I was looking to see how was Fashion Week this year in NYC and I happened to find a lot of designers showing their collections for Extended Sizes. New York Fashion Week had a good dose of reality by featuring the plus-size-only runway show which was hosted by OneStopPlus.com. This is a site where they sell everything plus size from intimates to business attire to summer travel key pieces as well as outerwear and shoes. The site focuses on full-figured women sizes 12 to 44. Bellow I had posted a quick clip that I edited (to be shorter) from the NY Fashion Week 2010 featuring the 2012 collections. This means that their has been quite a demand on these sizes since then and perhaps earlier, however this was the very first time they had a show at the NY Fashion Week in Lincoln Center. Take a look a few collections, including from Kiyonna to IGIGI by Yuliya Raquel.

                                         

 

I recognize her! she was in America's Next top model!

Love this outfit!

For this year,

Bare Plus' from Bare Necessities, showed their lingerie showed animal prints, as well as lace and satin. Other brands included, Calvin Klein, Hanky Panky, and DKNY which they all be available  through Bare Plus.

What is great is that the lingerie collection will  part of a "Curvy Fashion Show," at the next New York Fashion Week this September. They plan to feature six individual designers with sleepwear, swimwear and lingerie.

 

 Elena Miro, an Italian

 fashion brand that carries clothes sizes 44 EU and up (12 US and up)

Sources:
http://www.firstpost.com/fwire/plus-size-models-get-bare-at-nys-fashion-week-210889.html http://skinnyvscurvy.com/hot-models/plus-size-models-rock-runway-elena-miro.html

Dressing your Body and knowing your shape

I am sure many of us have hear of the different types of body shapes there is. However, I have decided to review these and go over a couple of tips what might help many women understand their body and how to fit it. The illustration below, demonstrates a visual of how they all look like. Hence, this is not the very absolute, as there are many shapes out there and people keep making names and adding more to the cart, but as you see it's pretty much simple and boils down to basically 5 shapes, note that I am omitting  the one called Column as it is pretty similar to the Rectangle. If we take a look at the basic 5 shapes, the proportions are all different and so the emphasis in body shape is different. Let's take a look at each individually and I will make some quick visual recommendations.

Inverted Triangle

Large bust and wide shoulders
Tip: Create an illusion that your lower body is equal in proportion to the wider upper body. 

DO's:

• Color block your body, with bold colors and them prints to the bottom body.
• Wear skirts with fullness, pleats, or tiered dresses. 

DON'Ts:

• Stay away from shoulder pads, boat necks, large patterns in the upper body, no ship dress or flapper styles, and not details at shoulders.

EXAMPLE of a good outfit

Rectangular:

Shoulder, waist, and hips all the same width
Tip: Accentuate your waistline and will give you the appearance of curved shape.

DO's:
· Wear Belts and mostly with bold colors or cute buckles.
· Tight fitted shape-wear or corset tops are a great; they cinch the waist creating the illusion we need. 
· Stick with for the dresses that have detail or tie at the waist.
· Wear higher waist styles. which will give the illusion we want.


DON'ts:
· No to extremely low-rise pants.
· Rectangular shaped tops with nothing on the waist.


EXAMPLE of a good outfit

Apple:

Fuller bust, rounded figure, and midsection, heavier arms and shapely lower legs
Tip: Give illusion of lines where they don't exist.

DO's:

·  Wear v-neck with an empire waistline in flowy fabrics like rayon, silk, light-weght cottons.
· Select larger patterns on dresses and tops, the colors need to look  low-contrast with a constant pattern, not crazy all over.
· Stick to narrow vertical stripes or patterns in that direction. it creates a slimming visual.

DON'ts:

· No more cargo pants, pockets on the side, or crazy embellished pants
· Say no to tapered pants.
· No to surplice tops and halter dresses or tops.

EXAMPLE of a good outfit

Hourglass:

Lots of curves with a small waist, with a full bottom.

Tip: Just embrace those curves. Just make sure you do it in a classy way.

DO's:

· Wear fitted tops that are tucked to the waist. 
· Wrap dresses are you best friend. They highlight the waist and show the legs
· Stretchy fabrics are really good for this body type as long as it is not too tight. 
· Stick to low-rise pants with a wider bottom which will balance the legs wit the rest.

DON'ts:

· No crazy prints or patterns, solid bold colors are best.

· If you decide for a print, make sure to pick a small pattern.

· Avoid loose fitting styles. Try to show your curves, that is what they are there for! :D

EXAMPLE of a good outfit

Plus Size Celebrities


So today, I was thinking about this whole new thing going on about our celebrities that are considered plus size and that look amazing like Adele. I decided to compile a list of my top celebrity plus size women because as we all know, people love celebrities and they like having a role model to look up to. Take a look at my first top 10!!

 Adele with her "21" album hits its 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Along with many other singers and artists she has made kind of a statement that you can be plus size and be gorgeous, Reminding of women that the skinny girl is not IN anymore, instead real curves!

Christina Aguilera, even tough she received a lot of flack lately about her weight gain. She says she is happy about her body and her boyfriend too.

Grammy-winning singer Jill Scott. She started out in Tyler Perry’s fall 2007 “Why Did I Get Married?

Queen Latifah, as a musician, artist, actress and entrepreneur, serves of great inspiration for many women.

Crystal Renn is the most well-known-well-paid model in the plus size industry. Love this picture!

Of course, the beautiful Oprah Winfrey!! I noticed how whomever styles her, keeps her V-neck shape consistent in all her outfits. I think it makes her look sexy and current. 

This is Christina Schmidt,  a 23- year old Canadian plus size model. I think that many modeling agencies are looking to fill the needs for plus size models in commercials and catalogue shootings. Which is great because the whole industry is changing, slow, but I feel it will change.

Whitney Thompson from America's Next Top Model is another perfect example of a hot plus size celebrity.

Sara Ramirez from Grey's Anatomy is another beautiful actress!! I personally love this show!

A few selections!

Many brands have been added extended sizes to their collection as they realize that their is a customer out there that is not being catered. One of these brands is Eileen Fisher. While I did some research, I found this article from StyleList back in 2009, where the designer for Eileen Fisher back then (not sure if she is still there) mentioned that there target audience is more of the size 2 customer as that was the size that they most sold.

They also started catering the younger customer by not having the 50 year old women in their ads. Not sure if that was the right call as their is a target segment out their in these two groups that need to be catered and perhaps testing the waters was a good idea. Finally, they decided to test the waters and added an extended size range of 14-16-18-20 sizes which I have to say looks really good. Take a look at Eileen Fisher selections in these sizes as well as other designers.

Love this combination! Found it at Neiman Marcus

This is from John Vass. Stripes are so IN! 

This jacket from Misook Collection is a great option. 

The blue vertical stripes make it look slimmer

From the Johnny Was Collection. 

This is a great color for this summer plus it makes an easy fun simple outfit for the day.

The patterns in the scarf are small and subtle which makes you look young and fun.

These selections are excellent for the office and after office events. Even the very last example, you can wear a nice white blazer on top of that blue top and you are good to go. Leaving a great impression every time you can is really important. I know, I know, you must be saying, "but I don't have that kind of cash to by myself a Misook $300 jacket". This is why we will also post some selections under $200 for our next post, so stick around for our next picks!

What happened to size 12 and up?

As I mentioned in my previous and very first post, we will be talking about style, body types and how to look as your best for different events and situations in your life. CanelaStyles.com is a soon to be site focused on plus size women and will cater this side of the market as we all know has been some how forgotten by many designers out there. Yes, many brands do carry the XL, but in reality, many brands out there grade their sizes a little too small and unrealistic with what is going on in the market. 

According to studies, the average size for american women is size 14, but was is more interesting is that this is not the actual size that is mostly sold by retail stores that sell apparel. What this tells is is there is a discrepancy in the demand of sizes and the lack of availability for of good apparel under these size ranges. 

What happens is that women in there size 14 seem to not buy clothing in this is size range because they will end up anyways loosing some weight and then why they say to themselves, "why spend so much money on nice clothing size 14 when I know pretty soon I will go back tot my normal weight". That may seem to make sense, so you go ahead and buy yourself of cheap jeans and done!.

What many women don't realize is that they stop going shopping for the longest, wear whatever they have in the closet, retailers stop getting the bigger sizes because of lack of demand, and then creates a lack of nice clothing in these size ranges. Because women gained some weight or even if they have been size 14 all their life does not mean that there is nothing out there for them, of course you the look sexy, beautiful and fashionable too! Women need to realize that no matter what size they are, they should look their best in every size. This is why I decided to start my blog and post some cool fashionable options out there! take a look!

This is one cute bathing suit that I found in Loehmann's. 

 This is a model that is considered Plus Size. 

Funny how a normal girl is considered plus size. Just a thought.

 A very feminine sexy dress by Nancy Lewinter

This is a cute black ruched dress by Lane Bryant

Hello Everyone!

I am excited to start my new blog where I plan to share many different topics related to fashion, travel and inspirations in our lives. I want to start off by showing what is our inspiration for Canela.com which is an online shopping site where you can find all the our best selections in brands for travel, business and pleasure. At this moment is under construction, however we opened this blog to share our experiences as designers, travelers and inspirations. We will be looking forward to suggestions on most favorite brands for travel and other accessories. Nothing better than having our to-be-customers be part of our selection process! So stick around!

Marga