LATEST VIEWS AND OPINIONS!

There are still a number of stores that well clothing up to and including size 18 and sometimes 20.  Anything higher then you have to look around to find what’s there, and more importantly what looks good.  For as you and I know full well, many of the clothes are so mass produced that they begin to look like just plain olf “stuff”.  We know that most, if not all, clothing these days is made in China.

But I’m not complaining.  Ha, you say.  Rosemary’s not complaining?   Well I suppose I am in a small sweet way, but what I’m doing is stating fact. 

    

There are some good companies overseas, including Making It Big (which now comes under the title of “On the Plus Side by Making It Big” (mib@makingitbig.com).  Monif C (monifc.com) info@news.monifc.com) and Igigi (igigi.com)  who cater for the more curvaceous woman.   

These are very sexy garments and if I were “brave” I might be tempted!

While I’m not suggesting in any way that any garments from these suppliers are anything but top quality, a lot of women are now coming back to the old-fashioned idea of being able to “see” a garment, “feel a garment” and to look at how it is made (sewn) before buying.  Some are perfectly happy buying on-line and have never been disappointed.  I had a couple of experiences and was extremely disappointed, so ……   (Let's be honest here, my purchases DID NOT come from any of these three USA suppliers!)

Now we come to what is available in the stores here.  Autograph has some lovely garments, including underwear/lingerie did you know?   It’s always worth your while to visit an Autograph store because they do have some great bargains occasionally.   Taking Shape - well I’m on their email list but for some reason nothing seems to take my eye.  But then, as most of you will be aware, I’m not longer “young” (even though I'm still seen as young at heart) and I’ve come to the stage where I have worked out my wardrobe and what suits me, and I stick with the guidelines I’ve set myself from years experience.   So a number of Australian stores that supposedly stock and sell clothing for curvaceous women have a focus on the younger woman most of the time.

I even find (here I go - am I in fact complaining?  Probably).   I find Maggie T garments are attractive but so pricey that I can no longer do more than look at their catalogue (on-line) and drool.  That’s where I’ve gotten to, girls.

I’m also on the mailing list for “In Fashion”, the catalogue that includes Damart and Victoria Hill.  While Damart,garments go up to size 24, many of Victoria Hill garments go up to size 30.   This latest catalogue for Spring 2016 has some really attractive items.   Let me say at the outset that the prices are comparable to those in the stores, but it’s a matter of sensibly working out a mix-n-match outfit and then being able to add items at a later date that will in effect create YOUR own profile outfit.   Let this be the start of something BIG!

Victoria Hill has Jeans, regular lengths as well as Crop,  Tunic Tops, Lightweight Cardigans, Knee Length Crinkle Shorts, a dress or two, tee shirts, sweatshirts, plain and printed polos, skirts, and a selection of jeans, shirt, cami and skirt in Lyocell (which in the catalogue looks very much like Tencel - remember that fabric)  

Their catalogue also has a range of swimwear, shoes, handbags, hats (including floppy hats for the sun!), and jewellery.   Not to mention nightwear and lingerie.

This catalogue is 100 pages, and well worth having a look at the hard-copy.   Again, I’m old-fashioned and like leafing through the catalogue and making my mind up slowly rather than going mad on-line and ordering half a dozen items that I may not like in the long run.

So there, has this given you any ideas?   Perhaps you’ve got ideas of our own that you could share with me, and the other readers of RoseMary’s NoteBook©  Then we’ll all be the Gold Medal Winners.

'Til next time

Rosemary

PUT A SPRING INTO YOUR STEP

It's Springtime in case you haven't yet noticed.   The gardens and the birds and the bees know it, and have been busy doing what they do with great energy and fun.

We seem to be taking a little time getting used to the changes occuring around us.  Firstly "daylight savings" which doesn't seem to make much sense when we think about it, but who are we to say?  The first week has affected many of us with a general feeling of "jet lag" which is crazy taking into account that it's only an hour we're talking about, as far as our clocks are concerned.

Then there's the weather.   One or two days of beautiful sunshine following crisp early mornings, and then we're back into wearing our winter clothes.

But it's about time we put a bit of a spring into our step - and our wardrobe.

I visited a couple of so-called " boutique stores" last week, and was most disappointed at what I saw.  The garments look nice until I got close to them.  The fabric looks, dare I say it,  washed out and gives the impression that it won't last long.  The "Made in China" label gives a clue.   The prices though are distinctly high-class.  

Then I called into Millers, www.millers.com.au and found quite a few little items that will make Spring seem a lot closer to those of us bemoaning the fact we haven't been able to find it!   Even for big girls (of any age!)

Looks like long skirts are back in vogue (we won't mention the young girls who are wearing little mini-shorts that may be four or five inches in length.   Long skirts are definitely flattering for the generously curvaceous woman.    The long line top with a low round neck sets off the skirt nicely.   Add a bangle or two and strappy sandals with peeping toes coloured in your favourite nail polish, and you'll have everyone talking.

REFERENCES TO SIZE IN FICTION

My reading "likes" cover a whole range of genres.   Some of my friends think the list is somewhat weird, but tell me, what or who is weird?

I digress.   Wanting just a bit of light reading the other evening, I picked up "The Walled Flower" by Lorraine Bartlett.   I wasn't expecting to see anything about size, but came across this interesting little paragraph:

It starts:  Bastion nodded toward the hostess standing before them.  "Let's go sit down."

A waiflike being -  with no womanly attributes like breasts or a derriere - led them to a linen-clad table set with sparkling crystal, silver and candlelight.  Upon opening the menu, Katie realised the hostess probably couldn't afford to eat here.  Maybe that's what accounted for her lack of body weight.  Katie put the thought out of her mind as the older, more ample waitress appeared to recite the restaurant's specials and take their drink order.

Copyright:  Beryl Cook from her "Girls Night Out".

Just a few little words, but I couldn't help myself saying YES .......... and punching the air.   Someone has had the audacity to write about how things are, not as fiction writers usually beat around the bush.  They say nothing or else they say something disparagingly.   I like the thought of being served by an "older, more ample waitress".  I feel much more comfortable and at home in a restaurant where the staff are different ages, sizes and shapes.

GETTING REAL!

Someone sent me this fun cartoon.   It certainly made me smile, but it also reminded me that we are living in a society where "perfection" as it applies to the female form, has taken a turning where normal or typical is no longer seen as being totally acceptable.

Today to be "seen" as acceptable a woman has to be:  young - slim (if not skinny); svelte (with no bumps or curves); sexy (what exactly is sexy?) and most importantly young.

How has this come about?   What has changed from the 1950s ,,,,,,?  

A lot happened.  Firstly the 1960s brought about a swing in attitudes - of life as well as behaviours.   The fact that Jean Shrimpton wore a knee length shift (dress) at the Melbourne Cup, WITHOUT a hat or gloves (oh, dear! what was the world coming to?) caused loud headlines in the press.  But that's too easy to say that her decision to wear an outrageous dress - for the era that is - caused the change in attitudes to women's shapes and sizes.  But it certainly was one of the factors that started the ball rolling.

We all shortened our hemlines.  We lowered our necklines.   Everything was free and easy.   But for the plump and curvaceous woman, that was also the start of an inherent and growing animosity towards the way SHE looked.   Size discrimination rose to greater heights and it became apparent in film, television, the media per se.  Women's magazines took on the role of telling their readers to diet, to undergo cosmetic surgery, to attend the latest and very expensive gyms in order to attain the lean, sleak bodies of more naturally slim women.  They didn't tell their readers that it was OK to be a different size or shape and that all sizes could be considered normal or typical.   Manufacturers began to treat the curvaceous woman with scorn and retailers hid clothes for her size in a tiny section at the back of the department store.   It took many years for "plus-size" suppliers to come out of the woodwork.

So that's where the whole thing went haywire.   For all women are NOT fundamentally the same shape or are meant to be the same size.   Women were told they HAD to diet;  they did and many did far more damage to their bodies and minds through yo-yo dieting over decades than they could have imagined.   Somebody forgot to tell them that genes play a bit part in their body makeup (in fact it was only recently that the medical people have acknowledged this to be true - it was argued about heatedly in previous decades.)

What happened next?  Suddenly eating disorders became prominent.   A whole new industry was born whereby people were counselled about disorders in their eating behaviours.  The human body, and mind,  suffered serious consequences.  Not only women but men and children are affected.   In all age groups.

What am I trying to say?   I'm saying it's about time we realised that the world is made up of people who look different, who have differnent shapes and sizes, and we should recognise and respect each other unconditionally.

(I'm not talking here of those who are addicted to non-stop eating, or eating inappropriate foods until they really do become medically and dangerously obese.   Nor am I talking about those people whose bodies react violently to the medications they may be taking.)

Let's join in the protest (albeit quietly but determinedly) 

that ALL women's bodies and shapes should be 

celebrated, no matter what age, size or shape ©.