Manolo for the Big Girl

Francesca is in the mood for a Meet-and-Greet, so she can talk with our wonderful readers in person, drink cocktails with fabulous women, and see (and show off) some wonderful clothes and shoes.

How about it, New Yorkers?

Francesca is thinking The View restaurant and bar at the top of the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square, a week from today: Monday, July 7. She will make reservations for drinks from 7:30-9:30, yes? Time enough after work to get to midtown and join us, time enough afterward to get home and get some beauty sleep.

Please let Francesca know in the comments if you will attend, so she will know how much space to reserve. xoxo!

When I finished up Food Friendly May, reader Angel was kind enough to say she was going to miss my recipes. Well, Angel, you didn’t have to miss them for long. With the Fourth coming up, many of us are going to picnics or holding backyard barbeques, or just want a festive treat in honor of the holiday. And so I went looking for just the right sort of treat in a recent addition to my cooking library: Pie by Ken Haedrick.

If you love pie and haven’t taken a look at this book, do yourself a favor and go check it out. I’m overwhelmed with the range and tastiness of the recipes inside. I’ve already made a couple and am looking forward to using this book a lot!

So, what goodie did I find for the Fourth? Watermelon Chiffon Pie. I’ve modified the first instruction, but other than that, it’s just as Mr. Haedrick wrote it down.

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Once again, you all light up my life. Last week I dropped this perverse image on you:

and you responded with eleven hilarious captions for it.

In the end, though, there can be only one winner. This time around that winner is GradualDazzle for this all-too-appropriate variation on a classic tag line:

“Only YOU can prevent camel toe.”

Congratulations, GradualDazzle! And thanks to everyone who played!

Remember last week when we were talking about aging into things? For me, Ferragamo is one of those brands that I’ll still have to age into. I was at the symphony a few weeks ago and somehow lucked into to the Founders’ Circle. It was nothing but a parade of fantastically aged matrons in their St. John suits and Ferragamo flats and it was fabulous. The flats are just a little too close to home in their WASPiness for me to wear them personally. It’s just a little too literal. I drive a luxury vehicle and can metabolize gin like a anamatronic sailor, I don’t need any more social signifiers, thanks.
THESE however, these are shoes you can wear until you’re dead. They are Not Cheap and I’m always hesitant on recommending fabric shoes because they’re just not at hearty as their leather counterparts but they are classic classic classic. The color is gorgeous, the cut is flattering on the foot and although the heel does tend towards the slender side, it’s “only” three inches so it’s not like you’ll be teetering around like a stilt-walker with an inner ear infection whenever you walk across the room.

Happy Weekend Everybody!

Francesca continues in her quest to catch up on reader emails . . .

Hi Francesca,

I’ve been reading your blog (Manolo for the Big Girl) since it started, and I love seeing the plus-size clothes. I would love to actually buy some of these fabulous clothes, but I live in Australia and so many of the websites listed only ship to US addresses (HolyClothing.com is one of the few exceptions). I saw your post on the Woman Within sale and got all excited about buying something … then found they don’t ship to Australia.

Do you know of any other reasonably-priced online stores catering to plus-size pears from Australia?

Kind Regards,

Aussie Pear

This is one of many, many similar emails we have received from readers all over the world who are not lucky enough to live in the USA — and Francesca calls US residents “lucky” in this context because being a Big Girl and finding plus-size clothing outside of the United States is even more difficult than inside. Francesca knows.

So Francesca has compiled a list of almost 40 online vendors of large-size clothing, which ship to countries outside of the United States (as well as to US addresses)!

1. Alight
2. Always for Me - Ship to over 50 countries; check website for the list
3. B and Lu
4. Bigger Bras - ship to Canada, Western and Northern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
5. Bravissimo - based in London. Ship worldwide.
6. Catherine’s
7. Coldwater Creek
8. Dress By Design
9. Fashion Overdose
10. Fig Leaves - US site does not ship internationally, but the British site ships worldwide.
11. Frederick’s of Hollywood - ship to Canada
12. Holy Clothing - Free shipping on all orders worldwide.
13. Igigi - Ships to Canada, Australia, UK, and EU. Outside those areas, email the company to inquire whether they can ship to you.
14. Jahqoi
15. J.C. Penney - Ship to most countries. See website for details.
16. J. Crew - ships to Canada and Japan, and is in process of adding more countries.
17. J.Jill
18. Junonia
19. Kiyonna
20. Land’s End
21. Lane Bryant - Ship to Canada, but no other international orders
22. Make Your Own Jeans
23. Making It Big
24. Maximum Woman - based in Toronto, ships internationally around the world.
25. Missphit
26. Monif C.
27. Persephone Plus - Gothic clothing
28. Reality Plus Clothing
29. Saks Fifth Avenue - International shipping is limited to a few countries. Call 1-800-7257-7257 (from outside the US) to find out whether your country is one of them.
30. Silhouettes - one must contact the company to check for availability of international shipping to one’s area
31. Size Appeal
32. SWAK 
33. Sydney’s Closet - for $53 (!!!) will ship to Canada and “select other countries around the world.” See website for details.
34. Swimsuits for All
35. Swimsuits Just for Us - ship to Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand
36. Talbot’s
37. Women Suits - ship to most international destinations
38. Zaftique - For non-US/Canadian address, item must be in stock for order to be shipped.
39. Torrid

A few caveats:

1- Francesca does not claim this list to be exhaustive. Please feel free to add more in the comments!

2- Although all these sites ship internationally, one may not be able to order through the site as easily as an American resident. One may, for example, have to call or email ahead to find out how much shipping will cost to one’s own particular country, and express/rush shipping usually is not available.

3- Shipping rates to other countries vary widely from site to site, and never include customs taxes or import fees at the receiving end, which can be exhorbitant. Francesca highly recommends having items shipped to an American friend whenever possible, and having the friend ship the clothing to you in open packages, so that they are “used.” Remember also that return shipping will take longer and add to your costs.

4- Almost every site located in the US will ship to the US and to all its territories. However, if you live in Alaska, Hawaii, a US holding/territory, or have an APO/FPO or Rural Route address, then check the shipping policies carefully, as they differ widely; but, probably, Francesca did not have to tell you this!

5- When in doubt about shipping policies, check on the websites under “Ordering and Returns,” “Shipping,” or “Customer Service” for details. Information about international possibilities may be buried deep within the site, but they are there.

Also, a special note to our reader, Aussie Pear: Check out mysize.com.au and bodywise.com.au!

To our readers in the UK: Beige Plus and Simply Be are both located in the UK and will ship within it.

Happy shopping!

xoxo,

Francesca

I sort of have a problem with wedges. They’re kind of…clompy. Not all of them of course, but some of them and it’s hard for me to be my naturally graceful, gazelle-like self when I’m stomping around like a Clydesdale. My mission this summer is to give wedges a chance. The way I figure it is if Miuccia Prada can force herself to do an entire (brilliant) lace collection for Fall because she hates lace, I can get over myself long enough to give those clompy bastards sturdier shoes a chance.

These woven leather creatures from Isabella Lorusso are just perverse enough for me to like them. I think it’s the black flowers. I mean, they shouldn’t work, but somehow I think they would. It would be one of those shoes where you’d leave the house and go “Yeah, I’m wearing giant red patent leather wedges with sod-all black flowers on them and I look fantastic. Do you have a problem with that?” I feel like they’d want a black dress and shortie gloves and a cherry-stained cigarette for maximum effect. They’re $109 at YOOX. Why not give ‘em a try and report back to your pal Plummy?

You all know how this works: I pick a picture that amuses me on some level, and you all commet with your best captions. Next week, I declare a winner and we all laud the comic stylings of talented big girls.

So here we go:

Ready…set…snark!

Before I move on to the topic of the day, I’d like to commend Francesca for her superfantastic series of wedding gown articles this week…and make a shameless plug for my other weekend writing gig in the Manolosphere: Manolo for the Brides. You lovely ladies who are getting married - or just love chatting about weddings - might want to make a visit. The fabulous Never teh Bride writes the blog during the week. I take it on the weekends. We love the weddings.

But I digress.

What I really came here to talk about is the great sale at Avenue. Right now is a terrific time to save on summer basics with their $10 event. It’s actually more like the $10, $15, and $20 event, but I’m okay with that. This isn’t investment clothing, but most of us can use a few cheap and cheerful pieces that get rotated in and out of our wardrobes for a couple seasons, too.

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As per usual, you guys blew me away. Last sunday, I posted this picture:

and you provided twelve different captions to go with it.

Of course, there can be only one winner, and this week it’s emmme for this hilarious and superfantastically positive response:

Of course, no one was surprised that Miss Duluth 1905 went on to rule the world.

Congratulations, emmme! And thanks to everyone who played.

Today I was sitting at work, staring absently at the old family photo on my desk, and realized that I am shaped exactly like my dear Grand-mere, may she rest in peace. In the photo, we are sitting in almost identical poses, with one hand resting gently atop the other — perhaps because the photographer placed us that way, I do not recall — and even the fat between our wrists and elbows are in the same places, in the same amounts.  We are just about the same height, and have near-identical figures.

Grand-mere was no beauty queen, but she was a strong woman, and an intelligent woman, and a she used to sing me to sleep, and she used to make me delicious crepes every time I came to visit, and I loved her. She died about a year and a half ago, and my eyes mist, still, whenever I think of her, because I miss her so.

One could do worse, than to look like my Grand-mere.