Trendy Top Fit for Big, Hip Women
DEAR HOT: Do you know of any really trendy styles for fat women? You know, stuff that nobody will be caught dead in next year. I’m a Size 22, and while more companies are making nicer clothes for large women, most of them are dreadfully classic. I’m sick of looking like Kate Smith. Roseanne Barr’s more my type.
DEAR HOT SHOPPER: Maybe you haven’t noticed, but Roseanne Barr’s wardrobe is far more conservative than her behavior. We recently spotted her checking out a wallet--rather meticulously--at Nordstrom in the Westside Pavilion. She had on the same sort of basic jeans-and-big-shirt outfit she wears for her TV show, but topped it with a cute hat. On her recent HBO special, she showed up in a downright elegant beaded chemise. And in those infamous Vanity Fair mud-wrestling photos, she wore a traditional, one-piece black swimsuit. You can’t get much more classic than that.
The closest thing to a big-size, off-the-wall-trendy outfit we could find is in the current Spiegel “For You” catalogue, which is generally for sizes 14 through 24. The style’s a red-hot Pucci knockoff ($68, pictured). The top has early ‘90s (as well as late ‘60s) written all over it. To order, call (800) 345-4500.
DEAR HOT: I want to pass on a tip for shopping at humongous malls. Last weekend, I was cruising the monster Del Amo Fashion Center. Most of the stores I wanted to check out were in one end of the mall, but one item I needed was at the other end--about the equivalent of eight blocks away. Suddenly it hit me. Why not just phone the store to see if what I wanted was in stock? I did. It wasn’t. Much shoe leather conserved. From now on, I’m gonna let my fingers do more of the walking--even if I’m already at the mall and it costs 20 cents to do so.
DEAR HOT SHOPPER: We applaud your ingenuity and think customer-friendly malls everywhere should install toll-free house phones, hooked up to all the stores in the shopping center, for calls like yours. We’d especially appreciate house phones at shopping meccas like Torrance’s Del Amo (Southern California’s largest mall, with more than 350 stores), Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza (a close second) and the behemoth Glendale Galleria. Hey, our pampered tootsies would even welcome mini-trams--indoors, of course.
BEYOND JUNK MAIL: Leave it to Panty-of-the-Month to come up with the “Erin Go Bra” just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. When this thing arrived in our mail, we were expecting a tacky chartreuse bustier covered with shamrocks or leprechauns. But the bra turns out to be a rather pretty, tastefully subdued underwire number in delicate mint-green satin tricot topped with white lace. It’s so normal looking we decided you’d be bored if we pictured it here.
This month, the “Erin Go Bra” comes free with one-year Panty-of-the-Month memberships ($234 for the regular edition or $468 for the deluxe edition). Shorter memberships are also available. For more information, call (718) 745-0227. What’s more, according to Lila Williams, founder and owner of Panty-of-the-Month, customers who purchase a membership (and the bra) will also receive a free garter belt. Unfortunately, the bra cannot be purchased unless you buy a subscription.
