Archive for January 21st, 2010

Size doesn’t matter. And in this day and age where commercialism has focused and forced the thinking of being thin as beautiful, being big and on the heavy side is considered a disadvantage. Thankfully, there are women like Oprah and Queen Latifah who has embodied and empowered plus-sized women and have declared, "Big is Beautiful."

Fashion and the clothing industry has been kinder to us too – ever since Jennifer Lopez revealed the size of her hips and Kate Winslet posed for Leonardo Di Caprio as Rose in the movie “Titanic”. There have been a lot of choices among plus size fashion stores.

Since our options are now endless, one should also remember that prices will be a bit higher since fabric-wise, we will be using a lot more coverage. A wrap dress is a basic need for plus-sized women.

Here are some budget shopping tips for you:

1. Know what works for you first.
2. Try it on, what looks nice on the rack might not look good on you. And sometimes, since fabrics of plus-sized clothes are drapelike, they have no form when on the rack.
3. Base your choices off of a core color palette. But be creative with color!

Here are some inspiration from the Elvi Store (for size 16 and up!):

As you can see, most clothes are shape fitting. You do not need to wear loose clothes if you are big. The key here is highlight one area and camouflage the rest. Say you can cinch your waist, show off shoulders, have a V-neck top. Remember that being in turtlenecks all the time will make you look fatter because you cannot elongate your neck (chances are, your double-chin will show more and it will emphasize the plumpness of your cheeks).

When all is said and done, remember:
"There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness." – Lady Blessington

Women these days are lucky, they have so many options on accessories ever since companies started coming out with great fashion designer jewelry. Sometimes, you cannot even tell what’s real from real anymore, and women work it to their advantage.

Just look at these faux sapphire earrings from Holsted Jewelers. The details and craftsmanship are so fine even a jeweler would have a hard time telling it’s not real!

I am not saying that one should not invest anymore, but if you do not have the money for it, there is always a means to get the look you want for less. It’s how you carry yourself that’s important.

Look who went from “fat” to fabulous in just a month!

Among the Kardashian sisters, stars of their own reality show, Khloe, the youngest among the three Kardashians, is the last person who you would think would appear in a lifestyle and fitness magazine not once, but twice, wearing hot bikinis. Life has certainly turned around for this newlywed, as she has lost 25 pounds last summer in the span of 28 days.

Just look at her before and after pictures:

Those are her pictures when she was a size 10 and size 6, respectively. Still, criticisms are still being thrown at her, the two from Spencer Pratt and Janice Dickinson. According to an online article at LifeandStyleMag, “Supermodel Janice Dickinson attacked the star saying, “There’s no way she would become a fashion icon. Khloé looks like a heifer.” And Spencer Pratt recently said, “Khloé still needs to work out more. I recommend she go to theheidimontagworkout.com so she can get fantastic curves like my wife’s.”

Khloe has learned to accept this and even has fought back. For one thing, she tells that she will never be like her sisters, who are petite and delicate-boned, being only 5” and 5″’2”. She is a tall woman at 5’10”!

“Way before, I was a size 10. Then I went to an 8, and now I’m a 6,” Khloé tells Life & Style. “I don’t think with my bone structure I could get much smaller than a 6. This is my body — and I love it.”

Celebrities have always been under the microscope, papparazzis noting and taking pictures of the slightest weight gain or belly bump. That is why most celebrities are on a perpetual diet. It must be really hard for them, keeping up with odd and long hours filming on the set, the pressure of needing to look glamorous all the time and to be disciplined with eating (and having to find time to exercise). No wonder most of them take diet pills to help them lose and maintain their weight. One of the widely-used and most-accepted is xenical. Xenical is a prescription drug that helps block about one-third of the fat in the foods you eat from being absorbed by your body.