Plus Size with Style - Enjoy What You Have

Have you ever tried on something in your size but it just didn’t look right? Even though it fits great it just doesn't feel like "it's you." I watch women go through it all the time in department store dressing rooms. She goes in with an armload of goodies and walks out with tears in her eyes. She then launches into a tirade of everything that is wrong with her body and if only she were some other size or shape then everything that she tried on would look just right. This can cause enough heartache that a woman resorts to buying something on impulse that doesn’t look great.

It is my opinion that finding your style has less to do with your body type, your hair color, or whether your skin tone is a Winter or a Summer and everything to do with how you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror. So today let’s discuss how to find your very own style in terms of enjoying what you have.

Plus Size Style

The good news is that the best plus size fashion designers are now using plus size models. As plus size women are insisting on size positive images we are seeing more and more fashionable images of full figured women in media. At This Lush Life, in our plus size women's clothes department, we exclusively represent companies using plus size models. If they sell plus size women's clothes but they don't show those clothes on plus size models then we won't post what they have to offer.

There are many places on the web where you can read about the right hem lengths, the right necklines, how to coordinate patterns and colors and how to tie a scarf. Personally, I watch What Not to Wear on TLC with religious fervor. So rather than worry about what they are wearing on the runways this season -- in this article, let’s focus on what’s going on in your head.

Dressing Room Depression

You bought a dress in a department store. You loved it in the dressing room. It hugs your hips in the best way possible, shows the right amount of cleavage and drapes perfectly over your bottom. You were happy in the store because you found something that fit so well but why does it just not seem right the first time you put it on at home?

You bought a dress online. You did everything right. You measured yourself, you measured the dress, you saw it on a model with a similar shape as yours and it looked great on her. You try it on and it fits perfectly so why does it just not feel right when you put it on in your bedroom?

Curing the Dressing Room Blues

Remember that dressing rooms lie! Dressing rooms lie. They do. They are sneaky and they will lie to you. Some are perfectly lit and highlight your beautiful checkbones and make you forget that a v-neck is better for you than a boat neck. There really is such a thing as a slenderizing mirror and chances are they have one at the store but you don't have one at home.

The photographs in catalogs and magazines lie! Photographs lie. They do. Not only are those models surrounded by a team of people fussing with their makeup, hair and clothes between each and every shot but even the models don't really look like the photographs after all the re-touching.

So how do I enjoy what I have and feel good about Plus Size Style?

1. Create a place where royalty would want to dress. Choose a corner of your bedroom and make it a sacred place for self adoration. Use Feng Shui, toss a coin or throw a dart but you must have a spot that is just for you to gaze lovingly at your perfect body in a full length mirror.

2. Did she say full length mirror? Yes, she did say full length mirror! You know in your heart that I’m right so go out there and invest in a good one. After all, you are going to be spending a lot of time in front of it admiring your luscious curves so you want something beautiful to frame your image.

3. Take a deep breath. Take a shower. Do your hair. Get ready like you’ve got a date with George Clooney…or Ellen Degeneres…whomever you are into. Light candles. Have a glass of champagne and put some fresh strawberries and chocolates in a bowl within easy reach. Play a Diana Krall CD. Remember that you are a goddess.

4. Take good look. God did not make any mistakes with you. You are beautiful. Now - pull your shoulders back and say three nice things about what you see. I mean it. Three...but feel free to say more. I like my eyes. I like the shape of my shoulders. I like the curve from the small of my back down to my right hip. This is really important. I do this every day. Sometimes I love what I see in the mirror and sometimes I don't but I won't leave the house without saying at least three nice things about my body.

Presenting the Stylish Plus Size Woman

I guarantee that whatever you try on now will feel differently than it did before. Can you guess why? It’s because you will stand differently. You will hold your head up, pull your shoulders back and be ready to toss out anything from your closet that doesn’t flatter your perfect frame. You don’t have to settle for something you don’t really love just because it hides a body you don't love. And when you go out, even wearing something from the back of your closet, it might feel new and you might feel like the most stylish woman you know.

There is no reason to wait to like yourself more. Start today and then share this with a friend.

maunderings from dissertation hell: Celebrating Curves

Hey everybody! I got my first fan mail! Woo hooo I am sooo excited. Not only because I got a shout out from another blogger but mostly because my ranting about plus size women Celebrating our Curves gave a curvy girl a self-esteem boost and that's what this is all about.

I very much enjoy reading Maunderings blog about her life written with an hilarious self-mocking tone. She also sells homemade soaps on Ebay - Dr. Sharna's Natural Soaps.

I felt much less afraid of her proclamations of love after realizing that she makes homemade soaps. After all, why would I be afraid of someone who lives on a remote Texas farm, sees very few people, writes a blog making reference to being from hell, spending her quiet days making soap....oh. Suddenly it sounds like a scene from Misery. hmmmm......

So Dr. Sharna is good for your funny bone, good for your skin and good for the environment! Send her some love people, I think she's loony...um I mean lonely.

Check it out.
maunderings from dissertation hell: Celebrating Curves

I Celebrate My Every Curve

I Celebrate My Every Curve

This happened to me the other night
A guy in a bar wanted to fight
He gave me a look as if to say
That seeing me had ruined his day
That he would rather kiss a toad
Or lick the asphalt off the road
Than sit at the bar knee to knee
With a girl as fat as me.

He said that I would look so pretty
If only I were itty bitty
And did I not realize the fact
That even though I am truly stacked
No man would ever really want me
Because fat girls just aren't as sexy
As those other women with no hips
Whose flat bellies make him lick his lips.

I suppose I could have made a scene
Maybe kick his leg and say things mean
But then I thought that instead of spite
I'd consider his personal plight
A man might feel betrayed or hurt
Shocked by his own desire to flirt
With a buxom curvy beauty
Instead of a slender narrow cutie.

Bombarded on a daily basis
With images of smooth young faces
Certain the only shape he'd feel
Has rock hard abs and buns of steel
Although he might long for a bride
With cleavage deep and backside wide
Coping with ridicule and abuse
A single man might get the blues.

Every magazine he's read
Tells him to get me into bed
By finding some sort of common ground
And surely no woman wants to be round
So he thought he'd strike up a chat
About how terrible it is to be fat
And while his pickup line was lame
I refuse to walk the path of shame.

I've got no interest in diet fads
I change the channel on workout ads
I'd rather have delicious lunches
Than execute one hundred crunches
Country walks and chats by the fire
Glasses of wine with friends who inspire
I'll never agree to do without
Being hungry makes me pout.

I told him that he would be surprised
By the softness of my thighs
And yes I jiggle when I wiggle
My body shakes with every giggle
And when I sit around the house
I know you're looking down my blouse
So even though you've got some nerve
I celebrate my every curve.


Corinna Makris
February 5, 2007

Joy Nash. Watch her funny and inspiring fat rant!

Rock on Joy! I love your characters, your wardrobe and I especially love what you say!

How To Shop Online. But will it fit?

Full figure women frequently ask my advice on how to determine whether an outfit will fit them from just looking at a picture. You can make some smart decisions about an outfit based on some basic research that can found right on the website where you are shopping.

In my previous post I counseled on the importance of knowing your body measurements. Now that we've made friends with our body shape ("upper arm, meet centimeter....centimeter, meet upper arm") it's important to know the specific measurements, cut and shape of that dress with the too-die-for embroidery that you are contemplating.

Every clothing website should have a link to their size chart. There you will find measurements that are equal to a specific size. If a website represents different designers, like alight.com does, then you have a great opportunity to compare the cut and shape of the same size of different items. It's a good idea to compare each designer because the measurements may vary.

Other factors in determining the drape of a dress are: the weave of the fabric, the way the fabric is cut, the placement of the seams, and the stitches used on those seams.

Look carefully at the pictures to see where the seams are and then look at your wardrobe. Do you have anything cut in a similar way already hanging there? Look at items that you have bought from the same designer. The chances are good that a similar template is used to create the entire line. For instance, an a-line dress with princess seams by Catherines will fit you differently than an a-line dress from Torrid.com


Now that we are intimate with the particulars of our inches, and we have become acquainted with the cut, design and shape of the dress, whether or not that cute little dress with the sequins is going to look fabby on your body still must be determined by your own shape.

Look at two women who are the same height and weight but one is a pear shape and the other a triangle. One will be fuller on top and the other wider on the bottom. The dress will drape differently on each woman. If it doesn't fit then just move-on to another designer.

It's truly wonderful that so many plus size clothing designers are using plus size models. How else would I be able to figure out if that daring dress with the plunging neckline from SizeAppeal.com is going to hug my girls, or will they pop out on the dance floor while bumping and griding unless I can see the dress on a model built like I'm built? By the way, this actually happened to me once to the delight of my partner. I was wearing a dress that a friend, an aspiring clothing designer, had made for me. We both learned important lessons that night about how clothes fit!

In fact, almost everything I wear I bought online. I even bought my wedding dress online from the Lane Bryant Bridal Boutique. It fit perfectly and there were no unexpected surprises. Well, except for how amazingly chilly it got that day for our outdoor ceremony!

Many websites now offer free shipping so you may want to have your new wardrobe delivered to your home where you can comfortably try on clothes in privacy.

Corinna Makris
Editor

< This Lush Life for your plus size shopping!

Next…Style

What size is the right size if you're plus size?

I wear a size 16 plus and I do most of my clothes shopping online. I have learned to make decisions about clothing based on (what I consider to be) the four main clothing categories – size, fit, style and price. I make an informed decision mostly with information that I can find on the website and some common sense.

Some women might think that if you wear a plus size that it will be harder for you to shop for clothes online than it would be for someone wearing a smaller size. I would suggest that a woman wearing a smaller size will have to confront the exact same issues about finding clothes that fit.

Over the next few days let’s discuss some tips for online clothes shopping beginning with:

Size

Every clothing line has their own system for sizing their clothes. This is only true for women’s clothes as men’s clothing sizes are pretty much standard. A man can walk into any men’s clothing store and a 40 Regular is going to fit the same in any state in the country.

Why would this be the case? There are many reasons and mostly they have to do with marketing. If a woman wears a smaller “size” in one clothing label than she probably will buy that line of clothes instead of the brand where she wears a larger “size.” This is just smoke and mirrors to distract you from the other three factors which are really much more important:

1. How that outfit fits your body
2. How the style flatters your body and
3. Your self-image in that outfit is the most important thing to consider when buying clothes.

So get out that tape measure ladies and get to know your curves. Celebrate those luscious inches. Shout your cup size from the rooftops. Take those hips out dancing.

The size on the label is really of no importance. You’ll cut out the tag the second you get home anyway...right?

Next…Fit.