Plus Size Plum

In 1991 I left Los Angeles to join my family at the Duke Diet and Fitness center in Durham, NC.  Many dieters consider 1991 the last great party year. Most of us lived in a “Melrose Place” residential suites hotel which reinforced a strong sense of community and ultimately became the spot for lively social gatherings around the pool with its imposing water tower and pink crepe myrtle. It was the summer of those crazy “Jerky boy” tapes, “Marky Mark” an assortment of colorful characters like wiseguys on the lam, “the bonnet lady” (who always wore a little bo peep bonnet to conceal her double chin), a Republican campaign strategist, a trust fund sociopath, and unusual hook-ups.

I had the good fortune of living next door to Dom De Luise who had arrived a week before I did. One morning he remarked about the wonderful coffee smell emanating from my apartment and I invited him in and thus began our little morning “coffee klatches”. We talked about everything: food, family, celebrity, friends and film.  He had a passion for life and adored his family and friends, famous or not. He once told me his best friend was Anne Bancroft who had directed him in his only serious role in “Fatso”, a cult classic among the dieters who could recite whole passages. He was incredibly patient, indulging fans in endless autograph signings and pictures, something of a rarity in the celebrities I’ve met. He may have been a celebrated actor and comedian, but to us he was a remarkable, humble human being, touching so many people’s lives with his warmth and compassion.

He had the ability to bring out the best in people and to find humor in any situation. He would wrap his arms around my waist and gesture wildly as I spoke to other people in the pool. (Remember Silent Movie?) We played this game where we would determine which animals people looked like. I remember one day when I said some Nashville erstwhile Cassanova songwriter looked like a pidgeon, he exclaimed, “You’re really brilliant at this”.  I discounted it as a useless talent, but he insisted it showed such creativity.

We have a family member who had just had her face lifted and every time he asked “Where’s Betty?”, he would pull his face up to simulate her facelift. He just always knew how to make me laugh.

One of the great indicators of a tender heart is someone who still has that childlike sense of wonderment at the world. On the day of my niece’s 2nd birthday, I found him lovingly wrapping her gift in the newspaper’s funnies in his own artistic way. He had an incredible connection to children (as evidenced by his children’s books) and affinity for animals.

I have some lovely memories of him like watching the Oscars with him that year and listening to his acting stories. It was clear all his actor/director friends like Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder and Burt Reynolds loved being in his presence.

He was gentle, innocent and full of joy and I am so very grateful for the time I shared with this extraordinary human being.

Love,

Deborah

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Yes, I am a fan of ABC’s “The Bachelor” and

“The Bachelorette” series. I can handicap all the shows, carefully analyzing the expressions in their eyes. With all the manipulative editing, I still  see the way the winners light up.  As far as Jason goes, when you have an artificial set up with a ridiculous number of romantic options, you can’t apply the same rules. I would have been completely overwhelmed and confused, too.  I think it took alot of chutzpah for Jason to step up to the plate. Melissa seemed easier to please, less challenging than Molly. I think most men are disinclined to pick the more complicated woman.

As I’m sure many of you did, we wrote to ABC asking why they didn’t have a “Bachelor” for women who weren’t size zeros. I guess enough of us wrote in and they heard so voila, we could be meeting the next plus size reality star.

Mike Fleiss Productions and Warner Horizon Television are producing a reality show called “More to Love” with a “Kevin James style” bachelor searching for a 23-35 year old plus size beauty. More to Love | Casting.

Check out Lane Bryant for open casting sessions throughout the US.

Raleigh/Durham  is 4-8PM, Renaissance Village, Durham, NC on April 8th.

Good Luck!!!

Deborah

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I’m baaaaaack!!! While persuaded to take a much needed escape to the beach with my best friend, Algy, the seed for an idea was planted. Beaches are great places to revitalize one’s spirits and to re-awaken the creative process. In particular, I found a BBW friendly, inexpensive beach resort in an area I hadn’t yet discovered-Ocean Isle Beach, NC.

 I began to think about what makes Plus Size Plum unique. We pride ourselves on personalized customer service,  great selection, quick delivery and upscale packaging. I reflected on my yearnings for a high fashion look and for something sexy to fit my plus size shape. Back in my 20s, I would mix pieces from my wardrobe with lingerie like a charmeuse camisole culled from the Missy lingerie department and pair it with Perry Ellis gauchos and shawl as shown here from my 25th birthday.

Some styles are classic.

While watching the Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, I become incensed by her bigoted attitude towards plus models, especially when the sweet Mia Amber (Plus Model Magazine) tried to quell Janice’s anger with a hug and was nastily rebuked with a “Well, I don’t love you….. Plus sizes are not high fashion”. I beg to differ. Why did Ralph Lauren, Bradley Bayou, Ellen Tracy, Michael Kors, Eileen Fisher, Karen Kane all make plus sizes? Tim Gunn of “Project Runway”, considered a 21st century fashion guru, is promoting plus sizes, as Creative Director of Liz Claiborne. Any designer with a willingness to perfect proper fit and to effectively market to plus sizes will be rewarded with a loyal clientele. After years of being treated like the unwanted stepsister by retailers, we demand to be treated like the fashion savvy women we are.

Mr. Blackwell, whom I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, died recently. His best dressed list was publicized worldwide for 40 years. His acerbic wit and appreciation for fine design made him a fashion icon. Few people know that Mr. Blackwell was the “first designer to make his line available to plus sizes.” I met Mr. Blackwell at a rooftop fashion show for the Forgotten Woman (a better plus size boutique chain) and he literally chased me down a hallway to tell me how beautiful my cocoon dress was. Later, he invited me to his offices to show me his collection of “half-size” dresses, the precursor to women’s sizes. He wanted me to work for him, but I was determined to remain an independent sales rep. I will always remember how proud he was to support plus sizes. If Mr. Blackwell were still alive, I am certain he would have some spectacular alliteration to combat Dickinson’s unrepentant fatophobic, intolerance for plus sizes.

I always believed in the versatility of lingerie as evidenced by Dolce and Gabanna, Versace, and other high-fashion designers today. Corsets and babydolls transform basic pieces into a chic, very sexy look. Our customers were responding to our suggestions so I knew I wanted to create a piece that would transition from club-wear/evening-wear to the bedroom for a sexy adventure.  

My wish list:

1. Low cut and sexy.
2. Fabric with a silky hand and stretchy.
3. Able to accommodate up to a DDD with shelf-bra. (I have a lot of busty customers).
4. Babydoll style streamlined to eliminate the maternity look.
5. Putting fullness and draping where it’s needed.
6. Matching sexy thong to enhance a beautiful booty.
7. Reasonably priced with a double duty purpose- to wear in or out of the bedroom.
8. Made in America- a way in which we can all contribute to our volatile economy.

When I came back to town, I called an old friend, Paula Gallemore, from my years in Los Angeles in the garment business.  As plus size women we shared the same passion for high fashion.  We were like full-figured Betties trying to be Veronicas in the size zero LA landscape.  Paula was the designer and I was the sales rep, but more than that- we were dear friends.  Over the years and miles away, we had drifted apart.  The day I called Paula, it was as my friend, Max says, a moment when “Time stood still”.  As we age, we realize true friends endure and so it has been a true joy to have given birth to Plus Size Plum’s signature piece with my good friend, Paula who lives life with grace, courage, and true talent.  And, thus began our mission to serve up plum perfection to our customers.

Easily transitions from lingerie to eveningwear… SEXY!

Our signature piece is a labor of love. Plus Size Plum’s debut babydoll is what I call “provocative sophistication“. Value, versatility and beauty, tailored to compliment plus size curves - the one piece you pack for a romantic weekend rendezvous. You can pair it with your black pants and a shawl for dinner, vamp around the bedroom for dessert.  

As the finished piece got closer to reality, a photo shoot became top priority. I wanted to create the perfect setting for a romantic evening. My friend, Lauren suggested a “fantasy set” including chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, and roses. We went with the idea, and began the daunting task of setting up the photo shoot. Our primary focus was how to best showcase our signature babydoll. Our secondary purpose was to demonstrate our “crossover concept”: picking pieces from your lingerie wardrobe and incorporating them into evening-wear. We talk about it on the site and it was time to show our customers how you can achieve these sexy, evening looks. A couple of our customers have heeded our advice, put together their own glamorous looks, and sent us the pictures!                                                                                                

Carmen wearing 4757X-D babydoll with trouser pants…. Hot Mama!

Algy wearing X9503-S corset for a  SEXY pirate Halloween costume…aaarrggggg she’s cute!

My husband, Ken spotted our beautiful, brilliant cover girl, Kim at a California Pizza Kitchen. Our other Southern beauty, Jana, is a college student and came through my invaluable assistant, Stephanie.

Our first photoshoot

Make-up artist and friend,

Lauren Vincent of Sandy Winchester Hair Salon, Durham, NC and

Plus Size Plum’s new covergirl, Kim.

A fantasy evening without “sterling roses”?… we think not.

Purple roses from Costco, great value!

Chocolate covered strawberries, designed with a special purple “P” from

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Durham, NC.

Of course we all ate them after the shoot wrapped!!! 

Michal Negrin makes beautiful jewelry. These earrings were perfect!

www.michalnegrin.com is definitely worth a visit.

Kim shows off those gorgeous Michal Negrin earrings.

Looks like Jana’s right at home in front of the camera. I love that red hair.

Jana seemed to be more comfortable in the second outfit,

and even managed to sneak in this smile.

Kim couldn’t keep that serious face for long….

looks like she may need a minute.

We would like to thank Jerry Dillard Photograpy for a wonderful job. You can see more of Jerry’s talent at www.dillardstudios.net. All of the finished pictures from the shoot are now up at www.plussizeplum.com.

I can’t even tell you how stressing it was to get here, but I look at those pictures, these beautiful girls, and my new Plus Size Plum babydoll, and it was all worth it. I am already planning my next signature design, and have been thinking about new colors for the next production of the debut piece. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Deborah

P.S. I’ll share my turkey secret.  I make a mixture of kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, fresh thyme, melted butter and vermouth.  Rub inside and out.  Create an aluminum foil tent and continually baste with Martini and Rossi Extra Dry Vermouth.  Use an entire bottle per turkey.

Start with breast side down (Wolfgang Puck likes to do this, too).  The last 1 or 1 1/2 hrs. remove the tent, but keep basting-watch for too much browning.  Make your roux, add stock and you have the most beautiful tasting gravy and turkey ever!

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Danielle

Plus Size Plum’s new cover girl, Danielle shares her beauty secrets with us.  She’s a potent combination of laid back L.A.  style-”David Kahn jeans, sandals and a cute tank” with a  wholesome sexiness. Danielle, a wife and mother of a three-year-old son was discovered at a Western Bagel (a personal favorite of mine when I lived in LA) by Fae Simmons who provided plus size modeling resources and invaluable advice.  She met other supportive women along the way-model, Ivory and a photographer, Leslie Delano.  Not only is Danielle gracious, but she is also self-effacing and genuinely sweet. I feel very fortunate that she graces our pages.  The self-professed “beauty product freak” shares her top ten favorite beauty products with me:

1. Kinersase lotion-an amazing mosturizer.

2. Philosophy’s ‘Hope in a tube’ eye and lip creme-just love this stuff!!

3. Arbonne’s ‘About Face’ Concealer-perfect for hiding those not so pleasant pimples that decide to pop the morning of a shoot!!!

4. Mary Kay’s ‘Oil Matifier’ -this is a lifesaver for me at every shoot!!!

5. Anastasia’s ‘Brow gel’ in clear.

6. Mac bronzing powder-love it!

7. Nars lipgloss in ‘Orgasm’-I wear it everyday literally

8. Mac ‘Zoom lash” mascara in ‘Zoomblack’.

9. CHI Silk Fushion for skin and hair-this stuff makes my hair look and feel amazing.

10. Bath and Body Works ‘Warm Vanilla Sugar Body Cream & Body Splash’-I love Anything VANILLA!

I had to ask her about dating of course. “I’ve never been big on dating.  I was the type of girl that was always in a relationship one after another.  So my best advice on dating would be to be yourself, have fun, but always be safe because you only live once.  I met the man of my dreams on a blind date and I almost missed meeting him because I was too chicken to go. I can’t imagine where I would be without him in my life.” (Always go on blind dates-sometimes your friends can make the best matchmakers!)

 Plus Size Plum in the news: Free - News - Woman - UnoDueTrend - Dangerous Curves.  Our little site was discovered by an Italian women’s online magazine and given rave reviews for our selection.  Updated lingerie styles worn by the girls from “The Hills” and celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Shannon Elizabeth and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s” and “Heroes” Kristen Bell  are now available at Plus Size Plum in lingerie sets up to 4X and ruffled heart panties up to 3X.  The soft cotton lycra camisoles and lounge shorts/boy shorts finished with lettuce edge trim, stripped binding and polka dot bow embellishments make lounging plus size sexy!

You find the perfect thongs to match your lingerie sets for moonlight dinners on your deck.  Now we have a sugar free dessert of chocolate strawberries in incredible edible body dust.  Our green-friendly chemist has concocted the most delicious edible body dust potion yet.  We have travel-size shakers coming in chocolate and strawberry to be mixed and sprinkled over your curves and on your bedding (with no staining and completely washable).  The May/June 2008 issue of AVN Novelty Magazine wrote,

“Simply put, this is the most delicious body dust we’ve encountered thus far.  We’re not sure what miracle they’ve worked to come up with this tasty formula, but we know that Chocolate Edible Body Dust is talc-free and completely safe to ingest.  Apply to any body part that tickles your fancy, or sprinkle it on bedding.”

Enjoy!  More Summer sexy secrets to come….

Love,

Deborah

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The “Sex and The City” girls are back with their deliciously imaginative ensembles.  I felt myself jonesing with delight for the Manolos and Guccis well before the opening last Friday in Durham.  And, I wasn’t disappointed.  The script faithfully honored each character’s development and although the movie was 2 1/2 hours long, I found myself savoring every minute of girltalk and designer indulgence.  I won’t spoil the movie for you if you haven’t seen it yet, but Sarah Jessica Parker wears a Vivienne Westwood wedding gown that is so luxuriously dramatic.  It calls to mind my own wedding gown, a blush charmeuse low-cut, off the shoulder affair with a shirred waist.  I became inspired and did some peeking around the net and found lovely gowns at Igigi, David’s Bridal and DariusCordell.com where the creative can knock off a Monique Lhuillier or a Vivienne Westwood.  I love blush for wedding lingerie, too and we have the perfect, well-priced babydoll set in blush with white venice lace embroidered cups and a pleated chiffon skirt.

For girly girls and aspiring girls:  We are in the midst of Petticoat Junction.  “Sex and the City” stylist, Patricia Field has revived petticoats, an ultra feminine, ephereal look.  Fanciful ruffles, flounces and tiers are deliciously flirty.  I plan to offer customized monotone and two tone petticoats and tube tops so you can channel your inner Madonna for a night of dancing.  Patricia Field has a line of shoes at Payless now, too.  I fell in love with metallic, roman-inspired turquoise flat sandals.

Although I don’t get Bravo, I went to Belk’s for a Liz Claiborne fashion show featuring their new Creative Director, Tim Gunn of Bravo’s “Fashion Runway” out of curiousity. My friend and I had our picture taken with him.  He was charming and charismatic, but the clothes (which he didn’t design) were mostly frumpy and boxy.  One of the prints was far too large and resembled a loveseat I once saw relegated to a basement corner for kid parties.  I loved Tim Gunn’s size friendly message so I’m hoping he’ll knock some design sense into Liz Claiborne.

My trend-spotting eyes love the black and white floral prints with splashes of orange or green accessories calling forth memories of my childhood in a kelly green carpeted apartment with a black and white floral sofa, ebony bamboo chairs, a chic look not only for the 60s, but also for today.  Sometimes these colors can look harsh when worn alone unless you have a darker complexion.  I heard Tamara Mellon of Jimmy Choo shoes also discuss the complimentary coupling of orange with black and white.

For entertainment I’ll be watching the new season of “Weeds” on Showtime with its wonderful cast of eccentric female characters including two plus size ones.  I’ll be listening to the new Madonna and Justin Timberlake collaboration as well as Donna Summer’s new album, “Crayons” (love “Stamp your Feet”), making salads (like my special tunafish recipe listed below) and reading Jennifer Weiner’s Certain Girls. 

Summer is a great time to catch up with our girlfriends and drink Cosmos (or my own PSP version with light Minutemaid limeaide, a splash of grenadine, Triple Sec and vodka) and dish.  I will be greatly anticipating the yearly visit of my best friend, Algy for three weeks where I’ll probably play hostess to my own girl party.  Algy gets my big booty exercising again and we laugh till we cry.  I fixed her up this past April with a local guy.  Keep your fingers crossed that he’s not just another guy who doesn’t recognize a good woman when he sees one!

Not only did the women of “Sex and the City” dethrone the new Indiana Jones movie, but they kicked box office ass by selling $55.7 million on opening weekend, the best opening ever for an R rated comedy dethroning “American Pie” and “The Wedding Crashers”, a favorite of mine.  This was clear evidence of major girl power.  The real star of the show is friendship though which is a beautiful, complicated relationship fraught with challenges. 

I found a quote by Alice Walker:”No person is your friend who demands your silence or your right to grow”.

We seek those meaningful connections that transcend time.  As we grow older, we search for friendships based on honesty, loyalty and mutual appreciation.  Our girlfriends should wish us well because if they don’t, it may be time to close a door.  I believe in forgiveness, but if your friend doesn’t fight for the friendship, you may have to let it go.  Sometimes the mounting bitterness and unresolved issues make it impossible to navigate further.  Our hearts can brake just like they can with a romance, but you have to open the door to the possibility of new friendships that can satisfy you and support you in ways you’ve never dreamed of.  Our girlfriends can bring out the best in us.

                                                 Deborah’s Tunafish

• Tuna medallions or steaks (I buy these on sale for $4.99 at my local Harris Teeter)
• Douse with fresh lemon and freshly cracked black pepper
• Bake in 350 degree oven until no longer pink inside.  Cool.
• Flake tuna until there aren’t any chunks left.
• Finely chop celery and Vidalia (or sweet, Maui) onions and mix in equal parts light Hellman’s mayonnaise and poppyseed salad dressing.  Add more pepper to taste.

Please let me hear from you regarding possible subjects you’d like me to discuss.

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Plus Size Plum would like to announce that we have a new and improved site with many user friendly options, hot Spring styles and you can pay through authorize.net or PayPal. Express, hassle -free shopping with the same personal experience as our earlier version.  Please visit our new site for the best shopping  and personalized service in an online plus size lingerie store.  Memorial day sale is happening now!

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As customary, I was driving and listening to NPR about a man’s quest for his individuality.  He ultimately transforms himself into a cliche, a demographic for marketers of the 40 something male drifting into ennui, desirable of the cool, quirky car or the small tattoo on his bicep.  I am sure that I am a cliche of sorts because as plus size women, we share a multitude of experiences (as well as similar interests).  For many women, there’s bound to be mothers disapproving of their daughter’s plus size status.  My own weight struggle began at 10 and it caused a breach in my relationship with my mother.  She viewed my weight as an act of defiance, a rejection of all she valued as beautiful and glamorous.  From my perspective, it was a personal issue, but to her my weight showed the world she was a bad mother by allowing her child to look different.  Things went from bad to worst when my mother married a man whose own bar mitzvah suit had to be custom made and whose father weighed him daily.  He was a reformed compulsive overeater bully and he expressed his disdain for me daily.

Fortunately, my mother divorced him, but not the negative rhetoric.  A film came out called Goodbye Columbus with a new actress named Ali Mc Graw who played a beautiful, brainy uber JAP who has a romance with Richard Benjamin as the poor, nerdy librarian as an act of rebellion. Whether it was my resemblance to her (at the time) or movie magic, the film cast a spell over my mother.  I was supposed to be the skinny, tennis playing, high achieving princess and those high standards were impossible for me to meet.  I was a size ten for all of ten minutes!

When I was 15, I went to a boarding school where I met a fellow student, the plus size daughter of a prominent socialite and fashion muse, subsequently well-known for her fat prejudices reported in WWD.  So I knew there were others out there like myself who had survived their mother’s scorn.  How can we feel good about ourselves when our mothers can’t accept us as fat?

As a mother I’ve been trying to adopt the good things my mother gave me and to discard the negative stuff.  One of the single, most difficult things one has to face as a mother is the ability to dream different dreams for your child.  It’s so easy to live vicariously through your children.  Accepting their unique dreams and their rejection of ours shouldn’t alienate us from each other.  We can travel different paths, but find a meeting place where unconditional love exists.

Over the course of the past week I’ve had to deal with my frustration at trying to get my soon to be ten-year-old to read.  He has ADHD and reading is challenging for him.  I found myself getting caught up in my image of myself as the precocious bookworm and wondering why he didn’t love to read like I did.  Last night he told me how badly he wants to share my love for books, but how hard it is for him.

My mother asked me this week if I can fit into my lingerie and I said, “Yes, it’s plus size”.  (I wear a 3X).  “Do you look horrible in it or what?”  In the past, I would’ve met my mother’s disparaging comments with hurt or anger.  Instead I quietly remarked that “yes”, it looks good on me.  Hours later I found myself smiling and thinking how proud I was that my mother didn’t hurt my feelings.  I had finally learned not to expect my mother to make me feel good about myself or the way I look.  At 51 I had finally become my own best mother.  I had set aside my own expectations for my mother because, after all, at 80 she was unlikely to change and the chasm was only going to prevent our love from growing.

While I was talking to my mother this week about my son, a poetry award he’d won and his lack of guile in telling me that he had “goofed off at school”, my mother interrupted, “He’s just like you”.  “What do you mean?”  “He’s sweet like you”, she said.  Some of the best mother’s day gifts are the ones you don’t expect.

I have Harry’s permission to share his poem with you.

                                                            New Love

                                          Light shines from me to you

                                          You make my heart play violin.

                                          I have a question inside me.

                                          Do you like me?

Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,

Deborah

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I’ve had the good fortune of having a mother with a fantastic style sense.  She continues to be my fashion muse.  Friends refer to her as “The Jewish Jackie O”.  My mother’s fashion sensibility is a combination of tailored classics like a crisp white shirt, black wide leg pants and pearls.  She effortlessly blends classics with capelet jackets and ponchos.  She wore grandfather watches on chains long before it was fashionable.  Although she’s 80 now, she still has her eye on the pulse of today’s fashions reminding me to carry lingerie with exposed rears. “It’s all about the booty now, Deborah”.

I think style and beauty is pure alchemy.  It’s a mixture of an ability to translate trends that compliment your figure and good instincts that tell you to discard the ones that don’t work.  Sometimes we need to rely on the honesty of a good girlfriend for an objective perspective.  For example, skinny jeans are unforgiving unless you have perfect legs while a boot cut pant is flattering on everyone.  I love the babydoll look, but I have to be discriminating in my selection because with my large bust, it can look like maternity wear.  I love a monochromatic look in black, purple, navy or brown because it’s slenderizing and elegant.  I just saw Michael Kors plus size line in Nordstrom’s which is my favorite store.  His bright yellow trench could be the perfect topper to a navy sweater and sailor pants.

One trend never to be followed is the re-design of one’s eyebrows.  Get a kit or search for the best waxer in you area.  There is no margin for error here. I suggested to Stephanie, my pretty friend at the local Staples she might consider growing hers in for her contest photos.  “My landlady does mine,” she said.  I said, “What do hers look like?”  She paused and said, “She paints hers on come to think. “  I said, “I rest my case”.  Most eyebrows don’t grow back exactly the way they grew in, especially if you’re older.  I believe fuller, more natural eyebrows withstand the test of time because it’s a youthful look just like a full, glossy mouth is.  I’ve seen the report of a trend towards a flat, red shade on lips, but this is extremely hard to wear.  I am personally fond of Bobbi Brown’s Spring 2008 Pink Raspberry collection “for every complexion-from pink to deep raspberry.”

Breast implants and tattoos require serious consideration and should never be acted on impulsively.  One day we can be a part of an edgy art crowd and years later we can be contemplating entry to a more conservative, corporate atmosphere.  You’ll definitely regret the “bite me” tattoo on your neck.  I read recently that Tori Spelling regrets the size of her breast implants because she had succumbed to a trend of the 90s.

My personal beauty secrets are:  When I was a young girl, my mother bought me a Mason Pearson brush which as far as I’m concerned is worth every penny if you treasure your hair.  I am also a firm believer in buying the best shampoos (Phillip B makes great shampoos-very pricey) and alternating them.  I prefer Purology (more affordable) for its scent, volume and the wonderful squeeky clean feeling.  I love Kiehl’s skin care products and I’ve been using them since I was 12.  The best product for zapping a pimple quick is Origin’s “Spot Remover” which is strong, but highly effective.

Some of the best products out there can be found in your pantry or drug store.  Mayonnaise is a terrific conditioner for dry, split ends.  And, Aquaphor found in your local drug store heals your weathered, parched hands.  Everyone should own an aloe plant to heal scratches, scars or sunburns. (I heard from a Carnie Wilson infomercial that a paste of crushed garbanzo beans and water removes sun spots.  I’ll let you know how that works out.)

 Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about mainstream stores like Walmart selling sexual lubricants, but according to my very hip Gyn, the best product out there is olive oil.  It won’t irritate or cause PH problems.  Just be careful about staining the sheets.

As a busty woman, I have to use cornstarch under my breasts to prevent chafing.  I began to carry the incredible edible body dust because I thought I might as well taste good, too.

We are entering an era of the sexy, ethnic beauty.  Thirty years ago plus size models had to be blue-eyed blondes to get work.  Due to the popularity of celebrities like Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez, we are re-defining beauty to incorporate curves, colors and ethnicity.  Natalie Portman recently joked that she and Scarlett Johansson should be known as “The Hot Knishes” with reference to Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayak who were called “The Hot Tamales“.  Expanding society’s perception of beauty promotes self-esteem and success among all the little, big girls of the world.

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Shirley of Hollywood, the leader in sexy lingerie for 60 years is searching for the next top sexy plus size model. Entrants must be sponsored by a retailer (like Plus Size Plum).  Applicants can send their pictures to:  info@plussizeplum.com or call 919-471-1110.  Winners will be voted for online.  This is an incredible opportunity for anyone interested in becoming a plus size model.  You’ll win a modeling contract with Shirley of Hollywood, a trip to Los Angeles where you’ll be photographed by a Playboy photographer and a lingerie wardobe. 

For more details on this exciting contest, please visit: http://shirleyofhollywood.com/modelsearch/

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to sign up for our RSS Feed! Got an RSS Reader? Grab this: http://plussizeplum.com/blog/feed You can also share this post using the “share this” button below.

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If you like what you've read here,
Be sure to check out our main site at
www.plussizeplum.com

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I am revising a role I played many years ago dispensing advice on sex and love for BBW magazine as the “Friendship Lady”.  If you are easily offended, you may want to stop reading here.  I am not apologizing for my bluntness-it’s a  byproduct of menopause.</