An internet friend asks:

I am fairly recently married to a guy who grew up with one brother.
One of my favorite things to do now is to get nice girly presents for
his mom, who is 81 and either a 1x petite or a 2x petite. Imagine my
horror when I first tried to shop for her! I had no idea!
Fortunately, there is a Talbots store close to me, and I’ve been
pretty lucky there.

My question is this: Where can I find nice age-appropriate nightgowns
and robes for her? Hanukkah and her birthday arrive soon. Thank you
so much.

Francesca finds this question, and the context surrounding it, very sweet.

However, as difficult as it is to find petite plus-size clothing, finding petite plus-size nightgowns and robes is even more difficult, which is why Francesca admits to sleeping often in her college t-shirt and 10-year-old sweatpants.

And here we have the additional factor that we are looking for attractive and comfortable nightgowns for an elderly woman, not lacy, frothy underthings for the plus-size pop tart.

So we turn to Woman Within, which sells clothing in sizes 12W-44W. Among their offerings in robes and loungewear are a few petite items which may meet the taste of our internet friend’s mother-in-law, such as this fleece lounger with plaid trim

or for something more girly, there is this satin robe, which is lined with fleece inside. It is not a petite size, but at 50″ long it will come to our friend’s mother-in-law’s ankles, if she is over 5′ tall, which is OK, Francesca thinks. Just be sure the belt is removable so that it can be tied at the waist, rather than the hips of the petite girl!

Happy Chanukah and Happy Birthday and Happy Shopping!

xoxo,

Francesca

Francesca never ceases to be amazed to find out which mainstream clothing providers offer a selection in plus sizes.

Or, in today’s case, not exactly mainstream . . . and not exactly clothing . . . more like a studied lack of clothing . . .

Who knew that Frederick’s of Hollywood has a Plus-Size section?

Indeed! They acknowledge that fat women have powers of seduction!

Francesca cannot show too many examples, as most are definitely Not Safe For Work.

She will simply specify that most items in their plus-size page come in 1x and 2x, and some in 3x. And most work better for Pears than for Apples (though as always each woman must decide what works for her).

However, for Apples, they offer this little red velvet Santa thigh-high with princess seams.

Merry Christmas indeed.

Okay gang, we’ve got three more drinking days until Thanksgiving, and while that doesn’t mean much to me –I will be celebrating in my usual way by alphabetizing my shoes and watching John Cusack movies with my dog– those of you with so-called “family” and “friends” and “people who love you who DON’T work on commission” probably have some last minute preparations to do. So in the spirit of sharing (because I am all about sharing spirits) I would like to offer unto you my blue ribbon-winning, quick-and-dirty, smack-your-momma Chocolate Berry Pie with which I laid the culinary smackdown on a guy who worked for Martha Stewart and nearly made him cry in front of God and everybody. This is the first time the recipe has been published.

If you don’t make your own crust (i.e., if you don’t love America) this pie takes about ten minutes to prepare. Get fancy with it if you so desire, add chopped basil, chipotle, whatever. It’ll need to chill 8 hours or overnight, so make it the day before.

Ingredients:
1 8″ pie crust, baked and cooled.
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Guittard)
2 cups cream (That’s right. I said it.)
Salt
Fresh (not frozen) berries of your choice to fill an 8″ pie pan (1 lb)

Extra credit:
white chocolate for drizzling, apple jelly for glazing, mint sprig.

If you are using strawberries set aside a few pretty ones, core and quarter the remainder and dry thoroughly on paper towels, set aside. Scald cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, add chocolate chips, let set for five minutes, add a teensy pinch of salt and then stir until smooth.*

Dump fruit into pie shell, pour chocolate mixture over top until fruit is covered and pie is full. Thwunk on the bottom to remove air bubbles. Let chill overnight. If you want to get creative you can drizzle melted white chocolate over the surface of the cooled pie and decorate with the reserved fruit that has been brushed with melted apple jelly to make it shiny. Remove from fridge 30 minutes prior to serving.

*What you got here is ganache. If you’ve got some left over, whip that stuff, chill it until firm again, form it into little balls and roll those bastards in cocoa powder. Poof, you’ve got truffles. Totally cheap Christmas gift, and better than most you can buy.

Last week, I wrote about Thanksgiving and how I love it. Just in case you’re wondering, I’m the sort of cockeyed optimist and holiday hussey who was very nearly assaulted by her co-workers one fine December 24th for still being in a good mood while working full time in retail over the holidays. And so it saddens me when I see situations like Scarlett’s:

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With the holiday party season rapidly approaching, many of us big girls are wondering where to find something superfantastic to wear and bemoaning the endless parade of eighties MOB dresses masquerading as festive formalwear facing us in store after store. It can get so depressing that one becomes tempted to simply cinch a black garbage bag into a sleeveless dress and go sit in a corner guzzling egg nog while trying not to be noticed. It might actually be more attractive than some of the alternatives that present themselves.

But you didn’t think we here at Big Girl would let you sink to that, did you? Have no fear. We’re here to help. And so is Astarte.
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MeMe Roth of National Action Against Obesity announced that

“When I look at [American Idol winner and plus size model Jordin Sparks] I see diabetes, I see heart disease, I see high cholesterol. That’s what’s so sad about this – she is not the vision of health – she is the vision of ‘unhealth’… We have to stop with the ‘baby fat,’ ‘curvy,’ ‘goddess’ euphemisms and own this child health crisis.”

and while I say fair play to better child nutrition, this is the picture of unhealth to which Ms. Roth refers:

Doesn’t she look absolutely beastly? I mean, it’s amazing she can even get out of bed. She probably has to wash herself with a dead cat on a stick and when she dies they’ll just have to cut the house away from around her and remove her bloated, Winnebago-sized corpse with that helicopter they use for sea mammal transportation.

On the other hand, please meet one of the lucky few who Ms. Roth has deemed healthy enough to work as one of her campaigners, Mister Marc Anthony:

Once again.

Unhealthy:

Healthy:

Usually, on Fridays, Francesca discusses shoes. But today she has beautiful handbags on the brain. Lovely clutch bags whose prices even Francesca cannot justify, but are they not simply wonderful to gaze at?

Dolce & Gabbana

Stuart Weitzman

Michael Kors

Isabella Fiore

Francesca says: siiiiiigh

Happy weekend!

xoxo, Francesca