PETA’S PR Dept. Are A Bunch Of Fatheads**

DAHLINGS:

It simply never ends. Your faithful correspondent is honestly beginning to develop a case of “outrage fatigue.” And yet how else can one react to PETA’s latest billboard??

Do they honestly think this will influence anyone to give up eating meat? This organization has never been known for political correctness, but to stoop to fat-bashing is simply low. They have tried this approach before, without any discernible success, such as this 2002 billboard:

Apparently People for Ethical Treatmentof Animals don’t believe that ethical treatment extends to the “People” part. As much as I support their cause, they have been removed from my personal charity list. Would they prefer that women look like this?

One can be fairly certain that a ham sandwich (or anything else, for that matter) has never passed this model’s lips.

There is nothing more to say, for me at least. I am disgusted, disappointed, and now feel politically compelled to eat a sandwich made from whatever endangered species my chef has in the pantry. I am profoundly saddened that an organization I once respected feels the need to gratuitously single us out once again. There are quite a few overweight vegetarians out there, believe it or not. Is Wendy’s slapping them on billboards saying “Eat a burger, for God’s sake!”?

Comments are welcomed, however, personal abuse will not be printed.

** Pun intended.

Ciao,

Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

P.S. Could somebody please bitch-slap Jessica Gottlieb? I’m too tired.

Silhouette’s New Holiday Line: Plus Size Glitz & Glam

DAHLINGS –

Before all of this Cintra Wilson nonsense, I had the good fortune to be invited by the lovely people at Silhouettes to take a sneak peek at what they have in store for the paying customers for the holidays. So I packed Bucky into his black Chanel carrier and off we went, into the bowels of midown Manhattan.

What first caught my eye was all of the très en vogue des chaussures! (You must know by now that I have a weakness for footwear.) And fashion-forward boots. Dozens of pairs of adorable flats, stylish heels, I could go on and on. All in double-wide sizes, which as my faithful readers know, means a great deal to moi! My only regret is that this picture of these delightful jewel-embellished flats is not in better focus. Although as usual, Bucky the Wonderdog photographs perfectly.

Here are some wonderfully on-trend riding boots, the first pair made of a combination of leather and cotton twill:

Many pieces had touches of beading, stones and glitz, such as the top of this cream blouse, trimmed in transparent stones. Chunky vintage-style jewelry was very much in evidence, as were a variety of prints from floral to abstract. There were also blouses in gold and black sequins; your faithful correspondent is a sucker for flash.

There was a great deal of rich royal purple in the collection, such as the sweater below. Also many swirling gray pieces, mainly coats and toppers. This black and white herringbone outfit with its pencil skirt and open front jacket is tres chic, (although your faithful correspondent would put a more flamboyant top underneath).

As mentioned, this Chanel-inspired ribbed cotton sweater caught my eye, detailed with high-quality metal buttons.

Again, one wishes this photo of this magnificent dark red swing coat did it justice. Not only does it have a HUGE flare from the tailored shoulders, the back is detailed with matching large buttons!

Even Cintra Wilson would be hard-put to say anything negative about this collection. Although I am certain she would. But as for yours truly, these beautiful clothes make contemplating the holiday season just a bit less unbearable.

Start your shopping here! http://www.silhouettes.com/

Ciao,

Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Now Cintra Wilson Knows How It Feels To Be Fat

DAHLINGS –

Poor Cintra Wilson. Since writing her cruel, snide review of J.C. Penney for The New York Times a few days ago, the Internet has been roiling with rage. Directed at her, for the most part. (If you need more information, please read my previous entry.)

She apologized on her blog three times, first mentioning she’d interviewed Beth Ditto (“Some of my best friends are fat people!”), then telling her readers to get the knot out of their panties. When neither of those apologies assuaged anyone, the Times apparently ordered her to take a big-girl pill (pun intended) and issue a radiantly insincere apology:

Because of my personal beliefs as a Buddhist, I very much regret that my JC Penney article in the Times caused any wounded feelings whatsoever, particularly to people who already feel they take more than their share of abuse from our very shallow and ridiculous society.

Your faithful correspondent admits to her lack of knowledge about Buddhism. It’s something to do with not owning anything and staring into space while uttering profound aphorisms, I think. Because of my personal beliefs as an atheist, I very much regret that Ms. Wilson, as an abusive member of our shallow and ridiculous society, writes for The New York Times.

As does nearly everyone else with a keyboard, apparently. The blogosphere is filled with rants; everything from calling Ms. Wilson a horse-faced crack whore to calling her critics fat slobs in sweat pants who drive up the cost of health care.

One hastens to add that I have written neither of these things. I prefer civilized discourse. Although yes, I have contributed to the discussion on a number of blogs.

What fascinates me, because I am the center of my universe, is the amount of hate mail I have received since my previous entry. Since I have been dictating this blog-thing for three years or more, I have long since become inured to being called a “fat twat”, a “retard”, a “stoopid snob who dont know anthing”[sic]. Perhaps I should have published the comments I have received, since they have veered quite far from the standard insults I receive.

Two commenters are convinced I am actually a man.
One commenter said I was robbing Mr. Blackwell’s grave. I still don’t know what that means. Should I be offended or proud?
Three commenters wrote [paraphrasing] that I should shut my fat hole up/stuff my mouth with food and write about something I know something about.

In a way, I actually feel bad for Ms. Wilson. Now she’s having a double-sized portion (again, pun intended) of how most plus-sized women feel treated by society all of the time. Especially by the fashion establishment and the media.

Her mistake was to publish an article in The New York Times that was the equivalent of those signs one sees in taverns of the the more sordid sort: “No Fat Chicks”.

I promise to move on to happier topics, such as the lovely holiday line coming soon from Silhouettes!

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Cintra Wilson "Hates On" Normal Women In The New York Times

DAHLINGS –

Two days ago, Cintra Wilson, a writer for The New York Times, wrote a perceptive yet deeply insulting article about the opening of (gack) J.C. Penney in the Manhattan Mall. In her “Critical Shopper” column, “Playing To The Middle,” Ms. Wilson quite accurately writes about the cheap designer knock-offs the store traffics in:

Since the 1970s, J. C. Penney, like a retail Island of Dr. Moreau, has been doing a sinister experiment with various designers, turning them into something … not quite human. The plot is a fashion democratization known as “masstige,” which sounds gynecological, but is a marketing term created by a fusion of “mass” and “prestige.” It refers to a downward brand extension: designers compelled to put their good names on down-market lines of “affordable luxury.” (Read: items in cheaper materials, sold at lower prices.)

She goes on to name the various designers, some of them completely obscure, who do “masstige” lines for the store, including Kimora Lee Simmons.

However, the majority of Ms. Wilson’s article takes deadly aim at the, er, larger-sized customers that flock to J.C. Penney’s. She laments the lack of size 2s in stock, but is shocked, shocked to find clothes in 10, 12 and 16! She sees this as a stroke of diabolical marketing genius, particularly where the displays are concerned:

It has made a point of providing clothing for people of all sizes (a strategy, company officials have said, to snatch business from nearby Macy’s). To this end, it has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen. They probably need special insulin-based epoxy injections just to make their limbs stay on. It’s like a headless wax museum devoted entirely to the cast of “Roseanne.”

Purely gratuitous fat-bashing, don’t you think? This sort of unthinking “skinny superiority” absolutely enrages me, I do not mind telling you.

Ms. Wilson is a body snob of the worst kind. Of course, most fashion people are body snobs (pace Karl Lagerfeld), but to me, “Playing To The Middle” hits below the belt. It makes me want to slap Ms. Wilson and then force-feed her a giant chocolate cannoli from Veniero’s. And then not let her go to the gym to work it off.

Oh, she throws in how delighted shoppers are to vote with their money for a store not for exercise-crazed skeletons. (Of which, apparently, she is one.) But she still cannot keep herself from making more snide comments about the customers:

No matter how many Grand Slam breakfasts you’ve knocked out of the park, Penney’s has a size for you. Ladies will find kicky little numbers that fit no matter how bountiful the good Lord made them; in the men’s Big & Tall section, even Voltron could find office casuals.

The Good Lord may have made many women bountiful, but He has certainly made Ms. Wilson’s mind tiny, petty and mean.

I welcome your comments, dear readers, both pro and con.

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

You can read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13CRITIC.html?_r=1&ref=style

"Private Sales" Are The Latest Boom For Companies Online

DAHLINGS –

I have only JUST gotten my Internet connection working again, after DAYS without it! It has been misery, I tell you. I was forced to go to a grotty little Internet cafe’ to write my last entry. (Mingling with the common folk has never been my strong suit.) In any event, it has just returned, and so here is some “content,” as the bots call it.

From my dear friends at Conde Nast:

The magic words seem to be “private” and “sale.” Online retailers such as Bluefly and Overstock have been around for years, without impressive results but the online sample sale format known as the “private sale” has caught on world wide. Today’s Women’s Wear Daily reports that firms such as Vente-Privee, Gilt Groupe, Rue La La and Ideeli are showing impressive growth and are attracting venture funding. The off-price market has been estimated at $29 billion a year; according to analyst Brian Tunick of J.P. Morgan, and it stands to reason at least some percentage of that could move online. (In the apparel world, online retail accounts for about 10% of sales.) The growth (some with millions of members) and success of many of these companies has taken the industry by surprise, and the strategy at most companies is to expand into new categories, such as beauty and home. This fall, Gilt plans to introduce a travel site and wine is also on the to-do list.

http://www.wwd.com/business-news/private-sales-burgeon-on-the-web-2234933?src=bblast/081109

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog *

* who deeply enjoyed having me at his beck and call without the excuse of work!

Sonia Sotomayor Makes It To The Supreme Court!

DAHLINGS –

Our favorite plus-sized Latina judge. Sonia Sotomayor, was voted into the Supreme Court!

My Republican friends are muttering darkly (pardon the pun) about a “Latino/Black conspiracy”, which is utter nonsense, but this is America. And Americans always need somebody to hate.

Judge Sotomayor was voted in along strict party lines, with all Democrats voting yes and (almost) all Republicans voting no, with the except of 9 Republicans who will probably now catch hell from the NRA, poor things.

The dark undercurrent (again PARDON THE PUN, I can’t seem to escape them!) beneath the disapproval is that the Republicans are subtly or not so subtly suggesting that between President Obama, the soon-to-be new African American Surgeon General (who is, for no valid reason,being pilloried for her weight**), and a Latina Supreme Court justice, that everything from health care to which gala do gets the best swag bags, will all be shifted in the advantage of Blacks and Latinos, with Whites getting the short end of the stick.

Which is highly ironic, since Whites have been giving Blacks and Latinos the short end of the stick since time began. So this is a bit much. In what world do those men live? (It is almost entirely men for some reason, don’t ask moi.) Hermetically sealed, one guesses.

No one admires the wealthy and powerful more than I, your faithful correspondent, after all, they give the best presents. And where would my chosen bailiwick, fashion, be without them? Oh, dear, now I’m thinking Deep Thoughts and getting a terrible headache. But onward.

Why on earth did they badger Judge Sotomayor about being racist? In what parallel universe is a woman with such a moderate, mainstream record racist? They are only giving utterance to their own paranoia, their fear of the changing face of America. It really is quite sad, non? We can’t go back to 1955, no matter how loud they protest.

Of course, my more left-wing friends think Sotomayor is not liberal enough and is just a “trophy judge.” Only time will tell which way she swings. Oh dear, I did not quite mean it that way. You know what I mean.

Fortunately for moi, no matter what color, rich people will always need clothes. That is the true common denominator.

My temples are banging like a limo driving over a dirt road. I need an aspirin. After that, back out to enjoy this GLORIOUS summer day and the crashing of the ocean waves. Have a divine weekend, mon cher lecteurs!

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky The Wonderdog

** We all know that C. Everett Koop bore a striking resemblance to Michael Phelps.

Rodarte is Coming To Target This Winter

DAHLINGS –

My sources tell me that sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy will introducing a Rodarte collection for Target in December as part of its Go International series of limited collections.

The 55-piece Rodarte line for Go International will launch at most Target stores nationwide and on target.com on Dec. 20, and will be available through Feb. 6. Prices for the collection will range from $9.99 for knee-highs to $79.99 for a leopard print jacket. Here is the link to the WWD article:

http://www.wwd.com/retail-news/rodarte-a-go-with-target-2229917?src=bblast/080509

Lovely idea, but will they have plus sizes? Stay tuned. ($9.99 for knee-highs??)

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky The Wonderdog

"More To Love" And The Reality of Reality TV

DAHLINGS –

Reality shows, it must be noted, are far from reality. As most of my savvy readers know, “reality” is manipulated and edited to suit what the producers of the show are looking to show. Some of the contestants of Project Runway are kept on because they have fascinating personalities, while the less camera-friendly designers are let go. And many shows rely on keeping the participants isolated from outside contact as much as possible.

Imagine the pressure of having your every move filmed for television, trapped inside a house for weeks, and in some cases not allowed to interact with your fellow cast-members off-camera. (I learned that from a former Survivor cast member; there were employees specially hired to prevent the contestants from speaking to each other between takes!)

So it was with more than a fair share of skepticism that I approached More To Love, a reality show that features an overweight but appealing man, Luke Conley, who is 6’3″ and weighs over 300 pounds. He has to choose between twenty overweight and appealing women.

I should warn you that all of the photos have been Photoshopped beyond belief.

Now, reality dating shows have a peculiar, outdated view of romance and marriage, of meeting “the one true love” and living happily ever after. How on earth is that supposed to “reality”? Especially within the confines of the genre. More To Love is no exception.

This might be feminist heresy, but I have to disagree with the critics who say the women were presented as “pathetic” and “otherized.” With the exception of a few bad fashion choices, all of the women were presented as sexy, pretty, and intelligent (again with a few exceptions). They stepped out of black limos in colorful evening gowns, hair perfect, makeup camera-ready, in sky-high heels. **

Some of them could have been pop idols; in fact one woman is a plus-size model, as is the strangely underused host, Emme. I admire Emme tremendously, pardon the pun. But she is only on for a few minutes at the beginning and the end, and seems slightly uncomfortable during the proceedings.

One hopes that during the show’s run she will help these women with their low self-esteem. In one on one interviews, each woman talked about what she wanted in a mate, her dating history, her feelings about her body, etc. What saddened moi was the self-hatred these women had for themselves. They didn’t seem to understand that the mere fact that they were on this show meant that they were far better-looking than average! In fact, quite a few were attractive in that slightly bland style television demands.

They focused on their large bodies as the reason they have/had been dateless. Most reality show contestants are deeply insecure. Why else would they be reality show contestants? But these women wore their hearts on their chiffon sleeves. Why on earth did they think a television show would be their “last chance for love”?

Here I would like to assert that my avoirdupois has never been an obstacle to dating, sex, multiple marriages, or any pleasurable interaction with the male sex. But then, I am a woman of broad mind and loose morals. There were some contestants who were comfortable with their size and happy with their bodies, which was a refreshing change.

At the end, ten women were sent packing, and this is one aspect of reality television I despise: the exit interview. Many of the women being sent home were completely devastated, and the cameras feasted on their devastation.

Many critics have said that More To Love is all about humiliating fat women.

What they do not take into account is that most reality television is, ultimately, about humiliating everyone. Where is the dignity in The Bachelor? Survivor? Big Brother?

Although I have reservations about More To Love, in the end I have to say that I believe it levels the playing field just a tiny bit.

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky The Wonderdog

**Fashion Note :

Unlike MAKEOVER reality shows, More To Love did not dress the women in lookalike dark colored empire dresses. Their gowns ran the color and design spectrum, and some even had–gasp–natural waistlines!

Setting Up A New Boutique On Etsy!

DAHLINGS –

Yes, I am spreading the wealth! I am opening a brand-new boutique over on Etsy, as are so many other (ugh)Ebay sellers. It is also called The Mad Fashionista’s Plus-Size Boutique, but it will feature lower-priced pieces than my Fashiondig shop. (Although there will be some inevitable cross-over; my assistant isn’t smart enough to keep it all straight.)

Click on the link above IN THE POST TITLE to take a look, and shop, shop, shop!

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog