Dear rude store associates,

Back in the early days of this blog there were stories all over the place about rude insensative sale associates at stores who made larger customers feel like complete heels when they are supposed to be serving the customer who is making a purchase that helps pay their salary.

After reading the article, “Rude sales staff have third of plus-size women walking out of shops” I have to say something normally reserved for others. Thank you rude, ignorant, insensitive sales associate in mainstream department stores.

If it wasn’t for your uncouth insensitive behavior plus size fashion would not be the successful niche it is today.  Without your draconian discrimination and your backwards thinking of a person based solely on their size designers, stores and magazines targeting plus size woman may not exist at least not in the way we see them today.

When I think about it without your insistence on openly discriminating against a chosen set of people something that should have went out with Jim Crow the environment would not have been created for the great minds to crate the stunning fashions we see today. In other words your poison was turned into something beautiful and fortunately for us you are not even aware of your contribution.

Without your help there would be no Mia Amber, we miss you, Ashley Graham, and Fluvia Lacerda.  Without your assistance there may not be a such thing as Anna Scholz, Hips & Curves, Kiyonna, Plus Model Magazine, or Full Figure Plus.  Events like Full Figured Fashion Week™ may not have been created.

We do not give you credit for the work involved to make each of the above named people, businesses, and events successful we simply thank you for showing us who the enemy is and who with the help of other community members can reveal your blatant negativity for what it is.  Actually we need your pre-reconstruction way of thinking to challenge us to new heights. so how could we be mad at a person who we should actually pity or give an invitation to the dance to teach you the error of your ways.

Other areas that flourished because of you:

1. Photography
2. Social Media
3. Health and Fitness
4. Beauty Products

Come to think of if the plus size fashion community could probably put you on the payroll considering how good of a job you have done at screwing things up for the community you support.  Instead of crushing our resolve you rude sales associates have given us the boost needed to move to the next level which takes us above and beyond your stifling inept comments, looks, and behind the times thinking.

Sincerely,

Glen L. Johnson, MBA
Plus Size Fashion Blogger and proud community member

P.S. Thanks to your negativity Pintrest has been a boon to plus size divas showing off their best in fashion. Keep up the good work.

Full Figure Plus - Plus Size Fashion For Today's Active Women

After dealing with the death of my father and the passing of my good friend Vanessa Reece technical issues hit Full Figure Plus on March 1st which not only took this blog offline for the first time since 2006 it caused the thousands of readers who have come to rely on the information I post daily to be without.

I am now back online with the help of my good friend Bob Toovey.  Because the details are uber technical aka boring I will detail how I got back online on my latest venture Entrepreneur Hacker.  Though i have not been posting here I have been still keeping up with all plus size on Pintrest, Twitter, and Facebook.

There are still some tweaks that I have to do in order to be back 100%.  There will be some changes and some improvements.  Thank you to the readers and supporters of Full Figure Plus!

Full Figure Plus - Plus Size Fashion For Today's Active Women

November 14, 2004 before dot coms, business licences, business cards, and company logos this blog started with a simple idea on Blogger.com.  That idea was to shed light on to the plus size fashion community on the Internet.  What started off as a place to just post shopping links has evolved into a resource for plus size women and some big and tall men to find what they need in their everyday lives.

Being a man in a field dominated by women has had its challenges but I feel the work speaks for itself and that is part of the reason on November 14, 2011 Full Figure Plus is still one of the major voices on the Internet for plus size fashion.  As a way to reflect today I am going to talk about a few more reasons I feel this blog still exists.

1. At least one person in 148 countries have read a post on this blog(148 out of 196 countries)
2. The plus size community is no longer going to stand for being silent
3. Full Figure Plus was one of the first blogs to showcase independent plus size designers like Monif C, Jibri, and IGIGI
4. The Beauty of the week feature was created to showcase how beautiful everyday ladies are
5. Over 2 million visitors
6. Over 4 million page views
7. Interviews with influential individuals throughout the plus size community
8. Served as a platform for readers to voice concerns
9. Reported plus size related issues from a different perspective
10. Continuously gave the readers what they wanted

Full Figure Plus - Plus Size Fashion For Today's Active Women

When thinking about plus size fashion, plus size women and teens in general there have been a few things to come about in which I wonder if the market is doing a good job of addressing the concern or is it just another part of the problem.

Sure blogs like Full Figure Plus do the best job we can in terms of spreading the message of the industry but when it comes to questions like the ones below how are we doing?  Additionally, are these questions factors in plus size fashion being mostly ignored even though we are screaming from the rafters about our accomplishments?  In other words, are we helping or harming the overall effort with what we do?

  If we ignore the fat people they will go away

• Is the obesity rate driving sales in fashion?
• How are plus size brands and retailers meeting the consumers demand for better more fashion forward clothes?
• Are mass merchandisers undercutting boutiques by increasing their selection and lowering their price points?
• What is the strategy of leading plus size companies?
• Why is the nature of plus size advertising mainly on the Internet?

If the majority of plus size women in this country are a size 14 and above why is it that it took the plus size blog community to push brands out to the forefront instead of regular consumer demand as it is with straight size retailers?

 It is common to ignore someone if you do not like that person

Part of the problem is discrimination but the other part comes from within because the plus size community is notoriously silent.  Sure there are a few outspoken individuals and companies but the industry is in my opinion a – If we ignore the fat people they will go away – frame of mind.

In seven years of observing the movement there have been great strides with many plus size brands or plus size extensions of existing brands to hit the market.  The down side of the great strides is they lose steam quickly after the initial rush and eventually get pushed to online only.

Examples of poor or defunct plus size brands include:

• Old Navy – Online Only – Poor advertising
• Forever 21 + – Mostly online – Poor advertising
• ASOS Curve – Poor advertising – Bad location on website
• Liz Claiborne – Shut down and went to HSN – Poor advertising

The bottom line when it comes to the plus size fashion community is that if there is no passion behind the brand like I have personally witnessed from IGIGI, Monif C. Plus Sizes, K-Mart, and Just My Size then that brand will soon fade into nothingness because the people you are looking to serve will abandon what you are trying to do.  What do you think about these points and what would you tell these merchants?

Full Figure Plus - Plus Size Fashion For Today's Active Women

It has been quite sometime since I gave you guys and update as to what is going on with Full Figure Plus.  Now that I think about it there are so many things going on I honestly forgot that I needed to ask you guys what your opinion was about the changes.  Some are bringing back old things or better yet putting more emphasis on them and other things are totally new.

In one month Full Figure Plus will turn seven years old

A quick rundown of the new changes on Full Figure Plus:

1. A new look
2. More emphasis on the Beauty of the Week
3. Beauty of the Week Hall of Fame on Tumblr
4. Fullfigureplus.mobi went live back in the summer
5. Plus size fashion videos are being tested
6. Longer more in depth posts are rolling out
7. Shopping is more integrated part of daily posts instead of the main focus

Over 2.5 million visitors have come to Full Figure Plus since 2004

The other new item I am wondering about is incorporating video on the blog main page.  I did so to show plus size fashion on Full Figure Plus from another perspective and as you can see the video that just went up today allows you to take action on what you see in the video.  Why video?  To be honest it was something different and long time Full Figure Plus readers know that experimentation is what this blog is about and the reason why I went to grad school to learn more about what I need to do to better serve those that I serve – the plus size fashion community.

That’s all for now as far as what new is coming from my mind.  Full Figure Plus is what I do and have been blessed to be able to do it full time so I have nothing else to do but love on my readers in whatever way you guys need me the most.

The final question I leave up to you guys; What do you think about the changes to Full Figure Plus?

Full Figure Plus - Plus Size Fashion For Today's Active Women

One of the longest running features on Full Figure Plus has been the Plus Size Beauty of the week.  In two and a half years 127 young ladies have been featured for seven days on the front page of this blog.

Why feature who in most cases are ladies that I do not know?  Its pretty simple when it comes to beauty in the world today there are far to many examples for ladies to look to beyond a size 6.  The ladies featured hear come from all walks of life, all levels of modeling, and all levels of self confidence.  There have been a few times I have thought to end the series but a submission comes in from a young lady stating the beauty of the week was one of the first things they noticed and it inspired them to submit.

If you submit your photo you WILL be featured!

Where do I take things from here? Honestly I don’t know which is why I need you guys to help me out.  Do you think I should keep things the same as they have been over time or should I make some changes to increase visibility or end it and concentrate more on fashion and less on modeling.

 My personal thoughts on the matter is to keep things going as is meaning that submissions will continue to come in and I will continue to post ladies.  Forgive me for rambling but I would like to feature you guys in a big way but I am not sure how.

For those not familiar with what the PBOTW is all about here are the quick details:

Photos will be accepted if you:

1. Send a full body picture
2. Are a size 14 and above
3. Pose in swimwear or sexy lingerie
4. Are of any race, ethnicity, or nationality (sorry we can’t see what religion you are – *bad pun*)

Photos will be rejected if you:

1. Send a head shot only
2. Send a grainy cell phone photo
3. Send a nude photo
4. Are below a size 14

See that’s it the rules are simple.  Send your submissions to beautyoftheweek@fullfigureplus.com and that’s it.  Photos are chosen randomly to be featured unless there is an exceptional news worthy angle connected to a submission which will push it to the top of the pile.  Otherwise if you submit you will be featured.  It may not be this week but it will happen that much I promise.  Send your pictures in now for your chance in the spotlight!

Past ladies featured here have been seen doing bigger and better things.  Nina Taylor was featured as the face of Full Figured Fashion Week, Nicole Esperanza Zepeda won the City Chic Modeling competition, and fellow blogger Sarah from Queen Sized Flava.  On the other side the bulk of the submissions come from ladies who have no professional modeling aspirations but what to show the world their beauty.  I want to emphasize that this segment is about celebrating the plus size silhouette PERIOD.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A ASPIRING OR WORKING MODEL TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS!  I WOULD PREFER TO GET MORE PHOTOS FROM REGULAR LADIES WHO LOVE THEMSELVES AND ARE NOT SCARED TO SHOW IT OFF!

In closing all I can say is help.  Let me know your thoughts on the PSBOTW and what direction it should take next.

Full Figure Plus - Plus Size Fashion For Today's Active Women