International company Littlewoods is making a big play into the plus size fashion arena but in a strange way.  With two lines of clothes available across three websites it sounds like a great idea but it is honestly a bit confusing for the consumer.

Our continental customers tell us that plus size fashion is very difficult to find in many European countries, so we at Littlewoods Europe have now have our largest range of women’s plus size clothing available online with over 1,500 lines available in sizes up to 32.

Our Confident Curves range, launched in autumn 2010, has proven very popular and due to huge customer demand, our confident curves collection has been extended this season with even more pieces. Lines in our Confident Curves range now include dresses, jeans, trousers and skirts.

Littlewoods Europe’s exclusive So Fabulous collection features this season’s key pieces, like plus size maxi dresses among over 300 lines in sizes 14 to 32. So Fabulous is designed and created to flatter curves, rather than simply creating a larger version of standard clothing ranges. -Press Release

Though I was confused I was not discouraged so I kept looking through the websites.  See what I do for you guys?

Below are some of the items I found on the different websites listed under different names from what was listed in the press release.  Unfortunately, most are not available in the United States but then Full Figure Plus represents plus size women worldwide.

Honestly, I found it rather difficult to find items from the Confident Curves collection.  I had more luck finding items from the So Fabulous collection.  If you are looking for different items and have friends in other countries you US divas can get your hands on some of these items.

The prices are good though the selection seems to be a bit less than the 300 lines talked about in the press release.  They may be there but the poor site navigation makes it difficult to find because everything is lumped under the ubiquitous category of Womens 16 plus or Size 16 plus.

FYI to US shoppers:  Europe and UK sizes are different from our system so if you do make a purchase be sure you do the proper conversion to ensure you get the proper size.

Littlewoods websites that need to have better navigation:

Littlewoods

Very

LittlewoodsEurope

About Littlewoods Europe:

Littlewoods Europe launched on 27th August 2009 and is aimed at women looking for the convenience of home delivery from one of their favourite British online retailers. The delivery cost is EUR5 regardless of size of order. Delivery is within 10 working days, with 28 days home approval guarantee. Littlewoods Europe currently delivers to 25 European countries including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

The Littlewoods Europe site features over 15000 product lines, from core categories of clothing, footwear, toys, kidswear & homeware.

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

This guest post is by Jockey P2P Senior Designer, Sunil Ramchandani

No matter what your body shape is, you can dress to emphasize your best features! It’s essential to wear the clothing for the body you have, not necessarily for the body you want or the body you had 10 years ago.

Follow these simple rules to dress to impress:

1. Pear Shape: Try wearing dark bottoms and bright tops. Also, always wear pants with a lower waistline and stay away from clingy fabrics (anything too boxy or hugs tightly at the waist).
2. Strawberry:  Try wearing light bottoms and dark V- neck tops.  Make sure to avoid puffy sleeves, baggy/bulky fabrics and large lapels/collars.
3. Barrel: You should avoid bias cuts, cropped tops and low rise jeans. Try monochromatic looks, flat fronts and tops nipped at the waste.
4. Pencil: Stay away from masculine styles, baggy tops or stiff fabrics. You should go for tops that are fitted with feminine details, as they’re more flattering for your shape.
5. Apple Petite: Tailored looks paired with soft details create an illusion of shape, so try a style like a cowl neck. Also, avoid anything too tight, wide at the waste and cropped.
6. Hourglass: You can just about wear anything but always remember to bring emphasis to the smallness of your waist. Belts are your best friend and anything baggy is your worst enemy.

Following these guidelines will help you feel great and look your best from the office to an evening out on the town. Remember, it is not the body you have but what you do with it that makes the difference.

You can put the above tips in action with the Jockey P2P 2012 Spring Collection. For the collection, it includes pieces that have been designed to fit and flatter your curves. The pieces offered are beautiful, functional fashion making them great foundation pieces for your wardrobe. It all starts with fabrics that drape over your curves rather than clinging to them and using details like princess seaming, hidden shaping darts and slimming topstitch to create clothes that showcase your figure in the most complementary light.

Sunil Ramchandani, Jockey P2P Senior Designer, has an extensive career and background experience in the fashion industry – previously he served as the Design Director for the Curvation Queen Latifah brand. On a personal note I guess I worked indirectly with Sunil on the Queen Latifah Curvation brand.  It was one of the first advertising campaigns on Full Figure Plus years ago.

Jockey Person to Person® is one of North America’s premier direct sales companies offering extraordinary women’s apparel and accessories, created for today’s on-the-go woman. Visit http://www.JockeyP2P.com/ to find out more. Also find us onFacebook and Twitter!

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

Recently I was given the opportunity to review a pair of jeans from Maurices.  Choosing the Hydraulic® Dark Wash Contrast Stitch Jeans was actually difficult because there are many great styles to choose from.  With my plus diva as with many plus size ladies jeans tend to be their arch enemy.  I went into this review with that in mind knowing that my wife complains more about jeans than any other item in her closet.  After singing “Taps” to the last pair of jeans she reluctantly tried on the jeans from Maurice’s after saying, “I did not know that Maurice’s carried plus sizes.”

The Good

The huge smile that came across her face when trying on the size 22 jeans said it all.  The fit was perfect, the length was on point, she liked the color and best of all she asked me the million dollar question, “Are you checking me out?”  The answer was of course yes which is why the jeans were chose in the first place. The description of this particular pair of jeans states: “These trendy jeans have chunky contrast stitching for an edgy vibe. The dark wash is slimming. You’ll love the style and value you get with this pair of jeans. Dress up or down.” I will have to say that we, me in that I am checking her out more and her in that she has some jeans she loves would agree with the aforementioned statement.  Two thumbs up with a finger snap.

The Not So Good

The only bad thing about these jeans was trying to decide what type of shoe to wear with them.  Originally she put a pair of leopard print flats, then knee length riding boots, then finally settling on a mary jane pump with a two inch heel.  Though the pocket embellishment is not at the top of her list she was willing to ignore the cosmetic features because of the superior fit of the jeans. From a construction stand point of view at 3% the spandex blend is a bit high.  In the past this meant the shape would unravel giving the pants a permanent wrinkled look.  Only time will tell if this is the case with these jeans.

Overall

I give Maurice’s two thumbs up when it comes to their jeans mainly because of the jeans finder that allows you to shop according to your individual tastes from several different brands.  In addition to the selection of denim there are tops, dresses, shoes, and accessories.  Even though the selection is not as big as the jeans section it still has enough to allow you to round out an outfit.  Additionally, they have a model search going on right now.  Who knows you may be the next face of the company.

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

Evans Mink Border Print Top

It is official there is now a new trend among fashion that you have never heard of!  It is called plus size and it is the hottest NEW trend since the invention of breathing! Now that you have scratched your head and wondered were I am going with this read the quote from an article I just read:

“Designers and stores are gradually realizing that plus-size women want the same kind of fashion-forward clothes as their “standard-size” counterparts. The Limited launched new plus-size brand Eloquii online in October and New York hosted its third Full-Figured Fashion Week in June.” -Soucre

The toungue and cheek title to this post is more for those outside of the plus size fashion world than for those on the inside.  For years mainstream fashion has ignored larger men and women which is part of the reason Full Figure Plus and other blogs in this niche were born.

The trend is more about dollars than it is about the fashion world taking plus size seriously.  Yes I said it.  In the article that prompted this post the numbers don’t lie.  Lane Bryant – $978 million Ann Taylor – $476 million.  Even my bad math can see that retailers, designers, and buyers are going to start warming up to a niche that is bringing in money regardless as to what they actually think about fat people.

Back to my point that plus size is a trending topic in the fashion world.  I have been only saying for the last few years that plus size is hot. It is hot without having to say the obvious - the average woman in america is size blah blah blah. Think about it like this if plus size was not already the hottest niche on the block these events, websites, models, and resources would not exist:

• Full Figured Fashion Week™ - event
• Plus Model Magazine - modeling resource
• Evans(uk) US website - plus size fashion
• City Chic(au) US website - plus size fashion
• Simply By(uk) US website - plus size fashion
• Fluvia Lacerda - plus size model

The point is yes the inspirational article made some great points about plus size women wanting the same things as their straight size counterparts but I must add again this is not a new phenomenon.  There are plus size consumers turned business owners, like Monif C Plus sizes, who looked to fill the need of the plus size fashion community that has been ignored for decades.

While its is great that designers and stores are jumping on the bandwagon hoping to make money of the fat people they secretly despise I hope they do not think those established community institutions are going to back down.

Now that I really think about it plus size is taking the world by storm but we are doing it on our own terms in our own way.  Mainstream outlets are scrambling to catch up to what we are doing and though there are a few people who are buying into the games from the outside.  One suggestion I have for mainstream fashion is to make sure you know your audience before you step into this arena.

The past is littered with companies who thought they could solve the plus size problem by throwing money at the community only to be run out of town.  Come to think of it if plus size is a storm then unless you are in the eye everything around you is in chaos.  Tread lightly mainstream fashion world.

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

2011 saw a rise of international sites launching dot com websites targeting the plus size consumer.  Though Style369.com is not new they are among the growing list of international websites that are hitting the plus size fashion radar.  Spring is just around the corner and now is the perfect time to check out what they have to offer if you have never shopped with this merchant.  Right now Style369.com has free standard delivery on site for a limited time only. Why not use it to order some of these top product picks?

Praslin Embellished Ponte Dress 

Max C Spot Dress

Black Lace Prom Dress 

Samya Mustard Sleeveless Ponte Dress 

Max C Border Print Shift Dress

About Style369.com
Launched in September 2010, Style369.com is the new online fashion destination for sizes 14-26. As part of the Arcadia Group (the same retailer that brought you Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge), you’re guaranteed security, customer satisfaction plus the latest fashion styles in your size.

Fashion Plus Fit

Dedicated entirely to fashion, Style369.com is an online-only fashion store, devoted to delivering the perfect fit for style-conscious size 14-26 girls. Our extensive range is style-led and ready to wear now; offering you the best-in-fit from high fashion pieces and core wardrobe staples like essential jersey, day and party dresses, denim, new season knitwear, coats and macs, jackets, boots, heels, accessories and lingerie.

Incorporating fresh UK brands and the Evans high-fashion range, Style369.com will bring your wardrobe bang up-to-date with effortless confidence and a flawless fit.

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

As usual Monif C knocks it out of the ball park with her latest collection.

Pre-Order Today! Ships February 3rd!

The convertible dress has become the foundation of Monif C fashions and my favorite of the entire collection has to be the “Marilyn” Two-Tone Ruched Convertible Dress shown in the picture below.  Not only are the colors great but the dress is a combination of two great ideas.

ONE DRESS, INFINITE POSSIBILITIES

It’s here! Your two favorites dresses combined into one! We’ve combined our “Nelli” Ruched Dress and “Marilyn” Convertible Dress” to create a Ruched Convertible Dress.

About Monif C

Monif C. is an unapologetic stand for high fashion style for plus size women. Designed by mother/daughter team, Monif Clarke and Elaine Clarke, Monif C. was conceived to reaffirm every woman’s desire for an inspired life, luxury, and unadulterated sex appeal.

A love of color, prints, and vintage details has been a part of Monif’s life from childhood. A child of Barbadian immigrants, Monif spent many summers enjoying the sweet life in Barbados. While there, she was awed by her grandmother’s love of color (red is her favorite!) and she was transported to a time when women dressed up for every occasion recognizing that taking pride in their appearance is one of the best things they could do for themselves.

Today as a plus size woman, Monif understands the need for a new perspective in the plus size market. “It took me many years to appreciate my curves and recognize them as a plus and NOT a minus. I know that there are women like me who recognize that we get dressed everyday in the hopes of reflecting creatively what we bring to the world. I was tired of buying the standard uniform that every woman has, I needed luxurious feminine clothes that make a statement…Who says plus size can’t be sexy, luxurious, and feminine??”

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