Cheap Chica's Guide: Plus Size Fashions

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

Willie D

Always For Me Swimwear

Here I am again, talking about summer. Today I’ll introduce you to Alwaysforme. You may have seen or read about it in tons of different fashion magazines. Their goal is to provide fashionable plus size swimwear for women all over. Their sizes range from 16W up to 26W – the W after the size means they’re Women’s Cut, so there's more room in the much needed spaces. Alwaysforme is big on swimsuits and the lovely swim dresses but they also have a small selection of extremely sexy lingerie.

My favorite way to shop around Alwaysforme is to use the coolest feature they have – shopping by body type. If you need a little bust-enhancing look at these examples I have for you.

This Ocho Rios Twist One Piece Bandeau is young and fashionable. You know how much I love polka dots, right? The straps are removable which is a plus for those who hate tan lines. This particular model has padded bra cups but no wires so which is ideal for those who don’t have full breasts or firm boobs. Also, it will minimize your waist and tame your tummy. What more can you ask for?

If you’re curious about swimdresses, The Natal Halter Swimdress With Ring may be just right for you. Its fully lined, which is important to ensure durability and quality, minimizing the waist and the hips. It has a tummy tamer and will really improve the looks of your cleavage. Besides, nobody can go wrong with a red swimsuit. Enough of black and turquise, they are much too boring!

If, on the other hand, you wear a C cup or up, you’ll need something with some more support and Alwaysforme has something for you.

I know I just said two paragraphs ago that black and turquoise swimsuits were boring but this one may very well be the exception that confirms the rule. This is one of my favorite pieces from the site. The Miraclesuit "Escape" Hidden Underwire One Piece has an underwire to provide great bust support but it’s also in a plunging form to make your décolleté look awesome. This particular style also has a tummy tamer and waist minimizer. The manufacturers say that you’re garanteed to look 10lbs thinner and that can’t hurt, can it?

Another One Piece Bandeau Swim Suit, but this time in a lovely Coral; but in pictures, seem more like a lovely Hot Pink. You can find it in turquoise, black and brown. However, the coral swimsuit has extra lining since it’s lighter. You don’t want to risk it becoming transparent when wet. It can be worn in a halter neck or strapless style and it will minize the waist, hip and stomach area.

I was told by one of the sales assistants at Alwaysforme that the best line is the Carol Wior Brand of swimwear, which was ideally manufactured for larger busted women. All of her suits contain an underwire and are fuller cuts. So you might want to check it out if these are your particular needs.

If Mother Nature was generous with you on your hips and you want to conceal that for a trip to the beach, here are some examples of what you may find at Alwaysforme.

In a cool and fun array of colours, the Two Piece Diva Skirtini might just be the best bet for you this summer. It features adjustable straps, tummy tamer and hip minimizer among other things. This bright yellow called Pineapple will speak for itself.

Another beautiful and sexy option would be the It Figures Boho Bandeau Tankini with Brief. The pattern is just too cute as it is, but to add more flare, it’s available in two gorgeous color combos. Straps are removable so if you have large hips and large boobs, this might be just right for you.

As you probably already noticed by now, if you’re looking for specific tummy tamers and waist minimizers, most, if not all, of the swimwear over at Alwaysforme have this attribute. However, if you’re still looking for the right solution, here’s some more of my picks.

Busy patterns don’t always work and I advise against them most of the time if you're trying to conceal something, but this time it worked great. Novelty One Piece Twist Front Bandeau looks pretty and comes in Hot Pink and Blue. It has a street inspired graffiti print on the front and is solid on the back to balance things out.

Still looking into prints; a Kingston Print is always classic but attention calling. As the manufactures themselves put it, "the top provides incredible support with a sewn in soft foam cup bra with extra floating mesh material under the cups and on the side of the cups for total support and comfort. This plus size suit is fully lined and is extremely flattering." Plus, it’s on sale.

Alwaysforme also has a vast choice of cover-ups so if that’s what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to check them out.

Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration
Micky

Ditto Delivers: Beth Launches New Clothing Line

Last month we reported that The Gossip songstress, Beth Ditto, teamed up with the U.K. fashion house Evans to create a beautiful collection for plus size women. Yesterday Ms. Ditto introduced to the world her clothing line (ranging from sizes 14-32) at Evans and I’ve got to give it to her – she did an excellent job! To describe her collection - its Euro chic: stylish, predominantly black, features a lot of print and designed to flatter a woman’s curve and to top it off its affordable! Here are some of the pieces from her collection.

Domino Print Dress

Stain Glass Prom Dress

Denim Pencil Skirt

Black Prom Dress



Black Leggings

Black Biker Jacket

This is what I call inspirational fashion!

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

- Suzanna

Plus-size Fashion Dilemmas

Source: By Ruth La Ferla

This month, a couple of years after Beth Ditto complained about the lack of plus-size fashion in Topshop, Arcadia plans to unveil a collection that Ms. Ditto designed for Evans, the company’s plus-size division. Available in the United States on the Web, it highlights cutting-edge looks like a corset dress and a cropped biker jacket.

The collection is the latest in an outpouring of fashions aimed at trend-driven, round-figured teenagers and young women, a population that has long echoed Ms. Ditto’s complaint that it is ignored by most merchants and brands.

Other stores and designers have picked up the message. Forever 21, a purveyor of cheap chic, introduced its plus-size line, Faith 21, this spring. Target recently began offering Pure Energy, exuberantly patterned dresses and tops for young women. Those follow hip niche labels like Karen Kane and Kiyonna, which are sold at boutiques.

All the lines see potential profit in offering stylish alternatives to the ubiquitous track suit. From a business perspective, that makes sense: the customer base is increasing, as health authorities have long pointed out. Some 17 percent of teenagers are overweight, according to the surgeon general’s office, more than three times the rate of a generation ago.

The market for youth-oriented plus sizes (usually 14 to 24) showed strong growth a couple of years ago, several years after the fast-fashion chain H&M entered the business. (H&M has since dropped its plus-size line, for reasons it would not disclose.)

Last year, sales of plus sizes to girls and young women ages 13 to 34 reached $5.8 billion, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm.

With consumer spending falling everywhere, that momentum has been lost: Sales declined 15.3 percent for plus-size shoppers 13 to 17 and 10.1 percent for those 18 to 34 in April and May, compared with the period a year ago, NPD says.

Plus-size lines aimed at older women have also suffered; chains including Ann Taylor and Old Navy have removed larger sizes from stores (they still sell them online).

Faith 21 was introduced “because our customers were asking for larger sizes, and to fill a void in the market for trendy and fashionable plus-size clothing,” said Linda Chang, the senior manager of marketing for Forever 21. It includes some 250 styles.

Smaller stores are also catering to shoppers who want figure-hugging fashions like their thinner friends. “Some of those girls feel like they have the brio to pull off a fitted look,” said Stephanie Sack, the owner of Vive la Femme, a plus-size boutique on fashionable Damen Avenue in Chicago. She confided that when she was 20, “I would have choked somebody to get my hand on a studded belt to fit me.”

“When you’re fat you stand out anyway,” said Annie Maribona, the shop’s founder and part owner. “It’s really important to go all the way and do something fun or even outrageous with your clothes.”

Stores as diverse as Kmart and Lord & Taylor have dispensed with conventional big girls’ “dos and don’ts,” offering the hothouse colors and exuberant prints, the ruffles and flounces of their so-called straight-size counterparts. Even horizontal stripes, once a fashion sin for the overweight, animate some looks in Kmart’s Piper & Blue collection.

“I’ve noticed lately that they are trying to make big sizes more into style,” said Kathy Salinas, as she considered a zebra-striped Piper & Blue tunic at a Kmart in downtown Manhattan this week. “You see that at regular stores, not just the plus-size stores, and that’s a good thing.”

Round-figured young women have found inspiration in popular culture. Ms. Ditto, who settled her girth on tiny gilt chairs at some 10 fashion shows this year, along with the actress Jennifer Hudson and the singer Adele, all appear in full-figured glory in the current issue of Elle.

The glamorously curvy Jordin Sparks captivated viewers on “American Idol,” then moved on to a recording career. On Stylista, a reality show on the CW network last fall, a curvy contestant named Danielle competed for a job as a junior editor at Elle.

More than tokenism, such fashion and media tactics seem born of a conviction that larger young women have become more self-accepting. “They are inclined to show off the parts of their bodies they love,” said Ms. Sack, the Chicago retailer. Pushing the trend is a broad movement of fat acceptance among academics, anti-bias activists and some psychologists. “It’s important to reclaim ‘fat’ as a descriptive, as even something positive,” argued Ms. Maribona of Fat Fancy.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

- Suzanna