CurvyPlusStyle

Category: Style

  • Love and Style

    Love and Style

    While I have been unattached and not looking to mingle for a long time, I have been spending some time thinking about what I want long term. I’ve never wanted to be married. I’ve never wanted to be a mother. These things make dating…interesting. I’m also not sure about living with another person. I have lived alone since I was 17 with the exception of two semesters with roommates in college and a couple of stints back home after college. But more importantly, how do you manage having a life with someone else and your own life? I think this is the bigger concern. I’m very independent. I enjoy solo living. I’m not fearful of commitment. I don’t want to commit. I don’t mean that as in I want to be with multiple people at once. I don’t. I mean it as in when I’m with someone it’s because I want to be with them in that moment. I don’t know what I’ll want in one, five, or twenty years. If I want something else, I want to be able to pursue it. I just think that forever is unreal.

    Anyway, Valentine’s Day is Wednesday. There’s no need to wait until you have a partner to enjoy a commercial holiday. If your friends have other plans, that shouldn’t be a reason to not do something that you want to do. What I’m trying to say is – enjoy your own company. Go buy yourself some good chocolates. Have drinks or dinner at the new spot you’ve been eyeing. If you want to celebrate, don’t let anything stop you. If you don’t want to celebrate, don’t. It’s just that simple.

    I don’t own much red or pink. I’m more understated than overt and I’m not ultra feminine. Here are some looks I would don for V-Day.

  • Personalizing My Style

    Personalizing My Style

    I was in the market for a new black blazer. I figured Good American would be a great place because the Kardashians were once known for wearing great blazers.

    I came across this Ponte knit blazer at Good American.

    Good American Ponte Double Breasted Blazer

    I knew I loved the double-breast and the square/straight hem. The jacket comes with fancy gold buttons. I liked them, but my intention was for this to be an everyday blazer and those buttons were not what I wanted to wear everyday.

    I immediately started looking for buttons for replacement. I decided I wanted to go for an all black look. I found these buttons at JoAnn’s. I wasn’t able to find smaller companion buttons for the sleeves so I decided to remove the sleeve buttons which is fine since the jacket has zipper openings on the sleeve.

    Buttons from Joann’s

    Last week, I took the jacket and buttons to my tailor and I picked it up today. I’m please with the monochromatic look, but I’m also happy with the bit of razzle dazzle these buttons give the blazer.

    Same blazer with new buttons

    I get clothes altered all the time, but this is the first time I did something creative and personal with my clothing, rather than just a functional need like hemming or tailoring the waist of pants. I’m already thinking about other more creative ways that I can use my tailor to personalize my clothing.

  • My Signature Style: Wide-Leg Pants

    My Signature Style: Wide-Leg Pants

    I think I fell in love with wide-leg pants in the mid 2000s. I recall being inspired by Traci Ellis Ross whom I often saw donning them in pictures and it was always a chic look. Since that time, they have become a personal style staple.

    Wide-leg pants give a subtle drama that speaks to me on such a personal level. I’m a pretty understated person and generally don’t like to bring attention to myself. But it’s the silhouette – the synched waist, the billowy leg skimming the floor, the movement of fabric, the vintage vibes. It’s unmatched.

    When I first fell in love with them, skinny pants were all the rage. I haven’t been skinny since college and wide-leg pants were a stylish alternative which was and still is better.

  • Style Strategy 2024

    Style Strategy 2024

    Bottom Line Upfront: I’ll be shopping my closet and wearing what I already own.

    Three years ago I moved to a new city with very few clothes. I’ve been rebuilding my wardrobe since the move and nearly everything I own was bought within the last three years. I’ve done some significant shopping. I’ve shopped so much that I’m actually sick of shopping. One of the downsides of all of this shopping is that I’ve been impatient and have purchased “stand-in” pieces when I couldn’t find what I truly wanted and didn’t want to wait. Then a month or so later, I found what I wanted. So I have a few things that I know I’m not going to wear and I want to get rid of them. On the positive side, my foundational wardrobe is in tack. I was very hesitant to buy color, pattern, texture, etc. until after I had the essentials. But while I’m in a very good place with essentials, my wardrobe is lacking personality. So if and when I do make purchases this year, it will be a couple of fun pieces.

    The most important thing I plan to do is get dressed whether going out or staying in. Many people can probably relate, but being on lockdown during COVID and working for home has created a situation where I rarely get dressed. Most days I’m in the same lounge wear. Late last year, my organization began a hybrid return to work. Presently, I go into the office two days a week and those are the only days I get dressed unless I have to go out on weekends and even then its lounge wear. It doesn’t make sense that I’ve bought all of these clothes and don’t wear them. I love working for home and have decided to treat it like the office and get dressed. I don’t need an in-person meeting to put on that blazer I’m currently loving. To help me get back into the groove, I purchased an over the door hook so that I can pull together outfits in advance. I’m not normally a “get your clothes out the night before” kind of person, but I think this will help with follow-through. By now we all know that you don’t need to save you “good clothes.” Anytime is a good time.

    That’s the plan for 2024. Simple. I have other big things happening this year and this is how I’m staying focused on what’s most important.

  • FW ’23 Wardrobe

    FW ’23 Wardrobe

    I’ve been working on my wardrobe for the last year or two and I’m finally feeling comfortable with my personal style again. I’ve been wanting to do a “haul” style viideo sharing what I purchased this year, but I’ve not gotten to it until today. I’m not sharing everything I bought, but my favorite pieces.

    *In the video I mentioned fall when I mean spring.

  • Fat Feet

    Fat Feet

    The majority of my shoes are medium width, but there are certain styles of shoes that I cannot wear or can only wear if they come in a wide fit. I don’t actually have a wide foot. My feet are fat, the top of my foot to be exact. Shopping wide width shoes can be dreadful. The number of shoes available in wide-width is low. And they tend to look functional or orthopedic, but not at all aesthetically pleasing.

    The styles of shoes that I like has not changed since I’ve gained weight so I’ve had to develop a strategy to get the look I want.

    Forgiving Brands

    Vince Camuto and Franco Sarto

    These are a couple of my go-to brands for shoes. While Franco Sarto does carry wide widths, I find that both brands’ medium width shoes are very comfortable for me.

    Forgiving Styles

    d’Orsay Styles

    I’m a pump girl through and through, but some times traditional cuts pinch the top of my feet or my feet look squeeze in. I find that the d’Orsay style offers some relief because one or both sides of the shoe is cut out and the middle of my foot is not constricted.

    Low-cut toe boxes

    A few years ago, mules made a come back in a big way, but I couldn’t find a single mule that fit my foot. The top of my feet were just too fat. I stumbled upon a pair of Vince Camuto mules with a low-cut top of the shoe. I remember this was the subject of conversation during the Louboutin craze because their shoes have this lower cut where the top of the toe box starts right at the top of the toe. Similar to the d’Orsay style, covering just the toes and leaving the top/middle of the foot exposed is less constricting.

    Other Strategies

    Size up

    My regular size is 10.5, but not many brands don’t make half sizes beyond 9.5 so I often purchase size 11 shoes. Usually anything larger would not work for me, but depending on the style of shoe, sizes above 11 may work. For example, I was looking for a traditional mule slide. This style of shoe usually does not fit me because of the top of my foot, but I tried these Gianni Bini’s in a 12 and they gave me just what I needed in fit and are now one of my favorite pairs of shoes.

    There are a lot of things frustrating about plus size fashion, but I have to admit that I’m having fun getting creative and mastering my style.

  • Flesh-tone Shoes

    Flesh-tone Shoes

    Years ago, I bought a pair of chestnut brown platform Jessica Simpson heels. The kind with the wood stacked heel. As a bottom-heavy woman, platforms have never been my friend. I sound like a clydesdale. Initially, I didn’t love the shoe for that reason. It was more of a on-trend impulse buy. Those shoes stayed in the box for along time. Then one day, I pulled them out and tried them on with a hunter green wrap dress from Banana Republic and there was something about the way the shoe blended into my skin that that I loved. I was getting height and it looked natural. That was the start of my love affair with flesh-tone shoes.

    I say flesh-tone and not nude because in fashion, nude tends to equal the color of caucasian skin.

    It’s not easy to find if your skin falls into the chestnut brown range. There is a lot of camel and maybe even chocolate on the market. But this year was a good year. After purchase 5-6 pairs of shoes, I settled on two pairs – one Chestnut and one Tobacco. I even got a a sweater and pants in the color.

  • Style Hack: Layer with a Sleeveless Button-Down (Fall Edition)

    Style Hack: Layer with a Sleeveless Button-Down (Fall Edition)

    In the fall, I love layering. One of my favorite ways to layer is to wear a pullover sweater over a button-down shirt. Although I love wearing the combo, I also love wearing the separates. But whenever I wore my sweater separately, I’d notice that the sleeves were stretched out and loose fitting. I hated that I was ruining my sweaters. But I would soon discover a hack. The sleeveless button-down. This has been my go-to ever since. I still get that preppy, buttoned up look without stretching my sleeves.