Manolo for the Big Girl

Our internet friend Kim wrote to Francesca:

I have found out recently that I am pregnant, and being the shopaholic that I am I’ve starting shopping around the web for maternity wear. Unfortunately, I’ve only been finding up to sizes 18, and I am a 20. Do you have some places to recommend?

Regarding the impending birth of your child, Francesca says: Congratulations! May your baby be healthy and happy and bring out the very best in you. And let you sleep sometimes. Francesca wishes you all the best! xoxo!

Regarding your search for size 20 maternity wear, Francesca says: Ayyyy! Kim has set for Francesca a most difficult quest indeed!

Francesca has never been pregnant, but for her friend Kim she spent a goodly amount of time researching the fashion choices of the plus-size woman with a bun in the oven.

Slim pickin’s, ladies. It is slim pickin’s. (No pun intended.)

First of all, Francesca will not recommend any place that offers plus-size maternity wear. It must be superfantastic maternity wear. And here is where we immediately hit a terrible, terrible obstacle. The internet is rife — rife, I say — with online vendors who do not understand that a pregnant plus-size woman does not need to look like a flowery cow draped with a polyester blanket. More than once, Francesca turned her head from the computer, pulling at her hair and shouting “my eyes! my eyes!”

And then there is the additional challenge of finding clothes which indeed go up to size 20, rather than just size 16 or 18. From Kim, the new baby will surely learn the values of resourcefulness, persistence, and creative problem-solving!

There are two sites which Francesca deems to offer a large selection of super-fantastic choices for the plus-size pregnant lady. By “superfantastic” Francesca means, in this context, that the clothes have some shape, and not all of them are made of polyester, and that there is a good likelihood of finding items appropriate for work or for a date with one’s partner at a fancy restaurant to celebrate the success in getting knocked up. Finding clothes for staying home folding laundry is easy. Finding clothes for a meeting with a new client is the challenge for Francesca!

One of these worthy-of-Manolo sites is Maternity Clothing Fashions, which has some items available in Size 20. Kim should note that the sizing scale is different for each item (there is a chart on each page), and so some size 20 clothing corresponds to 3X, and some to 4X. Finding the size 20 takes some searching, but it is there if you look hard enough. Luckily, the pregnancy lasts only 9 months, and a few well-chosen pieces, taken care of, will go a long way.

Here is an attractive and versatile off-the-shoulder maternity top which goes up to size 20:

And this skirt is available in white or taupe, through size 20:

Francesca further recommends that Kim read this helpful article at BabyCenter.com, with tips for finding maternity wear in plus sizes, links to vendors (buyer beware! Take care of your eyes!) and tips for making your own clothes.

For those who can wear a 16 or 18 (or lower), Francesca also gives her stamp of approval to BabyStyle.com. She is fond of this black flutter wrap dress, which is on sale from $88 down to $30!

Finally, for the convenience of our internet friends, Francesca will share with you the short list of vendors which, while not quite as superfantastic as the two above, did not make Francesca want to make like Oedipus. The materials here are not as likely to be high quality, but if one is careful, one can find many useful and perhaps even superfantastic styles for the pregnancy, especially if one searches for “work,” “business casual,” and “evening” clothes:

JCPenny (Women’s sizes are included in the regular category. Tall sizes have their own section)

Plus Mom Maternity

Maternity 4 Less

Lane Bryant (through size 44 for the Kim!)

Happy pregnancy, take care of your feets, and happy shopping!

xoxo, Francesca

An internet friend from the Northwest wrote to us:

I’m a law student in need of a suit for upcoming September interviews for next year’s summer positions . . . the law is one of the most conservative professions, so I need a conservative suit. . . . Any suggestions as to cut? Colour? Fabric? Pants or skirt? Shoes? I’m a tall size 18 and while well-endowed in the chest and shoulders department, my large hips tend rather to eclipse my upper half. I’m pale, with brown hair. My good body points are my chest, hands, and long legs. Please advise.

Francesca is well-versed in the need for ultra-conservative interview clothing. She once had an interview at a large advertising company in New York — one would think that an advertising firm in New York would welcome a tad more creativity than, say, a law office in Washington DC — and received feedback that Francesca had done a nice job on the interview, but the extremely conservative navy blue dress she was wearing was not conservative enough, because it was a dress and not a suit.

Francesca said: Whatever! I will become a freelance writer and travel the world, always meeting new and fascinating people and writing about interesting things that make for terrific, sparkling conversation at cocktail parties. You can take your advertising job and keep it in your little cubicles while you yearn to move into a corner office! I, meanwhile, the great Francesca, will be paid to blog about fashion from the comfort of cute little bistros!

Ahem, Francesca has gone on a tangent. Our internet friend wishes to become a lawyer, and so we must return to the topic at hand: conservative suits.

First, the law job interview suit must be navy blue or black, and, it goes without saying, made of the finest materials you can afford. Detailing such as narrow pinstripes and buttons should be simple and tasteful. This is not the time to take risks or try to make a bold statement with your fashion choices. The goal is to make a bold statement with your intelligence and professionalism instead. The focus will be on your talents, not on your fashion sense. We do not want to distract your interviewers the way Francesca has become distracted.

Skirt or pants? What do you think Francesca will say? (Hemlines should be at or beyond the knee, not above it, especially as one does not want to show thigh while sitting for an interview! And a just-below-the-knee hem will highlight your pretty calves.)

Since our internet friend is pale, Francesca recommends navy blue (over black) so that contrast between skin and clothing will not be too severe or make our friend look pale under the office lighting.

Pair the suit with an ivory or off-white shell or simple (not frilly) blouse. Silk is always a good choice. I recommend against white in your case because the light reflecting from the blouse may make you look more pale. Remember to wear a bra which matches your skin tone, so it does not show through the blouse!

As for style, indeed it is difficult, as a Big Girl, to find suits which are appropriately conservative without making us look boxy. Francesca has conducted a search and found many example of suits which are either cheaply made (horror!), or box-shaped (yuck), or available in black but not navy. Francesca very much wishes to find a navy suit for her friend. Behold! I have found this perfect example of well-made, conservative suit with attractive but non-distracting details, from our friends at Talbot’s!
The jacket (here in Women’s):

And the matching skirt:

And here are the links for this suit and skirt in Women’s Petite sizes! And in regular sizes through 20!

As for shoes, here are the ultra-ultra-conservative pumps by Vigotti:

If you can get away with some detailing, and would like to save a little money while you live on a student income, you might choose these very pretty and more affordable shoes by Ros Hommerson:

Either way, wear pantyhose which match your skin tone! Navy blue hose are too “matchy” and white will make you look like a nurse instead of a lawyer.

Best of luck on your interviews! Please tell us how it goes!

xoxo, Francesca

Here are some links, from our fellow plus-size bloggers, which will entertain or enlighten (or both)!

Plus Size Clothing Scoop has the pictures to prove that “There must be some kind of love affair going on between Nikki and IGIGI.” Indeed, Nikki Blonsky is quite fond of Igigi clothing. Francesca says: If you find something that works for you, then stick with it! I, myself, have bought ¾ of my wardrobe at the Women’s Petite section of Talbots. Work it girl!

Big Fat Deal tells us that “You can lose weight by talking to your fat cells. It’s just like growing a philodendron!”

In a post lauding the work of Barry Glassner’s The Gospel of Food , Kate Harding asks: “WHO THE HELL CAN USE 50 HANDFULS OF CILANTRO BEFORE IT GOES BAD?” Indeed, not Francesca.

The online magazineVenus Diva has an article about how not to feel self-conscious at a gym, and touches on Francesca’s idea of self-ocentricism! “Most gym members are very focused on their own workouts and rarely notice when new members join, which means we are creating the situation in our minds due to lack of self-esteem and inner confidence.”

Too Fat for Fashion extols the virtues of the new Anna Scholz collection.

And, Full Figure Plus posts her own very useful list of speedlinks here.

Happy internet surfing!

xoxo, Francesca

Francesca and Plumcake want to know:

I would rather _______ than hear my mom/grandmother/”concerned” female relative eye my body, sigh dramatically  and wistfully say “…but you have such a pretty face.”

(Plumcake for example would rather hot oil wrestle a particularly unfriendly badger…naked.)

There is nothing “prissy” about this shoe by Naturalizer, even though it is named “Prissy.”

At just $63.95, it is a good value for the price, a shoe you can wear proudly while you save your money for something made in Italy.

It is available in a variety of colors and fabrics. And in a wide width, too! Francesca is partial to the velvet options, though this snakeskin number has a certain “I want you to look at me, without looking like I want you to look at me” sexiness which Francesca finds very appealing.

Happy weekend and happy shopping!

xoxo, Francesca

Can you believe these kooky darlings are from John Fluevog?!

I give you the “Oolong” from his Teapot line. To me these are very Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night.

In fact, they are not entirely dissimilar to the shoes she wore while cutting a rug with Mister Clark Gable, who by the looks of it certainly does give a damn about our sexy, screwy heroine.

Let’s make no mistake, Karl Lagerfeld –who had a Teutonic tantrum when H&M dared to produce his clothes in large sizes– is ten pounds of evil in a five pound bag and may quite literally have insides made up of nothing but German laxatives and the slitheriest of soul-rotting eels, but Chanel still knows how to churn out great makeup.

Witness friends, the Chanel Rouge Double Intensite. It is quite simply the best long-lasting lip color I have ever used. What’s more, “Sandstone” is in this blogger’s humble opinion, the most universally flattering neutral I’ve seen anywhere.

The Double Intensite is your basic two-step, paint’n'polish and infinitely creamier than drugstore brands but here’s a hint to avoid the dryness issue altogether: after you’ve put on the color –lightly– and let it dry, smear on your favorite non-mentholated lipbalm. You can leave it as is for a polished but understated pout (that’s what I do, especially when I’m working the smoky eye) or go glossy-glam and top it with the clear polish. It still lasts forever and no cracking, flaking lips!

When I first encountered the Convertible Dress by plus-size designer Monif C., I thought to myself that the dress is too gimmicky for my taste.

But I found that I could not get it out of my mind. I kept thinking about it, and not with disdain but with curiosity and a certain desire to give it a shot and see if it looks good on me. I think I had been prejudiced against it because it would not hide the generous lumpy-squishies on my upper arms, and because it seems that the hem is prone to be higher at the front than at the sides, which is not to Francesca’s style.

Indeed, there is something unforgettable about this dress, which can be worn in over 20 different styles. Watch the “instructional video” link with any of the dresses, and you will see. I am not sure whether it is the dress itself, or the concept, or the beauty of the plus-size model in the video, or whether it is perhaps Monif C. herself, who strikes Francesca as the type of creative, intelligent, and relatable woman with whom Francesca would like to meet for coffee.

Whatever it is, Francesca is thinking that a dress that one cannot get out of one’s mind is a dress worth a try.

I didn’t ACTUALLY stab anybody over a pair of python pumps.

I mean technically I MIGHT have MAYBE threatened to THEORETICALLY stab the diminutive, hairy-chested man swishing his way towards me with a meaningful glint in his eye at a secret, invitation-only 90% off sale at a local high-end boutique on Sunday but seriously, I didn’t like the way he was eying my shoe booty. Besides, assault charges and resultant incarceration are temporary, a python court shoe is forever.

I give you the Michael Kors “Cairo” pump. I cannot recommend this shoe enough (see also: stabbing, defensible reasons for.)

You won’t be able to get my python pretties, but if you’re in the market for a subtly sexy, curvaceous investment pump with a surprisingly wearable heel that you’ll return to again and again –like that kinda skeevy guy in college who wore a serape and always wanted to tell you about his theeeories but could do that weird double jointed thing– these might be the shoes for you.

A word to the wise: they run comfortably wide and about a half-size big. Enjoy!

Large girls of superfantasticness feed their minds as well as their bodies, souls, and closets.

Francesca recently re-read The Great Gatsby, and discovered that the book has improved significantly since Francesca studied it in tenth grade English class. It is much more entertaining at the age of 30-something than at the age of 15! Worth revisiting!

She also recently read this superfantastic novel of the fantasy, after a friend who is a novelist recommended it. The story is very engrossing and there are several intertwined and compelling subplots, and of course plenty of evil wizards and former children of the farm who are working to overcome evil and save the world. What Francesca appreciates about this book is that the entire story is self-contained. It is not part of a series. One can read and enjoy, and when one reaches the end, one can sigh in contentment about the (surprising) denoument without thinking “now I’ll have to wait for volume 2.” There is no volume 2. The end is the quite satisfying end. Thank you, Guy Gavriel Kay.

Finally, have you yet purchased your copy of the memoirs by our super-sized heroine, the indefatigable Camryn Manheim? It is funny and sad and relatable and a great book to read when you go this weekend to the beach! (Especially the chapter about how, as a younger fat girl, she was once lying on her beach towel, tanning, when someone came to talk to her, which meant she could not roll over because rolling over involves moving in front of the other person, and moving in one’s bathing suit causes “unattractive foldage of fat.” So, instead, she suffered severe sunburn. I think she regrets this now.)

Happy reading!

xoxo, Francesca