Francesca received a news item from OneStopPlus.com, saying that their clothes will be featured on the Weekend Today show on NBC, live tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 8 am EST.
Francesca does not know whether other vendors will be included. For those of you who get up early on Sundays, it could be interesting! Francesca will be sleeping, so let her know how it is, okay?
We often get emails from readers in countries where beautiful plus-size clothes are even harder to find than in the United States, asking for help. Now, two of our fashionista internet friends are taking matters into their own hands. Francesca thinks what they are doing is a great way for everyone to get high-quality clothes, meet new people and have some fashion fun – and the idea can be replicated. Kudos to our Jerusalem-based readers, Yehudit and Hadara!
This is part of the email from Yehudit:
We are having a sale of high-quality new and gently-used clothing, sizes 1x-5x, at my home in the Bakaa neighborhood of Jerusalem. Example of brands: Mossino, Zara, Lane Bryant, GAP, Old Navy, Bloomies, Forever 21, etc. Everything is under 100 shekels ($25 or less). I’m sending you pictures of me wearing two tops we are selling. One of them I bought from Igigi after seeing it on Manolo for the Big Girl!
Here is the background: Hadara is an artist and has been supplying top-quality plus-size clothing for a few years already, selling beautiful items that she buys at deep discounts when traveling abroad. I think she does it because there’s such a lack of cool, funky, elegant plus-size clothes here in Israel. Most of the “big sizes” look quite matronly (to be diplomatic) and look like tents.
She’s got a LOT of stock left over from her previous sales, so this is a ‘blow out’ sale for her before Passover. Last chance to get some beautiful, brand-new clothes that are top brands straight from the US.
For me, I have been on a journey, growing a lot, changing a lot. I’ve begun to really take care of myself and I feel a sense of renewal and revitalization in my life. Part of that renewal is removing all the stuff I don’t wear anymore because it is the wrong size– like a Spring Cleaning & giving it to others!
They are beautiful clothes that I’m selling- really cool and professional actually, perfect for holidays, the office, etc, but for me, I’m ready to say goodbye and look forward to renewing my wardrobe next winter!
I figure “one person’s junk is another person’s gold” so if I can help other women treat themselves with my goodies, then so be it!
(The sale will take place Sunday-Wednesday March 29-31 by appointment. Anyone interested can write to me at yehudit.singer@gmail.com)
What intrigues Francesca about what they are doing is:
a) One woman took it upon herself to bring her love of fashion to other women in her community who need help looking good, and now another has been inspired to join in. (Francesca wishes to add that anyone seeking to import plus-size clothing into their home country to sell to others should become knowledgable about applicable customs and tax laws.)
b) They are focusing on high-quality items, in good condition. This is not a sale wherein anyone must feel sorry about buying used items, because the second-hand goods are in good condition and are made well.
c) The sale is by appointment and they are providing space to try on the clothes.
In other words, it sounds like they are selling superfantastic goods in a superfantastic, dignified atmosphere. Francesca approves!
Also, d) Francesca loves getting pictures of our readers!
Do you have a photo of yourself wearing an item you bought after seeing it on our blog? Please send it to Francesca@shoeblogs.com and tell us something about yourself. It will help her feel good, and maybe she will post your picture! (if that is OK with you)
xoxo always!
The fatosphere has been abuzz for the past couple days with a proposed new FTC rule. What has us excited about the actions of the Federal Trade Commission? The fact that they are proposing new guidelines be put in place for advertisers which, if implemented, would end the days when companies could make claims of incredible efficacy for their products followed by finer than fine print admitting ‘results not typical.’ Instead, if Subway continued to pay Jared Fogle, who lost 245 pounds through a regimine of exercise and Subway sandwiches, to hawk their sandwiches, they would have to de-emphasize the amount of weight he lost and admit that all they’re really selling is sandwiches and sides.
Imagine a world in which Kirstie Alley doesn’t do a new round of Jenny Craig commercials every five to seven years, lose a huge amount of weight, and then get her contract canceled when she starts gaining it all back yet again. Imagine a world in which dieters are not made to feel like complete failures when they don’t lose as much on Nutrisystem or Weight Watchers as their favorite washed-up one-time celebrity did.
Of course, there are naysayers. There are even naysayers in the fatosphere. Even I’m willing to admit this won’t be the end of annoying weight loss system/product advertising by a very long shot. After all, Weight Watchers’ campaign about ‘Hungry’ sabotaging your diet is running constantly. The diet culture is heavily ingrained in our world and the industry is far too profitable to expect an end to advertising simply because some stricter guidelines are put in place.
On the other hand, if I never have to hear Marie Osmond or Gillian Barbieri smug about all the ugly weight they lost eating expensive, freeze-dried, unappetizing cardboard meals, I’ll be a happier person. If I don’t ever have to hear a specific number of pounds Wynona loses with the ‘help’ of Alli, I won’t cry myself to sleep.
And if these systems and products have to say what a typical loss really is…I’m betting just a few more people will figure out that it might not be worth the expense, the side effects (such as Alli’s famous ‘anal leakage’), the potential humiliation (such as the weekly weigh-ins at Weight Watchers) to lose an extra pound or two over a typical result from cutting out desserts and adding an extra hour of exercise a week to your regular routine…which may or may not lose you any weight to begin with.
Your results may vary.
There are phases of a Fashionista’s development. There’s the time you’re SO EXCITED to get your First! Coach! Bag! and then the time you realize you wouldn’t carry a Coach bag if it came with cash, blow and unlimited access to a 22 year-old cabana boy named Luis. You go from getting it wrong most of the time, to getting it right EVERY time and finally, you get to the point where you don’t give a flying spead-leggéd squirrel WHAT people think because even if only “fashion people” get it, you know –in fashion as in life– there is life beyond the prettydome.
(hahahahahaha no.)
I am a classicist. I’ve always BEEN a classicist. Maybe it’s because my grandparents raised me or maybe it’s because I watched too many old movies, but aside from a brief period of experimentation in my teens –I recall the day I went to school in a pair of cuffed denim shorts, velvet heels, black hose, one of those odious “big shirts” in a particularly lurid shade of magenta and a big velvet top hat because I knew, KNEW someday I was going to marry Slash from Guns n’ Roses and this was my “in”– I’ve been consistently conservative, well-cut and right. Not exciting, but right.
Anyhoodle, the trouble with being a classicist is getting into a rut.
Cobalt blue dress –of which I have three, hello rut!– means blush or mocha snakeskin pumps. Sure I’ll put out when the bishop comes to visit (uh, as it were) and maybe pair it with my sequined tiger Manolos.
And then the other day I unearthed a pair of yellow silk satin Lola Cruz heels I’d bought ages ago and never worn–they’re the origami mule variation of the ones below which I don’t like as much but is on HUGE sale at Yoox—
I won’t say it was a whole new ballgame, there’s still nothing more classic than a silk mule (in fact, I don’t generally approve of mules in anything but silk) but it pushed my envelope a little, and that was good for me.
So I challenge you to push YOUR fashion envelope a little. A great place to start would be at YOOX.COM’s 90% off Sample Sale, which runs now through Sunday.
Some unusual shoes from the 08 Fall/Winter collections that are tickling my fancy:
*Get your minds out of the gutter.
It is Friday and Francesca wishes to turn to issues that have nothing to do with health, or cancer, or anything that isn’t fun!
So, she wants to know: Have you replaced your eye makeup in the last 6 months?
Bacteria gets onto all those applicators and into the mascara and the powder.
If your makeup is getting old, aw, too bad, you will have to go to the store and get new makeup! And then come home and play with it all!
When Francesca buys new makeup, she takes it home and then does herself up with it like Britney Spears in “Toxic.” Oh, did she just admit that out loud?
Happy weekend.
xoxo
Francesca says:
If you are in a risk category for skin cancer, when was the last time you checked all your moles for any changes?
And, since it is difficult to see all those hard-to-reach places, when was the last time you had a full-body scan by a dermatologist?
It only takes a few minutes and when it comes to skin cancer, early detection is paramount! If you are in a high-risk group, see the dermatologist every six months! Talk to him/her about how to avoid skin cancer!
Do not worry about the Big Body being peered over by the skin doctor. Skin doctors have seen it all. And besides, this is your health –possibly your life — we are discussing.
Francesca hath spoken.
xoxo
Hello, everyone! Did you miss the Francesca? She missed you!
She is starting a fun and important new series: The Big Reminder. Check every day!
To begin, we will start with reminders about the basic health, because the basis of good fashion is not how the body looks but how the body is.
So Francesca reminds you: If you haven’t done so for a while, schedule a medical checkup!
If you have been avoiding your doctor because he or she — or the nurse or the receptionist — makes rude comments about your fat, or insists on weighing you if you do not want to be weighed, or blames all your health problems (such as a sinus infection) on your weight, or insists you lose weight even though you have suffered from eating disorders and really just want to live with the body you have come to accept and love — then Francesca says: either stand up for yourself, or find a new doctor! Do not let the turkeys prevent you from managing your health!
Also, if you have a specific medical condition that necessitates many visits to specialists, it is easy to feel that, since you are always at the doctor, you don’t need to schedule a checkup. But it happens often that a person is so busy managing a dramatic health problem that he or she forgets the checkups, and then gets very sick with something else.
So, schedule a checkup! Francesca hath spoken.
xoxo
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