Big Girl in a Skinny World
Meet Ashley Falcon, proof that fashionistas come in all shapes and sizes.
CLICK HERE FOR ASHLEY'S PICKS FOR THE BEST JEANS FOR CURVY GIRLS
By Ashley Falcon
Photo Credit: Greg Kessler
Special Offer
EMAIL HER: Click here to contact Ashley Falcon
Case in point: Not long ago, while interning at a fashion trade publication, I scored a last-minute invitation to an industry cocktail party. I was giddy with anticipation—I can't believe I get to mingle with Marc Jacobs! But my joy quickly turned to dread when I realized that I was wearing boyfriend jeans and an oversize blazer, hardly appropriate for this Stoli-and-stilettos mixer. As I stood in the fashion closet, scanning the sparkly numbers that would barely make it up my thigh, I frantically weighed my options. There wasn't enough time to run home and change, and dashing over to the nearby Banana Republic was out of the question—their XLs are typically available only online. With literally nothing to wear, I bagged the event and spent much of the evening sulking on my couch.
I've struggled with weight—and how to camouflage it—my whole life. The skinniest I've ever been was in high school, when I weighed 150 pounds and subsisted on nothing but undressed salads. I long ago made peace with the fact that I'll never look good in a slinky dress or pleated paper-bag-waist pants, even if Coco Chanel herself came back from the dead to hand-stitch them for me. So I stick to cuts that always flatter—even in a size 18—like wrap dresses and pencil skirts. Then I'll style up dowdy items with high-end accessories, like the staggeringly awesome Louboutins I scored for Christmas or the YSL bag I recently got on sale. Big girls love accessories—they always fit, no size tags required.
My most persistent, most daunting wardrobe challenge is finding that perfect, all-occasion pair of slimming, lengthening, ass-hugging jeans. Let's face it, it's a maddening task for girls even half my size, but I go through at least a few pairs of jeans every year, routinely wearing holes in the area where my thighs rub together. My requirements: no muffin top, butt crack, or camel toe. That's a tricky set of demands considering that most jeans for the size-14-and-up set are either woefully ill-fitting or designed like industrial coveralls—solely to hide the body, style be damned. I suspect that's why so many big girls squeeze into sizes far too small for their ample builds. At least sausages have shape, right?
Still, I won't settle when it comes to jeans and insist on buying only those pairs that make me feel comfortable, sexy, and confident. They must work for my body. Which is why I've spent untold hours in countless fitting rooms squeezing into hundreds of pairs of relaxed fits, boot-cuts, straight-legs, and low-rises.
Ladies, I've road tested them all.
CLICK HERE FOR ASHLEY'S PICKS FOR THE BEST JEANS FOR CURVY GIRLS
Hello Ashley... just saw you and LOVE what you are doing... I am an artist who has started to design clothes for EVERY body... hope you will have a look... I am just starting and am very excited .... clothes to feel good in... wash/dry - throw on and go - belt it OR wear it loose ... I want women to feel good no matter what their size and FLAUNT their stuff.... BYOB!!! www.bringyourownbody.etsy.com and www.kjaerpedersen.ca... I have started a blog spot that I will begin posting to regularly in a very short time... kjaerpedersen.blogspot.com - hope to talk to you soon... but, thank you!!!!... you are a breath of fresh air... love you!!!! KJAER
ReplyDeleteAwesome! She rocks!
ReplyDeleteCheck out my website for boutique plus size designers and a forum debate about plus size issues. www.moffily.com
ReplyDelete