by JASMINE GARNSWORTHY
There are few women in public life as beloved by other women as Chrissie Swan. It’s truly challenging to think of anyone so universally liked, admired and flat-out adored. Her warmth, wit, determination to be herself and general positivity make her just, well, the girl you want to be friends with.
Oh look, we’re gushing.
Something else Chrissie does is wear clothes well. No easy thing when you’re plus size and your choices are ridiculously limited. At Mamamia, we’re going to change that. We’re in the process of dramatically expanding the plus size range on our shopping site but we need your help. What are the best plus sized fashion labels in Australia?
What items are you looking for but can’t find?
Meanwhile, today we’ve taken some style cues from Chrissie Swan – who looked stylish and more than a little bit foxy when she was on The Circle every day and ditto now on Can Of Worms on Monday nights. Chrissie nails the casual/corporate look while still bringing a sense of fun to what she wears.
We’ve curated some key pieces (for different budgets) you can steal as we show you how Chrissie Swan does smart casual. No stylist required.
Like what you see? Well, there’s more. Lots more. So much more. Where that came from.
Head here to shop MORE Chrissie-inspired fashion on Mamamia Shopping…
This ‘Shop Her Style’ post is going to be a new Mamamia regular so tell us who you’d like to see us feature? If you could shop the style of any celeb or high profile woman, who would it be?
And MM plus-size readers, hit us up with your suggestions for labels you like that you think we should have at the Mamamia Shop….
Comments
27 Comments so far
If you want some inspiration for plus size brands, have a look at my Pinterest boards – http://pinterest.com/whoozqueen/ – especially the My Style, Plus Size Fashion boards. Im tall, wear a 24/26 and prefer TS14+, Towanda, Igigi, Kiyonna, and other US brands – quality and style so much more plus size positive overseas compared to most local brands. Im also starting to get into what the germans call the ‘lagenlook’ which is about art wear, layers and textures.
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For nice outfits I have given up on Aussie stores this year. I have been a few times to City Chic and walked away with nothing … and don’t get me started on their evening range – strapless dresses & plus sizes do not mix. I am a firm favourite of Igigi and Kiyonna from the US. Cut to fit, curves in all the right places and very feminine.
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Clothing with sleeves and tailoring. Just because we’re fat doesn’t mean we should wear ugly shapeless tents. In fact we often look slimmer in clothing that has a few darts and some structure.
Swimwear built for people with boobs that doesn’t max out at size 16. And a strip of lining with some elastic under your boobs doesn’t count – we need cups and straps people!
Belts. It’s really hard to find belts that fit that add that extra polish to an outfit.
Wider fitting shoes. We’re fat. We often have wider feet. We’d like to wear some pretty shoes too thanks.
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Sleeves! my arms are proportionate to my body but the few plus sizes ranges out there with sleeves seem to have very small sleeves in fact if you compare the biggest size and smallest the sleeves rarely differ in size.
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I have to say when I saw the other link to getting Chrissies style I was disappointed that of the 4 dresses suggested only one went bigger the a 16…
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Get Chrissy Swan’s style… Not even Chrissy could buy what you’re offering as it isn’t available in plus sizes. The brown sugar dresses are gorgeous. Have a look at the plus size range from Talbots in the USA. They do plenty of gorgeous pieces in all sizes. Virtu has a great Australian range and City Chic have a new buyer so have some gorgeous dresses etc at the moment. Autograph is disgraceful! No one wants to wear that crap! Myer have the occasional nice piece but want us to pay ridiculously inflated prices for it. Why do Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger offer a plus size range in the US but not here? ASOS, Next and Simply Be in the UK have gorgeous plus size items. We don’t even come close here. I look forward to seeing what you come up with for Mamamia shopping, if it’s good I will gladly support you!
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I love this feature. Chrissie looks fabulous! What about Virginia Gay. She always looks great and she’s got real chick curves.
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I am a 155cm classic hourglass size 18-20 and my fave brands are Estelle, Bell Curve, TS14+, Piper Woman and occasionally Basque Woman. My main struggle is finding pieces that aren’t sleeveless! Everyone is obsessed with sleeveless tunics, dresses and tanks and I’m sick of being forced to wear multiple layers to cover all my jiggly bits.
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Love those bracelets, but I have very small wrists and wondered if there was a store that sold silver bangles/bracelets in varying sizes? Most of the ones in stores are way too big.
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Try some children’s stores- the posher ones might have nice smaller bracelets
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I have big hands and small wrists. I get most of my bangles from City Chic or Virtu. I’ve been lucky lately with some from Sussans, the enamel ones with hinges.
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“‘tell us who you’d like to see us feature”
Anybody with shoes that don’t make my feet hurt just looking at them (like those ones up there).
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I love love love Leona Edmiston. I am a tall 5’10″ who is quite boobalicious and I flutter between 16 – 18 and I find Leona a pretty near perfect fit every time. And she has a plus size range that extends beyond size 16. The fabric and styles are made to flatter different sizes and shapes. After struggling to find stylish dresses to fit, I am now a leona convert……
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Rachel Pally is another great dress designer along a similar theme.
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I’d love to buy some Leona but she uses that horrible heavy fabric for all of her plus size dresses that misshapes easily and can get a weird smell about it.
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I have found some really great plus size stuff through Undercover Wear – all of their clothes go up to Size 26.
The short dresses and skirts tend to be too short – I am 5’10″, so not exactly a giant, but I don’t want to be in danger of flashing my bits everytime I lean over.
It would be good if you could include some styles for people who aren’t hourglass shaped, I have small boobs and a big ass, which means at the top I am a size 18/20 and at the bottom I am a size 22/24 – this means that any dress that comes in at the waist (like the ones you have pictured above) are useless to me, because to get them big enough to fit my ass, they are huge at the top. A-Line top hugging, bottom flowing designs are the safe option for me – but finding them can be difficult.
Keep up the great work
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Love Chrissy, and love her style.
Would love to find some plus size stuff that is actually down to my knees. I know I’m tall (5’11″) and pear shaped (size 16 top, 18 bottom), but honestly, I’m not one of those bigger girls with great legs I see everywhere. I have a nice waist, and good calves, but would love a dress that isn’t one small breeze away from a public indecency charge!
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Check out http://www.modcloth.com – they have gorgeous dresses and a L (or a US 14) should fit you perfectly in most styles. I am 5’9″ and a size 12 top and 14 bottom and their stuff is awesome on me. Their mid length dresses come below the knee on me (so should hit the knee on you, I would think) and anything aline from them I can wear in a M or a size 10 US. They have a real 50′s aesthetic and so their dresses are perfect for pears. Great one piece bathers too!
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Please mean pluss size and don’t stop at a size 16. Not to sure if these are classed as brands or stores but here they are city chic,autograph are great places to shop most of the time. And if you can find some awesome pluss size boots would be great. Btw love chrissie
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Bennett Boots or Duo Boots as well as Sara, TS14+ and Autograph do great boots with wide widths and or wide calves. Hope that helps!
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I love the sound of “dramatically expanding the plus size range on our shopping site”!
I went out at the weekend to buy a new summer wardrobe and there was literally nothing appropriate. All black or a ghastly shade of orange and nothing in linen or cotton. Not happy!As for the best plus sized labels, I wish I knew. Everywhere I was shopping a year or so ago seems to have gone downhill.
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oh God yes, what is it with those horrid coral, watermelon and orange colours?! And it would be nice to get some plus size stuff not made in t shirt material
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Tell me about it! I also hate the common ‘fix’ of putting tights under things – I am plus size, the last thing I want is anything tightly hugging all my lumps and bumps and my dodgy looking legs!
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oh sleeveless (based on the idea that we’ll then have to buy a cardi as well). I was at Myer in the plus sized area and almost everything had ruffles. Who wants to wear ruffles? Not me!
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It is not just plus size- universal horror clothes everywhere at the moment. It’s neon or black these days
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Can you do a Taylor Swift feature? PLeeeeeeaaassee (for all shapes)
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I just want a smile as lovely as hers!
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