Cape Me Away!

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I've decided to stay home today to avoid any crazy situations.  As I don't believe in any Mayan predictions, I do believe that people are crazy.  And in a state where gun rights are running around all willy nilly, I think it better to sit myself at home today (my husband and the dog aren't allowed to leave either).  I have never done crazy well.  Anyways,  yesterday I was flooded with questions about my winter cape, so I decide to a quick blog on my cape and where you can find one for yourself. I bought my cape from La'dan's Closet.  They are a company that carries plus size coats.  If you ventured over to the website you also see a lot of the items were out of stock.  This particular coat was priced at $435, as I know that may not be in budget for some I went on the look for capes to recommend to you that were a full range of styles and prices.  Check out other styles of capes by just searching for them on 

Etsy.   

First off, when looking for any vintage-esk item, I always turn to Etsy.  They would be your best bet on finding something you want and maybe even getting a good deal.  Second,  the great thing about this item is that for the most part it is a one size fits all deal.  When looking for your cape, the seller will list the shoulder, bust, or hip width of the cape. If the coat has structured shoulders, the main thing I would concern myself with is the shoulder width.  You want to consider if your shoulders are wide, medium or narrow build, so that the coat isn't ill-fitted.  Past that, it should be a really easy fit.  Some of the capes below don't come with a belt, feel free to add in your own belt.  Just bring the belt through the armholes and around the waist for a more structured look.  

Starting Top Left: Princeton Orange nuno felted Cape $434, 70s Ferragamo Cape $135, 60s Houndstooth Cape $85, 60s Gemini Dark Gray Wool Cape $120, Starting Bottom Left:  Vintage Black & Grey Tweed Cape Coat $270, 60s Plaid Cape $185, 40s Hollywood Glamour White Cape Coat with Fur Mink Detail $168, 60s Cape Tailored Boucle Wool Cape $42, Wrap Tie Wool Cape $220

Modcloth's Blogger of the Moment

I was so honored to be featured as Modcloth's Blogger of the Moment.  As long time fan of the site, I have always coveted and shopped many of their vintage inspired looks.  Modcloth carries sizes up to a 4X.  The best part of the feature is getting a dress of my choosing named after me.  Of course the signature dress included leopard.  Check it out below.  It's a fun dress/jacket combo.  It's called the Garner Style Dress.  #squeal.  

I also wanted to share with you an upcoming model casting with Modcloth.  This is for LA aspiring models.  Modcloth is currently casting plus size models size 16 and up.   If interested send the following to modelsla@modcloth.com:  A headshot and full length photo, your measurements, and your contact information and location.  Good Luck!

Outfit:  Dress - Garner Style Dress Modcloth $125, Necklace - H&M $25, Shoes - Shoedazzle $39, Belt - Asos (soldout)

All I want for Christmas...

The fashion gods bestowed me this dress from the Maison Martin Margiela Collection for H&M.  I must say that I am great at spotting things that I know were not meant for my over size 14 body.  With my finely tuned shopaholic eyes, I can spot a dress that will fit.  I bought this dress in the biggest size they had, which was a size 12.  I was actually on my way out of the store and then saw this in the window and was like, "wait, wait, wait, I can wear this!"  I had eyed this dress from a distance in the magazine ads.  I shimmied over to the dressing room to give it a whirl.   Sidenote:  Zippers are the bain of my existence  without help you can never get the blasted things up.  I got the dress up and over, but didnt get it zipped.  I had to drive home and ask my husband to zip it to make sure that I could wear it.  I can't remember how I conquered them as a single girl.   What's even better is when I got the register, I was ready to dish out the $200 that was displayed on the price tag.  Then, what do my ears hear, "50% off, only $99." Oh sweet baby Jesus!  I'm not sure if it's appropriate to thank God for epic fashion finds, but you know what? I'm thanking him just in case it is.  

In the case that you go looking for pieces from this collection, here are a few things to know.   Quite a few of the pieces are over-sized, so there is a good chance that you will be able to fit.  Know that the piece will probably not fit or look the way the designer intended.  I actually like this dress better on me, than I did the model.  Also, this collection did not do so hot, the items are on sale.  I bought this dress a few weeks ago, so this and the other items maybe even more deeply discounted.  Finally, the shoes from this collection are insane!  They are definitely worth the trip.  

Here are a  pieces that I think would work for plus sizes - Photo from Fashionista

Outfits:  Dress - Maison Martin Margiela Collection for H&M $99,  Fur Muff -BlackLodgeVintage via Etsy $56,  Shoes - Nordstrom Rack, Caplet - Vintage JIBRI sold-out (similar here), Necklace - QueenGrace

2Chainz!

I've been looking for a long necklace forever.  Jewelry is one of those things that I take a lot of care in selecting.  It's so easy to get wrapped up into buying a bunch of junk that you won't ever wear.  I came across this necklace at H&M.  I was told it was supposed to be a belt.  I won't get into my personal pet peeves with chain belts.  I saw this and said this is the perfect combination of "rapperific" glam and statement hardware.  I will say that while wearing, I do feel the need to spit rhyming lyrical knowledge and to ride dirty or at least a little dusty.  I can't find my tag renewal sticker, so eat my dust Mr. Policeman.    

I wanted talk about some of the things I think about when selecting jewelry.

• Don't overbuy.  Working with clients, I see that a lot of people overbuy.  I've seen bags and bags and bags of costumes jewelry spewing from everywhere.   Half of the items the person will never wear, which results in needless clutter and wasted money.
• Buy through estate sales, thrift & vintage shops.  Looking for jewelry is one of my main goals in secondhand shops.  It's where you can find one-of-a-kind pieces, heirlooms, and jewelry that doesn't look like it was made on the assembly line in China. 
• ❤ it!  This goes for anything you buy.  Stop buying things that you are in limbo about.  If you love it, buy it! If you only sorta kinda like it, leave it.  You'll save yourself money and space.  
• Know what you have.  I generally focus on a particular item that I don't have and keep looking until I find the piece that is perfect for me.  I've been looking for a long statement necklace for over a year now. Now that I've found it, I'm checking it off and moving on to the next thing that I want to add.  
• Be patient.  You ever just buy something because you haven't found the piece that you really want, but you feel you want to fill the void until you find the perfect thing.  This is how people end up with junk that they never really wanted in the first place.  Be patient.  It may take some time, but getting what you really want beats wasting money on a lack luster substitute.  
• Price tag conquests.  You have come across the perfect piece of jewelry and the price tag is just too steep.   You can conquer this issue several ways.  I often wait out the pricing.  The necklace that I bought was originally $129 and I got it for $40.  I definitely didn't want to pay $129, so I waited.  The sales clerk informed me that all items were going on sale.  I just needed to wait a few days.  I waited a year to find this, so what's a few more days.  Use the money you saved from overbuying to buy the piece that you really want.  I hear clients say, "It was only $3, $5, or whatever."  Now you have over $100 worth of junk that you are never going to wear.  You could have bought that piece you really wanted with the money you saved from practicing jewelry buying abstinence. 

Outfit:  Sweater - H&M (plus size section) $30, Necklace - Anna Dello Russo for H&M $40, Boots - Torrid,  Jeggings - Torrid $40, Boots - Torrid $68, Lipstick - MAC Girl About Town $15

Boutique to Know: LUCY

Canada based boutique LUCY, (Love. Uniquely, Curvy, You) has most recently started offering pieces from their brick and mortar boutique, online.  Owner, Sonya Perkins, has filled this boutique with fabulous frocks for your curves.  I'm loving the fun and vibrant colors. LUCY is definitely a boutique to remember when trying to figure out where to get that perfect party dress.  My favorite is the teal gown.  I've been digging full length dresses lately.  What's your favorite piece?

Shopping Tip:  One of my shopping secrets is to frequent the pages of boutiques.  If I let a piece slip past me and it sells out from the original retailer, a lot of the time with a little google search, I can find that item at a boutique.  

Check out LUCY here:

101-20565 Fraser Hwy

Langley, BC V3A4G3

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Plus Size Shopping Tips

I wanted to share this segment on plus size shopping that I did with CBS Channel 11 KTVT Dallas.  I like that they focused on internet shopping.  I hope this helps shed some of the light on making online shopping easier.  

Red Velvet

I'm actually thinking about gifting this jacket to my mom.  This just looks like something she would like.    Now that I'm seeing this in photos I wish I would have paired this with a black leather pencil skirt.  Cher told me to never trust mirrors.  That's what I get for deviating from the formula.  Most of the time I don't, but reluctantly I left without doing my photo outfit check.  It helps me to know if I need to change something.  It's finally cold enough to wear red velvet.  I decided just to keep everything really simple when I styled this.  This is the kind of coat that you go too far really quickly.  

Outfit:  Jacket - Thrifted, Skirt - Talbots $110, Turtleneck - Talbots $80, Shoes - Thrifted

Cutting the Holiday Cord

When you get married the Holidays put you in a weird space, especially if you live, in what I consider, a "non-drivable" distance to either respective family.  When you're dating, sometimes you may go and spend holiday time with your boo's family, but for the most part, at least in my experience, I generally would always go home for the holidays.  Now that I'm  married we have started the alternating holiday schedule.  We also want establish our own traditions as a married couple and family.   Cutting the holiday cord is the hardest part.  Now add that all up and add a dash of our loathing of holiday travel.  It's the absolute worst.  

This year we decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner party at our home.  We invited our Dallas transplant friends, who weren't going to be visiting family for the holidays.   This included my blogger homie, From the Rez to the City & her family & AlahNia Resale Boutique Owner, Marquita and her husband.  We had a ball.  We literally ate, drank, and was merry!!! I missed my family, but spending the holidays with a wonderful husband and hilarious friends definitely took my mind off of not going to my parents.   I hope everyone else had as lovely of a holiday as I did.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Outfit:  Top - DZIRE $32, Skirt - JIBRI $180, Necklace - H&M $22, Shoes - Calvin Klein via Nordstrom Rack

Recipes:  John Legend Mac & Cheese,  Sweet Potato Casserole,  Hot Chocolate Party Favors 

This sums up my guests.  

"My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company." ~ Jane Austen

Black Friday - Plus Size Edition

I wasn't going to do the Black Friday post this year.  Thanksgiving caught me by surprise, but I gave in.  I hate to disappoint you guys or some of the great retailers that support this blog.  Here are few so far.  Check back often, I will be adding new sales as they come in.  

CULT OF CALIFORNIA - See flyer above.  

DZIRE Boutique - 20% - 50% off.  All Sales Final.  SALE STARTS AT 12:00AM-5:00PM on Black Friday.

IGIGI - Up to 70% off with Code: GIVETHANKS12. FREE Shipping in the US.  Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012 at 12.00noon/PST to Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 12.00noon/PST.  Gift with Purchase Scarf Gift with Purchase of $150+.

LANDS' END - The online fun begins on Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving at 5 a.m. CST and lasts until Nov. 26. 30 percent off on all Landsend.com purchases (excluding doorbuster pricing) throughout the 6-day period. Multiple items will be featured each day, all unveiled at 5 a.m. each morning.

JIBRI - 50% off all items on Black Friday, 12:00 midnight  - 12:00 noon with Code:  Black12

BOUTIQUE LARRIEUX - Pick your promotion, 20% off store wide, including sale items OR Spend $150 or more and get 3 pairs of tights free (a $45 value). 

CURVE APPEAL - Wedding Samples in Store 50% off,  All Prom Dress 25% off, Tops and Blouses B1G1 50% off.  Boutique located in Carterville, GA (outside of Atlanta, GA).

MADISONAVEMALL (for fur lovers) - Exclusive GarnerStyle discount of 10% off.  Use code CG11

QUEEN GRACE - 60% off of all accessories. Note:  The accessories are great! 

 

JIBRI Holiday

JIBRI holiday is finally here! Please pass the suede bustiers, leopard sequins, and leather slouch pants.  These pieces are so exciting, but with the luxury that comes with the holidays.  I heard there are more pieces to come too.  I'm also loving this model, Amber Rose Plus.  Check out the collection here.  My favorite piece is, of course, the leopard sequin skirt.  Swoon.  What's yours? Look out for JIBRI's annual black Friday sales. It's always a good one! 

Designer to Watch: OneOneThree

New fabulous designers are popping up on the scene left and right and OneOneThree is no exception.  The line is giving me the rocker look of Joan Jett crossed with more of the rocker "lady like" feel of Pat Benetar.  In my head, this makes sense.  I first got a glimpse of this designer via The Curvy Fashionista.  This line comes from a UK designer and they've only launched these teaser photos.  My favorite piece is the black and white illusion dress. No word yet on the price points.   Get updates on this line through Facebook & Twitter.  

Designer to Watch: CABIRIA

New designer on the scene Cabiria reminds me of springtime in Paris.  Not that I have ever been to Paris, but if I were to go I could see myself in one of these frocks riding a sea green Vespa.  Designer, Eden, always wanted to walk in the doors of Barneys and all the chic downtown NY designer’s shops to try on and buy those beautiful pieces, but knew they’d have nothing even approaching a plus size. Because of all this, she bring her years of expertise, high standards and love of beautiful things to Cabiria and to you.  Preview the Spring 2013 Collection here.  

Cabiria is the most successful plus size project on kickstarter.  For those that don't know what Kickstarter is, it's a funding platform for creative projects.  Feeling like giving?  You can donate here.  Keep plus size fashion moving forward!

MonifC Holiday

♩ Last Christmas I gave you my heart But the very next day you gave it away This year To save me from tears I'll give it to someone special ♩

Since we're talking about the Holiday season, I thought I'd squeeze in my favorite Christmas song.  So, I'm in love with this first dress! I'm so sad, it's just too short for me to wear.   I hate showing my knees.  But it's very beautiful.  Sigh.  Anyways, check out MonifC's holiday frocks.  I love the holiday season and I love holiday dresses.  It's when it is just fine to step out in opulent designs and eye-catching fabrics and colors.  MonifC definitely delivered this season.   Check out the rest of the collection here.  

Have any fabulous holiday party plans or a super chic New Year's Eve soiree?  I'd love to hear about them. Also, please cast your vote for me for the Curvy Blog Awards.  I'm #25.  You can vote here. 

Ode to the Leopard Pencil Skirt

Outfit Logistics: Top -  JCPenney  $25, Skirt - Lane Bryant $34, Shoes - Thrifted

A leopard pencil skirt, to me, is the equivalent to a black pair of pants.  I dress it up, dress it down.  Take it work and then out for a night on the town.  I wear it as weekend wear for a quick trip to the grocery store.  It's one of my favorite pieces to travel with.  The two that I own don't wrinkle easy and can literally be taken out of my suitcase and worn.   

In my eyes, a leopard pencil skirt is a investment piece.  The funny thing is that I bought both of my leopard pencil skirts, one from JIBRI & one from Lane Bryant for less than $40 a piece.  Please note, just because I am not much of a LB shopper doesn't mean that I don't know what they have. You never know when you can find something good. That goes for any place that you don't regularly shop.  I may buy something maybe just once a year and that's fine.  I caught the JIBRI one on black Friday sale.  I bought the LB one with a coupon.  Both are good quality and fit me fabulously.  I thought I'd take you through some of my leopard skirt looks starting in 2009.  I also wanted to show the array of looks you can accomplish with just one staple piece.  The JIBRI skirt and I have had many adventures together.  

Finally,  I am up for a Curvy Blog Award from Navabi.  I'm #25.  Please take a moment to vote for me here.  No sign up necessary.  Thank you for you continued support!!!

Un-Winter Wonderland

It's really a shame that I can comfortably wear this in Dallas.  Temperatures are still 80 degrees here.  It's not even chilly at night.  Anyways, I back to blogging more.  I had been traveling once again and working hard.  Sometimes blogging can fall to the waste side when you get to running around.   I want to do a few cleaning house things.

Hurricanes in New York City, who would have thought.  NYC is one of my favorite cities to visit.  Family and friends of mine have definitely been affected.  I decided to make a donation and I wanted to get the word out about donating and how.  To donate, visit www.redcross.org, call 800-Red-Cross or text the word "Redcross" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.  It's added to your phone bill, so you don't even have to pull out your credit card.  (Donation information taken from ABC News). Every little bit helps.  I would love to hear who donated.  Comment I gave! 

Oh! I'm running a giveaway on Facebook.  You can win a piece from the Marilyn Monroe for MAC Collection.  Enter here.  Winner announced on Wednesday.  

Outfit logistics:  Dress - Dzire $99, Belt - D'zire $30, Shoes - ShoeDazzle $40, Bracelet - Charming Charlie $6

Boutique to Know: Twelve24

Twelve24 is an Atlanta based boutique located in the historic district of Decatur.   The owners were gracious enough to let me hold a Meet & Greet there last week.   I had so much fun and you know me, I love to put together an outfit.  While there I played a little dress up with some of the pieces in the boutique.  It was great meeting everyone and sipping  sangria.  The boutique definitely had some interesting pieces and was home to some plus size brands that I had never even heard of.  I purchased a few pieces while there, including the white sequin top.  This combo top and skirt polka dot outfit also doubled for a ladybug costume that I took my niece & nephews in for trick or treating.  I just added antennas and black dot on my nose.  Anyways, I had an awesome time and I want to send out a thank you to everyone at Twelve24 boutique and everyone who came out.  

Twisted Vixen & I ~ Top & Skirt by JIBRI:  Top $80, Skirt $75

Sequin Top:  $30/Skirt - $150 ~ Both items from Twelve24

Party-goers included:  Everyday Runway, PlusMoreFashion & Designer La Krisha S. Joseph-Baker of Lavender Jungle (the designer of the red full length skirt)

Find and Follow Twelve24:

228 E Ponce De Leon Ave, Decatur, GA

Hours:  Weds - Sat 11-6

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