Plentty

How hard can it be to find a belt?

2011-12-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

My latest addiction is belts. Not the puny, tiny things but the gigantic corset kind with multiple buckles. I'm in the process of slimming down a wee bit and had the idea to start wearing belts to "train" my waist. While I am a bit fluffy, my waist has always been much smaller that the areas above & below it. So far it seems to be working and it's giving me the hourglass-ish figure which is what I want.

I found a belt at Cato for under $20 that's almost perfect except for the elastic back part which tends to flip, and roll. Below is a photo of me wearing it today. It looks great from the front but the side and back are scary!

In my quest to find a black all leather corset belt that does not have the elastic part I've googled and come up with nothing in plus size that's under $100. Here are some that I've found online:

At this point, I'm determined to make me some so I can get exactly what I want. If any of you know a source for them under $50 - please let me know!

75th Diamond Birthday - Bishop Philemon Turner, Sr.

2011-12-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

My pastor turns 75 on 12/26 and his family threw him a birthday party at the Memphis Hilton saturday night. It was fantastic! He looks about 60 and is in great health - no medicine, no glasses, and he walks almost everyday. He is truly a role model to follow in taking care of our temples.

I've been asking God to help me to take care of myself because I want to be around and be functional for as long as I can. I started walking a few months ago and have lost 12 lbs. as of last week and I can see a difference in how my clothes fit. Yeah!

Here are some photos of me at the event. Yes, I'm a girly-girl and will take advantage of every opportunity to dress up. Thankfully. . .I left my tiara at home this time!

For 2012, make it a priority to do your style, your way! Don't settle for what someone else says you should wear!

Be Blessed!
Tonya

Christmas Time is here!

2011-12-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

Truly, this is the most wonderful time of the year! Over 2,000 years ago God gave mankind the greatest gift ever given. He gave us love through Jesus - the Christ, our savior.

Why did we need a savior?. . .because we have issues. We say, do, and act in ways that we know ourselves are not good. Many of us recognize our need to change and we've tried to change ourselves many times but have limited to no success rate at it. That's why we need Jesus - He brings with Him the power to change us from what we are - to what we know in our hearts we should be, like Him.

It's kind of amazing how we can invest our money into banks or companies that have proven not to have our best interests at heart. We eat at restaurants everyday and trust that the food is safe. We go to doctors and trust what they advise us to do although the very name of their profession tells us that they are just practicing medicine. Why are we so quick to not believe in God and the one He has sent to save us from ourselves?

I encourage each of you who don't have a relationship with Him to investigate Jesus for yourself. Learn about Him from the book He wrote (The Bible) and those who know Him (His Church). In the words of the late Joan "Golden Girl" Golden - You'll be glad you did!

Tonya

My Year of Working Creatively

2011-10-31T12:26:00.000-07:00

This time last year I had just completed my first handmade/craft/art show participating as a vendor at RiverArts Fest in South Main Historic District here in Memphis. I've since done about 15 other shows and events and have learned a lot about the business that I'll use to plan our what my next steps are for my business. Here's a photographic look back at some of them.

Fall Fashion Forecast. . .Sunglassed Needed!

2011-08-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at the Fall 2011 collections and I'm seeing some things that intrigue me. Here lately, I only like about 20% of what designers show on the runway. This year it's the same but a couple of things I'm feeling are:

Odd Color Combos for Fall 2011:

Black & Blue - not navy or power, the bright elecytric blue
Peacock & Purple - from shades of lavendar & royal purple paired with teals and aquas

Fashion Themes I Like

Conservative Vintage - think Kate Middleton's gown or Mad Men chic
70's Midi skirt lengths - below the knee

Trends vary by location so it's good to check multiple resources. Here are a few I like:

Fashionising

Pantone

WOW. . . .

2011-06-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

God has given me some cool ideas of new things to make! First up is a new line of natural hair accessories that can be worn to work or play. I'm also feeling the earring vibe again. . .think wire. Will upload pics later.

2010-11-28T22:25:00.000-08:00

Take the Quiz here!

My result is very fitting as this is one of my FAVORITE books/movies! Jennifer Ehle is my favorite Jane thus far. Hated Keira Knightly as Jane. . .Yuck!

Ahhhh. . . A Royal Wedding!

2010-11-16T22:39:00.000-08:00

In honor of today's announcement that finally Prince William will marry Kate Middleton next year, I thought it a good time to post my version of Princess Diana's wedding gown made for my Barbie, circa 1981.

Memphis. . .

2010-11-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

Last week I attended an event held in The Tower Room on the 31st floor of Clark Tower. While there I took the opportunity to snap some shots of the city. Memphis is a pretty good lookin' city!

Barbie Fashion Chronicles - Part 2

2010-11-11T01:52:00.000-08:00

Here are more of the fashions I designed and made as I kid:

Congrats to MemphisFlash!

2010-11-11T01:33:00.000-08:00

I want to send a shout-out to my friend Tracy who launched MemphisFlash last month and made the local news yesterday! She does beautiful photos of Downtown Memphis that are just the thing to grace your space!

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/good_morning/111010-initiative-makes-woman-picture-perfect

The Roots of Creativity

2010-11-09T04:09:00.000-08:00

This post begins a series of posts where I show how I started down the creative path. . .Barbie! Yes, that venerable old institution of young girls everywhere. It was my hatred of the off-the-rack clothes that caused me to design and make my own. Here are the first 2 designs:

Cubical as Art Gallery

2010-11-09T04:03:00.000-08:00

I've been painting again after a long hiatus. I had the idea to display it in my cube at work to give me a creative atmosphere for me to work in. Take a look. . .and yes, that is a leopard-print screen saver!

Halloween

2010-10-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

This was the fist Halloween with my younger nephew and niece. They were so excited about going Trick or Treating! I took them over the neighborhood and they had a blast.

First Items Available on Etsy!

2010-10-31T21:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah Me! I just posted my first 4 items on Etsy and I'm so hyped! I feel like I'm officially going places with by business. Check 'em out - http://www.etsy.com/shop/plentty

Just Do It!

2010-10-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

Hi America!

After years of research, planning, branding, more research, planning, re-branding, and yet more research and more planning - I've decided to dive in headfirst into the world of indie crafty handmade entrepreneurship. I've finally learned that if I wait until I have all the answers and know how everything should work I'll never do anything.

I have expanded the focus of the brand from just plus-size clothing to a lifestyle brand that includes art, jewelry & accessories, and home decor.

In keeping with the "Just Do It" strategy, here are some photos from my first craft show. It was this past weekend at the RiverArts Festival in the South Main Historic District here in Memphis. I didn't get to finish everything that I wanted to show but I accomplished the main goal which was to just do it.

Okay, so I'm not exactly on schedule. . .

2010-04-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hello America. . . .as you can see from my infrequent blog posts, I'm running a bit behind on the whole boostrapping a clothing line to dominate the fashion world thing. But, better late than never!

Since I last posted I've launched another venture, Atmosphere Tablescape & Event Decor Rentals. We pride ourselves on being a resource for DIY Brides in the Mid-South. Check out our website to learn more about what we do:

http://atmospherememphis.com/index.htm

Be Blessed!
Tonya

Sizing & Fit Models

2009-03-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

One headache for women of all sizes and shapes is sizing. It's entirely possible to wear a 24 in a Jones New York skirt and need a 18 in a Lane Bryant slack. Although the type of fabric and style of the garment does impact the size you would wear, the most important factor is the fit model used too create the patterns.

Fashion Education 101 - a fit model is a live person who represents the ideal body type that the designer is looking to design clothes for. The fit model's measurements are used to build the sample patterns and these patterns are graded up or down depending on the size.

If I were designing a line of dresses for petite busty women, sizes 0 to 12, I would find me a women who had this body style and whow wore about a size 6, the middle of the range. I would then take about 40+ measurements and use them to make my first sample dress. I would try the dress on my fit model and make any adjustments. Once it fit perfectly, I would grade the pattern down to sizes 0, 2, 4 and up to 8, 10, & 12.

For Plentty, I've decided to focus on clothing for women who are:

Taller women who are 5’7” to 5’10”
Basically symetrical figures with a waist indention
Full bust – use D cup as standard (4” between chest & bust)

Here's the size chart that I'll be using for the line:

Below is a photo of my dressmaker's dummy that I've padded to represent the body type that I'll be designing for.

If you live in Memphis area and are interested in being a fit model for my clothing line, email me. There's no pay for this role right now but as the business grows, you will have lots of opportunities.

See you later!

Business Update

2009-03-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

I realized that I've been sadly neglecting my posts for this blog and decided to remedy the situation this week while on vacation in Orlando.

Plentty: The Clothing Line is still in the planning stages. My plan is to launch the One-of-A-Kind (OOAK) and custom clothing store on etsy.com once I finish school in June '09. This initial collection will be mostly skirts, a major focus of the line. You can suscribe or follow this blog and you'll be notified when the first items become available for sale.

Will chat soon. . .Toodles!

DressLove

2008-12-23T23:21:00.000-08:00

Dresses are my favorite fashion item closely followed by skirts. These 2 items happen to be the hardest things to find in plus-sizes. For some reason, corporate fashion mongers have decided that plus-size women don't need to wear many dresses, only pants.

I disagree with this position and I've decided that Plentty will focus on providing dresses and skirts. The collection will also include some blouses and jackets to complement the skirts.

What do you think ladies? Would you wear more dresses and skirts if you could find them? Pot a comment and let me know.

Meanwhile, below are some designs I'm planning for the first collection - Spring 2010.

Not About Size – It’s About Life!

2008-11-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

Half of Me is a personal story that turned into a website and them a book. It’s about a girl who lost half of her size by plain old diet & exercise. I read her blog and she has some very profound things to say about the whole body image/dieting/size issue. My favorites are here and here.

When I was in high school and wore a size 12, I was convinced I was the fattest girl on the planet because I was so much bigger than everyone else. In retrospect, I was a hottie and didn’t even know it!

As I’ve “enlarged my territory” – my main concern for reducing is because I want to be in good health. Even at my current 22/24 – I still look good! Especially when I’m wearing one of my own designs. But, I have noticed that the extra pounds have impacted me in ways that I do not like. So, for me, and I hope for you too – it’s not about the vanity of buying a size 10, or looking like Beyonce, or even attracting Mr. Big. . .

Plentty. . .It’s all about living a quality life!

Yes We Can - Join the Movement!

2008-11-16T21:25:00.000-08:00

Borrowing a phrase from our president-elect, Yes We Can build a plus-size fashion empire! A company that will take the limits off what plus-size fashion should be. Putting the power of choice into the hands of plus-size women everywhere.

The plan is to design, source, manufacture, and sell our clothing over the internet. As business expands, we will wholesale to indie (independent) plus-size boutiques. From there, the next step is to open our own boutiques across the country to give our customers a complete shopping experience. After all, online shopping won’t help me get a dress for a wedding that starts at 3pm today.

What Do We Need? We need you! Your ideas, your opinions, & your resources. Visit our ‘Designs” page on www.plentty.com and vote for which dresses you like best by clicking the “Contact” link to email us your choices.

As we grow, we will need help spreading the word about our efforts. We want to be on every blog, fashion website, & magazine. If you would like to be a part of building this new company, email us and let us know how you can help.

We will also need money to turn our dreams into a reality and we’ll be launching a major crowdfunding initiative to do this. Bookmark this blog to stay posted on our progress.

Plentty: Yes We Will!

Like It or Love It?

2008-11-16T21:24:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else in America, I’m watching my pennies very carefully. Since I’m spending less money on clothes, I want to make those dollars count big time! I want to buy clothes that I love, not just like. Clothes that make me look good, feel good, and that express who I am. Not just things that are okay.

Actually, it’s cheaper in the long-run. The clothes that I’ve been buying all these years that were just okay were not free! I had to pay for them, even if I never wore them again. Some of these items I discovered I didn’t really like while others didn’t fit right. In both cases the end result was a bunch of stuff in my closet and never anything to wear. Eventually, a lot of these clothes ended up on my yearly garage sale or going to some poor soul at the Goodwill.

I’ve made up my mind to reserve my fashion dollars for clothes that I really, really, really like! I would rather spend $80 on a dress that I love, instead of $40 on one that’s just okay. I can’t afford okay anymore, I want WOW! The only way for me to get the Wow is to create it.

Plentty: Bringing the Wow to Plus-Size Fashion!

More Than Black!

2008-11-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

I celebrated a milestone birthday back in August and my best friend from high school and I threw ourselves a party. We began planning the event back in April and neither of us were able to find the right dress until right before the event. Even then, we ‘settled’ because time was no longer on our side!

We were both looking for girly, fun, feminine dresses that did now show the parts that we prefer to keep hidden. My favorite color is peridot green, hers is purple, and we were looking for dresses in these colors. If we wore a size 12 or smaller, this task would have been a no-brainer. Because we are both east of a 12, it was a big headache. If we had chosen to wear black, we would have had much better luck. In fact, the over abundance of black in plus-size clothing offerings is beginning to make me hate black. Where are the options? It’s like manufacturers are saying that we are not worthy of the rainbow of choice offered in smaller sizes. I reject that . . .big time!

A few years ago I was in my local style-conscious, big box retail store and ran across some velour track suits in the luscious colors. They had melon, aqua, lime, navy, burgundy, and black. I quickly hurried over to the women’s department because this retailer usually carries the same items in both misses and plus. To my chagrin, they had the track suits but the only colors available to me were gray, navy blue, and of course black! I was not a happy camper.

My goal in launching my own plus-size apparel company is to make sure this never happens. I want to give all women the freedom of choice - in color, style, fabric, & design.

Plentty: Join the Revolution!

Why?. . . .Reason #1

2008-11-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

Why do I want to start a plus-size cothing line? Because I don't really like what the existing manufacturers and retailers are offering me.

One major issue is that most dresses and skirts are designed for short people. I've noticed that even when I find a cute dress or skirt, it will be several inches above my knee in the front and 4 inches shorter than that in the back.

If you are one of the millions of well-endowed women with an ample rear window, you can feel my pain! While being bootilicious is the "in" thing right now, it does take a lot of fabric to cover all that up. So, if you start with a dress like this one that's already short in the front, and add in some booty, you can imagine the draft a girl will feel!

I like this dress. I like the fabric and the detail and I can see myself wearing this to a wedding, or to work, or to church - with a chain belt so it does not make me look like I'm expecting. I would not buy it because it's just too short. While this may be okay for club-hopping, if you are not a club-goer you would be hard-pressed to find other occasions to wear it alone.

I could wear this over some jeans with some boots - but that's a more casual look. I think that the mainstream plus retailers are doing okay on the casual clothes tip. Denim is always available whether it's jeans, skirts, or jackets. Knit tops and silky blouses abound. What's not available are really nice, girly, flirty, chic dresses and skirts.

It All Starts Now!

2008-11-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

Hello World!

Welcome to Plentty, a blog to chronicle the creation and startup of a new plus-size fashion line.

Starting my own fashion label has been a dream of mine since I was a size 12. For those of you who don't know me - or 99.9999% of the world - that was a really, really long time ago. It suffices me to say that I am now firmly ensconced in the ranks of of Americans who wear a size 14 or larger. According to one source, this equates to about 95 million people.

Why now?..............Why not now? While it's true that the global economy might be in the toilet, being a glass-half-full girl that I am, I see 'opportunity' which nicely lines up with the 'need' that I've seen for years. In spite of all the strides that I've seen in plus-size clothing over the last 20 years, I still cannot find things that I really want to wear.

Fashion is about self-expression. It's about telling the story of you with clothes. Everyone has their own story. For women who wear a size 12 or smaller, there are enough manufacturers telling enough stories to ensure that one of them will fit. For those of us on the right side of 12, we only have about 4 or 5 stories and most of them involve grandma or tweenagers. Not nearly enough to cover the diversity of who we are.

My goal is to alleviate this - with your help!

Plentty. . .Tell Your Story!