IGIGI is running a great deal right now: make a purchase of $300.00 or more by January 3, and receive a $75.00 coupon good on any purchase made between January 15 and February 15, 2008.
Hmmm…now might just be the time to treat yourself to something superfantstic. And then treat yourself to another superfantastic piece after the New Year.
I may just consider this pretty velvet and silk dress. Of course, since it’s only $175.00, I’d have to think of something else to get. How sad.
As Francesca signs off for the weekend, she leaves you with the lasting vision of this beautiful scarlet suede boot by Stuart Weitzman, appropriately named “Best”:
Happy shopping and happy weekend!
xoxo,
Francesca
Francesca has recently read the first two of a series of books about the crazy, unbelievable, completely surreal adventures of the fabulous character Ms. Thursday Next. All the books, by Jasper Fforde, have been New York Times bestsellers, but Francesca has only gotten to them now. They are delicious!
The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel
Thursday is a police officer in a parallel universe almost like ours. In theirs, the Crimean War is still going on; airplane travel sounds impossible but travel through the center of the earth is common; and it is possible to jump into works of fiction and hang out with Jane Eyre, Miss Havisham, and the Red Queen.
Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next Novels)
The books are fantastic, both in the sense of “imaginative” and of “excellent.” They are entertaining, witty, and imaginative romps for the bibliophile. Francesca cannot wait to read the third installment, The Well of Lost Plots, and the fourth, Thursday Next: First Among Sequels.
Happy reading!
A dear internet friend writes:
Dear Francesca and Plumcake,
I am not what one would call the big girl, I am fourteen and a size zero or two. I have a dreadful time trying to find clothes that are within the price range that my mother would deem acceptable for someone who is still growing and fit properly. My problem is I have a rather large bust. I am a DD and while this might not seem that large it is on someone of my size (I am five foot two). I know this isn’t exactly your area of expertise but having read the letter from Tracy I thought you might be able to help.
Sincerely,
Anna Beth
Dear Anna Beth,
Ayyyy! To be fourteen years old, and 5’2″, and have the DD bust, it is not easy! And to have a mother with a budget! Ayyyy!
Francesca says: You must work together with your mother on this, as a team.
On one hand, is your family’s financial needs. On the other is your understandable desire to look attractive. Francesca trusts that you are not trying to tell your mother to buy only the latest, designer, name-brand clothing, but rather that you want normal, pretty blouses (of any brand) which do not look like tents on you, and that the prices at large-chest specialty stores, such as Bravissimo, are out of your budget.
If this is the case, then sit down with your mamman and explain that you are happy to buy clothing that is on sale, or less quality than your taste (perhaps you have very advanced standards for your age, but at 14 you can get away with less quality; your mother is correct about this), but that the reality of having a large chest (which perhaps you inherited from her? Or from your beloved grandmother?) is that, one way or another, one pays more for the clothes. For example, if you are going to a regular clothing store and buying clothes off the rack on sale, then you must buy a bigger size, so that it will fit at the chest — and then you MUST bring it to a seamstress to have other areas, such as your size 2 waist, “taken in.” There is also the matter that the sleeves may need to be shortened.
It is a choice of either spending more on the clothes to begin with, or of spending more on the seamstress (which might be the cheaper option). At the very least, you will need a budget for pretty camis, as our readers have discussed in the comments to Tracy’s question.
If your mother balks at this, Francesca’s suggestion is to become crafty, literally. Francesca herself greatly wishes that she had taken a sewing class at your age, so that she could create or alter clothing to her own specifications, without need of the seamstress. Taking a sewing class now, when you are young, will allow you to develop your talents as you grow up, so that by the time you go to college you are creating one-of-a-kind clothing that makes your new college friends say “wow, where did you get that?”
Another option is for your mamman to give you an exact number of dollars per year that she is willing to spend on your clothes, and for the Anna Beth to step up the babysitting or dog-walking or newspaper route jobs in order to supplement the amount.
Using your own resources to get what you want, rather than relying on your parents, is what we call “building character.” Francesca, too, worked hard every summer during her teenage years and used the monies to purchase things that her parents could not afford, and look, now she is the woman of a fabulous career who wears superfantastic clothing and even is asked fashion advice from people around the world! So you see, there is much hope for the Anna Beth!
xoxo,
Francesca
Still haven’t decided whether you want to come? What are you waiting for?! Come as you are and have a cocktail with your Big Girl pals! 5:30 – 7:30 in the Off the Record Bar at the Hay Adams Hotel, 16th and H Street, across from the White House. I’ll be in sequins, come up and see me some time.
Plum
Francesca and Plumcake are sick of the newspaper articles and emails warning us how to avoid calories and weight-gain on the holidays!
We want to know:
In what special food item are you most looking forward to indulging this Christmas?
Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (circa 1663) by Johannes Vermeer . A poster print of this painting is available here.
Here we have a Big Girl (or perhaps a Thin Girl wearing many layers of clothing? Or a Pregnant Girl?) studiously reading a letter!
Francesca asks: How does this painting make you feel?
And: In your opinion, what is she reading? Who has written it? How does she feel about it?
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