I won’t tell you what I paid for a very similar pair of Stewies this summer but my bank account went into full fetal position for a good two weeks. I guess it does pay to shop on the off-season.
Supplies are extremely limited so hop on it and pick up a pair of these 4″ cuties (yet somehow they are wearable, how does he DO that?) tuck them away and then brag to your friends about how little you paid!
Francesca and Plumcake want to know:
Wearing sleeveless dresses when one has lumpy-squishy upper arms: confident and sassy, or unseemly and unattractive?
Dress available here.
(The lack of a bra is for another discussion.)
UPDATE: It is always a danger, with the weekly Big Question, that we try to keep it short and simple, and in this case Francesca’s intention in asking the question was lost. She has read all the comments so far (the first 21) and wishes to say, first of all, that she plans to address the controversy in a future post.
But mostly, Francesca wishes to apologize to those readers who, like Francesca, have lumpy-squishy arms and whose feelings were hurt either by the question or the comments or both. Francesca and Plumcake have created a space where we can speak openly of our fat, something we all share. But what we do not all share is how we are dealing with it. Some people feel more pain about it than others, some feel more free to be unemotionally critical of themselves and fat generally than others. In trying to help each other look superfantastic, we must be very careful not to be overly forceful in our critiques. Francesca wishes to say that she is very sorry that she created an opening for people’s feelings to be hurt.
The first rule of being superfantastic is to be kind. (And the second is to wear a good bra.)
This time at Size Appeal: Until December 6, use coupon code HOLIDAY25 at checkout for any order over $75, and get 25% off any of their new merchandise, plus free shipping.
Limitations: a) Works for new merchandise only, and b) Free shipping only for lower 48 states. Sorry, people in Alaska, Hawaii, or other countries.
Size Appeal has many items which will appeal to the young, pear-shaped woman with decent arms.
Francesca likes this colorful and sexy top, called Cynthia:
Happy shopping!
xoxo, Francesca
The question, as posited by Linda Grant at The Thoughtful Dresser is, “[Is it] possible to dress stylishly, with chic and elegance at any size?” To which the answer, I maintain, is an emphatic yes, but here is the deeper question: can chic be acquired?
Post your thoughts!
I’ll be back tomorrow with some ideas, freshly inspired by British Vogue, on glamour and why you cannot be both very young and very glamorous.
Our internet friend Rachel sends us a link to an article teaching us that according to new studies, there is a direct correlation between how much sleep new mothers get, and how much baby weight they are able to lose:
”We’ve known for some time that sleep deprivation is associated with weight gain and obesity in the general population, but this study shows that getting enough sleep — even just two hours more — may be as important as a healthy diet and exercise for new mothers to return to their pre-pregnancy weight,” said Erica Gunderson of Kaiser Permanente, which runs hospitals and clinics in California.
Francesca understands that scientists do studies about all sorts of things, and her interest in losing post-pregnancy weight does not make Ms. Gunderson a jerk, just a scientist who has researched something that is of interest to people, and she is simply reporting the findings. The facts are what they are (at least, until some other study shows the opposite.)
Still, Francesca wishes to shake her by the lapels of her lab coat and say “how in hell’s name is a new mother supposed to get more sleep?”
Because, you know, being tired wasn’t enough of a reason for new mothers to try to get more sleep. Now that we see that staying up with a crying child prevents weight loss, the new mothers of the world will come up with some new way of getting Junior to shut up and let her get some zzz’s, right?
Ah, but the article addresses this question:
“With the results of this study, new mothers must be wondering, ‘How can I get more sleep for both me and my baby?’ Our team is working on new studies to answer this important question,” said Dr. Matthew Gillman of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Ah, thank you Dr. Gillman. Thank you for understanding that new mothers weren’t wondering before this new study how they can get more sleep. Francesca is so happy to see that you understand that it is only now that we have the results of this study about weight that they care to get a full night’s rest.
Bah. Humbug.
Look here! Today, get 30 percent off your purchases at Lane Bryant (excluding clearance items and a few other things), by entering coupon code 000303620 at checkout! Now you can afford to wear this pretty purple number:
And look here! Igigi is having a sale today. Many items are 30, 40, 50 percent off. The Stella cocktail dress, for example, is 50 percent off!
Finally, Francesca is having a wonderful morning indeed, because Talbots has moved many, many new Woman and Woman Petite items into their outlet section and is having an outlet clearance sale! High quality clothing at unbelievably reduced prices. Look, you too can have this adorable multi-colored cotton skirt, so sweet, for under $11!
As Paige of the comic strip “Foxtrot” would say, “my, my, I do know how to shop.”
Style Spy who has just returned from London and Paris, has a part-time job of systematically turning me on to Expensive Things I Didn’t Know I Needed like niche perfume or, oh, Hermés scarves. Have I always sort of just back-of-the-mind-y wanted an Hermés scarf? Mais bien sur (that’s French for “boy howdy”) but did I know until she returned with two of the sexy beasts that I could not possibly live another red hot second without 35 square inches of incredibly expensive silk wrapped around the place my neck would be if genetics had seen fit to endow me with something other than 2 inches of alabaster tree stump to separate my head from my torso? No friends, I did not.
I asked if, upon her return, she would be kind enough to help me find a new perfume and she –a self-identified “frag hag”– graciously obliged. Saturday night found us on the floor of her apartment drinking sparkling pinot, talking about boys and spraying scents on blotter of at least thirty hand-labeled tiny vials of perfume.
For those of you new to the world of decants –I’m a recent convert myself– it’s a way to inexpensively test pricey or hard-to-find fragrances without shelling out for a whole bottle. A decant is a small glass vial containing between 1/2 and 5 ml of “juice” that has been measured out from a larger bottle using medical-grade equipment. You cannot buy decanted perfume on eBay, but never you fear. The Perfumed Court sells decants of just about every fragrance you can imagine, including many discontinued scents and a special section of perfumes that are not available in the United States, usually for somewhere around $4 a pop.
The Perfumed Court even offers sampler packs, including various introductions to perfume houses like Lutens or Caron, noses (perfume designers) or scent families, so you can decide which flavor works best with your skin.
Oh and they are a positive wealth of scrabble-winning words. Example: “sillage” n., The scent trail a woman leaves as she walks by. Forty seven points on a double word score!
You guys know the rules by now. I post a pic, you reply with your best captions, and next Saturday I declare a winner who receives the adulation of an admiring throng. So come on and hit me with your best shot for this priceless photo:
And that means it’s time to talk coats. As it happens, Lane Bryant has some very nice ones on sale right now. My personal fave? This classic, wool blend reefer coat.
Not only is this lovely coat on sale at fifty dollars off the original price, it comes in six different colors. Best of all, it comes in tall and petite sizes as well. While it isn’t, perhaps, a coat for all seasons (well it would get a bit warm in summer, wouldn’t it?), it’s as close as you’re going to come to a coat for all sizes and colorings of big girls.
‘Tis the season once again to think of special gifts for those around us. Here at Big Girl, we think these gifts should be superfantastic as can be. Since I have a particular affinity for the kitchen and the wonders that can be produced there, I’m concentrating on special gifts for that venue. Whether it’s for Christmas, Hanukkah, a special birthday or anniversary, or simply a case of deciding Tuesday needs celebrating, the cook on your list will appreciate any of these:
1: This Emile Henry 9″ pie pan available at cooking.com at $37.95. I happen to have this very pie pan in this lovely, cheerful citron color in my own kitchen, and it’s my go-to pie pan. It goes from oven to freezer to microwave to dishwasher, heats evenly, and looks terrific on a festive table. If you don’t like this color, it’s also available in: azur, blanc, cerise, figue, pink, and vert.
