Category: Shopping

Shopping Without Spending A Dime

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With the move seven months ago I received the gift of the holy grail — a closet! I know for many people in the world this is nothing to be excited about, but for me this was the best thing to happen to me since learning how to manage my naturally curly hair. Having a closet has opened a world of organization that I could only simulate in my old apartment and has also given me a sense of financial and fashion accountability I really didn’t have before.

I’m a clothes hoarder. It’s a fact, which is why I can admit it so easily.  I have more clothes and shoes than I care to admit, due to my former habit of buying anything and everything that managed to fit my plus size frame. I have also kept most of my high school clothes which actually makes up the bulk of my wardrobe. It is worth noting that I have been out of high school for seven years now. Clearly I have lost track of what I was keeping and have to cut some ties with my past.

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This is actually less than half of what I currently own….

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My Two Cents: “Curvy” or “Plus Size”?

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The hashtag droptheplus has bought widespread attention as to whether or not women larger than a size 10 should be called/considered plus size as well as whether or not the term “plus size” should be dropped entirely. Personally, I have made my peace with being considered “plus- size” and really the only negative stigma I associate with the term are some of the fashions that are reminiscent of animal print, bedazzled maternity-inspired wear pushed to plus-size consumers with the lie, “Look we tried and you didn’t bite.”

Though created to simply describe clothing bigger than the acceptable straight size ideals, the term still holds incredibly negative associations regardless of how far the body positive movement has gone in the past decade. Our culture vilifies fat and fatness due to being linked to allusions of laziness, and ugliness. It leads to assumptions of one’s personality and behaviors as such a woman with fat* is one who clearly does not care about their appearance or attracting potential partners. They are the ones that have (supposedly) given up, and are responsible for making obesity an epidemic. Thus, plus-size is not a celebratory term, but rather a derogatory one that has lead to an increased fear of being recognized as such. Continue reading →

(Affordable) Prom Picks 2015

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For tips on shopping for your prom dress watch my first YouTube video. Here are my picks for the 2015 Prom season. All of these are within my affordable rules, being less than $200. I made sure to include a variety of retailers, dress lengths, and silhouettes so that everyone has options. I strongly believe that prom is a time to make a statement, which is why I included styles that wouldn’t normally be associated with prom. No matter what you decide, choose what works best for you and more importantly what makes you feel amazing. Happy shopping! ❤ Continue reading →

It Still Fits! : Plus Size Prom Dress Shopping Tips

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I took it upon myself to try on my high school prom dress recently and was pleasantly surprised to find that it still fits! Its been 7 years since my own high school prom and fitting into the dress has gotten me a bit nostalgic. With prom stuck in my brain for the past few days I decided to share my top tips on how to go about shopping for a prom dress. I hope it is not too late since it is April.  I just learned that some people have prom in May but I know in New York prom tends to happen in June so I am hoping anyone watching this still has time to go shopping for their dress. Let me know in the comments below which tip is your favorite and share your prom dress pictures with me on Facebook or Instagram (use #BCTProm). Continue reading →

My Two Cents: Target’s Ava & Viv Review

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Yesterday I got to finally see the Ava & Viv line at my neighborhood Target stores. Needless to say I was not impressed. For a company that claims they wish to improve their relationship with plus size customers they have gone about it the wrong way, using the very poor practices that got them negative criticism in the first place.

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To start I was surprised that to find no promotions for the launch of the line save for blog posts by Chastity Garner of  Garnersyle, Nicolette Mason and Gabi Gregg of GabiFresh. To be honest I half expected Target to make the additional effort to air a look book style commercial for the line on television, if not the days leading to the launch at least the day before. Of course, there was nothing. To date there is only one video on the line and its blogger models which is ridiculous if you compare it to the three videos on the 2013 collection by Philip Lim. There was no hype surround the launch before, after or even during.* While I didn’t get a chance to get to Target on Sunday, February 22 to experience this for myself, I haven’t heard or seen anything that contradicts this point. It seems like Target’s new line is not something they are  proud of. Its much like that boyfriend who is dating a plus size girl and is making sure to keep it a secret because he is embarrassed. Sure Target claims it has no qualms with its plus size customers but they won’t associate themselves with us much, they just want to make sure we continue to patronize there stores.

That said let’s take a look at what Target is (currently) offering with this Ava & Viv line. Continue reading →