Plus size model Whitney Thompson of America's Next Top Model

In light of the retail landscape right now, some retailers are responding with what seems like a good business decision: pulling plus-size clothing, which doesn’t turn much of a profit, from brick and mortar stores, offering them only online.  But when clothing giant Ann Taylor announced their decision to do the same, all hell broke loose on the blogosphere.

Look, it’s true that fashion knows no size (seriously, check out the Fatshionistas – those girls are seriously good at pulling together an outfit), and that as an overall systemic issue, the fact that it’s hard to find adult clothes in plus sizes sucks. I get it, and I’m incredibly sympathetic.

This post is not meant to be fat-shaming or anything else – ultimately, I just wanted to add something different to the conversation, which is some industry insight as to WHY some of these decisions may have been made.

An interesting sidebar is the issue of vanity sizing.  A few years ago, we had a similar trend that affected the other end of the scale – I, at 5’2 and (at the time) 115 pounds, could not shop in a number of stores.  In fact, while working at Abercrombie in college (shut up), I had to walk across the mall and dress myself in Abercrombie Kids just to meet the dress code.  Yet, we didn’t see the sort of venomous reaction to the idea that adult women had to dress themselves in kids clothes that we’re now seeing directed at the idea that adult women need to order adult clothes online.

That aside, there are some very real, tangible reasons why plus size clothing is being phased out.

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Call it the end of an era: eLuxury, the go-to shopping site for LVMH designer brands, is closing its doors.  In order to move a lot of its remaining merchandise, the site is having a sweeping clearance sale, with up to 80% off.

Happy shopping!

Foley & Corinna, how I do love you!

I believe I’ve gone into the whole fact of my not needing more cocktail dresses before, but man, do I love this dress.  That teal is just about my favorite color, I love the ombre effect, and the fringe just begs for me to take it to the Flatiron Lounge or one of the city’s other speakeasies and have a Prohibition-era cocktail.  Love, love, love!

Really? A stiletto heel appropriate for the bride AND Nike comfort?

Admittedly, I knew that Cole Haan made heels using this technology — I have a gorgeous pair of brown suede peeptoes that are possibly the most comfortable heels I own.  What I didn’t know was that Cole Haan also had the genius idea of making a whole line of shoes in dyeable white satin for special occasions.  This might be the best wedding fashion idea EVER.  Cole Haan’s offerings come in varying heel heights, from 4″ sandals to ballet flats, so there are options for everyone.  The real advantage here, though, is in the heels — the difference between a 3″ Cole Haan Air heel and your average stiletto is hours of additional standing time while looking great before your feet really start to protest.  And let’s be real, if you’re the bride or a bridesmaid, you’re going to be on your feet a lot on the big day.

I’m partial to the one at top (yeah, the rosettes are a little lavish, but what better excuse are you ever going to have?), but there are a whole slew of styles available — check them out at Nordstrom or on Cole Haan‘s website, and get ready to dance the night away!

Covered but fashionable. From Adam.

Still have weddings to go to?  Let’s talk about the classic venue: the church.  A church ceremony calls for the most conservative clothing choices, particularly if there’s going to be an actual religious service.  Destination weddings are increasingly popular, but this formula still covers the vast majority of all weddings I’ve been to: a church ceremony in the afternoon starting somewhere between 2 and 4 pm, with or without a full service, depending on the couple, followed by a dinner reception starting around 7.  If you’re friends with a lot of New York natives, you may end up at 7 pm ceremonies with a black and white ball at midnight, but if you live in the Midwest or elsewhere in the country, there’s a good chance that the foregoing description fits an awful lot of the weddings you’re expected to attend.

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Love a little orange for the summer! See by Chloe, on sale at Nordstrom.

So, I’ve extolled the virtues of the tote for a summer weekend at the beach, but there’s something to be said for the other end of the spectrum too.  In my opinion, there’s nothing more perfect for running around the city on the weekends than a wristlet — just enough to hold your cell phone, credit cards, iPod and lipgloss, without weighing you down with everything you own in the form of all the stuff you drag around during the week in a tote.  If you’re running off to have a drink at the rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art or to watch people doing lawn bowling in Central Park (entertaining if you’ve never seen it), who wants to drag ten pounds of bag around?

Here’s my pick of this season’s crop of wristlets.

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Because I know you all needed more things to spend your money on, I thought I’d call attention to the fact that Rafe New York is currently running a 40% off sale on EVERYTHING on their site, including both shoes and all their great handbags.  I’m a sucker for Rafe’s structured bags, and I think I might need to snap up the Abigail wristlet for running around the city this summer.  Enjoy!

Giuseppe Zanotti at Zappos!

The roundup continues!  This week we’ve gotten to one of my favorite shopping indulgences: shoes, handbags, and other accessories.  I have to admit, I used to be reluctant to shop for shoes online; something about the unforgiving nature of shoes sizing made me reluctant to buy shoes I hadn’t tried on already.  Thankfully, a whole slew of shoe and handbag sites make returns both insanely easy and free, so there’s no reason to hesitate. Some of my favorites sites after the jump.

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I never said that I was proud of my behavior at sample sales

Sample sales have  a special place in my heart – where else can you get high end designer goods at deep, deep discounts?

Even better, two of my absolute favorite labels are hosting a joint sample sale in June.  Details on how you can stock up on some of the most gorgeous yet enduring items around … After the jump!

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A breezy, beachy blue from Laila Azhar!

We’re almost to June, the biggest wedding month of the year, so it’s time to take another pass at wedding guest fashion.  While there are a few rules that are consistently safe for any wedding (don’t flash too much skin, don’t wear white), we all know that there are as many different kinds of wedding venues and dress codes as people can come up with.  (Star Trek wedding, anyone?)  Today we’ll tackle the beach wedding.

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