Melissa McCarthy on the cover of Hollywood

• Melissa McCarthy is stepping up and offering her own fashion line.  I loved her in Bridesmaids, and yes, on Gilmore Girls. I also think that it will be great to see designs coming from one of the people that really knows.
• Sarah Bigler, columnist at DenNews.com, wonders if the entertainment industry is at long last acknowledging the existence of plus-size women as something other than a punchline. An editorial at the Daily Trojan (yes, I’m cringing, too) encourages women to embrace their genetics and base body image on that…or something. That something like genetics is somehow a matter of opinion disturbs me, but it’s so embedded in our culture that I’m pretty much disturbed whenever I’m paying attention.
• Plus Size Tall has tiny hints about Marc Jacobs plus size line, assuming this isn’t some stunt for branding. Apparently they’re in talks about plus-size design now. I really hope those talks include human beings over a size 16/18.
• Alex Perry has announced he intends to create a runway collection featuring plus-sized models. That’s great. Will their clothing be appropriately plus-sized too?
• The GuardianUK has an interview with fashion skeptic Tanya Gold and a design team. I think I know the answer to fashion’s current tyranny of thin, and why they have more power now than they did back in the 50s: we all need to suck it up and learn how to sew again. Given how terrible I am at that, I will of course have to join a naturist colony.
• “Big Sexy” was cancelled 3 episodes in, but it still provoked some conversation. As we know from Family Guy and Futurama, it ain’t over until the DVD sales come in.
• Huffington Post has a video up focusing on full figured fashion that focuses on Lane Bryant’s 3D scanner research.
• A fashion week interview with Roksanda Ilinicic reveals a designer quite willing to include plus-sizes in her repertoire, especially if it fits a celebrity.
• Thread interviews Playtex plus-size model Penelope Benson.
• American Apparel continues to behave like frat boys in need of a tasering when it comes to plus-size customers and plus-size models. Dear frat boys that are not jerks: for the sake of fraternity, do something about these morons. Nancy Upton, you’re my hero.
• In the Huffington Post, Miranda Frum shares her experiences in the modeling world, including being “pushed” toward the “humiliating” plus size modeling.
• Fox News Latino has a profile of Jennifer Berreto Leyva’s plus modeling career in Venezuala.
• The Limited is introducing a new plus-size line. I vaguely remember the corporation that owned the Limited owning Lane Bryant in the 90s. Does anyone else recall that? Apparently it’s Limited launch.
• Ad-Week has bowed down to the power of the fashion blog in marketing.  The next step? Getting marketers to understand blogs in terms of blogging rather than in terms of “ooh, let me take over your marketing tool!” My quick tip: approach every blog exactly as you would a commercial print magazine. Each blogger is different, yes, but the etiquette of magazine publication work (say, a Hearst or Conde’ Nast) is a safe place to start.
• Australian tourists can find a plus-size boutique in Bali – especially while shopping for a place to retire. Please park all your Eat Pray Love jokes at the door.
• An interview with La Physique designer Rheba Turnbull reveals she sees fashion design as her spiritual calling.
• The Chicago Tribune looks into the plus-size clothing trend. Vocal, and highlights several local plus-size stores. I would like to comment that we need to stop asking “What do women want?” as it predicates the belief that ovaries create uniform personalities. They do not. 51% of the population is much too large to be a reasonable target market. Perhaps because men make up only 49% of the population, it’s easier to recognize the greater individuation? … or not.

Super-Local

• Invito Couture of Vancouver has relocated and now includes plus size offerings up to an EU50. (Roughly a size 20?)
• Misstique, in Gaston North Carolina, can only carry up to 20% of her inventory in plus-sizes: I suppose this is better than the usual lame excuses for 0% proffered by many boutique owners. Especially since about 50% of the time, the truth is that they just don’t want fat customers. The interview cites Lane Bryant and Avenue as competition; this is actually misleading. People go to boutiques explicitly because they are NOT chains, so it’s fallacious to claim that these stores are directly competitive – especially given the rapidly growing number of plus-size chain providers growing in the United States. And this market sector is growing despite a faltering economy.
• Dayton Daily News has interview with local plus-size fashionista Daria Yvonne Graham.
• Qristyl Frazier made an appearance at mid-South fashion week 2011.

Business of Plus

• StartupSmart has a profile on Kathryn Heaven, owner of online retail outlet Style and Substance.
• Landmark Group, a UAE retail conglomerate, is looking to add plus-sizes to its brand offerings.
• OneStopPlus has officially launched its lingerie portal.
• The Economist looks into the fuller figured fashion effect. Complete with  pic that annoys me from Getty images. I’m not sure why I’m annoyed – I’m the person who always advocates for real people over models. I think it’s the expression.

International

• South African magazine Curvy South Africa has been getting some much-deserved press attention.
• German magazine Madonna24.at discusses Kirstie Alley’s latest turn on the catwalk. I plan on watching and reviewing Fat Actress for this blog at some point; while Fat Chic is all about self-acceptance, it’s important to understand self-loathing even if it is absolutely discouraged here.
• Slovak publication lesk.sk discusses what men think of larger women as lovers. Revealing another country full of men who should not be allowed anywhere near a woman’s body of any size, ever. Perhaps the UN can drop blow-up dolls for them, beginning with this publication’s shameful editorial staff. (Preference is preference; that it merits discussion is a sign that people still aren’t paying attention in their science classes.)
• Tatyana’s Secret, a Moscow plus-size lingerie provider, now must contend with a Victoria Secret presence in Russia. Not secret: they won’t be much if any competition for the plus-size market.