Manolo for the Big Girl

Ha! Woman Within (12W-44W) thinks this sale is “secret” and you can only access it if you are one of their secret BFFs. But Francesca is letting the cat out of the bag.

After seeing a movie preview for Prince Caspian, Francesca is re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia and loves it! There is a great debate about the order in which the books should be read; Francesca recommends reading them in the order in which they were written, not the order in which they take place chronologically. Anyway, here is the “movie tie-in” edition of Prince Caspian, and here is the boxed set of the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, which makes a great gift for yourself or others.

After Francesca suggested Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone, Ottermatic wrote:

Oh Wilkie Collins! How I love thee. I just read  The Woman in White and it is one of my favorite books now.

(Francesca, too, has The Woman in White on her bookshelf!) 

And Margo wrote:

   I love book recommendations - from intelligent people with oodles of style and class, that is. Have been on a bit of an autobiography kick lately, after I discovered V.S. Pritchett’s short stories I tracked down his memoir A Cab at the Door, which I can’t recommend highly enough.

(Francesca says: Thanks for the implicit compliment!)

And in response to Francesca’s love of The Handmaid’s Tale, two readers recommended other books by the same author:

   Margaret Atwood is the best. Oryx and Crake is my second fave after Handmaid…third on the list is The Robber Bride, which is intelligent, yet somehow manages to be a fantastic “beach read”.

Happy reading!

xoxo!

As Kirstie Alley leaves the fold of Jenny Craig spokescelebreties to start her own diet plan brand, her space is taken by two women. We’ve already talked about Queen Latifah. Now it’s time to talk about Temptress Brown.

She’s a linebacker on her high school football team. She was a contestant on American Idol. She’s a 280lb seventeen year old. Now she’s going on the Jenny Craig diet plan. Under the newly-lightened arm of former plus-sized model and fellow former AI contestant Kimberley Locke, she’s decided to lose weight and get healthy.

But how healthy is she going to get on the Jenny Craig plan? After all, that’s what Queen Latifah is trying to sell us on, and that’s what Temptress has been convinced is true.

(more…)

Okay y’all, I know I’m the mean cop. I get paid good money to be the mean cop and I love every black-hearted second of it. That being said, I was blown away by your candid, intimate  answers to Wednesday’s Big Question about being harrassed.  I never expected such an outpouring of heartfelt responses.

I know I speak for Francesca and The Manolo when I say we are humbled and honored to be a part of something that’s fun and frilly and probably going to be a barrier to my future employment anywhere outside of a nightclub act involving liquid latex, two ferrets, and a life-size martini glass, but also a place where big girls and big-minded girls can get together to share with and support each other.

It makes me hopeful, it makes me happy, and it makes me proud. Thank you all so very, very much.

Viva!

Plumcake

The contemporary American painter, Charles Pace, has created this image which Francesca finds delightful:

It is called Fat Hula Girls, and Francesca loves it. Are they not very buxom and soft? Do they not seem to be having the time of their lives?

Francesca does not know whether Pace meant for his painting of the Fat Hula Girls to be delightful or ironic, but she doesn’t care.  It is a fun painting which, in the eyes of the Francesca, celebrates the Appley goodness of the round, fleshy belly and the fun that can be had with the smooth and squishy upper arms. Francesca wants to dance with these ladies!

(A poster of this image is available from the superfantastic folk at barewalls.com here.)

(Decorating tip: Pair “Fat Hula Girls” on the wall with one of these other images by the same artist; the colors of the paintings recall each other, but the “stone faces” paintings temper the kitch factor of the Hula girls. Of course, the posters would be big attention-grabbers, so best to use them in rooms that are either very minimalist or which have colors that blend well with the art)

I’m the first to admit that I have no idea what a holla back girl is. All I know is that it requires a majorette costume and a double-process bleach job. That being said, a friend of mine who could not be more alluring if she were a cupcake frosted in hundred dollar bills, recently got yelled at by a bunch of boys in a pick up truck who made comments about her weight. My girl managed to track their father down in the store and, with their dad by her side, give them a talking to.

Francesca and Plumcake want to know:

Have you ever been hollered at about your weight? Was it hurtful or did you just blow it off? What did you do? What would do in the future?

I know this is a touchy subject, but I’d like to get on my stylish soapbox for a second. I cannot recall a time as an adult that I’ve been taunted because of my size. Well, there was one time when someone yelled out “Fatface! Hey Fatface!” while I was walking my pooch but it turned out to be a guy who recognized me from the dog park and had a particular affection for my admittedly fat-faced Shar Pei, Dozer LeGrunt.

As much as I’d like to think that the citizens of the great Republic of Texas are just above that sort of thing, I’m not fooling myself. I don’t get taunted because I’m confident. I walk talk and proud and when I’m not as put together as I’d like…well, that’s when I serve it hotter and harder than ever! Should we HAVE to dress up and work harder just to avoid being hooted at by knuckledraggers? No. I shouldn’t have to wax and pluck my way out of mammal-dom just to get a date, either but I do. Life is rough, or at least stubbly, all over.

Francesca is a little late announcing this one, but still wants to share . . .

Did you catch the performance of the superfantastic Carol Woods at the Grammies? Singing “Let it Be”? Did her dress look familiar? Indeed, it is the Igigi Trench Dress in Black!

Here she is, entering at 5:32. Wonderful!

(Sorry, YouTube removed the video because CBS complained)

(And speaking of Igigi, they have some fabulous formal gowns right now. Francesca loves loves loves the Maya Chiffon Dress and the Satin Siren Dress:

Lovely!)

If the pencil skirt which Francesca recommended a couple of days ago is too conservative for you, here is a more youthful version from Torrid

which can be paired to fun effect with this adorable blouse:

The quality of the material is not as high as that of the other, but if you are the fun, flirty, fantastic girl and Francesca saw you wearing this, she would approve.

And look! While we are on the topic of adorable red clothing with little white dots, lookie at this cute bathing suit from Silhouettes, which Francesca might scoop up for herself:

And if you are a Pear, this red shirtdress (also in blue, black, and brown) could become a staple of your wardrobe:

More:

Red Shoes

Ann Likes Red

Happy shopping!

xoxo!

Must-see images:

Here

and

Here

Hat tip: Patia herself

Howdy gang! I just got back from a patently miserable mini-break where I was cruelly forced to stay in a place (hotel is too kind, brothel is too…kind) that shall forever go down in my memory as “The Busty Mermaid”

On the off chance I had the opportunity to leave my room –I was rained in and stuck on the world’s oldest and soggiest “Super Glamourpedic” mattress, the likes of which haven’t been seen outside a Dateline special or the CDC since 1965– I was subjected to some serious fashion don’ts courtesy of the other guests.

The biggest fashion don’t does not apply to us –it was a man in a cowboy hat, jeans, no shirt and a brilliant set of scratches down his back which he wore as a badge of pride (I expect he thought it was evidence of passionate lovemaking, in actuality it looked like evidence of the ill-advisedness of getting in the ring during an illegal cock fight) — but the sins of his female companion, which were as glaring and irritating as her neon orange nails– should serve as warning to us all.

Friends, this week’s mission is to get rid of all make up that is either expired or never suited you to begin with. Some people can wear electric blue eyeshadow. Some people –namely those who have never been married to Richard Burton or been the Queen of Egypt– cannot. Adjust accordingly.