The Pretty Pear

What I've been up to

I haven't felt much like writing for some reason. I really need to make a list of topics I can post about for when I get writer's block. But I have been thinking about clothes, as usual. I've been spending entirely too much time playing with Polyvore. It's a neat little site where you can collect images of clothes from all over the internet and then build outfits. You can see mine here. It's a lot like playing with paper dolls! Plus size paper dolls who can afford Dior shoes. :)

To answer my own question...

I had asked readers to leave a comment telling me about their favorite item of clothing, now or ever. There were some really great responses that made me smile!

I asked this because I realized that I don't have any one particular item that I'm just gaga over. I tend to be in love with whatever I've most recently purchased. I think I'm just really fickle with clothing. I buy new things, I get all excited to wear them, I get bored, I move on to whatever is new and exciting. This is why I have a huge box of clothes that needs to be donated.

I do kind of rock, huh?

Susan at Plum Texan was nice enough to pass the Rockin' Girl Blogger award on to me. I've seen this on other blogs but never thought it'd get passed to me, so this certainly made my day. Thank you, Susan!

The Rockin' Girl Blogger award was started by Roberta Ferguson and it's now my duty to pass it along to five other rockin' girl bloggers. Just five? There are so many! :)

First, Good with Cheese. This post pretty much sums up why I love reading this blog.

Elastic Waist for always maintaining a reasonable approach to health and fitness. There's pretty much no getting away from diet talk so it might as well be balanced and sane.

My friend Carla at Product Girl. You should see her makeup collection, it's insane. Plus, she's really sweet and smart and all that jazz.

The three rockin' chicks at Big Fat Deal. That's three rockin' girls all in one go! Start with their collection of greatest hits and then just read everything else.

And finally, Kate Harding, who we all know rocks and I don't need to explain why.

High fives all around!

Heh!

I don't get a lot of trolls around here, at least probably not compared to other fat-orientated blogs. I got a troll-ish comment today that was so weak, I'm not even going to bother sharing. Just know that I watch my comments like a hawk and trolls are deleted almost immediately.

Anyway, what I wanted to post about is a question for you. What is your favorite item of clothing? Currently or ever? That piece that you love and makes you feel great? Tell me about it in the comments!

Swing into Fall!

You're going to hate me for that post title in about two seconds.

Swing jackets! They're all over the place right now. I haven't tried anything swingy on but my guess is that the silhouette would be better suited on an apple shaped figure than a pear shaped figure, or anyone with proportionately slimmer hips and thighs. I have a feeling that the width right above the hip would make me look boxy but would look retro fabulous on a woman with narrower hips.

Having said that, after looking at a few swingy pieces on the internet, I think it's a very cute look. My mother will be sure to point out that she had a jacket just like that in the year 196whatever and that she should have kept all her old clothes! Yes, mother, you should have.

We have that exact discussion quite often because, as it turns out, every last thing she's ever worn has come right back into style. I really dread the day that designers start parading models around in acid washed, tight rolled jeans and crispy bangs. If they haven't already...

Anyway, I digress. Swing jackets! Let's take a look.

Alright, enough with the gray.

I was going to do one more "gray" post but I think you get the picture. So, to cleanse your pallet a little, here's a pretty pair of red shoes from RSVP. They're $70 and come in sizes 5 - 11, medium and wide widths. I'm probably deluding myself but I think I could even walk in these. And they'd look really cute with gray trousers! Yeah!

More gray! Let's talk dresses.

If you're looking for an easy, versatile way to update your wardrobe for fall, a charcoal gray dress might just be the perfect solution. With the right accessories, a good dress can go to work, out to dinner, to lunch on the weekend, to church, to a job interview, etc. After the cut is a complete, head to toe look that uses a menswear-inspired gray dress as the centerpiece.

More gray, with a side of plum

Along with gray, another big color for fall is plum (or wine, burgundy, etc.) This is a color combo that I'm particularly fond of. Black is a good basic but to bring out the richness of a deep jewel tone, I think a lighter shade like charcoal is a more sophisticated choice. After the cut are some of my picks from Lane Bryant - a day to evening look and a casual outfit for running around on the weekend.

Fall trend: gray!

Yes, gray. See Michael Kors' Fall 2007 collection for inspiration. The nice thing about color trends, as opposed to style trends, is that they translate very easily to plus sized clothes. Gray is a wonderful neutral and it goes nicely with both warm and cool tones. Gray doesn't have to be dull if you pair it with bright, happy colors like Mr. Kors' use of yellow and electric blue or with rich jewel tones that are always so lovely for fall.

Over the next few days, I'll be putting together plus sized outfits using Kors' gray color story as an inspiration. The first look is after the cut.

How people get here

One of the really fun parts about maintaining this blog is seeing how people end up here. Most traffic comes from Google searches. Some of it is super basic, like "plus size clothes" but much of it is... well, let's look at some recent search hits.

"Instead of buying a second seat for larger people, just buy a first or business class seat."
First of all, this is a long ass search. Have you ever heard of a keyword? Second of all, NO. If I could afford to fly first class, do you really think I'd be shoved into Economy with your dumb ass? Anyway, this post at Big Fat Blog is the first result for that search so maybe this person learned something.