AT THE OFFICE IN MY STRIPED BLAZER FROM JESSICA LONDON

Hey curvy girls all over the world,

It's only Tuesday and I am already tired and slightly stressed out from work. At least I have going to Baltimore this weekend to look forward to.  The weather has done a 180 and it's a bit chilly in NYC. I must admit that I was a little glad about it because it gave me a chance to wear my new striped blazer.

I got this blazer as a gift from Jessica London for attending their blogger conference (post to come later about that). As always I have to keep it real with you. I have never shopped at Jessica London because I thought they were for the more mature crowd who likes ribbed turtlenecks in every color in the crayon box.

I was attending the conference for another blog, but, as always, I am open minded to companies who want to make better clothes for the plus size community and understand our fashionable needs. After the conference was over, the group of bloggers who attended were told that we could order anything we wanted from the Fall catalogue. I was skeptical because once again, their past collections were not my taste or for my age group ( So, I thought). Since I'm in that age group where I am not 21 anymore but I'm not 40 either, I am very careful about the pieces I choose, because I want to look my age.

While, I do not like everything from Jessica London, I did find a couple of nice pieces (like this blazer) that I can work into my wardrobe. The stripes and side paneling of polka dots is what drew me to this blazer. When I first saw it in their catalogue, I was like no, this is not going to work, but, then I stared at it and said, why not give it a try. It reminded me of the old Ralph Lauren striped blazers.

To make it fit my style, I am wearing it with skinny black jeans, my pink gladiator sandals, and a basic v-neck tee. I chose a charm necklace to make the look a little more interesting. This weekend I am going to take the blazer to the tailor and have him take it in a little bit on the sides and in the arms for a fitted look. I will rock the blazer again with a mini pencil skirt to switch it up.

As Tim Gunn always says, sometimes you have to make things work. I rolled up the sleeves and popped the collar to add a little flavor to the blazer.

What do you guys think about the blazer?

What I'm Wearing:

Blazer-Jessica London

Skinny Jeans-ASOS

T-shirt-Old Navy

Shoes- Mixx Schuz

Necklace-NY&Co

Bag-Loft

CURVY GIRL STYLE BATTLE: AMERICA VS KIM

In this round of Curvy Girl Style Battle Kim Kardashian is bringing the heat in a curve hugging peach and gray strapless dress while promoting her new perfume and America Ferrara is keeping things bright and chic in a one shoulder Catherine Malandrino side draped dress at the screening of Dry Land.

You vote who's look is the best

Kim Kardashian

VS

America Ferrara

Photos: People.com

CRYSTAL RENN'S CHANEL AD. IS KARL CHANGING HIS MIND?

Despite weight controversy Crystal Renn is still the reigning plus size model who is breaking barriers and has shattered that glass ceiling for plus size models. If you are not a fan, you have to give credit where credit is due. One of the most coveted design houses to get an ad campaign with is Chanel and Crystal can now cross that goal off her list. Crystal is the face of one of Chanel's Fall 2010 ad campaigns and as usual she looks beautiful.

However, one does have to ask the question, is old Lagerfeld changing his mind about the curvy girl? Or is he only trying to incorporate us because of all the buzz curvy girls are receiving in fashion right now? I for one will not get my hopes up until I see sizes 16+ under the Chanel tag in his designs.

What are your thoughts on Crystal's Chanel ad?

FALL TREND: MILITARY INSPIRED

Hey curvy girls all over the world,

If you have dived into any of your September magazine issues then you already know that one of the hottest trends this Fall season will be military inspired pieces. SC loves this trend because it reminds me of being in ROTC back in high school. A few of us used to wear our pea coats on our off days because they were just that cute. Now that times have changed a better way to incorporate the military trend into your wardrobe is by pairing a military style trench or cropped jacket over a frilly or girlie dress.

An array of plus size lines are making sure that they incorporate this trend for their curvy customer. SC is in love with ASOS's military style cape and  we love CJ by Cookie Johnson's silk cargo pants. If you are looking to wake up your wardrobe a little bit or just to find a new way to wear some of your basic pieces, a military style sweater or jacket will do the trick.

1. Michael Kors Belted Dress
2. Nine West Camo purse
3. Guess by Marciano Gladiator sandals
4. ASOS Cape
5. Loft Twill Cropped Military Jacket
6. Style & Co double breasted military sweater
7. CJ by Cookie Johnson's Cargo Pants
8. Dorothy Perkins Camel Military Dress

ASHLEY STEWART'S NEW PREMIUM DENIM

 

If you are a fan of Ashley Stewart then you'll probably be excited about their new denim line. Last week SC stopped by the Ashley Stewart denim bar at the Ace Hotel to checkout their new line of denim. I am a skeptic when it comes to Ashley Stewart's denim because sometimes the jeans can come off cheap looking or just a tad too trendy for my taste. However, that's not say that you can't find a good pair of jeans in the store.

Their new line is made up of four collections which consists of Premium denim, Novelty, 5 Pocket (which comes in petite, average, and tall), and jeggings.

The new collection offered a variety of styles. There were looks for the trendy curvy girl who likes her denim ripped and ruched and if you like your denim dark and classic then the 5 pocket collection will appeal to you. I was not sold on some of the back pocket designs or the animal print front pocket designs, but, I was definitely feeling the wide leg tie waist jeans and the moto cross light wash jeans. 

Jean sizes range from sizes 12-26 with the exception of the jeggings which go up to a size 24. Ashley Stewart's new denim line is priced from $29-$59. 

Check the new line out for yourself and tell SC what you think.

Premium Denim

Novelty Denim

5 Pocket Denim

Jeggings

Models in the new AS denim line

They also had this cute faux leather and fur zippered vest which I thought was cute.

LOTIS CLOTHING REPRESENTS FOR THE CURVY GIRLS AT FASHION FIGHTS CANCER

Last week SC hit up the the Audi showroom at 250 Park Avenue for the annual fundraising event Fashion Fights Cancer. Once I arrived at the event the place was booming with some of the who's who of fashion jamming to the hottest sounds of Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Rihanna. Fashion Fights Cancer is an event that is held to raise money for the Cancer Research Institute and for The I'm too young for this cancer foundation. Fashion, lovers, photographers, writers, models, and stylists all showed up to support the cause.

To make the event a success, the fundraiser enlisted the help of 10 designers for a sample sale style trunk show. One of the most notable clothing brands that was there was Lotis. The only clothing line that was representing for the curvy girls. They were the talk of the event. Most of you may already be familiar with Lotis's fabulous clothes, but, on that night Lotis was garnering some serious attention as attendees were watching the Lotis models sashay around the room in two super cute printed dresses styled by stylist Steffany Bready.

Lotis's Christina Graham was dressed in a chic lace and satin dress while working the room with her sweet charm.

 For more on Lotis clothing you can checkout their website at http://www.lotisclothing.com/

 Other lines that were at the event were Thuy, Karen Millen, American Apothecary, Bryon Lars Beauty Mark, Karhi, Tadashi Shoji, Lotus Grace, Lotis Clothing, Dutchess Design.

Thuy had the most adorable accessories.

Brooklyn designer KahriAnne Kerr and one of her pieces

Dutchess Design had everyone drooling over her handmade clutch bags

 American Apothecary t-shirts with hard hitting messages on them

SC also ran into Malik So Chic from the CW's reality show High Society. He was so nice and welcoming that I had to stop him and ask if he had any tips for curvy girls. Since he considers himself a curvy girl too, his only piece of advice was to "Love Yourself, and be you". Well said Malik! 

SATURDAY BRUNCH

I got a call from a friend who wanted to meet for brunch today. I was so excited because I haven't seen her in a long time. I thought a full skirt and lace top would be the perfect outfit for today. I love the ruched lace detail on the sleeves of this top. I also love the skirt because it is eye catching. The blue flowers on top of the stripes makes the skirt that more interesting. The skirt has pockets that are so deep that I could fit my keys and phone in it.

 One of my fave bags broke this week while at work. I had to go and get a new one so I could carry all my junk around for the day. I found this cinched fold over bag at Loft and I just love it. The only problem is that it's deep and doesn't have many compartments and it took me about 2 min. to search for my wallet. It's cool, that just means I have to limit what I put in it.

 

 

 Alright, it's off to Mimosa's and french toast for me.

What I'm wearing
top&skirt- Faith21
Bag- Loft
Bracelet-NY&Co-Gifted from a fashion preview

FALL TREND:LACE

From Dolce and Gabbana to Chanel and Valentino, the 2010 Fall runways were filled with intricately designed lace dresses and blouses. Lace is one of those fabrics that screams sexy and alluring. Pair a lace top with a tailored pair of trousers for a sexy sophisticated look or wear a lace dress for a night out. One of the great things about this Fall season is that lace has crossed over to accessories. You can get down with the lace trend by rocking a pair of lace peep toe booties or a super cute lace headband.

1 Dorothy Perkins scalloped lace dress
2 Dorothy Perkins Lace peeptoe booties
3 Plus Size Fix lace bolero
4 American Rag lace dress
5 Forever21 lace bow headband
6 Plus size fix sheer lace dress
7 Torrid lace dress
8 Torrid strapless lace corset

More Options

More Forever 21...

STYLISH CURVES HITS UP THE ONE STOP PLUS PHOTO SHOOT

Hey curvy girls all over the world,
This month Stylish Curves stopped by the One Stop Plus photo shoot to see what they had in store for the 2010 Fall season. This Fall season OSP is creating looks that are more fashionable with a few trendy pieces. To translate this look for their customer, OSP enlisted the help of two gorgeous plus size models, Marquita Pring from V Magazine's first plus size issue and Camilla Hansen who starred in OSP's commercials (Neither of them looked plus at all, but, that's how the modeling industry is.). I had a chance to talk to OSP's E-shop Manager Sora Golob. Checkout what she had to say about the Fall Collection and the photo shoot.

 Once I arrived at the shoot, I decided to chat it up with the models to get their thoughts on the clothes. I don't shop at OSP, so, I wanted to get the models opinions of their clothes. Both Marquita and Camilla   said the clothes were very cute and that they would incorporate it in their daily wardrobes. Camilla also said she has a few things from past shoots with OSP that she loves. Go figure! I always thought OSP was for the more mature women who wanted to cover up her curvy body. Hearing the good review from the models themselves definitely made me want to give OSP a second look.

Here is how the day went:

    Models Marquita and Camilla getting ready for their close up

I'm such a groupie, I had to get a pic with the stunning Marquita Pring.

After chatting with the models I decided to be nosy and checkout the stylists corner to see what looks they pulled together for the shoot. This is some of the accessories the stylist brought to the shoot.

Here are the looks for the photo shoot.

I had to get a picture with Mimi the stylist. This is me in groupie mode again. I love when a stylist has an edgy rockin roll look 

Now, it's back to business. The stylist is prepping Camilla for the first look of the day  

Model Camilla is stretching to get ready for her poses

I tried to sneak a picture of  Camilla and just like a model she caught me and struck a pose for my camera.

Final look

The photo shoot ran into overtime so I was not able to get pictures of the rest of the looks, but, I thought the military jacket was super cute. Overall, SC had a great time at the photo shoot.