It has be great watching this Summertime tradition grow over the years.  Full Figured Fashion Week™ continues to push the envelope about what you need to do to be a successful business owner in the fashion industry. Over the last two years more of an emphasis has been on blogging and social media.  My suggestion is if you are attending the event is to make time out for this workshop.

“Building Your Brand Through Social Media: Blogging 101 Workshop”

Hotel Pennsylvania
401 Seventh Avenue (across from Madison Square Garden)
Madison Room, 18th Floor
New York, NY

Event Summary: Tapping the vast audience of the social web is a low-cost way to catapult a small-business brand onto the global arena. Building your brand using social media allows you to develop new (and strengthen existing) relationships, which often leads to everything from brand awareness, loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing. This workshop will explore; the purpose of blogging, using social media for your brand, how to leverage the tools to give your brand a voice, how to take your brand to the next level and more.

Moderator:
Marie Denee, The Curvy Fashionista

Panelists:
The Blogger: Alissa from Stylish Curves
The Magazine: Madeline Figueroa- Jones from Plus Model Magazine
The Designer: Marina Zelner from Queen Grace

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

Dear Mainstream Fashion,

As a long time blogger about plus size this and plus size that I have seen the plus size community grow despite your repeated efforts to stifle the growth through exclusion from stores, magazines, runways and even the Internet.  The height of the discrimination came about in 2009 with the cast of characters as long as a freight train stating that being obese or fat will be the death of us allowing your soldiers to rise to the top of the pile on the backs of people who simple looked to be healthy and wear some trendy clothes at the same time. Our success came despite your best efforts to destroy is and for that I want to thank you.

Thank goodness for the 20-30 plus size women who demanded trendy clothing and the over 40 plus size woman who demanded quality careerwear.  Without these niches there would be no stage for Full Figure Plus or the hundreds of plus size voices out there who speak much louder than your draconian ways and push emaciated abused teenage boy looking models out of the way to show beauty does not start and end with a size 0.

Without your help dozens of plus size designers would not exist.  Without your interference hundreds of plus friendly websites, modeling agencies, photographers could not exist.  Though I do not approve of your tactics thank goodness you are so good at being narrow minded that you missed the target when plus size fashion became a $120 billion dollar industry in 2012 (Predicted in 2009).  Thanks to your cheerleaders and poster children we were able to see those who were our supporters rise to unheard of heights and to cast those out who tried to cash in out fat only to bash it once they got their suitcase full of cash.

I do applaud your efforts to try and “support” the plus community with your “plus size sections” to your websites and magazines.  It shows your are not stupid just ignorant to the needs of a niche that for so many decades you have paid little attention to.  I pray that all you are is ignorant in which case you can learn from your evil ways.  If you are just plain stupid then I will wish you a good day and move on to more important endeavors.

Come to think of it without your repeated attempts to say obesity was next to HIV/AIDS in seriousness there would be no entrepreneurs and there would be no events popping up all over the world which not only focus on the fashion but talk about business, nutrition, health and fitness, and several other areas of interest.  Oh, and don’t think we have forgot the CDC numbers from a few years ago that stated being super skinny was worst for your health than being obese, by YOUR standards.  It seems odd that so much positive can come from your negative energy but I guess when you really think of it the plus size community is the epitome of “when your given lemons, make lemonade.”

There are so many people and businesses that I have met as a result of you I could designate an entire post just to naming them.  I want to thank all of you whether I know you personally or not because without you there would be no me.  I also include readers in that lot as well.  Without you the plus size reader there would be no need for a plus size fashion blog.

What has been created is a community full of plus size women and the men, like me, who support them that has grown from the ground up.  So much so that when you finally decide to pay attention to us you frequently miss the point and only focus on fat people who are wearing clothes because they are fat.  Thank you for missing the point because it gives us yet another platform to perform from and trust me we know what the community wants and needs because we are patrons of the community in which we serve.

Sincerely,

Glen L Johnson, MBA
Plus Size Blogger
Size Supporter

P.S. I am sure you will miss the point of this as well mainstream fashion. That’s fine we made it this far without you and will keep moving without you.

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

There is nothing like a cool crisp Winter day to inspire staying inside and doing some shopping from the computer.  I am working on some changes for Full Figure Plus that newsletter subscribers got a peek into this morning.  Additionally, I am hanging out more on Google+.  If you are over there add me Glen L Johnson, MBA to your circle.

Things that have caught my attention this morning include:

• TechCrunch | Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book
• Leading Plus Size Retailer Sonsi.com Adds Exciting New Apparel and Accessories …
• Curves win big at the 2012 SAG Awards
• Brazilian bikinis burgeon to fit the fat
• Get 20% off orders of $150 or more when you use code: STYLE2012 at Kiyonna.com! Offer Expires March 2, 2012. Not valid on body shapers, wedding dresses and gift certificates. Cannot be combined with any other coupons.
  
• ‘Feeling Beautiful is Empowering!’
  Ulla Popken promotions running right now:
  Friday, Feb 03 – extra 20% off Clearance – C21K0203
  Monday, Feb 06 – 10% off entire order – C21K0206
  Wednesday, Feb 15 – $5 shipping – C21K0215
  ullapopken.com
  
• Media misquotes - Octavia Spencer: I’m Not at a Healthy Weight Facebook response: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=371396182886483&id=149279818431455

Contestant Barbara Monteiro, from Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state, gestures after winning the Miss Brazil Plus Size Beauty Pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. A growing number of bikini and swimming suits manufacturers have woken up to Brazil’s thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Contestant Ariana Costa, from Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, performs during the Miss Brazil Plus Size Beauty Pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. A growing number of bikini and swimming suits manufacturers have woken up to Brazil’s thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Contestant Adriana Santos, from Brazil’s Bahia state, performs during the Miss Brazil Plus Size Beauty Pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A growing number of bikini and swimming suits manufacturers have woken up to Brazil’s thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

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

In the world of plus size 2011 has been an interesting year.  There have been a few ups and and few downs on this blog as well as in the plus size community as a whole.  With 2011 coming to a close its that time of the year for me to review the noteworthy events that happened in the plus size community in 2011.

January

Chubby Vs. Plus Size – I think this debate will continue forever – LOL. Plus Size Fashion Designers vs. Knock-off Fashion Designers. There was also the debate that Oprah was rooting for the plus size community.  We see how far that went now didn’t we?

February

10 Reasons Plus Size Modeling is Gaining Momentum. There was lots of talk during the month that merchants were taking the plus size community for granted which was the inspiration behind  Has the ASOS Curve Bubble Finally Burst?  February was also the month that I finished graduate school and started my journey into blogging full-time with few distractions.

March

Tennille White’s Spring 2011 Plus-Size Collection To Appear on BET’s Rip the Runway. Fullfigureplus.mobi goes online with the surge of mobile traffic in the plus community thanks to Twitter and Facebook and the sale of Tablet computers. Lane Bryant gets a new look and Full Figured Fashion Week announces its industry awards.

April

The major talk of the month was the giveaway of the Spring 2011 Lane Bryant clothing.  During this time the surge of plus size clothing companies from overseas started opening up websites targeting US customers.  The size acceptance debate continued with Sick Looking Runway Models Are Great Role Models.

May

The biggest story of this month was the loss of plus size model extrodinare Mia Amber Davis.  Her loss showed just how much influence she had on the entire plus size community.  The maxi dress showed that it would be around for another season.  Personally this month was great for me with me being named one of the featured bloggers by Black Enterprise and being interviewed by my local newspaper.

June

Full Figured Fashion Week™ was of course the highlight of this month.  Vogue Italia placed three plus size models on the cover continuing the trend of plus size models finding plenty of work internationally but not so much in the US. UK plus size fashion company Simply Be added big and tall menswear to their US website.  The question was also asked Should Retailers Do A Better Job Promoting Fashion to Big & Tall Men?

July

Plus size model Fluvia Lacerda makes a splash internationally which will increase her popularity through the end of the year.  With the rise of social media there were a few incidents on Twitter that were business killers.  Full Figured Exclusives was launched from this blog and turned out to be a massive failure – can’t win them all.  Reality turns plus size with the debut of Big Sexy.  I was not high on this one but it turned out great.

August

The debate surrounding designer knockoffs continues with Is Forever 21 Duping the Plus Size Fashion Community?  With the enonomy down during the normal back to school effort Etsy.com became more relevant than ever.  The question was also asked Is The Plus Size Community Guilty of Group Think?

September

Clothing company American Apparel showed the dark side of fashion by denying plus model Nancy Upton the win of their model search contest.  Lane Bryant celebrated the 3rd Annual Fashion Night out.  Australia added its hat to the ring of international sites targeting the United States plus size consumers.

October

With models like Fluvia Lacerda and Rosie Mercado I posed the question Why Is Crystal Renn Still Talked About As A Plus Size Model? Queen Latifah debuted the Queen Collection but did not want it associated with plus fashion.  With its popularity growing it was time to ask the question Why Plus Size Fashion? Forever 21 is in the news again when a plus size fashion blogger takes them on.

November

Do You Wear Socks With Your Heels? When it comes to 2011 shoe trends that question had to be answered.  Full Figure Plus turns seven years old.  I still can’t believe it.  With the help of blogger Gabi Gregg Eloquii introduces its brand of plus size fashions.  Additionally, AdoraOm debuts great looking activewear.

December

Evans continues the trend of international companies targeting plus size consumers in the US. Making sense of  US Vs. International Size Charts For Plus Sizes became a bit easier.  Japan passed a law making it illegal for its citizens to be fat.  Additional talk is going around the Internet with Mariah Carey endorsing Jenny Craig, Jennifer Hudson - Weight Watchers and Janet Jackson – Nutrisystem

Three hundred and twenty-seven posts, hundreds of comments and lots of discussions on the state of the plus size community.  I am not sure what 2012 is going to hold for the world of plus size, but if 2011 was any indicator it is going to be one heck of a ride!

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

The majority of this series will talk about clothing but expect sections on shoes, social media, shopping, accessories, size acceptance and more! Some tips will be repeated in several sections which mean they are VERY important. Enjoy!

Clothing

Dark, solid colors are slimming. Any plus size gal will recognize that black is the ultimate color to help in minimizing those curves. In addition to classic black, navy blue can also help to instantly provide the look of a slimmer physique. FYI: Black does not need to be the only color in your closet!

Princess seams. These are ideal for plus size wear because of their slimming design. Princess seams are those that curve in, on both sides, to form a very lazy ‘C’ stitch.

Longer sleeves help to minimize the appearance of full-figured arms or wrists. It happens to everyone. One day we wake up and our arms are no longer the tight shape that they once were, but that’s what long sleeves are for. The length will minimize a larger wrist or forearm and draw attention to any unwanted thickness in either area.

Shorts may show off thicker thighs or legs, but capris pants with an ankle bracelet will draw the eye to the ankle and will decrease attention to areas you don’t want eyes to focus on.
Most plus size ladies want to wear baggy clothes, which give the appearance of being frumpy instead of fashionable.

Always go for a more figure flattering approach. This doesn’t mean to wear tight clothes; it does mean wearing something that accentuates your figure.

If you have love handles, don’t wear extremely snug shirts with jeans. Can you say muffin-top? Instead, wear your favorite jeans with an a-line or flutter shirt. This will hide any problem areas and maximize your sense of style.

DO NOT WEAR CLOTHES THAT ARE TO TIGHT! This is simply bad taste. Enough said.

A monochromatic look, meaning clothing that is all one color, can give the wearer a taller and slimmer appearance. And, after all, what woman wouldn’t want either of those characteristics in an outfit? Consider a black figure flattering top with a black pant in soft material. For a special touch, add a trendy belt, but take a look at the new you with an instantly slimmer look.

Control top pantyhose or a tummy control panty can help to eliminate belly bulge. Any woman, whether plus size or not, has a stomach. If you want to slim up your tummy area, either of these will help to minimize any bulge.

If pantyhose are not your thing try Spanx, Shapeez, or other shapers out.

Simple shapes and patterns are easier to incorporate into your wardrobe

Vertical lines are more slimming than horizontal ones

Vertical lines in jackets will elongate your frame

Wear clothes that fit properly

Voluminous garments will give the illusion you are bigger than you actually are

Embrace patterned colors for your daily wear

There are other colors in the rainbow besides black.

As this series continues be sure to bookmark the posts and feel free to add your own gems in the comment section

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