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Thread: Big Girl Chic: Plus-Size Retail Growing

  1. #31
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    ms, knock it off


    did you not see the beginning of my post that said "without getting into the whole overweight argument"?

    this was not/ is not about what men (or what you say men) find attractive. this is actually nothing to do with porn, fetishes, thin vs fat, body shape preference arguments, marketing, etc. everyone is very well aware of it all

    this was to show that there are some stores that are getting better clothes for women that are bigger and taller. if i could find a story about how the fashion industry is getting better clothes for short people, i would post that too. that wouldn't be an invite to start poking short people.if you don't have anything of help to add, go somewhere else
    float like a butterfly...

    <img src=http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/image.php?s=fd42b01563865e774f96446ef657fe33&type=sigpic&userid=769&dateline=1223824178 border=0 alt= />
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    highly functional, paranoid, tinfoiler
    currently in charge of the aluminatorium

  2. #32
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    Ladies don't be offended. Most men love the big ones. Just look at all the songs about you.

    Freddie King
    Big Legged Woman



    Jerry Lee Lewis
    Big Legged Woman


    And my favorite,
    Taj Mahal
    Big Legged Mamas Are Back In Style Again

    Last edited by hunybee; 04-04-2012 at 02:50 PM. Reason: whoa dude! family site. although the sentiment is thoughtful, let's mebbe just go with the titles.....uffda
    Where there are too many policemen, there is no liberty. Where there are too many soldiers, there is no peace. Where there are too many lawyers, there is no justice.
    Lin Yutang

  3. #33
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    Not only that, but some of this is cultural wishful thinking on the part of advertisers and others who just assume that women want to see (and be) toothpicks; and that if they are not, they should just slink about in shame and who wants to make clothing for them anyway?

    In the Hispanic Community (and Latin America in general) body image is a lot different and while most young women would rather not be morbidly obese, they don't worry about being social outcasts if they carry a certain amount of extra weight. Even a very large girl, usually just gets nicknamed "La Gordita" a much less emotionally impacting way of calling her "Chubby" but there is no English version that is not somehow offensive, which explains the point perfectly.

    My ex-boyfriend was "El Gordito" because he was fat and his best friend was "El Chino" because his Mother was Chinese. Another close friend of his was El Flaco" because he was skinny, the fat because a description rather than a shame and using the ito/ita among friends makes it friendly and intimate.

    As a child my father was called "Chubby" but it was intended to be a bit shameful in a way that El Gordito is not (or at least wasn't in the past).

    I brought this up because Latin American TV Shows, Movies, Magazines etc DO have large sized models and mixtures of people in them.

    You can see this even on CNN, there's a lady meteorologist who is on both CNN international and CNN en Espanol. She is interesting, intelligent, handsome and always well turned out in nice clothing; she is also probably 75 to 100 pounds "over-weight" especially by TV standards.

    I have actually read several places that the reason she was hired was because she was originally on the Spanish language station and that in Latin America "they don't have a problem with larger women on TV." That's pretty blunt and of course the wonderful lady is now all over the place, but she really shows that part of what is going on is simply a refusal of broadcasting and media people to show people of all sizes, the way they now do of all colors.

    This women didn't get her job because she is a large women, she got it because she is a great on-air personality and really knows her stuff. You have to wonder how many other wonderful role models there are out there for non-average looking young men and women - yes including those who are fat.

    Because if you think you have no hope and will grow up to be nothing; it is very easy for that to happen. The way the media (and often upper-class Americans) fixate on body sizes that are way below what is even healthy, just makes this problem worse.

    Finally, I saw this video live when I was 13 years old and it was the first time I ever remember seeing a large women portrayed as sexy, loved and exciting; it also gave me hope that someday there would be someone that would love me too. I was so happy when I found this on You Tube about a year ago - I could not get to inbed, so just follow the link...

    Momma Cass - recorded from a live TV show in the 1970's...
    expatriate Californian living in rural Ireland with husband, dogs, horses. garden and many, many cats

  4. #34
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    What a beautiful performance! Such a pretty song. I used to run a lot to the Mammas and the Pappas. Speaking of belly dancing, DC, I took a few classes while living in Sacramento. After a past of ballet, jazz, karate, etc., I thought - How hard can belly dancing be? I was the worst one in the class! The other ladies were big - Mamma Cass size - but they moved beautifully.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Faroe View Post
    What a beautiful performance! Such a pretty song. I used to run a lot to the Mammas and the Pappas. Speaking of belly dancing, DC, I took a few classes while living in Sacramento. After a past of ballet, jazz, karate, etc., I thought - How hard can belly dancing be? I was the worst one in the class! The other ladies were big - Mamma Cass size - but they moved beautifully.

    there's a tribal belly dancing group here, I was invited to an open house which included participating in some beginning belly dancing lessons. All of the women, except one, were plump me probably being the plumpest of them all, and all of them were really into the dancing. The gal that was thin, she was probably 5'10" in height and probably about 120 pounds, she was rather painful to watch she looked like a stick shimmying in place, but God Love her she was dedicated and excited about belly dancing and seriously that's ALL that matters what are you getting out of life??? And I'll say that at my size I was rather painful to watch as well, it's time to take up walking several miles a day again.

    K-
    • “I am not afraid, because I was born to do this."

      Joan of Arc
    Mark 8:38 - Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

  6. #36
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    I knew a women who was in a traditional belly dance troop in the 1980's (they wore what would now be called "tribal garb rather than the I dream of Jennie style of nightclubs). All the other women in the group (except the leaders 8 year old daughter) ranged from plump to extra-extra large and the thin women told me she had to work twice as hard as the others to get the right hip movement. That the dancing was designed to show off a fuller figure, you could do if you were a bean pole but it was a lot harder.
    expatriate Californian living in rural Ireland with husband, dogs, horses. garden and many, many cats

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Disastercat View Post
    I knew a women who was in a traditional belly dance troop in the 1980's (they wore what would now be called "tribal garb rather than the I dream of Jennie style of nightclubs). All the other women in the group (except the leaders 8 year old daughter) ranged from plump to extra-extra large and the thin women told me she had to work twice as hard as the others to get the right hip movement. That the dancing was designed to show off a fuller figure, you could do if you were a bean pole but it was a lot harder.

    I like the tribal garb because your covered up!
    • “I am not afraid, because I was born to do this."

      Joan of Arc
    Mark 8:38 - Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Disastercat View Post
    Not only that, but some of this is cultural wishful thinking on the part of advertisers and others who just assume that women want to see (and be) toothpicks; and that if they are not, they should just slink about in shame and who wants to make clothing for them anyway?

    In the Hispanic Community (and Latin America in general) body image is a lot different and while most young women would rather not be morbidly obese, they don't worry about being social outcasts if they carry a certain amount of extra weight. Even a very large girl, usually just gets nicknamed "La Gordita" a much less emotionally impacting way of calling her "Chubby" but there is no English version that is not somehow offensive, which explains the point perfectly.

    My ex-boyfriend was "El Gordito" because he was fat and his best friend was "El Chino" because his Mother was Chinese. Another close friend of his was El Flaco" because he was skinny, the fat because a description rather than a shame and using the ito/ita among friends makes it friendly and intimate.

    As a child my father was called "Chubby" but it was intended to be a bit shameful in a way that El Gordito is not (or at least wasn't in the past).
    I had friends from Cuba. One of their relatives called me gordo. I was offended being brought up in the mid-west. My wife at the time explained to me it was a statement of fact not judgment. Also in many cultures it is thought if you are fat you are successful because you have enough money to afford food.

    Comment on Lane Bryant. Some years the clothes are OK some years not so much. PW and I do not care for the hooker look. I see many womens clothing that is not what I would consider professional but back yard casual. Pretty, but not professional. And cheap fabrics. Even going to large dept stores in Des Moines is not always fruitful. Unless you spend $500 to $900 per outfit. Just don't have that kind of money.

    I just don't know what happened to clothing after the 1970's.
    Nessie and Bigfoot 2016. Change you can believe in.

  9. #39
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    I think it is about time and wonderful that finally attractive clothing will be available in larger sizes!

    Clothing became a real issue for me as I aged, but my size remained the same, size 5. Yes, for women reading this thread, the clothing industry has really blown it on the smaller sizes, too. Women's size begins in Size 6. So, even now, I have to buy my pants, skirts, and dresses, in the Junior section. If the waist isn't where it is supposed to be, and I can't find anything to work, then I buy size 6, then go home and alter everything I buy. I have seldom even found a size 5 that fits me correctly (too big in the waist), then alter some of those. With all that trouble? There is an up side to staying the same size, no matter what that is; clothing has to wear out as it isn't outgrown. I might even like going clothes shopping if womens clothes were being made in my size...

    I was looking at my supply of pants, which happen to wear out faster than other clothes does. Looks scary, like I may have to go shopping... Nope, warm weather coming, I'll wear my dresses more often!

    I've raised both of my children to accept their body types, stay fit, but not to sweat what size they are. It is nice they don't have issues buying clothing that fits.

  10. #40
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    Christie, I had a had a close friend from Venezuela (whose family was German) and she was a size 2, we had a great deal of "fun" trying to find size 2 clothing for her and size 16 "petite" clothing (which simply did not exist then for short people) for me. Years later, I had a close friend in Colorado (who now lives in Scotland) and she was a size two and is now a size five; so I understand your situation perfectly.

    There actually has been some good, reasonably priced clothing in the US since the 1980's for larger women (including "Full" petite" lines for people like me) but you had to know where to look for them. The sadly missed "Radiance" Magazine helped create a market and and quite a lot of people took up the cause in the pre-internet days and a few companies are still around.

    However, there is pretty much NOTHING, in the UK/Ireland which is still stuck in the polyester Moo-moo/orange tent/old-lady "pantsuit" stage even thirty years later so I have to order most of my stuff from the US, make it or just get lucky.

    I still order my skirts from Deva Life Wear and my bras from Decent Exposures, just like in 1989 only now I can use the Internet.

    Christie you might try Decent Exposures because they also make other clothing and they love ALL sizes. They use all sizes and ages of folks in their catalogs (Deva Life Wear uses people from their town) and have bras from size AA to whatever you need (because they make them to order).

    Both companies are US based and I have no connection with them other than being very happy for decades.
    expatriate Californian living in rural Ireland with husband, dogs, horses. garden and many, many cats

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