Right Fit Jeans by Lane Bryant (TM) - Hot or Not?

by Elegant Plus Magazine

While wide leg trouser jeans are certainly the hottest (and most flattering) silhouette available for Fall 2007,  and more designers are entering the plus denim market (last time we checked Nordstrom alone is carrying Paige Premium, Michael Kors, Svoboda, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein jeans in plus-sizes), the most exciting denim news for plus-size women this year is the unveiling of Lane Bryant’s new “Right Fit Jeans”.   Every full-figured woman (heck, every woman) knows just how difficult the search truly is for the perfect fitting pair of jeans.  Forget the status of designer labels, trendy washes and special detailing…… if your jeans don’t fit your body right you are going to be neither comfortable nor stylish.

 The Technology

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago everyone’s clothing was custom made to fit their body perfectly.  There was no “perfect size” or trying to fit all of the various shapes and sizes of feminine curves into a single prescribed, standard manufactured shape based on averages.  And then along came the Industrial Revolution and mass produced clothing.  Suddenly the whole idea that clothing should fit the body got turned on its head and instead bodies needed to fit the clothes.  And there we see the seeds of modern body image issues and fashion.

After over sixty years of static sizing standards which we are all still trying to get our bodies to mold into, a new women’s clothing sizing project was born. Right Fit  comes from a three year initiative by Lane Bryant using cutting edge technology to scan 14,000 women’s bodies and compile the data to give their design team precise and scientific information about how full-figured bodies are shaped and how to fit those bodies. 

And guess what?  They found out what we all knew all along.  There is no one single plus-size body type.  We come in all different shapes of curves.

The Sizing

This is where a great idea gets confusing in execution.   Instead of using a sizing system and numbers  with which we are all familiar, Lane Bryant has created a new sizing system from 1 to 8.  And from there, they’ve created three shapes which are color coded: a Yellow body type is straight from the waist through the hips; a Red fit is slightly curved from the waist to the hips; and a woman with a Blue body type has a small waist and is fullest at the hips.  Finally a variety of inseam lengths are available for petite, average and tall plus-size women.

Without their sizing calculator it’s anybody’s best guess what a normally sized 20 pear might wear (OK, we can say “Blue” but would that be a Blue 2, Blue 5, or….??) .  But we can tell you this,  waist measurements from 34″-52″ are used in the calculator and hip sizes 36″-65″ are available.   This leads us to suspect that some of our more voluptuously proportioned, super-sized sisters may actually be included in this new sizing system.  And this isn’t as much of a shocker as it at first appears because over the last year or so, Lane Bryant has been quietly experimenting with extending the top of their size range in select styles from 28W to larger.   We couldn’t find anything on the website larger than a 28W when we popped in today, but the new Lane Bryant Catalog releasing this fall by parent company Charming Shoppes will carry sizes as large as 44W.  Furthermore, plus-size  specialty sister store, Catherine’s, is also offering the Right Fit jeans and they serve women up to sizes 34W and extend the Right Fit specialty sizing system from 8 to 12.

Hot or Not?

Right Fit jeans are available under the Venezia label at Lane Bryant in different styles: classic, flare, Houston trouser fit and boot cut; lengths: petite, average and tall; and washes: light rinse, medium vintage, dark blast, and dark rinse.  Prices are much more reasonable than most premium, designer lines of jeans and  range from $39.50 to $49.50.

So here’s our question to you, dear readers.  Are the Right Fit Jeans from Lane Bryant hot or not?  Have you tried them?  Do they fit as well as promised?  Do you like the styling? Do you like the idea of a completely new sizing system or do you find it confusing?  We want to know!

________

More full-figured jeans can be found in the Elegant Plus Jeans and Denim Directory.

_________

Popularity: 28% [?]

Inspirational Living: Embracing the Seasons

by Rev. ReBecca Ames Sala, Regular Contributor to Elegant Plus Magazine

Popularity: 9% [?]

Guest Author, Bette Tilch on set
creating wind for Plus Model, Mica

So You Want to Be a Plus Fashion Stylist

by Bette Tilch, Guest Contributor to Elegant Plus Magazine

As a wardrobe and fashion stylist, I’m always being asked about what I do and how I got into this business.  To most people,  this seems like the perfect dream job.  You know … great clothes, famous people and the fun and excitement of being on the inside of a fashion photo shoot.

 There are many and varied types of “styling”, such as set styling, prop styling, food styling and, of course, wardrobe and fashion styling. Any time someone needs something to be photographed, taped or filmed,  chances are that there is a stylist involved.  Specifically, a fashion stylist is responsible for choosing and providing the wardrobe for a fashion shoot, an ad shoot or even accessories to supplement inventory for a catalogue shoot.  Fashion stylists also work with celebrities, on videos, TV commercials and on films (they are usually called costumers or wardrobe assistants on films).  They sometimes use their own vision to determine the look, but more often than not, they work as part of the creative team to decide the “look” of the particular situation. If it is a commercial, an ad or a catalogue shoot, the client or his representative has creative control and the stylist must provide wardrobe to their precise specifications.  A stylist is expected to work on set to ensure that the wardrobe looks it’s best at all times. S/he should have the equipment to steam/press, make repairs and sew, clamp, tape and pin the garments to ensure a perfect and flattering fit.  The stylist will also use his/her own resources and contacts to obtain wardrobe, often borrowed from designers and boutiques or rented from costume houses.

It is an exciting and interesting job, but it’s also a lot of really hard work. Fashion styling is a highly competitive business and the reality is there is no guarantee that you can make any money doing it. The first realistic hurdle is that to be successful you really must live in New York City or Los Angeles … it’s where the work is.  Unless, of course, you are one of the fortunate few hired by a catalog company, television show or large retailer with a high volume of photo shoots. There are a handful of salaried styling jobs within large companies.  Usually located at the main corporate headquarters, these positions aren’t necessarily tied to New York or L.A. and can be anywhere in the country. Because catalogers and department stores have such a high volume of catalogs and advertising circulars to  produce these offices can have several stylists on staff who are kept very busy week in and week out. Many of the same talents and skills apply, but, unlike freelance fashion stylists, networking, portfolios and client acquisition are not central to the corporate stylist’s success. The trick is to find the position and get hired in the first place.

Most people don’t realize that I work freelance.  This is the more usual situation for a stylist. Mine is not a salaried “job”.  I am in competition with other stylists for every individual paid project (called a gig) and it’s totally up to me to find my own clients, build my own relationships, wow them with my portfolio, and negotiate my fees.  I am not salaried and I don’t get medical benefits. Clients don’t even hold out my income taxes when I get paid, so I have to handle all of that financial stuff on my own.  I have to be a skilled entrepreneur/ business owner, a team player and a sales/marketing expert as well as a creative person …. all rolled into one. 

 Most stylists, like me, got their start by knowing or working for someone in the fashion business. Very few stylists have been formally trained in fashion school or through any certification programs. A friend, who is a fashion photographer, asked me to help out with wardrobe and provided me with some coaching.  I loved it and discovered that I have the “eye”.   I had finally … after a long career in business … stumbled on my calling!  But, as mentioned above, those business skills have also come in handy but in a new, creative way.

What I did next took time and money …  but then what start up business doesn’t?  I spent my time and money learning my craft and building my portfolio by working on numerous “test” photo shoots which means NO PAY. A savvy new stylist pays attention to the quality of the models and photographer in these collaborative test shoots to get the best images possible for her portfolio; but beginners need to be realistic about the quality of their own work and usually must start testing with newer fashion photographers and non professional models.  I learned that the more I tested,the better pictures I got and was able to attract increasingly better photographers who would work with me.  I did a lot of networking/making contacts, finding sources for wardrobe, marketing my services, and building a good reputation.  A new stylist can’t expect to work for pay for at least the first year or two. Once you are established each paying gig must be negotiated separately with the client, and can range from a few hundred dollars for a small, single day shoot with a smaller client to thousands of dollars for large multi-day, corporate or celebrity shoots. How much you can get paid depends on your negotiating skills, the client, the job and the quality of your portfolio.

Photographer’s storyboard laying out the shots along with
magazine images to show the model and crew
the look they are going for.

Over time, I’ve learned how to consult with photographers, clients and art directors to determine the “look” of the shoot, how to go out and find the right garments and accessories, do fittings on the models and make the final choices.  I’ve learned to clamp, pin and tape garments (on the side away from the camera) to make everything fit like a glove and to keep an eye on it all during the shoot to make sure there are no gaps wrinkles, lumps or pulls.  I can now steam a garment in about 30 seconds, make quick temporary adjustments with the flick of a wrist, use any accessory multiple ways, and make quick decisions about what looks right and what doesn’t.  When necessary, I can even bolster the confidence of a nervous model while I help her get dressed.  Most importantly of all, I’ve started to build a network of contacts and repeat clients so I can get paid work.

A surprise benefit … I’ve lost weight and am down 3 dress sizes without dieting from all the extra physical activity!  It’s all the lifting and carrying of the wardrobe, shoes, accessories, racks and equipment.  I must stand on set or location for hours at a time.  Sometimes we hike into the location  … up in the hills, across the beach or into the woods. Yes …it is that physical! 

After all the long hours and hard work, the pay off for me is seeing the results … the actual finished pictures.  I love to start with a concept and bring it to fruition.  It is usually very collaborative and if everyone on the team is good at what they do and are working as hard as I do, the results can be amazing!   Seeing my name in print for the first time in a magazine editorial made me realize that I had become a professional fashion stylist!

Today, a large portion of my work involves plus-size fashion. It seems that I have a reputation for knowing how to flatter the plus figure. I’ve found that, unlike the slim bodies that typical straight sized models have,  plus models’ bodies come in different shapes … not just different sizes.  So I’ve learned how to deal with differences in each model.  Sometimes it’s things like  large thighs but a small waist and chest, or too much around the tummy and chest but slim legs.  And I also need to adjust for proportion too … perhaps a girl’s legs are short and  her torso is long and she’s needs to look longer legged. I know how to balance the proportions of the body, play up the assets and disguise the problems. I can do this with the wardrobe’s cut, color and fabric … they all can have an impact.

I’ve had dozens of plus models hire me to help them put together looks for their own portfolio shoots and have been hired for personal wardrobe consultations as well.   I have worked for clients who sell great plus fashions such as Kiyonna, B & Lu, Alight and Dulce, to name a few.  Although I work in the world of regular size fashion too, my favorite shoots are with plus models … they are so beautiful and represent the average to large sized woman so well.  I am proud to be at the leading edge of the plus fashion industry.

© 2006 Bette Tilch

_____________

About the Author

  After years in real estate and banking, Bette Tilch has been working  as a freelance fashion stylist since 2001.  She works primarily in the print and web (advertising, catalogs, magazine editorials) media but also offers personal styling services for working and aspiring plus models.

One of her specialties is working with designers and retailers who sell plus lines. She has worked as a stylist for plus apparel companies like Kiyonna, b & lu, and has participated in a holiday plus fashion editorial for Elegant Plus.  

She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Chuck, and her Siamese and Balinese cats. When not working, she loves to travel.  She can be contacted through her portfolio website.

Popularity: 13% [?]

 What Readers are saying about Patrick Sanchez and The Way It Is:
 
 ”This book is drama drama drama from start to finish…..You’ll find it hard to put down and if you read it in public you’ll find people staring at you for laughing out loud.”
 
 ”… It was so refreshing to read a book about two truly large women and see how each one of them handled it so differently. The book was hilarious, well written, and has a great ending. BUY IT!“

_________________________________________________

Book Review: The Way It Is

By Jen Henderson of Dangerously Curvy Novels for Elegant Plus Magazine

Heroine’s Body Types: Varied

 They don’t know it but they are on a collision course with each other, three women who will change each other’s lives:

           Rubenesque Ruby wants to be thin and craves her mother’s and society’s acceptance almost as much as she does food.  But every time these opposing desires start bickering in her head, the food demons win out and she finds herself agonizing as each bite she consumes carries her farther away from her size six ideal.  Anxious to love something other than food Ruby fixes her eye on her gorgeous coworker, but her low self esteem keeps her from trying to reach out to him.  Or to any man she wants.  Up until this point the peaks of her romantic experiences have been flatter than Kansas, and the only men in her life now are her lackluster ex-hubby and her gay pal.

           Bootylicious Wanda is anxious to make it big in the plus modeling world, but she has three strikes against her: size, age, and race.   Add to that a snotty, rich, daddy’s girl coworker who undermines her at every turn, Wanda will be lucky not to wind up in the slammer for wringing the chick’s neck.

            Luscious Simone is dying to get out of the local TV news racket and into the limelight of the entertainment industry.  Literally.  She even figures the notoriety of leaving behind a trail of boy toys might add to her cachet.  But she’s got tunnel vision where her career is concerned and doesn’t see that her life is unraveling around the edges.  Living fast and furious might be her ticket to the top–or to six feet underground.

What worked for me:

This book has a great cover!  It’s sexy and sassy, colorful and eye-catching.  And most importantly it doesn’t downsize the big girls.

            The story is funny, has interesting characters, good plot twists, and a great if not completely pat (the way I like it) ending.  Yet it takes the time to insert insightful comments on various social issues rather than deliver up pure fluff.

           The characters have some flaws that render them unlikable at times, but it’s these same flaws which make them leap off the page with realism.  (The author also did a great job nailing down the behavior and  innermost thoughts of an unhappy-to-be-fat woman.)

            Size-wise Ruby and Wanda were abundant and Simone was petite but shapely.

What didn’t work for me:

I slurped this story down in one sitting.  So honestly, the few technical issues I saw barely registered with me as I was so anxious to keep cruising along.

Overall:

The Way It Is  is: . . . outrageous!  You’ll laugh, cry, and possibly throw a few things while reading this book. Don’t miss it!

Popularity: 19% [?]

  An Interview with Author Patrick Sanchez:  The Way It Is

by Elegant Plus Magazine

    Elegant Plus Managing Editor, Thea Politis, takes a few minutes to chat with Patrick Sanchez, the hot author who penned the voluptuous and entertaining current  Chick Lit hit  The Way It Is .    A native of the Washington, D.C. area he currently lives in Arlington, VA with his daschund, Gomez.  He loves to hear from his readers and you can drop him a line at:  PO Box 4493, Falls Church VA 22044.

EP: Patrick, glad to have you here. Tell us a little about what led you to write novels from the perspective of a woman, let alone a plus size woman?  And how do you get so well into their/our heads?

PS:  I actually sort of fell into writing from the perspective of women.  I wrote my first novel, Girlfriends, when I was still in my twenties and part of the whole bar scene.  I spent so much time in different bars and nightclubs and thought it would be fun to write about how ridiculous the single’s scene was and that’s where Girlfriends came from.  But originally Girlfriends was more about both women and men making they’re way and finding romance; however, when I sold the manuscript to Kensington Publishing, they requested that I work it into more of a women’s fiction, Sex and The City-type book (now referred to as “Chick-Lit”).  They thought the book would be more marketable that way.  So I did as I was told and scaled back the male characters and beefed up the female characters.  Luckily, Girlfriends was a success, so I decided to stay in the genre when I wrote my second novel, but I wanted to do something a little different.

When I started The Way It Is, I was in my thirties and rarely saw the inside of bars or nightclubs anymore.  I had grown out of the whole club scene and wanted to write about more mature characters (the characters in Girlfriends are in their twenties while the characters in The Way It Is are in their thirties).  I’d read a few books about large woman and noticed that most of them ended with the heroine losing vast amounts of weight and then finding love and having her whole life come together.  I thought it would be fun to write a book where the heroine never loses weight but, instead, learns to love herself for who she is.

I’m not sure how I “get so well into women’s heads” or if I even do.  Believe it or not, there is so much of me in all my characters.  I did do a lot of research and interviews when writing The Way It Is, but most of who the characters are just came from my gut and my instincts about how they would react in certain situations.

EP: Are your characters in The Way It Is drawn from real life people? If so, whom?

PS: I think all writers borrow traits and personalities from real life people and weave bits and pieces into our characters.  None of the characters are based on any one real-life person, but they do share some traits of people I know.  Although, like I mentioned earlier, there is more of me in all the characters than anyone else.  A lot of my own life and personal struggles where channeled into Ruby.  I thought a lot of Queen Latifah when I was writing about Wanda as both Queen Latifah and Wanda are confident and beautiful plus-size African American women.  I thought about Jennifer Lopez too when I wrote about Simone.  I certainly have no knowledge of Jennifer Lopez having an eating disorder, but I think she and Simone share the same raw determination to succeed.

EP: Ruby, one of your main characters, in the opening scene is enduring what has clearly been a lifetime of put downs about her size from her own mother. This is something many plus women can relate to. What is it about our  society, do you think, that makes this sort of cruel behavior towards our loved ones acceptable?

PS:  I think it’s all about equating being thin with being healthy and happy.  Even though their words hurt, I think loved ones may think they are ultimately helping their fat family members or friends by motivating them to lose weight.  I also think there is this misconception that it’s okay to degrade fat people because fat people “choose to be fat,” that it’s “their fault” and “if they just had some self control they could lose weight.”

EP: Not only are your main characters in different head spaces in regards to their weight — Ruby battles self-esteem issues and related “feel good” closet eating, Wanda is supremely confident in her own skin, and Simone is a once fat, skinny girl who battles her fear of becoming fat again — but they are also each of different races: Caucasian, African-American, and Latina, respectively.  Do you think that any of these weight related behaviors are typical of one American sub-culture or ethnicity or another?  Or were you trying to draw characters to which almost any woman in America could relate?

PS:  I absolutely wanted to draw characters to which almost any woman in America could relate, but at the same time I think there are some cultural differences related to size.  Although I know a number of African American women who diet themselves to death to try and be thin, it does seem that a larger number of plus-size black women seem to be comfortable with their size.  And it’s been my experience that large African American women are much more likely than their white counter parts to dress in sexy revealing clothes.

EP:  What was the significance of including the gay guy pal in the story? The gay community often struggles with many of the same “buff body” ideals that  women do in our society.  Is this significant?

PS:  Absolutely!  Not only are gay men just as obsessed with body image as straight women.  Gay men and fat women seem to share a bond.  It’s like gay men and Cher…for whatever reason where ever you find gay men, you find fat women.  We are both often treated badly by society, misunderstood, and crazy loons are always trying to make us into something we are not…something/someone that fits their ideals and complies with their agenda.

EP:  Do you like the artwork on the cover of your book? Does it capture the essence of your characters in the way you envisioned them?

PS: There are things about the cover art that I do like and things about it that I wasn’t thrilled with.  I like the bright yellow background and, although she is portrayed as impossibly thin (her neck is as big as her waist), the artist’s rendition of Simone was pretty much dead on; however, in my mind, I pictured both Ruby and Wanda much larger than they appeared on the cover.  I’m glad they were not represented as stick figures.  At least they appear as voluptuous women, but I still would have liked them to have been larger.

EP:  Your first novel, Girlfriends was a huge success.  And The Way It Is  looks like it is following suit. What was the difference in your experience in getting the two published?  How did you get the interest of the publishers the first time out?

PS:  When I finished the manuscript for Girlfriends (which I had called Misery & Company when I was shopping it around), I sent query letters and the first few pages of the manuscript to several agents with no luck.  After a little retooling, I contacted some additional agents and actually approached some publishers directly.  This time around I got some interest from two agents (in addition to about 30 rejects), but I also got a direct offer from Kensington Publishing.  The advance was tiny, but I was so thrilled to find a publisher I immediately accepted their offer.

When I was ready to shop around an outline for The Way It Is (after you publish one book you can usually get an advance based on just an outline for later ones) I hired an agent to represent me and negotiate my contract.  This time around the advance was much more substantial and the terms of the contract were much better.

EP: Thanks for chatting with us Patrick!  Readers, , if you like Chick-Lit, this one is a must read! To learn a little bit more about Patrick Sanchez, you can also stop by his web-site.

 NOTE:  Since this interview was first published in 2003, Patrick Sanchez has gone on to write Once Upon a Nervous Breakdown and Tight. 

Check out the hilariously funny  Once Upon a Nervous Breakdown Video below!

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=q89ijBycfHI]

Popularity: 23% [?]