The Plus Size Thread - All are welcome!

[classic1908]

Sad thing is, I suspect all or most of what Marjorie wears *is* custom-made ... if I were her, I'd go to John Galliano, who would really care about putting her in something flattering, and would really think about the challenges rather than putting a few seams in some extremely expensive fabric & taking her money. The important thing is, though, that you can see she really accepts herself & is having a great time. Hopefully she can be a role model for Kate

I definitely think Marjorie's kit is custom. She's got the jack to go to the couture, and I've read where she's a friend to the house of folks like Kors, Herrera, etc. Although she does have some hit and miss stuff, she does accept her body, is well groomed and has a great attitude. I remember a quote of hers in W where she said basically if you're bigger, buy the right clothes and have fun.
I also see a lot of confidence in Queen Latifah, Jessye Norman, Mo'Nique (although some of her choices are a bit ghetto-fab) and Jenn Hudson.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Just wanted to mention one of my pet peeves when it comes to plus size dressing, which includes what's available on the rack. Almost always when I layer, I button as demonstrated by stilletto above (btw, I'd give you karma too, but I can't right now ), and I'm a 10 or an 8. When I see jackets made for large women with no buttons, it just drives me crazy! I knew someone who wore these jackets all the time, and was continually twitching at the edges of them ... it totally made me want to whip out my sewing kit and add some buttons on the spot They are soooo unflattering ... there oughta be a law.

I believe Marjorie wears a lot of Oscar and Herrera. Carolina tends to do a better job for her from what I've seen ... the Oscar tends to be uniformly (no pun intended) unflattering ...

 

[LaurieAnn]

So many good comments to respond to. I like it when we get a good discussion going.

* I would so love to see MGR or any other full figured women in a creation by John Galliano. That would be the ultimate. I think that Jenniffer Hudson would be expecially beautiful in one of his creations.
* Confidence is very important when you are plus size and I also realize from seeing the photos of Marjorie and Kate together how important good grooming is on top of that.
* Jackets without buttons are terrible. I believe that we full figured women actually look much better in clothes that gently hug our curves. Too many plus size clothing lines seem to think that larger women want to hide and potato sacks are very unflattering.
* Jessye Norman. I haven't seen many pictures of her recently so I'm not as familiar with her style. She is however a superlative human being, she has a regal presence that just puts me in awe of her. Not to mention her voice which truly is a gift from the muses.
* Love the comment about Oscar being uniformly unflattering. I got a good chuckle out of that.

 

[classic1908]

^^
Although Galliano isn't to my personal taste -- I am a much more conservative dresser and am a fan of Oscar de la Renta even with his misfires on Marjorie (I have two of his high-end pieces and several of his now-defunct Oscar bridge line pieces, BTW), I can see Hudson/Raein looking good in a Galliano. He did a great job with Crystal Renn a couple of years ago in one of his shows.

 

[LaurieAnn]

classic1908, I just thought the comment was funny in context. I often love Oscar, especially his F/W 2006 suits. I don't have anything by him and confess that I were I ever able to take a shopping trip to NYC I would definately visit his boutique as well as Carolina Herrera. It would be wishful thinking that I could afford anything but would love to see and feel their designs up close.

Do you like the fit of the items you have by ODLR?

 

[classic1908]

classic1908, I just thought the comment was funny in context. I often love Oscar, especially his F/W 2006 suits. I don't have anything by him and confess that I were I ever able to take a shopping trip to NYC I would definately visit his boutique as well as Carolina Herrera. It would be wishful thinking that I could afford anything but would love to see and feel their designs up close.

Do you like the fit of the items you have by ODLR?

LaurieAnn, I like my Oscars. My pieces are a missy 18. The tank, which is emerald green silk taffeta, is not too boxy and I didn't have to have any darts put in -- a plus.
The pants, a mint green silk charmeuse, are a bit low for me and I may have some waist work. My waist is probably about 12-14 inches smaller than my buttocks: that's my body challenge. But I do like their feel and length -- I have to wear 2-inch to 3-inch heels, though. I'm 5'9" so I'm a bit wary of super-high heels.

 

[classic1908]

More Marjorie, NYSD

I notice that she loves the duster, but I'd like to see her in stuff with more structure and a waist now that I think about it:

 

[LaurieAnn]

LaurieAnn, I like my Oscars. My pieces are a missy 18. The tank, which is emerald green silk taffeta, is not too boxy and I didn't have to have any darts put in -- a plus.
The pants, a mint green silk charmeuse, are a bit low for me and I may have some waist work. My waist is probably about 12-14 inches smaller than my buttocks: that's my body challenge. But I do like their feel and length -- I have to wear 2-inch to 3-inch heels, though. I'm 5'9" so I'm a bit wary of super-high heels.

Thanks for the info. The outfit sounds lovely. I've never had the chance to try on any Oscar, maybe this summer when I make my annual July shopping trip to San Francisco. (It's a bad time of year for clothes, but better for accessories which is what I usually buy when I'm there.)

I'm purely fantasizing now but does anyone know if Chanel makes their tweed jackets in a single button down with princess seams or a peplum? Someday I'd love to visit a Chanel boutique and try on a jacket but I'm afraid their iconic buttonless, boxy jacket would make me look...well...boxy.

 

[xmodel citizen]

yOy, if I could afford to get my clothes cutom made by some of the best designers in the world, do you know how gorgeous it would be? I would work hard to enure that I was the best dressed person in a 20 miles radius

That's like putting a kid in a candy store with no limits and watching them buy stacks of spicy hard candies and lemon drops.

 

[Guessgirl96]

I so agree- I mean I'm all for bigger people dressing well- but she simply dresses expensively without managing to dress well.

there are a number of things shoe could wear which might create an illusion of a waist (her main figure flaw) but she never tries to do that, always with the duster jackets and shifts

I imagine being rich in new york there is a lot of pressure on her to be thin, and maybe she feels bad about herself and doesn't want to think about ways to dress that would flatter her shape more, but really she'd look so much better if she did.

A bit OT, but I found it hilarious how you wrote "shoe" instead of "she" Guess it suites your name!!

 

[stilettogirl84]

Major Karma to you Stilettogirl84! I can't believe the effort you put into your post with the drawings and outfits. This is such helpful information for me. I can see that I was dressing in some ways that are helpful and some ways that are not. I now really understand the layered deep v-neck thing and I can create a better look with many pieces that I already have.

I'm glad I could help a bit- I feel so strongly that women can look good regardless of their shape. I often get fed up with people on this site who throw figure flattery out the window and simply follow along with whatever new thing vogue tells them to wear. That's how women get a bad body image. Instead of trying to work with what they've got, they feel a need to try different shapes and cuts every season. I love clothes, but I hate fashion. I want buy something great and keep it forever. I feel sorry for thsoe who try to change themselves to suit the clothes, rather than the other way around

^^
Although Galliano isn't to my personal taste ... I can see Hudson/Raein looking good in a Galliano. He did a great job with Crystal Renn a couple of years ago in one of his shows.

I would so love to see MGR or any other full figured women in a creation by John Galliano. That would be the ultimate. I think that Jenniffer Hudson would be expecially beautiful in one of his creations.

I agree- I also think McQueen would do a good job of dressing curves. He is so good with creating clothes with shape. He does geat stuff with seams and things that I think aren't done justice by the straight up and down models that are on the runway. I didn't like his most recent "egyptian collection" but the last few, and many past ones, really would have translated well in larger sizes

Jackets without buttons are terrible. I believe that we full figured women actually look much better in clothes that gently hug our curves. Too many plus size clothing lines seem to think that larger women want to hide and potato sacks are very unflattering.

^ Just wanted to mention one of my pet peeves when it comes to plus size dressing, which includes what's available on the rack. Almost always when I layer, I button as demonstrated by stilletto above (btw, I'd give you karma too, but I can't right now ), and I'm a 10 or an 8. When I see jackets made for large women with no buttons, it just drives me crazy! I knew someone who wore these jackets all the time, and was continually twitching at the edges of them ... it totally made me want to whip out my sewing kit and add some buttons on the spot They are soooo unflattering ... there oughta be a law.

I completely agree. And not only do they need buttons, but at the right spot. I remember I had a high school teacher who wore a cardigan with one button- at the neck it created a whole short neck big belly silhouette, and I wanted to break that button off for her. It seems so obvious seeing it- but people so often don't see themselves objectively.

 

[stilettogirl84]

A bit OT, but I found it hilarious how you wrote "shoe" instead of "she" Guess it suites your name!!

Freudian slip?

 

[3RingCircus]

^^
Although Galliano isn't to my personal taste...I can see Hudson/Raein looking good in a Galliano. He did a great job with Crystal Renn a couple of years ago in one of his shows.

Did you mean this dress? If so, it's not Crystal Renn, it's french plus model Johanna Dray, who is visibly bigger than Renn at a size 16-18. There were 2 other plus models in that showing as well, Velvet and Veronique. Otherwise you may be thinking of Renn's appearance for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Even though industry types keep trotting out the old chestnut that 'clothes just look better on skinny models', Johanna's dress got the most orders of Galliano's collection that season. Who's kidding who? One may look 'better', but that doesn't necessarily mean much when it comes to selling a collection to women who want a dress they can actually wear.

photos: MichelNafziger.com from Gala Magazine editorial. Beautiful, no?

 

[LaurieAnn]

stilettogirl 84, you have a very good eye for what works. That's a goal I have for myself, to develop a better eye for what works for me so that I can create a wardrobe that flatters my body the way it is and ignore the dross that won't work.

Also I have a fashion confession. Until I purchased Bradley Bayou's The Science of Sexy a few months ago and used his tape measure method to figure out my body type, I thought I was an hourglass instead of the rectangle that I actually am. You see that's the body type I admire and would like to dress, but for me it's a fantasy and not reality. The tape measue proved it once and for all. Now I am committed to dressing the body that I actually have without pretending that I'm a plus size Dita Von Teese.

3RingCircus, love the above picture. Especially the woman in the dress. Very sexy!

 

[fashionista-ta]

Did you mean this dress? If so, it's not Crystal Renn, it's french plus model Johanna Dray, who is visibly bigger than Renn at a size 16-18. There were 2 other plus models in that showing as well, Velvet and Veronique. Otherwise you may be thinking of Renn's appearance for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Even though industry types keep trotting out the old chestnut that 'clothes just look better on skinny models', Johanna's dress got the most orders of Galliano's collection that season. Who's kidding who? One may look 'better', but that doesn't necessarily mean much when it comes to selling a collection to women who want a dress they can actually wear.

photos: MichelNafziger.com from Gala Magazine editorial. Beautiful, no?

That's very interesting ...

There's so much power in being a woman, yet the industry insists on showing their best work on young girls. It's quite interesting to me that when Gemma had that vacant look, she was hotter than hot, but now that she's started to grow up and develop a persona, she's cooled. I guess most designers just don't want their clothes to have any competition

 

[LaurieAnn]

I believe it was in Fashion Babylon that the author stated something to the effect that "if I could send my clothing down the runway on hangers I would." You can't get any skinnier than a hanger.

 

[classic1908]

Did you mean this dress? If so, it's not Crystal Renn, it's french plus model Johanna Dray, who is visibly bigger than Renn at a size 16-18. There were 2 other plus models in that showing as well, Velvet and Veronique. Otherwise you may be thinking of Renn's appearance for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Even though industry types keep trotting out the old chestnut that 'clothes just look better on skinny models', Johanna's dress got the most orders of Galliano's collection that season. Who's kidding who? One may look 'better', but that doesn't necessarily mean much when it comes to selling a collection to women who want a dress they can actually wear.

photos: MichelNafziger.com from Gala Magazine editorial. Beautiful, no?

I might be thinking about Renn and Gaultier. I wasn't sure about where Velvet appeared, but I can tell you, I wasn't pleased about what she was sent down the runway in. Wasn't flattering.
Johanna looks better, to me, in the evening dress. I'm not a fan of androgyny.

 

[cait]

This thread is amazing! I've been lurking here @ TFS for a long time but didn't really become eager to join until this thread popped up. As much as I love fashion I've often felt like there was barely any place in it for me. I've always been an hourglass and over the last few years I've gained a little more sand in the hourglass, and hello plus size. My size has never bothered me, I'd like to be more fit, but style has nothing to do with size. And my taste in clothes has always been more about wearability and what mood I'm in than the latest passing fad anyway.

I need to go back thru the thread again - there's so much information here. But for the recent posts I can say:

*Stiletto, your post with illustrations is excellent. I think it's something we can all take something from, whether we naturally have a defined waist or not. If I don't wear things that accentuate my waist I feel like a giant marshmallow.

*classic1908, I see what you mean about Marjorie GR. I loved her attitude about her size in Vogue's Shape issue a few years ago but she's made the A-line shift with matching duster her uniform when something else would be more flattering. But I do appreciate the grooming, especially her obvious love of a good bag.

*Jen Hudson looked wonderful @ the Costume Institute gala. I especially loved the line of the train on her gown as she went up the stairs.

I'm sure I'll have more to post after I've reread this thread. It's great to finally be able to participate.

 

[PerfectPerfect]

I love getting vintage clothes. You can find almost any shape or height to suit your body. I have trouble with clothes that fit the lower half of my body, vintage works with my curves almost perfectly. I'm starting to archive some clothes I buy, and I'm finding some great larger pieces that I would love to share one day.

 

[stilettogirl84]

It's quite interesting to me that when Gemma had that vacant look, she was hotter than hot, but now that she's started to grow up and develop a persona, she's cooled. I guess most designers just don't want their clothes to have any competition

that's how i see models- they're so thin they're almost invisible. And they aren't pretty in a traditional sense- when I see runway photos, I can remember the clothes clearly- but the models all disappear into the background.

Designers want you to say- "that's a pretty dress" and not "thats a pretty model"