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