Tag: shopping

My Bare Arms Summer

3 Comments

Ever since I was a tween,  my biggest insecurity were the appearance of my arms. They are big, covered with stretch marks, and scars– things that I believed absolutely had to be covered. This insecurity would effect me most once it started to get warmer. For me this usually meant that sleeves (not short sleeves, mind you) and sweaters made up most of my daily summer wardrobe, even in 100 degree NYC humidity. While other girls and young women would wear their tanks and spaghetti-strapped summer dresses, I wore thick hoodies (sometimes over long sleeves).

This continued on as I have  entered adulthood. Even with the scorching  sun outside, I would stay covered, replacing my adolescent hoodies for shrugs, cardigans and blazers.(It should come as no surprise that I usually spend the summer indoors.)  I truly believed that as big as I was, I had no right to show off my arms. Nevermind that the various types of cover-ups didn’t make my arms disappear from existence or give them a slimmer appearance.  This all changed mid- May in a Target fitting room. As I stood there looking at my reflection in the mirror, I just could not figure out how to wear the Lilly Pulitzer Sea-Urchin-for -You Satin Florence dress  with a shrug and  retain the overall silhouette of the dress. That’s when it hit me, why did I have to? It was then that I decided to stop hiding my arms and embrace them as they are. Continue reading →

Blue and White Boho Summer

3 Comments

Ever since high school I developed this habit of avoiding shops that cater more to straight sizes, mostly because I figure since my size and shape is obviously not taken into account in the design of their offered pieces, I would only be wasting my time by looking there. Of course this mode of thinking is false, as evident from this outfit made up entirely of straight size pieces.

Back in late May I ventured into Forever 21 to do some shopping recon and my eye was immediately lead to this navy blue and cream bandana skirt. I scanned the racks for my size and I was not surprised to find that it wasn’t available in plus. Not to be defeated so easily, I found the skirt in a large (their largest offering of this piece) and went to try it on. I fell in love as you may have seen on Instagram:

instagram shop post

Continue reading →

Shopping Without Spending A Dime

3 Comments

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.

IMGP5824

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

Continue reading →

My Two Cents: Do we want good quality Plus Size fashion?

Leave a comment

Currently its being argued that it is the shopping practices of plus size women that affects retailer supply to their customers.  I find this accusation to be ridiculous as you won’t ever hear this same argument within straight size fashion. Nevertheless, retailers and designers stand firm on this stating that their potential customers are just not interested in particular styles or even quality. Could this be true? Do we want good quality plus size fashion? Continue reading →

My Two Cents: Target’s Ava & Viv Review

16 Comments

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.

introduction

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 →