Raquel of IGIGI.

In my opinion there is not enough style and grace in today's fashion. Especially in the plus-size world. It is exciting to see this collection and I can't wait.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Our New Logo!

We are excited to bring you our new logo! We have worked hard to come up with just the right look. One that represents our philosophy of celebrating the curvaceous woman with class and fun. We hope you love it just as much as we do.

Please let us know what you think of it by leaving a comment. We would love to hear from you.


Monday, October 3, 2011

Lucky Magazine Picks Best U.S. Plus-Size Stores

Along side such well known brands as Lane Bryant and Torrid, Re\Dress was picked as one of the ten best Plus-Size stores in the U.S. by Lucky Magazine.

This is bitter sweet to me as Re/Dress announced recently that it will be closing in November. It is good to see that small shops such as Re/Dress can get such great praise. I hope to see more like in the future.


Sunday, October 2, 2011

T Minus - T Plus

Tina, the writer of T Minus - T Plus, shares with her readers not only her style and ideas but her clothes as well.

She sells her items from time to time and always shares pictures of herself wearing her wonderful wardrobe. It's a fun site and we always enjoy seeing what she brings to us next.