Changes for 2013 – excuse me while I’m getting ready!

UPDATE: Hopefully by now you’re seeing this content on the new domain. Please bear with me as I fix any final issues and start tweaking content to suit the new domain. But hopefully, you’ll be as happy as I am with this new home!

The start of a new year is a good time to make changes, so I’ve decided to do something that I probably should have done quite a while ago. As of some time this month or early next (depending on how quickly I can get all the boring technical stuff done) Big Girls Browse will be no more.

But don’t get too excited. I won’t be going far, and neither will my content. I’ll simply be moving everything over to GemmaCartwright.com and ditching this URL.

I’ve decided it’s time to lose the silly pun-based name that has, to be honest, caused me nothing but problems since I launched this blog. It’s time to stop trying to be a character and do what I should have done a very long time ago – be myself…

Meet BGB’s new girl, Hollie-Anne!

I’m really happy today to introduce you to a new contributer to Big Girls Browse, Hollie-Anne. She’ll be helping me ensure that this site continues to cater to women of all shapes and sizes. As a size 22 fit model, she has a direct line to all the dirty the secrets behind the scenes when it comes to high street fashion, and hopefully she’ll be sharing a few secrets with us! Keep reading for a little intro from the new girl…

Gallery: Evans Autumn / Winter 2010-11 Press Day

Today was press day for Phillip Green’s Arcadia, which owns Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Evans (among others). I joined the fashionistas to take a look at what some of the high street’s biggest players have in store for Autumn / Winter 2010-11, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Evans more than held its own against it’s ‘trendier’ sister brands.

From biker jeans to shearling coats, faux fur to boho dresses, all the key trends were covered. There was some brilliant footwear (put me on the list for the Victoriana-inspired lace-up calf boots) and great bags (look out for the blue one in the pics). Other key items to look out for included a Balmain-esque t-shirt with stud and chain covered shoulders, a coral dress with cut-out shoulders, and a great sheer jersey top with angel wings front and back. Right now these are all early samples, so who’s to say if all of them will make it into local stores come September, but it’s still worth making that shopping list now. There should also be some surprises to come – apparently the ash cloud meant some samples were stranded abroad!

Debenhams start using size 16 mannequins

If you walk past Debenhams on London’s Oxford Street in the next few days, you might spot something a bit unusual. They’ve just added two size 16 mannequins to the display, with a board below reading “I’m a size 16. Do you want to see more of me?”

This is part of a trial by the retailer to see if customers would like to see these mannequins rolled out across more stores. Traditionally, Debenhams use size 10 models, but with 42% of sales coming from size 14 and 16 garments, these new mannequins represent the average customer far more…

Big Girl for Evans

No, I haven’t been given my own Beth Ditto-esque fashion range (yet) but I am very honoured to be the first guest blogger on the brand new Evans blog.

As the market leaders in the UK when it comes to 14+ fashion, Evans are hugely influential. But theirs is a mammoth task; as one of only a handful of brands catering for the plus size market in this country (and the only one to have a truly significant number of stand-alone stores on the high street) they have to do a bit of everything, from trends to workwear to classics to formalwear (plus shoes, lingerie and so on). I think it’s great that they’re adding another place for customers to interact and discuss what they like, what they want and how they want to be involved, and I’m sure the blog will be huge news as it grows…

ASOS to launch plus size range – ASOS Curve

The wonderful girls from ASOS broke the brilliant news on Twitter today that ASOS – the folks responsible for the fab (non plus-size) items above) will soon be branching out into the plus size market with new called ASOS Curve. It’ll cater for sizes 20 – 26 and they’re currently looking for fit models, so if you’re a Big Girl who fits the criteria, you could be one step away from ensuring an almost custom-made collection…

Once-fat Karl Lagerfeld has another anti-fat rant.

Karl Lagerfeld has once again conveniently forgotten that he used to be fat and decided to moan about the use of normal women in magazines. “No one wants to see curvy women,” said the designer, on hearing the news that Brigitte, one of Germany’s top-selling magazines, was making a move to include ‘real’ women on its pages rather than professional models. This isn’t the first time the Kaiser has whined about bigger women, either. When he created a line for H&M, he complained about his clothes being made up to a size 16, stating he designed only for slim women. Well, Karl, we seem to remember you cosying up to Beth Ditto at one of your shows not so long ago…

Fall in love with Dorothy Perkins ‘Luxe’ footwear

Shoes are the Big Girl’s secret weapon! No matter how much your weight fluctuates they’ll always fit, and an amazing pair of heels can add inches, make legs look slimmer and – most importantly – make you feel like you rule the world. High Street retailers know this all too well, which is why they’re continually upping the ante each season with more ostentatious offerings. Dorothy Perkins have just announced ‘Luxe’, a collection of premium styles named after some of the world’s top jet-set destination. I’m in love, and I bet you will be too!

Beth Ditto at Evans – buy it tomorrow!

Gossip singer Beth Ditto launches her highly anticipated range of clothing for plus size retailer Evans tomorrow. The range will be available online, but we’ve just heard about some exciting extra stuff that’ll be happening at the Marble Arch flagship store if you’re in London. In a move that mimics the hysteria of Beth’s mate Kate Moss’s launch at Topshop, those generous folks at Arcadia will be offering up prizes, gifts with purchase and refreshments for people in the queue at 9am…