Queen Simply Be

OK so I would have loved to have commented just as the collection hit the stores on July 9 but I was (ahem) off to Italy on holiday and I have to confess that my thoughts were more on Italian ice cream, paradise beaches and gorgeous Latino men to worry about Beth's foray into the fashion world.

Well.

I've seen it now and I can hardly contain my....disappointment. OK, so the prom dresses are cute, but to be honest, that's really all I liked. I wanted sexy, contemporary and something I could wear without being sniggered at. Another issue is that most of the collection is so well OBVIOUSLY Beth Ditto, it's like going out in a Chanel number plastered with "This came from Chanel" - and although I love my labels, I don't actually feel the need to announce the fact that I bought an Evans Beth Ditto dress to the world. Go out in that domino dress or leggings and it's like you're copying someone else's look rather than developing your own sense of style. I love Beth but I dont actually want to look like her. Is it wrong to say that?

The collection is compact and I suspect Evans only commissioned Beth to design a limited number of pieces because they thought they might not sell. And I'll be surprised if they do, because the bulk of the collection would be fine for jumping around on  stage being a pop diva but it might just get you pointed at if you wear it to a nightclub in Ipswich. Trust me, I've been in most of them.

I'm not one for advocating that fat girls hide their figures in baggy tops and voluminous tents - but I'd suggest that purple spotty leggings look bad enough on skinny legs, let alone big ones. Am I being harsh? I'd love to hear your opinions...

Beth Ditto at Evans

New Look have always been a bit of a dead loss as far as I'm concerned for plus sizes. Well, locally, anyway. The shops in Cambridge didn't stock the Inspire plus size range at all ( presumably there are no fat people in Cambridge although there's never a shortage of the smallest sizes in Ted Baker & Karen Millen) and in Ipswich the selection is pitiful to say the least. Although the shoe selection is pretty fab.

Anyway, it's come to light that the store routinely charges extra for the same jeans in a size 18 as it does in a 16.

The store claims that while it does its best to absorb the extra costs involved in making bigger fashions, there are some items where it has little choice but to charge a higher price.

Can they really justify £2 extra for bigger sizes? Maybe we should start a 'Bums4Justice' like the Busts for Justice that managed to lobby M&S to reduce their surcharge on bigger bra sizes. Just think of the extra profit they are making out of women that to be fair, New Look don't make a great deal of effort to cater for anyway. What do you think?

We're all looking forward to getting our hands on the new Beth Ditto collection at Evans - which is is set to launch on Thursday  9th July. So widely anticipated by a fashion forward fat pack are Beth's designs, that Evans have set up a separate website just for her. I've complained about Evans far too many times so I've got everything crossed that Beth has revamped the whole Evans 'if you can do it in bright orange tiger print, do' philosophy and come up with some real style.

The capsule collection will be influenced by the eighties and includes clothes, accessories and shoes. Get it while you can as it's pretty likely that the collection is going to fly off the shelves (and website) if the designs are actually any good!

Key items include draped jersey tops, oversized knitwear and many of the pieces will be inspired by vintage pieces found on Beth's travels.

It's about time the high street started to cater for plus size women who actually have a sense of style, so let's hope that this new collecion is as funky as it promises to be, and that it's the start, if you'll pardon the expression, of something big!

Stranger things have happened...

Beth Ditto at Evans

If there's something that puts a smile on the face and a skip in the step of every woman, whatever her size, it's sexy shoes.

It doesn't matter if you can't get into anything in Top Shop, or that the assistants in Karen Millen look down their noses at you if you so much as step over the threshold, there's always shoes. And handbags. So it's great news that Jimmy Choo is coming to an H&M near you!

Wait for the mass stampede as shoe loving fashionistas of all shapes and sizes fight for the last pair in a six.

Prices for these little beauties  will start from as little as £30 for a pair of ballet pumps, and the top of the range Choo is going to be a reasonably justifiable £170.

The average Jummy Choo will usually set you back at least £400 so if one of the 200 Choo-stocked H&M stores is near you, I would start queuing now!

Some stop press news for you - yours truly has been appointed editor of Just as Beautiful - and I'm going to be looking for inspiration, comment and ideas from my faithful blog readers.

What really gets your goat? What would you like to see more of? What are the burning issues that matter to you? Are you a big girl with something to say? Do you have a recommendation that you want to share? Would you like to appear in the mag and say your piece?

PLEASE get in touch.

And subscribe to the magazine - it's free!

I know, another Eastenders themed post and I don't even *watch* it all the time.

I've just seen another 'Natalie Cassidy is fat again' style newspaper bashing, and I thought I'd post this mainly because I've always liked her, and also because Nat was on the front cover of one of the first ever magazines I managed to get published in (yes, OK, it was Slim at Home, but the article was about fattism!)

Anyway, I digress. I was almost disappointed with Nat when she did the whole weight loss DVD thing. Not just because I thought she had 'sold out' - weight loss is a personal thing and if she felt the need to punish herself into a size eight with two hours exercise a day and laxatives, who am I to object? But the real issue was that I could see it failing. She always seems like such a fun loving, sociable sort of girl, and a strict diet/fitness/laxative regime doesn't sit well with a sociable lifestyle!  Most on-off dieters can identify with the feeling a celeb would get after they have pummelled away their weight issues with a drastic diet, and their first thought is "I know, I'll do a DVD, that way I won't be tempted to put the weight back on." With mere mortals it's the fear of our friends, work mates, and family giving us a disapproving look when we start to gain weight again that we think will keep us on the straight and narrow. But it doesn't usually stop us, even if we don't have a camera lens to deal with on a regular basis! 

Alas, even celebs are only human, and it all comes tumbling down because although they *think* that the mere thought of letting people down by gaining weight again, and being judged for it (as they undoubtedly will be) will stop them ever getting back to the size they were...IT DOESN'T WORK. It just makes you excessively worried about what faceless journalists and members of the public think about you. As Natalie said;

"I don't think I'll sit in Soho and eat a burger. Not without looking over my shoulder."

How sad is that?

Personally I think Natalie looks lovely at a size 14. What the hell is wrong with a size 14 anyway? She looks happier than she did when she was working out and sucking her stomach in for every passing paparazzi. Let's hope she doesn't start yo-yoing like so many other stars who are more famous for their weight fluctuations than their last acting role (are you listening, Kirstie Alley?)

Natalie - stay as you are!!!

Good news for any girl fed up with trying to find sexy lingerie - Simply Yours has launched a fabulous spring summer collection of plus size shapewear and sexy swimwear.

The new range does away with the notion that girls with cleavage to die for and a bootylicious behind just want to cover up their assets. No, honeys, we want to enhance what Mother Nature (and in some cases, Ben and Jerrys) gave us with underwear that shapes our curves and gives us support where we need it most. The whole collection is online at  the Simply Yours website.

The launch is being supported by a national TV advertising campaign, and a  stylish new ad, which evokes 1940s glamour.
 

The collection covers all you can think of in plus size shapewear, from bras, corsets, slips and knickers, to swimwear and nightwear. Sizes range from 30-50 with cups A-JJ and up to 56 and K and L in selected sizes.

The helpful people at Simply Yours have even come up with a guide to finding your perfect bra size, so that you get the absolute best va-va-voom possible from your new glam shape wear. Vive la curves!

If you've ever wanted to strut your stuff in a magazine, and fancy getting paid for it too, I've had a request from That's Life! magazine for big, beautiful and happy girls to appear in real life features.

She says:

"So many of our real life stories come from people that have dieted or had surgery to achieve a slim figure. What you don't read about as much are bigger girls that are proud and happy about their weight. We are looking for potential case studies that might fulfill this brief. The more unique the story the better. Perhaps a previously slim woman has found that putting on weight led her to happiness! Or perhaps being a 'big' is essential to her job or relationship."

If you're interested, let me know through the blog and I'll pass your details on. If you want to appear, you'll have to be OK with your name and picture appearing in the magazine... Have fun!

Another attention grabbing headline, and a cause that I'm sure all voluptuous, well-endowed girlies will want to - ahem - support.

Busts4Justice

Busts 4 Justice is a Facebook group set up by a group of bigger boobed women - who are threatening to storm the M&S AGM to protest over the discrimination handed out to those of us blessed with a bountiful cleavage.

Apparently our bigger bras require 'more engineering' than those that support boobs of less than a double D, so they charge an extra £2 per bra for the privilege of supplying us with the over the shoulder boulder holder monstrosities that they actually *do* stock in our size. (Oh,and is anyone as fed up as I am with never being able to find matching knickers in a size that fits? If I have big boobs, the chances are that unless I am a beautiful freak of nature or surgically enhanced...I have a BIG BUM too!)

Beckie Williams - a size 34E - has warned M&S that the group will take their campaign to shareholders at the AGM in July. She said:

"They haven't listened to us as customers, so now maybe they'll have to listen to us as shareholders.'

'Marks & Spencer is Britain's biggest lingerie seller so we want them to change their pricing for all the women affected. I still don't think they can justify this charge since many of their rivals charge the same price regardless of size.'

Join the Facebook Group and crusade for bra equality!

Bet that got your attention!

All you fabulous at whatever size you are girls are probably roling your eyes in disdain at that headline though. Of course fat women get their fair share of bedroom action. I'm far too coy to talk about my own body count but let's face it, you'd think that nobody over a size 12 was allowed to get naked if you read some of the comments about the latest, frankly stupid, storyline about Eastenders' Heather Trott discovering she's pregnant.

Now, this isn't to say that a storyline about a character who hasn't been with a  man (that we know of) since George Michael was still playing straight, falling miraculously pregnant at the first sniff of bedroom action isn't a tad unrealistic. Let's face it, she's a big girl on the wrong side of forty and she's pretty statistically amazing if she fell pregnant from a lone one night stand. But that's not the issue. It's the horrified "Who would sleep with Heather?" sharp intakes of breath you read across the Internet if you are a sad case like me who actually reads that stuff.

Some of the choice comments:

"Whoever was insane and sick enough to bed her shoud hang there head in shame then run a mile"

(maybe that contributor should run back to school for some spelling & grammar practice?)

The general consensus seems to be that anyone who could be responsible for the latest potential new resident of Albert Square must have been drunk at the time of his or her conception, or desperate. Because nobody in their right mind would ever want to sleep with A.Fat.Bird!

If it wasn't so damn ridiculous, it would be insulting. Have any of these witty social commentators actually looked around and noticed that there are mums of every different size out there? Most of us know that it's actually much harder to conceive when you're medically underweight than overweight simply because your body decides you can't possibly be trusted to support a baby if you have no fat reserves, and shuts off your periods to make sure.

And what's more, it's annoyed me for some time that the token fat bird on a soap has to be stupid and greedy as well. Obsessed with George Michael, with no dress sense and a personality that just screams "Slap me!" Of course, you could just tell me I take things too seriously, and I'd reply that I only really care when I watch the programme and wear away my precious tooth enamel by gritting my teeth at the script writers' portrayal of 'Hev' as a total moron with limited social skills and very dubious taste in headbands.

It still annoys me though. As does the fact that we're allowed to ridicule fat people because they clearly have no feelings. I hope this daft storyline gets used to a good effect, and shows that Heather isn't automatically going to be a useless mother who feed the baby chips and cheese  'because that's what a fat mum would do.' It would be bloody great if one day there was a really foxy, classy, intelligent and witty woman on 'The Square' who all the men lusted after, but who just happened to be a size 16 plus.

Fat people as the butts of biscuit jokes is SO boring.

What do you think?