The plus-size fashion industry has grown leaps and bounds over the past few years.” That’s according to Colleen Stovall (pictured), a local plus-size model and blogger for shortCurvyFIERCE. She drops names like BellaNOR Boutique, in Mount Airy, and Chinoo Designs when discussing go-tos for curvaceous customers in our area, but the options still feel a bit constricting. That’s why Stovall teamed up with Empress Lingerie founder Domonique Revere-Lincoln to create the Curvy Closets Plus Size Fashion Showcase, which will offer a myriad of full-figured shop-ables.
Expect to get an eyeful of great up-and-coming and veteran designers, like silhouette-centric BGU (Big Girls United) and vivid prints from Eddy & Bri. The event’s location — Marathon Grill — is another testimony to the lack of traffic plus-size fashion gets in Philly. That’s not to knock the local restaurant chain, but wouldn’t the show be better served at some edgy, full-figure-catering boutique? Oh wait, we’re sorely lacking one. But just as soon as we feel embittered by this one-size-fits-all discrimination, Stovall chimes in to lift our spirits. “Positive events are important to break stereotypes that society places on full-figured women,” she says.
She’s got a point. Without the dedication of women like her and Rever-Lincoln, and without events like this showcase, we’d get nowhere. Stovall reminds us there is such thing as Full Figured Fashion Week in New York, and our fair city is taking strides to provide a richer spectrum of shopping options. If you want to see a trendy boutique catering to curves in Center City (or Old City, or any shopping destination in Philly), you’ve got to start by showing off your goods at Marathon. Sat., Sept. 1, $35, 5-9 p.m., Marathon, 1818 Market St., 856-558-9559, curvyclosets.com.
