Whilst the dress is probably our best-selling item of clothing, there are many women that do not like wearing them. I completely understand, I am one of these women. Many other sites state that ‘their woman’ is plus size and proud of it and in addition there is a growing community of plus size bloggers who are almost political in promoting a plus size look.
Hmmm…I’m cynical about this. I am plus size and definitely not proud to be so. Proud of my curves absolutely yes. If I was a size 16 I would still be a very curvy pear shape but much healthier. Proud to be overweight and carrying fat on my body? The answer is absolutely no.
Why? Why am I not proud?
Why do I not wish to show off my curves?? Well the truth is I do not want to be a plus size. My current ‘curves’ are fat. Translated, it means that I’m overweight and no I’m not proud of that. Perhaps if you are young the negative aspects of being overweight haven’t affected you yet. In addition your body is still firm and that helps a lot. 🙂
At a certain age
(and this is different for everyone) our health is affected by being overweight and that can make getting dressed difficult. In my case I find it difficult to wear heels. I wish to be clear; Beige does not say it is ok to be overweight. We also recognise that many plus size women are healthy and that’s good. Many people are overweight for reasons that are not their fault. What we do stand for is that regardless of the reasons it’s important for a woman to be able to make the most of herself. To have access to lovely clothes and to be able to purchase in an environment that’s as attractive as any of the other luxury designer shops. Therefore whatever the reason that you find yourself to be a plus size woman, we have a wonderful selection of beautiful clothes from size 16 to size 28.
Please understand, it’s not that I want to be thin
Oh no, I would be delighted to be a luscious curvy girl (by now I should probably give up the word girl and say woman). Many of the plus size models we see when we are buying are tall beautiful creatures with firm curvy bodies, all size 16s. In my opinion, they do not represent the world of plus as I know it. I’m size 20/22. This isn’t luscious and curvy. It’s flabby, wobbly and blobby. No, I do not need to have therapy about how I feel about myself. I am an attractive, intelligent, middle aged woman. However I do not think that I should be flaunting the fat on my body…it seems to me that I should celebrate the good bits instead.
Yesterday I was in our North London store, when a customer came in needing a dress for a special occasion. The event was a smart celebratory lunch in a top hotel. Only a dress would do. This woman had a lovely face, great legs and great boobs. Her problem was that she had a large tummy giving her the classic plus size apple shape. She was tall and a size 24. She tried many dresses, all fabulous and all fitting her really well. None could hide her tummy. Some could look ok from the front but not from the side. We could talk about the great colour and how it showed off her beautiful legs but she was not comforted by this. She is a woman that does not want to celebrate her size. She did not love her ‘curves’ and was distressed about what to wear to the event.
Meanwhile back to me, why do I not wear dresses?
Because I can’t wear lovely shoes (difficult feet), I have really horrible legs, my ankles swell and my thighs rub together when I walk so it’s extremely uncomfortable. There I’ve said it. Yes I know that in the winter I can wear opaque tights, it helps the thigh rub thing and yes I can wear boots when I can find a pair that fit. I still don’t feel great in a dress, I do not want to wear shape wear every day and it’s not easy putting on tights. This is a by-product of being overweight and unhealthy. This isn’t a negative moan – it’s me being realistic about what does and doesn’t suit me. The top half of my body is good and I look better in trousers. I’m ok with my face I have great hair (though I can have off days) and I look better when I can walk properly and feel comfortable. I look great in jackets.
My view is this
We large size women should show off our good bits and do the best we can with our less good bits. Why would I wear a dress when my legs are the worst part of my figure? Why would I promote them? I am not proud of them. I have great boobs and I happy to show them off lots instead.
Dresses in plus sizes can look fabulous
It all depends on not your size but where your good and bad bits are. A friend of mine who is a size 22, looks fabulous in dresses and she buys loads. She wears dresses to work (she is an Accountant) dresses for the theatre and in a recent trip to Canada dresses for sightseeing and so on.
We are all on a journey
We may all go up and down in weight and our size may fluctuate. I believe that every day we should all make the most of ourselves. My motto is “Concentrate on the good bits”
Because we recognise that you are all different in shape as well as size and that all of you have different needs as well as different tastes we carry the largest selection of designer plus size dresses in London and online.
We make sure that we have loads of dresses for Mothers of the Bride, wedding guests, cruises, cocktail and evening events. We also have a large selection of dresses appropriate to wear to the office. However if like me you do not like to wear dresses then we completely understand and we have lots of alternative ensembles that you can wear to your special occasion. I’m wearing a tux trouser suit to a very grand event that I’ve been invited to. The thing is, will it be the satin backed crepe in royal blue by Elena Grunert or will it be the green trouser suit by Marina Rinaldi? Of course there is classic black as well. Or I could completely change my mind and go for a floaty palazzo trouser with a camisole and soft jacket. It will depend how I feel nearer the time. I have fat days and really fat days…I’m sure you can all relate to that 🙂