The Power of Plus: February 2006 Archives

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February 27, 2006

Fashion Week and Affordable Plus-Size Clothing

Fashionistas from around the country and around the world have converged on New York for Fashion Week, the ritual that sets trends for Fall/Winter 2006 and creates much-anticipated buzz. Karl Lagerfeld is podcasting his show. Even CNN has an ongoing Old Navy has recognized the power of plus and provided us with casual wear that's affordable.

There's another source of affordable plus-size clothing that many in our community have never tapped into - eBay. When I checked this morning, there were over 51,000 plus-size auctions listed in auction format on eBay. There are probably tens of thousands more listed in eBay Stores. For the uninitiated, eBay has both auctions and what they call "fixed price" listings, where you can buy something immediately - without having to bid or wait for an auction to end.

In the spirit of both full disclosure and to plug my business, I'm an eBay seller who specializing in affordable plus-size clothing from Making it Big. My eBay store contains over a thousand pieces of Making it Big plus and supersize clothing - some first quality, some production seconds, but all of it new. My buyers are wonderful women who appreciate that they can get great quality plus and supersize clothing at affordable prices.

If you've never perused eBay for plus-size clothing, I urge you to give it a try. I'm the first to admit that, if you're new to eBay, it can be a little overwhelming and intimidating at first. There is a bit of a learning curve, and you need to make sure you're buying from reliable sellers, but eBay has some great tutorials to get you started.

Even more exciting is a new site that eBay will launch this spring, which will be called eBay Express. This new site will give buyers a more traditional online shopping experience, where all of the items have a fixed price and where buyers will have a shopping cart. Buyers can make purchases from multiple sellers and go through a single checkout process. I haven't yet seen even a beta version of eBay Express, but the idea holds a lot of promise.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2006

More Olympic Moments

I'm obviously fully into Olympic mode these days, so wanted to share a press release that a friend sent me:

DALLAS, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing the numerous emotional moments that undoubtedly occur during the journey to the Olympic Winter Games, Kleenex(R) facial tissue and NBCOlympics.com announced the launch of an online destination designed especially for moms that will be active from Feb. 10 - 26.

The interactive website will serve as the meeting place for consumers eager to get a "mom's-eye-view" of the emotional stories, or Kleenex Moments(TM), associated with the unique relationship between mothers and their U.S. Olympic athletes.

The online destination will showcase three mothers of U.S. Olympic athletes who will provide regular anecdotes, updates and insights from Torino. The three mother-daughter pairs sharing their Kleenex Moments during the 2006 Olympic Winter Games are:

U.S. Olympic bobsledder Vonetta Flowers and her mother, Bobbie Jeffery;

U.S. Olympic speed skater Elli Ochowicz and her mother, Sheila Young-Ochowicz;

U.S. Olympic Hockey Team forward Kelly Stephens and her mother, Kristine Stephens.

"There are so many emotional stories in our lives that the cameras missed outside of the competition, which viewers never got to see," said Flowers. "This online 'scrap book' gives us a chance to share the entire journey leading up to, and during the Games to really illustrate the ups and downs an athlete and their mom's experience along the road to becoming a U.S. Olympian."

Along with providing an entry in their daily diaries each day, the moms will be the subject of a series of articles about the emotional journey to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. These stories will focus on everything from the joy they share along the way to how they spend precious time together outside of training and competition.

Isn't that sweet???

Posted by conradb212 at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2006

Olympic Update

I was just watching the first run of the women's luge, and there was a commentator who revealed that lugers (is that what you call them?) wear lead weights around their hips and bottom. He said that being heavier helps them go faster. A member of the U.S. Women's Luge Team said that she weighed 135 and wore an additional 25 pounds of lead. I'm telling you, there's a place for plus-size women in the Olympics!

Posted by conradb212 at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2006

Olympic Dreams

I love the Olympics. No, I'm not generally a sports fan, but I absolutely love the Olympics. It's 5:03 PM Pacific Time, and I'm jealous that those of you on the East Coast are settling in to watch the opening ceremonies.

Why do I love the Olympics? Perhaps it's my patriotic streak, but more likely it's my idealism. Forget the rumors of performance-enhancing drugs, forget the figure skating controversies, and forget the intrasport squabbling. Instead, think about the Olympic ideal - countries setting aside their differences and coming together to compete honestly and celebrate the unity of humanity and sport.

Although I love the Olympics, I also dream of an Olympics that's inclusive - one where plus-size women and big men could use their size to their advantage and compete. After all, very tall people have more than one Olympic sport - basketball and volleyball come to mind - in which they can excel. Short, slight people have gymnastics and people with other body types can choose from a variety of sporting endeavors.

There have been large men and women in the Olympics - there was weightlifter Cheryl Haworth in the 2000 Sydney Games, and Rulon Gardner, who retired from wrestling in 2004. We even have a plus size Olympian featured on the BBW site - Helena Blach Lavrsen, who won a silver medal in curling in the 1998 Games.

Still, what about the sports that would draw on our inherent talents? Think to the Summer Games, and to water polo. Let's face it - big women are unsurpassed when it comes to floating. I always shake my head in wonder when I see those thin athletes churning the water with their legs, trying to stay afloat. Put plus size women in the water polo competition, and our energy could be used for defense and offense, rather than for treading water.

Of course, I'm not withdrawing my support of these Winter Games because they're not inclusive. But that doesn't mean I can't have my own Olympic dreams.