Manolo for the Big Girl Fashion, Lifestyle, and Humor for the Plus Sized Woman.

September 23, 2008

Plus Size Fashion Show Opens Milan

Filed under: Uncategorized — Miss Plumcake @ 2:00 pm

Good gravy Marie! Between outages and lost connections and being stabbed by an angry teenage badger (not technically true) it’s been ages since I’ve posted. So how are you? Is it fall where you are? How are we loving London, New York and Milan? I normally heart Spring/Summer RTW but I’m super behind on the shows and haven’t been really punched in the throat by anyone but Marc Jacobs, who showed his best collection since Fall/Winter 2007.

Of course I’d be remiss in failing to mention Elena Miro’s runway show that opened Milan fashion week with an all plus-size show (unsurprisingly found nowhere on style.com which claims to have all the shows.)  I’ll be honest, I’m not Elena Miro’s biggest fan and I was especially bored with this collection which I think could best be described as “slouchy and derivative”  but I celebrate that FINALLY there are some plus-sized models on the runway that aren’t being used as gimmicks (see: Velvet D’Amour who stomped for Gaultier and Galliano in 2006.)

Take a look at a few photos from the collection and tell me what you think.

18 Comments

  1. If this is what plus-size couture looks like, no wonder there aren’t any other shows. Really, can’t we do better than Lane Bryant look-alikes?

    Comment by Kai Jones — September 23, 2008 @ 2:11 pm

  2. There seems to be some sort of link-disabling nefarious plot to keep me from seeing the line other than the one dress in the article. The link to the photos here, and the link to the photos from the article both refuse to work for me.

    So far, though, I’m with you, Plumcake. Yay! for bigger models not used as stunt casting! Meh for what I can see of the clothes themselves. When I look at the catwalk and think that I can get a prettier, more interesting dress at Avenue, then the designer needs to head back to the drawing board, this time with imagination in tow.

    Comment by Twistie — September 23, 2008 @ 2:57 pm

  3. Can somebody get these girls a bra? We all know a great outfit is only as good as what’s wrangling the girls underneath.

    Comment by Jewels — September 23, 2008 @ 3:20 pm

  4. The photos link from here doesn’t work, but it should work from the article itself. You might have difficulties viewing the other photos if you have java disabled, or are using a particularly enthusiastic pop up blocker. The link on the article will also probably not work if you’re attempting to open it in a tab or another window.

    Comment by Amber — September 23, 2008 @ 4:00 pm

  5. eeesh, what a blah collection, did she even try?

    Comment by gain — September 23, 2008 @ 6:38 pm

  6. If you can’t see the collection from the link posted, you can go here instead:

    http://www.style.it/cont/moda/sfilate/pag_risultato_sfilate.aspx?stagione=134&stil=8432&tipo_ogg=0&ric=collezioni

    Comment by Joelle — September 23, 2008 @ 7:38 pm

  7. most of the clothes I could do without, but the models are lovely! I especially like #9…I think for Italian fashion shows this was pretty daring. Oh Italia, so lovely, so superficial…

    Comment by Toskita — September 23, 2008 @ 11:57 pm

  8. I think these clothes look really well made. Not super original, but some of them are really lovely. One can tell by the details that they are quality. As for the models, I would kill to be plus size like that.

    Comment by Jassy — September 24, 2008 @ 12:19 am

  9. I think some of the dresses are great, but most of the fabrics look like they’d be more at home on a Florida retiree than a superfantastic young woman.

    Comment by JR — September 24, 2008 @ 7:34 am

  10. I agree. That clothing looks like a nicely made catalogue collection. I’m VERY unimpressed that Plus Sized couture looks like expensive mall clothing. Is it really so hard for the fashion world to imagine that fat-chicks would want to wear the same luxurious clothing and interesting shapes as super-slim girls?

    I find myself wishing again that they would just size up the same clothing that all other women get to wear. Two seasons ago they had BEAUTIFUL clothing at this chain store, fantastic cuts and fabrics, I got so exited, then went to the plus sized section and found the same old tent-shapes and poor fabric.

    The Fashion world AND retail world need to learn that Plus sized girls want the same cloths in their size, not a bone thrown in saggy ‘colorful’ clothing.

    Comment by Katherine — September 25, 2008 @ 2:36 am

  11. That is the fashion world’s definition of fat?

    Lord have mercy, we are all in trouble.

    Comment by class-factotum — September 25, 2008 @ 8:36 am

  12. I wasn’t horrified; i like the purple short set, though i suspect just for the clutch and the scarf, and the purple dress was pretty enough. overall, kinda yawnsville. it’s as though her mother was standing over the drafting table:
    “cover those arms! you don’t want that hanging out! and those peonies better not be ironic!”

    Comment by emmme — September 25, 2008 @ 3:36 pm

  13. I liked the purple shorts outfit, but I have to agree that most of the clothes weren’t exciting.

    Comment by Beth Rang — September 25, 2008 @ 4:28 pm

  14. class-factotum, i agree. these are lovely, not thin women but i would never in a million years imagine calling them fat. i wouldn’t even call some of those women plus sized!

    in my dreams, all fashion shows would include women this size and bigger, as well as the thin svelte girls we’re all used to.

    Comment by Dent — September 25, 2008 @ 7:07 pm

  15. Just for the record, even though we play pretty fast and loose with the word couture here in the blogs and elsewhere, when we’re talking about shows, couture has a very specific meaning. These are not couture shows, they’re pret-a-porter (ready to wear.)

    Couture as properly used means, at the bare bones, the garments are made-to-order with at least one fitting. There are only 11 houses that are official members of Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture and thus can be properly called haute couture. The heyday of couture ended sometime around 1968 so fashion now happens in what we call a post-couture world. Prada, McQueen, Galliano (although Dior IS haute couture) are all post-couture designers.

    Comment by Plumcake — September 26, 2008 @ 6:01 pm

  16. There are a few pieces I would actually wear. I think we need to realize is that even though we know designers can do so much better when it comes to their attitude about plus-size clothing, for many years, high-end fashion would never even think to include items for people who wore over a size 8. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not perfect.

    Comment by Bree — September 26, 2008 @ 6:32 pm

  17. I don”t really like them. I agree with Kari Jones.

    I recently purchased a couture gown – size 18 – for a formal occasion. My mother had suggested the designer and it was fantastic. She has a reputation for sexy, shaping gowns in any size. Her dresses can be found in Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and other specialty stores. You can see them at http://www.helenmorley.com/
    Why can’t these other couture houses with unlimited budgets spend money on design and not marketing?

    Comment by Jane Morne — October 15, 2009 @ 6:38 pm

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