Sexy, Retro Clothes for Curvy Grrls

On Mad Men, our current curvy icon, Jane Holloway, is known for her curvy, yet professional clothing. I'm dying to find out where in the H6!$# she gets her clothes, because all the clothes I can find in the shops these days have decolletage out to HERE, which make me look like a serious S!(!$$ (not that Miley Cyrus is doing so badly out of that!), and nowhere can I find the stuff she wears on the show. I'd love to know how to be sexy and chaste at the same time...

Sadly, Torrid, has stopped making bra's, or I would still be recommending them. But since I haven't bought a bra since I started my new fitness regime a couple months ago, I have to stick with what I know and what is still available, all of which you can purchase through Fresh Pair.

First of all, may I present to you the Oprah recommended Le Mystere's Dream Tisha.

Three words, ladies: Wacoal, Wacoal, Wacoal. First up: The Minimizer. What's not to like about a bra that sounds like a super hero in charge of shrinking things? If nothing else will do but squishing them flat, than this is the bra for you. Yes to lifting, but you can forget about separating, it'll be easier to get your deepest, darkest secret off your chest than your chest off your ribcage in this one... What can I say? At sixty plus dollars this baby's a must have.

Secondly, and NOT so expensively, all praise Great Hera, I give you: Wacoal's Racerback bra. I'm in love with this thing. First of all it's comfortable. Secondly, I can wear it with a variety of low cut dresses and tops without feeling like my boobage is doing the talking. You know how it is, everyone says they want decolletage, but in truth, it's very distracting when you're trying to have a conversation with someone. I find people can focus on what I'm saying a bit better if the girls are pushed apart a bit and not all snuggly and on a platter. This bra gets it done right, and like I said, it's comfortable. Plus it's a steal at $42.00. Get it in all colors!

Trashy Diva
For when you need to look SERIOUSLY fabulous

Trashy Diva is quickly becoming a terrible problem for me. Candice Gwinn, the woman who owns the shop basically remakes and recreates beautiful patterns and prints from the thirties through the fifties in high quality silks and cottons. Her clothes are unbelievably beautiful and so well made my tailor, Dina, commented on them. And why did I take my Trashy Diva dress to Dina in the first place, you may ask? Well, for the Ava dress, featured on the right, I need to wear the aforementioned Minimizer bra, but I had to get snaps put in to keep the neckline closed. Once I made that minor adjustment it works a treat, and that dress is super pretty! $93 is not much to pay for a dress that makes you feel like a million!

If none of the above were so I probably wouldn't bother, since the return policy isn't so hot (20% restocking fee or exchange only) and it's impossible to say whether one of her designs will fit until you actually try it on. Although at first blush you'd think that designs from the thirties through the fifties would be kinder to the larger bust size, it's not really so, and although there's enough fabric in most of Gwinn's designs to cover my ta tas, generally speaking it doesn't happen without causing some major cleavage.

Worse, I barely fit into the waist size of her large sizes for the most part. Some of the pieces fit better than others, the Viv Slip dress and Viv Blouse (on the right) for instance are particularly forgiving. Also, the Trixie dress (featured above left in the now sold-out cotton toile) is a MUST HAVE for us larger ladies (with elasticized sides it stretches up to four inches in every size and it's the first thing she's made that I had to buy in a medium to fit into!) Plus she's offering them now at only $34 (!!!!!!) so you should head over to her website right now and pick one up fo sho. Seriously, ladies, that dress is bangin'. Plus Gwinn has started making some of her newer pieces in XL and a couple new dresses in a super forgiving stretch knit, so there is hope. Definitely get the Bias skirt in the heavy weight crepe de chine (avoid the charmeuse, it snags and for something you'll be sitting in, that's not a good idea!) I lived in my black Bias Skirt paired with the Viv Blouse all last summer and love them both!

Her clothes are a little pricey, but the quality is worth it, and there is no one out there doing what she does.

Stop Staring
Putting the Bomb into Bombshell!

Oh man oh man, imagine my ecstasy when I realized I didn't actually have to buy these clothes online, but could go in person a mile away from my house to try them on in person!!! Good thing, too, 'cause like so many tantalizing things online, Stop Staring has some designs made to make you look like you've got a bust when you don't. If you actually have a bust, it just makes you look like a porn star. Not so the dress on the left . I got it in the X-Large in a super cool print in the shop, but knowing they've got it in black makes me hungry for that one as well. They call the fabric it's made out of a "comfortable millenium stretch," and if this is any indication of the treats the new millenium has in store for us buxom broads, I say bring it! It's made to last, thick and strong, but it breathes and stretches and the dress fits like a glove without squeezing. It's perfect! You'll feel like Grace Kelly!

The con is that the return policy at Stop Staring sucks, 'cause there isn't one. Exchange only, I'm afraid, so unless you live in LA, and can go in person, I'd recommend getting only things which don't show cleavage. My experience thus far is that everything with a low neckline resulted in a SERIOUS eyeful. Guess there's a reason Alicia Estrada named her company what she did!

Pin-up Girls
For when you're feeling like a Bad Girl

Pin-Up Couture makes and sells clothes with a real
retro rock-a-billy feel to them. On their retail site they also sell clothes from other, smaller companies. They're very efficient and make online ordering a breeze, although it's a little hard to get anyone on the phone. A big plus is their super great return policy, which a lot of the smaller shops don't or can't do. So if you find something on one of the other sites on this lens but need to return it you might check out Pin-Up Girls, 'cause they carry a ton of the others. I'm personally not that into tattoos and fake boobs, so I find the models they use on their website a little hard to identify with, but I'm not the first plus size to discover them, I found the picture below in their Myspace pictures under photo's of their customers.

They make a lot of clothes in some kind of polyester blend, which isn't my thing, 'cause I like the natural fibers, but that fabric will certainly hold you in place and forgive you when you want it to if you can stand the feel of it. As for me, well, I'm a big fan of their remarkable cotton spandex blend. You can't beat it for a perfect summer dress you can throw on, be perfectly comfortable in, and get loads of compliments on. In addition, their prices are reasonable and they really know how to endear themselves to a girl's heart by holding frequent sales and specials. Add them on Myspace and be among the first to hear about them!

OMG!!! Stella Dottir!!!
Hats are the new hat!!!

I would put this place first on my list if her online shop was a gobstoppingly awesome as her shop shop in downtown LA. Sadly, it's not even close. All I can say is Go. To. This. Shop. if you are lucky enough to live in LA and can afford "affordable" couture, meaning this woman will make any of her pieces to fit your form personally pretty much for under $300. SERIOUSLY, that's a pretty effin' good deal, especially when you walk in her shop and you feel like you've just entered some fantasy land. Honestly, it was like when I was a kid and I read that Wizard of Oz book over and over again with the witch who cut off the heads of pretty girls so she could be a different beauty every day... Awesome! and the Hats! Did I mention these fabulous sculptural creations? The picture above is of me and my sister-in-law trying on two of her hats. My oh my. Everything in the shop is one-of-a-kind, super fantasy from the twenties through the fifties but in modern fabrics that are a bit kinder to the body. Gorgeous drapey fanciful flights of the imagination! I felt like I was five years old again playing dress-up!!! Go there or be square!

Torrid
How to be perfectly adorable at any size

I'll be honest, my favorite thing about shopping at Torrid is the staff. These punk rock teenagers listening to the music I listened to when I was in high school are so unbelievably sweet and cheerful I've never gone into a Torrid shop without making a new friend. It's clearly morally reprehensible shopping in a mall and buying clothes made in a third world country, but supporting a company that gives these girls the sense of community and family this one does feels really good. If you're a little heavier, but you think you're "too cool" to shop at a plus size shop or "too old" to go into this teeny-boppers paradise, GET OVER YOURSELF. No one in this shop cares, it's the most accepting environment I've ever encountered in LA, I can tell you. And besides, the only pair of jeans that have fit my apple belly and teeny tiny legs were procured here. I HAVE to love them. Plus, the fun of being a size zero never grows old, grrlfriend. I KNOW you know what I'm talking about.

When I was about sixteen my mom came home from work carrying a genuine, never before worn, vintage 1950's suit like the one on the right. That was my favorite suit ever before or since. Putting it on I felt like a woman for the first time. It strapped all my bits into place and I liked it.

I haven't yet tried these swimsuits, but at
My Baby Jo's's you can find a stash of vintage swimwear destined to find it's way onto my bod. WORD. I'm so excited to find they're about two miles from my house, I'm gonna go there in the next couple of days. Frankly, I've got my heart set on a little number like the one to the right. Stay tuned to this space for any finds.

You won't believe me, but you don't have to, buy one of Sue Rice's swimsuits and you won't go back. For modern swimwear these swimsuits are AMAZING. I live in Los Angeles, so I felt ridiculous ordering from Australia for a swimsuit, but I was desperate and REALLY wanted to believe all the online reviews of her suits. Fortunately I wasn't misled, and the suit I bought ended up being one of the best investments I ever made, well worth paying the $175 price plus shipping and waiting two weeks for. I bought the Emma Superpants, pictured on the right - actually I bought two suits, but wasn't satisfied with one of them, but returning it was totally hassle free and I will DEFINITELY be shopping with them again.

Frankly, I can't usually be asked to apply any make-up, so if I have to it's gotta be easy and either stay on super well or fade away without leaving any icky traces. Hence, I'm thrilled to report I've discovered two lipsticks that strangely do both!

Yes! Say it with me now: Sheer lipstick, the miracle cure! Try the pricey but worth it ($24) Nars Sheer Lipstick in Manhunt for that bright red so essential for any retro fashion. Or the one that started them all for me, relatively a steal at $14, Sheer Plum fromMac Cosmetics.