Avenue has discounted many summer items to $10, and several to $15 and $20. Original prices range from $17 to $50. The sale includes tanks and t-shirts, as well as tunics, shoes, accessories, shorts and more. I'm thinking of stocking up on these camis, because you can never have too many layering pieces. I haven't been able to see anywhere on the site that indicates how long the sale will last, but I got my notice Thursday, so I'm sure you've got a few days to shop.
Want to see some great examples of what doesn’t work on a plus-size body? Go to Wal-Mart and look around. Okay, maybe that’s a little unfair to Wal-Mart; the same rule applies to other discount retailers. If it’s horribly unflattering, it’s likely you’ll find it on a curvy body at Wal-Mart, et. Al.
Here are a few things I saw at Wal-Mart the other day:
Oversized cartoon character t-shirt
Usually seen worn in one of two ways. First, there’s the gal who chooses a big shirt that’s not quite big enough, which then clings to every bump. Invariably, she has chosen to go without a bra. Then there’s the woman who wears the shirt very large, practically reaching the hem of her too-short cut-off jean shorts. Bad either way. And no self-respecting grown woman should be seen with Taz or a gangsta Tweety Bird on her chest.
Try this instead: Shirts can be long and loose, yet still stylish, like this tunic ($37) from Zaftique. The key is fit. Accentuate your bustline (please wear a good bra!) and let the shirt flow away from the body. The result is as comfortable as a roomy t-shirt, but much more polished.
Tube top
Okay, we get it: you have big tatas. Now please put them away. Whenever I see a large lady in a tube top, I’m afraid she’ll pop out of it at any time.
I'm ticked pink that a full-figured gal has won America's Next Top Model. It took 10 seasons (or "cycles" as they call them on the show), but the curvy Whitney Thompson was recently chosen as the winner. Yeah, she's a little skinny to be called plus size, but I honestly thought they'd never pick a larger size girl to win.
Whitney's confidence was refreshing after so many seasons of insecure plus size models who got kicked out a few episodes in because they were just defeated.
Here's what Whitney said in an interview with the LA Times
You saw when Stacy Ann was like "Whatever, you're fat." And I was like "Uh, perhaps you meant P-H-A-T," which is totally my personality. There were a few times. I think the girls were a little jealous that they had to diet and they had to do this work to be super skinny, and I was like "Well, I don't, and my pictures still came out better than yours." I think it was difficult for them because the plus-sized models usually lose their confidence within the first week or two. I think they were like "What? Well you're big!"
Whitney will appear in the July 2008 issue of Seventeen magazine. A few of her photos are after the jump.
Here's news for curvy girls who are ABBA/Amanda Seyfried/musical theater fans. Lane Bryant is sponsoring a sweepstakes to send a fan to the premiere of "Mamma Mia!"
The hit musical based on the songs of Swedish 70's band ABBA has been adapted for the screen and will open July 18. It stars Amanda Seyfried as a bride-to-be looking for her real father.
The cast is amazing. Besides Seyfried (who you might remember from "Mean Girls," "Veronica Mars" or "Big Love"), the film stars Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Julie Walters and the always amazing Meryl Streep.
Read about the prizes and see a trailer for the movie after the jump.
The incredibly popular plus-size author Jennifer Weiner released a new book in April. "Certain Girls" is a follow-up to Weiner's debut novel "Good in Bed" and picks up with main character Cannie 13 years after the events of the original.
It's gotten mixed reviews, but I thought y'all might enjoy reading this new one from another author, Laura Zigman, who wrote "Animal Husbandry."
Here's an excerpt:
Weiner's women -- witty, wisecracking and weight-watching -- feel familiar, and entering and turning the pages of their lives as they cook chickens or take to their big, comfortable, 400-thread-count sheeted beds while they figure out what they're going to do next is almost as easy as walking into our own kitchens and bedrooms: We've been here before, and we're glad to be back.
This is the final line in a recent article about Australia's Next Top Model winner Alice Burdeau. I just had to share it. The speaker is judge Alex Perry:
Perry has a refreshingly blunt take on the whole size issue. Asked what he thinks about the US version's efforts to promote plus-size models, he snorts with derision: "Get. Over. It. Get over it. They haven't got an Alice. In how many seasons? You know what? You can wrap up that fat model story anyway you want - they're not meant to be."
I think Kate Dillon or Mia Tyler might have something to say about that, hmm?
Jennifer Weiner, the author of mega-hit chick lit novels "Good in Bed" and "In Her Shoes," has signed a deal to develop TV shows for ABC. The deal doesn't include the rights to her books, so it looks like won't be seeing Cannie in a "Good in Bed" dramedy.
Weiner writes smart books about plus-size women who have normal lives -- boyfriends, jobs, friends, etc. -- but who have realistic issues with being heavy. I'm hoping her TV show(s) will be true to that outlook. We need programs that depict a plus-size woman with a romantic relationship (yes, men do find us attractive) and other "normal" problems. Of course the characters will have struggles with their weight, but it will be a breath of fresh air to see a plus-size woman on TV who is more than just the big, zany friend (or sassy mother).
According to a national survey in the journal "Obesity," more and more people say they're being discriminated against because of their weight.
Among the reported instances of weight bias:
- Losing out on a job
- Being turned down for a loan
- Getting bad customer service in a restaurant
- Receiving inferior medical care
- Being harassed by police
A few days ago, I blogged about Chloe Marshall, the plus-size model who is a finalist in the Miss England pageant. I was looking for more information about her and Google delivered this to me:
In my view, Chloe is a terrible role model. I hope she doesn't win the Miss England title. It would send an appalling - and very dangerous - message to other young women that it's OK to be fat. Chloe is a stark reminder that obesity is now virtually normal in our society - and we should all be hanging our heads in shame.
That's by Monica Grenfell of the UK's Daily Mail. You can read here entire scathing article here. Reading Grenfell's opinion of Marshall reminded me that for many people, being fat is a sin worse than theft, violence or drug abuse (if you're pretty, people will forgive you for almost anything Kate Moss).
One in every five clothing purchases in Canada is in plus-size, according to a story from the Montreal Gazette, but larger women are much less satisfied with their clothes than those wearing other specialty sizes, such as talls and petites.
I imagine the reasons for this are the same in Canada as they are in the United States: plus-size clothes are more expensive and often lesser quality, and it can be hard to find stylish pieces.
(I'll admit that after a particularly disheartening shopping trip, I've been known to declare that I'm just going to start wearing a muumuu.)
