Retail Cuts Plus Sizing

Recently, I read an article on a news paper about many large clothing companies in the US such as Ellen Tracy, have eliminated plus size range (including swimwear, beach wear), while giant retails like Ann Taylor, Old Navy, Gap have either reduced or dropped the lines altogether, citing 'low demand'

Low demand! How in the world is that even possible? The average woman nowadays is size 14 or more, being what is considered plus size. There seems to be a perception by clothing designers/manufacturers that plus size women don't work, have no money and therefore can not afford their stylish clothes! Well, they're wrong, I have known many women in size 14 +; these ladies have good jobs and have shown great knowledge of styling through their hair, make up and clothing.
Plus size clothing costs around 10% more to produce than smaller size clothing, since it requires special cutting patterns, different fit models, more fabric and more freight costs if it's imported. This may be one of the factors together with the recession and economic downturn that cause many large well-known brands for plus size to cut their lines.
Or there may be an issue citing fashion discrimination against plus size women?

Smart Packing Tips For Travel Lovers

I have found a good article which is about how to pack smartly for travelling, especially for overseas traveller to avoid paying unnecessary excess baggage fees.
One thing I would like to add to the tips is that like many of us, we have at least one scale (a health scale) at home. We can pack and weigh our luggages using the scale a few days before going to make sure we will not excess the baggage allowance, and therefore to save us from paying high fees for the over limit kilos at the aiport check in.
Here is the article link:
http://au.travel.yahoo.com/b/danielfitzpatrick/16/packing-light
Happy holidays and do not forget to visit Curvysea Swimwear and Lingerie, you can save up to 50% on swimwear and plus size lingerie.
http://www.curvysea.com/

Does One Shoulder Fashion Trend Suit Real Women?

I remember I bought my one shoulder black dress in year 2001 and now the fashion has come back. Celebreties are the ones who show off their beautiful dresses with slightly different styles in one shoulder design, most of them are slim but there are some "real curves" celebs such as Ugly Betty star America Ferrera or Jennifer Lopez. In my opinion, the two stars look quite beautiful and stunning.
Do you think the one shoulder design would suit real women with curves?
Source: http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/who/news/

Is There an Apparel Sizing Standard?

As a fashionista, I wear a number of different designs. I have in my wardrobe several garments ranging from Austalian made as well as overseas made, in size small to XL. Suprisingly, they all fit me!
According to the Fashion Technicians Association of Australia(FTAA), Australia was a world leader in sizing studies for apparel manufacturing in the 1920' and 30' but then Australian sizing standards for men and women apparel were removed in 1998 and 2008 because of the changing in Australian body sizes.
Other countries such as the US, the UK, China and Germany - have conducted large scale sizing studies and they have worked hard in order to find a sizing standard solution. Hopefully, we will all be able to apply the solution in our designs so it will benefit our customers .

Tribute to Victoria Bushfire Victims

I went to my local bank today to deposit some money into the Victoria Bushfire Appeal account. It was just a small contribution to the appeal but it came from my heart.
I can not imagine if I were one of those victims, who lost their loved ones and who lost their houses! Within two black days (Saturday and Sunday), the blaze wiped off many towns, more than 900 homes have been destroyed and 7000 survivors have registered with the Red Cross for assistance.
I believe many people spent their whole life to build up their dream house with a hope of having peaceful life among a green environment. Who would have thought that their dream would be ended in a few seconds!!!
I think if each of us contributes some money to the appeal even with a small amount, together our contribution would add up to a big sum and would be a great help for the bushfire victims
If you live in Australia, you can go to any branch of NAB, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and just ask tellers about donating to the Victoria Bush Fire Appeal and they will help you to deposit money into the appeal account. And if you are from overseas, you can go to http://www.redcross.org.au for your donation.

Do You Feel Beautiful at 32?

A recent internet survey from a mineral water company found that women feel beautiful at 32. But in my opinion, that survey was carried out with a small number of people (1,500), compare to general women population. Sure, we may feel more beautiful at 30+ because we have more life experience, more confidence in career and happiness from family etc. , and not just physically body looks.
Any woman at any age is beautiful, we all have ups and downs at any age group but at the end of the day, it is how to feel yourself within; I would love to see women of any age and any shape feeling confident in themselves, sexy and self esteem, conscious about how to make themselves more beautiful. As I always think every woman no matter what age, what shape as long as you look after yourself and you can look great and sexy.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Happy New Year !

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have had wonderful holidays. I just took a break and been back from visiting my sister-in-law who lives in Milan. By chance I saw some of the Italian designer Elena Miro’s trendy large size clothes in a department store. They were very elegant (I like the styles, colours) and definitely for plus size women, but only they’re quite long for an average woman. Not everyone is plus size and tall as Elena Miro’s beautiful models! Anyway, Elena is still a leading plus size designer in the fashion world and I hope she will be more realistic in making fashion clothes that fit different shapes and heights.