Every woman should have a classic Little Black Dress (LBD) in her wardrobe, a go to dress for many occasions. The classic LBD can go from office to evening with a simple accessory change.
CCB Custom Dresses www.ccbcustomdress.com has a collection of Little Black Dresses in misses and plus sizes 2-28. Made from medium weight structured Polyester Lycra blend, it has a comfortable stretch and wears beautifully without clinging.
Strapless
|
Classic Boat Neck
|
One Shoulder
|
Square Neckline
|
V-Neckline
|
Asymmetrical Neckline
|
and help you choose the right silhouette for your shape
Tank Style
|
Boat Neck A-line
|
Scoop Neck
|
My capacity and willingness to be honest has increased with age. When I was younger and overly eager to please everyone, except myself, I never really knew who I was. Perhaps one of the perks of maturing is that for every day that I get older, I care just a little bit less about what people think about me. It’s liberating to stop worrying about what other people think and start deciding what I think.
The truth about fashion and true beauty is crucial. The images of women displayed in most fashion magazines are so far from reality that it’s simply cruel. In my quest to be the woman I thought I was supposed be, based on what I saw in the magazines, I ended up being at least ten times larger than any fashion magazine model.
Another gift of maturity is acceptance. I am a plus size woman but I don’t feel any shame around it today. I live a healthy lifestyle, and I am active, I am at peace with my body for the first time ever. I have been a size 6 all the way to a size 28 but never did I find true acceptance with my body until this point in my life.
The irony is that as soon as I accepted my body as is, curves and all with unconditional love and acceptance, I began to lose weight. I am not on a diet and I am not a diet advocate. I am simply showing my body love and kindness with the food I eat and activity. Today, I accept my reflection in the mirror and I choose the clothes to wear that compliment my shape. I have parts that I love and parts that I recruit the assistance of industrial strength Lycra to rearrange its location. I am opposed to any sort of negative self-talk and I believe in an objective non-judgmental assessment of my body.
If you have a window in your house and it needs curtains, you get your tape measure and measure it; look at the window and assess what treatment would be best for it. That is the kind of assessment that is needed to begin to dress in a way that is complimentary to your body size and shape. By taking an honest (judgment free) assessment of your body you can make better fashion decisions. Decide what you want to show off and what might need to camouflaged and let’s get busy!
Here are some tips to get started:
- Take honest and accurate measurements (bust, waist, hips, and bra size). Determining your size depends on where you shop. Knowing your measurements is useful especially when shopping online.
- Height plays an important role in a fashion assessment are you petite, regular, or tall? Your height is important to think about to make sure you wear clothes that elongate you (unless you are over 6’; looking taller may not be your goal)
- Defining you body type is essential for choosing silhouettes that compliment you shape (I wrote Dress Right for Your Body Type to help with this).
Once you have completed your assessment it’s time to figure out what story that you want to tell about yourself. I really think that it is important to establish a style theme. I don’t think that you have to assign yourself to one style and never stray from it but it is important to have a fashion home base. A place where even if you stray a little you will come back to it and it’s a look that represents who you are.
The clothing you wear is an opportunity to tell a story about who you are. People are going to judge me and you by what we wear and how we wear it (for better or for worse). I think it is a worthwhile use of time to make sure that our clothes are telling our story in our own words.
Please feel free to comment and subscribe to my blog
The cocktail dresses and gowns in the IGIGI by Yuliya Raquel Holiday Collection are the perfect combination of timeless, graceful, and sexy. Raquel has a distinct vision for her collection. The masterfully placed seams and shirring and use of the gracious empire waist, reveals the pure genius of her designs. No body type was left out of this collection.
“During the creation of this collection, I envisioned a powerful, sensuous and beautiful woman evoking the womanly charm and luxurious beauty of decades gone by. This collection captures what it means to be a confident and sensual contemporary woman in love with a time when beauty was conveyed with the swivel of a hip and the sparkle of the eyes creating a luxurious being in one’s own femininity,” said Yuliya Raquel, Founder, Designer and Creative Director.
One of greatest challenges for women who wear plus sizes is, shopping for dresses and choosing the right silhouette to compliment their shape. This online boutique takes away the guess work by providing their customers with SHAPESTYLIST; a guide to help women determine their body type and recommends which style is best for their shape.
It’s no secret that I love jersey fabric, I rave about it every opportunity I get. I find it to be one of the most flattering and luxurious fabrics for women who wear plus sizes. This collection makes excellent use of jersey’s ability to embrace the curves of a woman’s body without clinging.
The garment I received for this review was the Rebecca Gown (pictured above). I was nervous because I have a large bust and I usually avoid empire waist dresses but this dress is amazing! It fits perfectly and once I got to twirling around in it, I felt like the Belle of the Ball. The dress was constructed with remarkable workmanship, it’s full lined, and the fabric is excellent quality.
It is rare to find clothing manufactured in the USA however; IGIGI is Designed and made in the San Francisco Bay Area and employs local independent contractors, allowing for hands on quality control.
The Holiday Collection is now available in sizes 12-32 at www.igigi.com. Prices range from $65 to $250. The ample style and color choices, fabulous accessories, and essential shape wear makes IGIGI a one stop destination for your holiday shopping.
$50.00 Gift Card WINNER: Renee Hampton-Dickerson
You will receive an email with your gift details.
IGIGI by Yuliya Raquel Holiday Collection 2011 $50.00 gift card giveaway
First and mandatory entry: visit http://www.igigi.com return to this blog and leave the name of your favorite dress from the holiday collection in the comment box.
For additional entries leave each individual entry action in the comment box:
Follow @IGIGI on twitter (leave twitter name in comment box)
Like IGIGI on facebook (leave facebook name in comment box)
Sign up for IGIGI Newsletter www.igigi.com (leave signed up for newsletter in comment box)
Tweet: Enter to #win a @IGIGI $50 Gift Certificate http://bit.ly/IGIGI50 (one entry each day and leave twitter link in the comment box)
Sign up for this blog
Drawing will held on 12/23/2011 and the winner will be notified by email.
What’s Your New Years Resolution?
Share it and you may win $1,000.00 shopping spree from IGIGI click HERE to enter
Discloser Notice: I received a dress as compensation for my work on this review however; my review states my honest opinion about the product I received.
I have been pondering the plus size fashion issue for a while. I am a woman who wears plus size clothing and a plus size fashion designer. As a consumer, I have felt like being a plus size woman was an unwanted designation. I never could understand why I had to be referred to as plus size? Plus what? As a designer I understand the designation because a standard formula can be used to grade pattern sizes accurately up to about a size 18. Above a size 18, the standard grading formula is not as reliable. There are so many variables when a woman is larger than a size 18. Where a woman carries her weight will affect the fit of her clothing.
Most of us are familiar with common body types: pear, apple, rectangle, and hourglass (our Dress Right for Your Body Type guide has more details). Those body types apply to all sizes but when applied to plus sizes the variables are incalculable. I think the reason why it’s so difficult for plus size women to find fashion forward clothes is because designers shy away from making patterns for sizes larger than a size 18 because there is no reliable way to accommodate all of the shape variables.
I don’t believe the motivation to exclude plus sizes from high fashion is always as discriminatory as it feels (though sometimes it is), and it’s not because designers don’t recognize the sales potential of satisfying this market demographic. I believe it’s simply not cost effective and to risky to mass produce so many various sizes coupled with a fear of condoning obesity.
So what does a woman who wears plus size clothing find in the stores and boutique in her size? Knit, glorious knit! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Spandex, my entire custom dress collection is made from gorgeous matte jersey (Polyester Spandex blend). I highlight knit to say that it is its forgiving nature that makes it so appealing and suitable for accommodating many various shapes that woven fabric can’t.
I believe the time has come for us as a culture to stop making plus size woman feel like second class citizens. Women who wear plus size clothing are rarely celebrated in the media and when they are questions are raised about their health. We shower praise on women in our culture that are so thin they need to wear heavy shoes to keep from blowing away on a windy day. Is thin, in and of itself, healthy? I say NO! Thin is not well. Fat is not sick. I know overweight people who are healthy and active and I know thin people who are unfit and sedentary.
We as a culture should start celebrating women for who they are not for the circumference of their waist. I am a woman who has been at every point in the size spectrum, I have been a high as a size 28 and as low as a size 6. When I was younger I tried everything under the sun to lose weight and fit into misses sizes. At one point I was successful and I spent many years wearing misses’ sizes and eventually found my way back to wearing plus sizes (more on that later). One thing I know is that my character, work ethic, moral fiber, and my ability to be an great wife and mother was not influenced by my dress size.
As a designer, I design for all sizes but I always consider what body type can wear my designs and I am strongly influenced by the needs of plus size women. I want to do my part, as a designer to contribute to what is available to women who don’t fit misses’ sizes. I use a size 14 mannequin to display my collection because 50% of women in the USA are a size 14.
As a woman who wears plus size clothing, I refuse to allow myself to be defined by my size. I invite all women, no matter what size or shape; to celebrate your curves don’t hide them under ill fitting clothes. I believe that style and fashion come from within and the clothes we choose to wear are a very important part of communicating to the world what we think and feel about our bodies.
I am on a personal mission to do my part to change the way women with curves shop for clothing online. I want to educate women on how to choose the right silhouette to compliment their shape and to remove shame from the equation of wearing a plus size. I encourage women to celebrate the body God gave them, treat it with love and kindness, and break the cycle of self-inflicted criticism.
My custom dress collection is timeless silhouettes that are essential pieces for every woman’s wardrobe. We provide free custom sizing to allow women of all shapes and sizes to have a great fitting dress. Visit our online boutique to see the complete custom dress collection www.ccbcustomdress.com
Please feel free to comment on my blog.
It has been 2 years 4 months and 5 days since my father, my best friend, pasted away. Losing my father so unexpectedly made me feel like I was standing in a bouncy house; no matter where I put my foot I could not find my balance. I was so close to my father and he was truly my best friend and I felt so grounded when I talked to him. Proximity had little effect on our relationship because when I moved to Georgia 6 years ago we became closer; talking more often and sharing more life experiences with each other.
I love my father deeply and have a tremendous amount of respect for him. When I received the fateful call informing me of his passing I felt as if all my blood had drained from my body. To my surprise, I also felt a peace in my spirit because I knew that we left nothing unspoken. My father died knowing everything about me, no secrets, and he knew how much I loved him because I told him often. I could fill many pages of great things about my father but to sum it up, I want to be like him when I grow up.
Nothing could have prepared me for how grief stricken I would be losing him. How many times did I reach for the phone to call him and tell him about my day to day minutia? One time I actually dialed the phone before I could stop myself and some strange man answered the phone. “Dad, dad is that you.” I said to the unfortunate man that got my father’s phone number just weeks after his death. This was beyond the “ugly cry,” I couldn’t catch my breath, curled up on the floor was where stayed until I could catch my breath to stand.
Grief is a cruel and necessary evil. I believe that however much you loved someone the pain of grief is equal measure. However twisted that is, it is how I began to heal. Instead of focusing on how much my heart hurt, I focused on how much love I have for my father and how I walk with him within me every day.
I wanted to become like my dad when I grew up. When I take a look at who I am, I see a woman blessed by God, a strong successful businesswoman, and a wife and mother of 2 children, 3 dogs, and 1 cat. I did not lose my father he is right here with me and I know he is proud of me. In time, through tears, and with help, I have stood up out of my grief on solid ground. “There she is,” I say to myself; I am the woman he raised me to be.
In loving memory of Frederick William Bourne 1948-2009
