Fashion Faux Pas for Plus Sized Women

I am 5'4" tall. I weigh 210 lbs. I wear a size 16 pant and a size nine shoe. I am NOT normal. But, does that mean I am not cool? No! I am as cool as I want to be. For many plus sized women, there are fashion faux pas' all around us, trying to lure us into being as cool as the size six woman next to us in line. I, for one, am not about to start measuring my self worth by the size of my waist.

For as long as I can remember, the racks in stores were filled with wonderfully stylish clothing all available in sizes 0-12. Anything beyond that was vaguely reminiscent of the patterns used to adorn my grandmother's sofa. Then, in the blink of an eye, the fashion world changed and plus size was okay! The racks reordered themselves and to my dismay every item that was earlier reserved for the "little" woman was now on the "big" woman side. Not the best decision to make. We, as plus sized women, found out very quickly that just because it looked good on the mannequin does not mean it will look good on us.

After realizing I would never be a size "normal," which took about a second, I decided to start taking note of the clothing offered to plus sized women and should not be! Here are my Top 5 Fashion Faux Pas for Plus Sized Women.

SPANDEX

This one had to top the list because it happens every summer. The retailers change out the racks from winter wear to summer wear and WOW there is spandex. The spandex revolution is over and done with and no self respecting woman should wear them anywhere outside of the gym, let alone on the street or out shopping if you are a size 14 plus. Stay away from the spandex. (The exception to this rule would be the ever-so-cool spandex leggings now offered in plus sizes for wear under dresses.)

Alternative: Yoga Pants - These are made with loose-fitting waist lines and boot cut legs, perfect for the plus size body.

CHARACTER T-SHIRTS