Manolo for the Big Girl

Texans, it might surprise you to find out, are not what one might call an understated people.

We don’t really do subtlety or nuance or cynicism, all things necessary for good fashion. Austin, for all its coolness, is not a fashion city. And you know? That’s okay by me.

However, during South by Southwest, the music and film festival that brings a bazillion people streaming into my town this week from all over the world, a sort of Underground railroad of fashion springs up.

Last night I went to an event at one of the stops and it necessitated Serious Fashion Makeup.

Now, I don’t get to do a full on editorial makeup often, so I decided to do a look inspired by the MAC Style Warrior visuals from S/S of last year:

I was particularly inspired by Sam Chapman’s tutorial on her version of the look which had a little bit more of a 1920’s feel that suits me better than the 80’s redux of the MAC visuals.

Since it was a bit misty last night and I knew I had a few stops to make before returning to Château Gâteau for the evening, I wanted to make sure the makeup stayed in place BUT I didn’t want to use a hardcore fixative.

Enter Make Up For Ever HD Microperfecting Primer.

I don’t own a full bottle of this, I just got it as a free sample of the neutral (white in the bottle, goes on clear) from Sephora.   This look lasted all night through three venues and a brief episode where I got caught in a light rain.  I pressed the pigment powders onto the skin while the primer hadn’t completely absorbed and let me tell you, although it blended beautifully, that makeup wasn’t going ANYWHERE.

This stuff is great and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it, especially if you have problems with make-up “traveling”  or if you choose not to use oil-based products on the eye (I can’t because it’s bad for my eyelash extensions). I couldn’t feel it on my face, the look stayed flawlessly loud and it washed right off with a cleansing pad.

Verdict: Two Enthusiastic Bottoms Up

Silhouettes recently sent Francesca three “Fall Essentials” of their choosing to review on the blog. They were gifts to Francesca, but as always Francesca is 100% honest with her readers about the items’ quality and style — with thanks, of course, to the Silhouettes for thinking of us.

It is difficult for Francesca to have to start with the shoes, because as our readers know, here at Chez Manolo we deal in the highest-quality-materials-and-craftsmanship feetswear, which one cannot possibly get for the retail price of $49, which is what these shoes cost. So Francesca asks herself, If I were one of the many superfantastic girls who, doing the best she could, wanted to spend no more than $50 on the pair of shoes, what would I think about these? And the answer is that, for what they are, these are very attractive shoes. Francesca loves the medium heel and the suede- and Oxford-inspired style, which is “in” right now, and in the brown color they are perfect for the Fall wardrobe. As long as one understands that everything but the sole is constructed of man-made materials, that they will not last for many seasons, and that they are less comfortable than their higher-end counterparts, then, as they say in Yiddish, gezuntahait.  Enjoy them and go forth in style!

They also sent me this faux snakeskin silver “hinge” bangle in purple. It is on sale right now for $19. Francesca does not understand how this is a “Fall Essential.” It is, in her opinion, a “Spring or Summer Option.” If you like the design and the color(s), again, it is perfectly nice for the price-point. Francesca was not “blown away,” but that is a matter of personal taste. If this bracelet tickles your  fancy, then Francesca will not look at you askance.

Francesca has just 3 words for this unfortunate glass-and-acrylic   bauble:

Barbie Dress-up Playset.

Though, if she squints, she can imagine the young girl with the pageboy haircut, jaunty attitude, and vintage clothing pinning this to her cloche to cute effect.

And now, in deference to Silhouettes, who were willing to send a box to Francesca internationally for her to try their wares without any hope of getting them back, she proposes another item from their site which suggests more promise: a classic Mock Wrap Dress in eggplant. She also points out that they have easy-priced, wide-calf boots, which Francesca knows is of utmost importance to  many the Big Girl.

PS From Francesca’s Inbox: Use code S96E2 for free shipping in the continental US on orders of $100 or more. Code is good through November 16.

Francesca spent an afternoon reading the new memoir by Crystal Renn, a former “straight” size model (that is, size 00) who decided to stop starving herself and is now the most successful plus-size (12) model in the world. Entitled Hungry, the book (co-authored with Marjorie Ingall) describes Renn’s relatively happy childhood; her descent into anorexia and exercise bulimia beginning at age 14 after a scout told her she could be a supermodel; and her rise to fame after re-gaining dozens of pounds.

The book is a quick read, and Francesca enjoyed the peek into the brutal world of modeling and the many illustrative pictures of Renn, which show how much more animated and photogenic she is now that she is healthy. The writing isn’t high literary art, and the (sometimes excessive) references to contemporary pop culture will make the book obsolete in a few years, but still … it is an interesting story, certainly worth an afternoon. Francesca also appreciates that many of the statistics and observations which support the HAES movement have been published in one place.

The important aspect of this book is the messages it conveys about weight and popular media. One good one comes through strongly: that people in the fashion world have a dramatically skewed view of beauty and thinness. Another valuable message is that eating disorders are not only not healthy but also NOT WORTH IT. I’m glad that a beautiful model is getting out there and saying that even a modeling career isn’t worth the hunger, and exhaustion, and inability to focus she suffered when she was eating nothing but steamed vegetables and gum, and exercising for 8 hours a day.

Renn’s argument is somewhat weakened by the fact that she did not, in fact, give up her modeling career. Francesca thinks that what Ms. Renn wants to communicate – and obviously means sincerely – is that the best way to live is to give your body what it needs and take care of yourself, and that good things will follow. Indeed it is fascinating to read how Renn’s career skyrocketed after she went plus-size.

That message would be stronger –albeit less dramatic – if it were coming from someone who had actually given up her modeling dream in order to be healthy, and had found success and happiness some other way. As it is, the book is saying “look, I gained back the weight and now I’m a supermodel ANYHOW!” without acknowledging that it wouldn’t happen that way for most people. As Renn explains in the book, most plus-size models are forever limited to “catalogue” work, as opposed to the more artsy and more prestigious “editorial” work in the fashion magazines.

It is terrific and inspiring that Ms. Renn has broken through the plus-size/editorial barrier, but Francesca wishes that somewhere in the book she’d said that going from size 00 to 12 – and becoming healthier and more emotionally stable in the process — would have been worth it even if no one ever wanted to take her picture again.

Francesca does not remember what happened to her last raincoat. Did it get lost? Did she bring it to the dry cleaner in one country or another and forget about it? Was it stolen? She has no idea. But one cannot live the whole winter with just a wool coat (as gorgeous as it is) and a wool jacket (as handsome and utilitarian as it is). One needs a little something for warm, rainy days. Something like this:

Gallery Trapeze Coat is sort of like the one Francesca bought, and is available at Nordstrom in sizes 1x – 3x.

And this:

All-weather raincoat with removable lining by London Fog, available at Nordstrom in sizes 1x – 3x for $148, or for less than half that at physical Burlington Coat Factory stores, in the plus-size aisles.

Francesca is so happy.

Francesca bought so much stuff during her three weeks in the U.S. that she actually used a luggage cart at the airport to haul it all from baggage claim. Francesca prides herself on traveling light, so this was notable my friends, notable indeed. Upon arriving home at 5 am, she nearly pounced on a construction worker who happened to be walking by and offered him all the local currency in her wallet (which, in truth, was the equivalent of only $12, because she’d converted everything to US monies and then spent most of the rest on the taxi home from the airport) to bring her suitcases up to her second-floor walk-up. Thank God for big, tall, brawny passing-by men who wish to make $12 in 2 minutes.

Anyhow, as we all know, the funnest part of shopping is when we get to show off our purchases to our girlfriends. So, in the next few days, I hope you will humor the Francesca as she discusses her new acquisitions with you!

Let us start with the perfume. As I’ve mentioned previously, during the winter Francesca wears the incredibly sensual and warm Euphoria by Calvin Klein (currently on sale at Perfumania.com for unbeatable prices). For a few years now, her summer perfume was HAPPY(natch), but she was never 100%, um, happy with it. It was close, but not exactly what spoke to her.

So during her travels, she tried different scents. The idea was to find something feminine and floral for the summer, but not cloyingly sweet. She feared she was seeking the impossible: a scent that is both floral and crisp.

After testing about 20 different scents over 3 weeks and coming this close to buying White Linen by Estee Lauder, Francesca tried Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana and was sold. It is sexy but also somehow familiar and comforting to Francesca, and there are few scents that can be sensual and homey simultaneously. Of course, different aromas will do this for different people, which is why testing your scent — walking around with it on you for a few hours to see how it smells on you and how it makes you feel — is so important.

The fact that it is named for Francesca’s favorite color is a plus (but no, the names and packaging had nothing to do with it, unless extremely subconsciously in which case Francesca has been successfully taken by the marketing people. But anyway, White Linen and Light Blue both smell divine, and now Francesca does, too).

Until a few weeks ago, I’d never heard of Coastal Scents, a small cosmetics company based in Florida, and when I visited their site on a whim I wasn’t especially impressed. The site was a no-frills online store, the photographs weren’t professional beauty shots and the menus less than intuitive. But I was intrigued.

Coastal Scents, unlike traditional mascara slingers, caters to a combination of mad-scientists and professionals; make-up artists, resellers and people who want to make their own custom blends. They don’t just sell makeup, they sell makeup components, including pure pigment.

I am constantly on the hunt for intensely pigmented matte colors.

MAC is great and I heartily recommend them, but I have a hard time justifying dropping $15 for a shadow pot I might use once or twice a year. As far as drug store brands go, I’ve had good luck with the L’Oreal HiP line and Milani, which is marketed towards women with darker skin tones and generally contains more pigment, but they’re almost always too sparkly and their lasting power leaves a good deal to be desired. Plus I can’t use their cream-based products because of my eyelash extensions.

Coastal Scents sells their pigments by the half-teaspoon, teaspoon, ounce and pound. I ordered teaspoons of several oxides and micas (at a dollar each!)  which is what they call “sample size”. Sample size it may be, but for the recreational user, a teaspoon of pigment is a LOT of makeup. They arrived packaged neatly in teensy zipper bags. Each bag was labeled with the color, approved uses –eyes, lips, face, nails etc.– and the ingredients.

I popped each pigment into its own five gram jar ($3.49 for 10) and started experimenting.

Using their excellent 13 piece brush set ($16.95 including roll) which is by far the best brush set for the money I’ve ever come across, I began monkeying around with applications. First I applied some pigment with a very wet brush and got a lovely, even wash of color. Then I added a drop of fixative (I think mine came from a N.Y.C. loose powder kit) for a full-on intense look. The color payoff was tremendous as good or better as anything I’ve used including the MAC pro colors. It blended like a dream and although there was a good deal of fallout on the dry applications, that’s to be expected with any highly pigmented powder, especially since I forgot to use a primer the first time.

Using a primer is always a good idea with powders, especially if you’ve got deep set or oily eyelids, because powders as a species tend to “travel”.

Primer gives the powder something to grip, making your application last longer and stay where you damn well put it. The nice folks a Make Up Forever sent me a sample of their HD Microperfecting primer in Neutral the other day which is what I’ve been using and I highly recommend it, but historically my trusty old Rimmel Fix and Perfect primer has never steered me wrong and would probably work almost as well.

My only complaint with the Coastal Scents pigments was they don’t offer a really screaming yellow, which I’ve needed for a particular look for ages. I finally caved and bought Make Up Forever’s Pure Pigment #2, which is good, but not the Holy Grail yellow I’d been searching for, especially not for $20, which was nearly as much as I paid for the entire Coastal Scents 42 Color Double Stack Matte Palette ($24.95).

I am way, WAY gun shy about inexpensive palettes. Too many years of cheap Christmas sets with chalky colors meant for little girls playing dress up have left me with a fear and loathing of the multicolor pack, so I can’t tell you why I ordered this.

Maybe it was because the colors were matte –once you’re past the glitter and gloss stage, mattes are a much cooler look than shimmers which tend to look cheap even if they’re not–or maybe I was hoping for that Holy Grail Yellow (close but not quite) but I wasn’t expecting much.

I’m glad I was wrong.

This is by far the best big palette I’ve seen for under $100. It’s a great combination of neutrals and brights, plus some killer blushes and bronzers. The browns are almost exact duplicates of MAC mushroom and bark, which are great browns I use for eyebrow powders (apply it with an angled brush) and the pressed colors have the same ease of blending and almost the same intensity as the wonderful pure pigments.

Next week I’ll have a review of their mineral foundations and veils, plus I’ll reveal The Greatest Cosmetic Brush Ever.  Stay tuned!

Francesca must admit to having a certain penchant for the Old Navy Womens-Plus collections. The clothes are usually not “for me,” but she appreciates that Old Navy has a place in the world. Francesca has purchased some items from them, in fact, on occasion. She is glad they exist. And even if they did take their plus-size clothing out of the  physical stores, enraging almost everyone, she’s glad that at least the clothes are still available online.

Recently, in an attempt to garner some positive publicity on fashion blogs, Old Navy sent a sale code to various fashion bloggers, including Francesca, which we could use to take $25 off any Old Navy item. The point was that we would then review the item on the blog.

In consultation with Manolo, Francesca took the offer, with the understanding that everything must be on the up-and-up with our readers, and that if she has received a discount on an Old Navy item, she must inform the readers in the review so that everyone knows what is going on.

However, Francesca did not want to spend too much of her own money just to get an item to review from Old Navy. For an Igigi dress or Stewies, yes of course, but spending money just because you get a discount is not really a bargain. We understand, yes?

OK. So Francesca decided to try buying a bra online. The $25 sale code offered an opportunity to experiment. Francesca is always preaching about the importance of buying a well-fitting bra. She usually buys hers in boutiques with professional fitters. Here was a chance to see how it would go, buying a bra from an online catalogue.

So she ordered a pretty bra and matching panties, whose cost, with shipping, came out to $33. Francesca was willing to lose $8 on the experiment, no problem.

The panties (which unfortunately are no longer available) were perfectly nice and wearable and pretty, etc. Good start.

The bra is also very pretty, and the quality is not too bad. However it was missing the padding inserts! The inserts were nowhere to be found!

And without the inserts, the bra did not fit correctly (though it seems to Francesca that it would have, with the inserts).

Francesca called Old Navy and we agreed that I would return the bra and they’d send me an identical exchange.

But the next day they sent me an email saying the bra was no longer available in my size in the color I wanted.

Sure, Francesca could return the bra AND panties and get new ones in a different color, or whatever.

But since the whole thing started because Old Navy was looking for $25 publicity, she decided to just consider the panties an $8 keeper and forget about the bra.

If anyone from Old Navy is reading this, it seems the coupon idea did not work out as well as you had hoped, in this case. Good try, though.

Francesca just received the Igigi Velvet Wrap Dress (with silk charmeuse tie), which she ordered  a while ago. Since Francesca has been traveling, she had to wait a while before being in the same city as the dress so she could try it on.

Let Francesca tell you about this dress.

The magic of Igigi is that although their clothes do not come in petite sizes, and do not always appear to be suitable for the Apple, they always fit Francesca perfectly.

Francesca is 5′1″ and very Appley. On taller folk, the dress is designed to come to just below the knee and have 3/4 sleeves (as pictured). On Francesca, the sleeves came down, quite attractively, to the wrists, and the hem fell just below the wide part of the calf. The shoulders fit perfectly. The plunging neckline ended exactly at the point just above Francesca’s bra.

And, though wrap dresses are generally an iffy proposition for Apples, this one draped perfectly. She does not know how Igigi does it.

Francesca’s mother was in the room, and said “Francesca, the dress looks like it was made for you.” The emerald green color was beautiful with Francesca’s light-red hair. (The dress also comes in black.)

The only criticism I have is that the dress should really be lined. One certainly needs to wear a good slip underneath the skirt.

It just goes to show that Apples CAN wear wrap dresses, and petites CAN sometimes wear regular sizes. Do not be afraid to experiment (especially when the dress is on sale, as this one is)!

xoxo,

Francesca