Labor Day Weekend Fashion Sales

Savor the last days of summer with these great fashion sales during this Labor Day weekend.

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT... NET-A-PORTER's summer clearance ends Sunday August 31. Simply enter promo code SUMMER during checkout to receive an extra 20% off selected sale items. The Net-A-Porter summer clearance sale includes a big range of designer clothing (3.1 Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney, Zac Posen and more), designer handbags (Marc Jacobs, Jimmy Choo, Burberry) and designer shoes (Christian Louboutin, Torry Burch, Chloe and more).

The lush Elsa woven leather shoulder bag by Marc Jacobs (shown here) is gorgeous. This Marc Jacobs bag has gold hardware, a chunky chain link and leather shoulder strap across top, a plain leather flap across top with a Deco inspired turn lock fastening on front, a zip fastening internal pocket and beige leather lining.

All clearance items will be clearly marked. This Net-A-Porter offer ends Sunday 31st August midnight BST.

Fashion Chateau, the online designer fashion boutique, currently has a 20-50% off Sale on Juicy Couture, True Religion, 7 for All Mankind, Sky and many more designer labels!

Get $25 off all orders of $150 or more at CoutureCandy. There's a huge range of designer clothing and swimwear, designer shoes, and designer handbags as well as accessories including sunglasses and jewelry to choose from.

Designer clothing labels include Ella Moss, LaROK, 3J Workshop, Betsey Johnson and Zoa. If you're after designer jeans then you'll find designer labels including Tag Jeans, Pierce Jeans and True Religion. There's also a line of super chic shorts by Johnson and high-fashion, funky, comfortable women’s shoes and sandals by Matiko Footwear.

I like the line of elegant and chic, beautifully detailed woven shirts, embroidered dresses and jackets by 3J Workshop however my picks are the Sequin Patchwork Mini and Racerback Mini (shown above) in Grey by the designer fashion label LaROK. The LaROK Mini dress has short sleeves and a deep v-neck while the Racerback Mini has a deep scoop neck and sexy racerback for a super chic look. Both feature oblong shaped patches of dark silver, light silver, gold, bronze and cooper sequins. These designer dresses by LaROK are priced at $348 and are perfect for dancing the night away. They look great in heels.

This is a Saturday Only offer. Enter Code LABOR at the end of checkout. Offer ends Midnight August 30, 2008.

LuvCharlie has a 25% Off everything offer until September 1st with some gorgeous designer clothing available including chic designs by Bailey 44 and Lauren Moffatt. I like the edgy Bailey 44 Smoke/Sun/White Sushi Dress (below left) and the Lauren Moffatt Pink Strapless Dress (below right). Use code augustclear at checkout to snag your 25% discount.

Get up to 75% OFF at the Barneys New York current online designer sale with a great range of designer clothing including Marc by Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg and Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, and designer shoes including Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Prada and much more.

Enjoy an extra 25% off already reduced sale and clearance items for a total savings of up to 85% during the Labor Day Warehouse Clearance Sale at Liz Claiborne. The extra 25% discount is valid only on already reduced items until 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, September 2, 2008.

Save Up To 70% Off on all clearance items during the Catherine Malandrino Labor Day Weekend Clearance.

Bag up to 75% OFF (excludes accessories) at the Betsey Johnson Labor Day Sale. This sale ends September 2, 2008 and includes a great range of Betsey Johnson designer clothing.

If you're after Designer Fashion Jewelry, Diamonds, Fine Jewelry or Bridal Jewelry then use code LDSSS08 at checkout and snag 20% Off all purchases at the Max & Chloe Labor Day Sale.

This weekend only, receive 65% off all sale merchandise in bebe stores. Offer begins ends at store closing on September 1, 2008. Discount automatically taken at checkout, no offer code required. Offer valid on all bebe sale merchandise, excludes gift cards and is not valid at BEBESPORT, bebe.com, 2b bebe or bebe Outlet.

Starting August 28^th, shop throughout the holiday weekend and enjoy an extra 30% off all sale items at eLuxury.com. Chic designer brands on sale include L.A.M.B, Margiela, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Nina Ricci, Thomas Wylde and Y3. eLuxury.com offers designer apparel and accessories as well as beauty and children's collections.

Labor Day savings have begun at Onlineshoes.com where you can now Buy One, Get One 25% Off an amazing selection of wear-now styles! Onlineshoes.com carry the latest trends in dress, boots, casual and athletic shoes, plus bags and apparel to accessorize the upcoming Fall look. This special offer ends on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Happy Labor Day!

‘Sizing up’ Your Fashion Sense

“Rubenesque: of, relating to, or suggestive of the Renaissance Master painter Rubens or his works; especially plump or rounded usually in a pleasing or attractive way, Rubenesque figure.”

“Statuesque: resembling a statue especially in dignity, shapeliness, or stillness. especially having a tall and shapely form, a statuesque actress”

It would seem significant that these definitions were created many years ago, because what broadly constitutes feminine beauty today, as portrayed by the media and fashion worlds, focuses almost exclusively on the ‘statuesque’ image. Given that women of all shapes and sizes have a passion for fashion, why are larger women so under represented in the fashion stakes and are perceptions changing?

Impossibly slender models (some would say anorexic) slink along catwalks and decorate magazines all over the world, while the rest of us despair of ever looking that way. But do we really want to?

The Quiet Fashion Revolution!

A quiet revolution has been taking place; it seems to have started some years ago with The Body Shop slogan “there are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only eight who do”. The campaign featured a generously proportioned doll called Ruby – short for Rubenesque and attracted a lot of attention.  One of the Bodyshop’s values is “Activate Self Esteem”, and Body Shop founder Anita Roddick had this to say on the subject:

‘We're proud not to fit the mould. We'll never sell false promises, or an unattainable ideal of beauty, and never ever play on insecurities. We believe that there's no one way for a woman to look. After all, no two women think the same, act the same, or sound the same.’

In 2004 beauty products company Dove launched a ‘real women campaign’ with the mission to broaden the stereotypical concept of beauty and ‘make more women feel beautiful every day’. To this end they featured a group of women (none of whom were professional models) sized 6-14 with real curves, wearing just undergarments and smiles.

Soon after, Sportswear giant Nike launched their 2005 much-vaunted Big Butts, Thunder Thighs and Tomboy Knees campaign. Tennis player Serena Williams wears Nike and looks great in it; the Big Butts campaign dared to show women with well toned and muscular bodies, rather than the stick thin runway models who usually strut the Nike stuff.

The growing body of evidence (pun intended) by the fashion industry is something that real women have known, but perhaps not acknowledged publicly: that we should celebrate our curves, along with our differences and definitely not aspire to the (for most of us) unattainable anorexic model image.

Take guys for instance: Would the stereotypical ‘skinny guy who gets sand kicked in his face at the beach’ be likely to sell clothes to normal men? Would these same men then aspire to look like the skinny model? Not likely. Men are rightly allowed to have muscles, and even the male models, although buff, are not underweight. Conversely, women should be allowed to have womanly curves, and it is time more real size women stood up and said so.

More public acceptance and validation of the bootylicious and curvaceous is further evidenced in the fashion world as this month City Chic in Sydney stages the finals of a plus size modeling competition.

 

Competitions such as this give kudos and visibility to plus size ladies, and in future there is likely to be more models like the outspoken Velvet d’Amour who in 2006 strutted down the runway in Paris, modeling for John Galliano's and Jean Paul Gaultier's spring collections. She caused a sensation.

The Voluptuous Woman Company (VWC) is an organization that functions as an information source for plus-size women providing information and visibility for them through various distribution channels. Statistics reveal that 62% of American women are size 14 or larger, and Australian statistics are similar. Why then should the fashion and media portray skinny models as the norm and present size 12 or smaller as being highly desirable and larger sizes less so?

The increasing number of fashion houses and outlets that cater for larger sizes suggests the fashion industry is on a learning “curve” (or should that be curves?)  – beginning to respond to the needs of those whose proportions are more generous. Sydney's Closet offers a huge range of prom dresses and much more, Nordstrom offers an alluring range of big and beautiful gear, including offerings from designer Calvin Klein. Another American chain, BigBras.com make sure that plus size women get all the support they need to put up an impressive front! And there are many more.

So women of all sizes - Rubenesque or statuesque or somewhere in between should stand proud. We are individuals and come in a wonderful array of shapes, weights and sizes. It is well past time to throw out the idea that one dress size or body size is more desirable than another, and to celebrate our womanly diversity. Good things do come in small packages but they equally come in plus size packages too.

Designer Clothing and Handbags Sale

We all love a good sale and here's another at Fashion Chateau, a favorite online fashion boutique of mine, with between 20% and 50% OFF on a top line-up of designer clothing and handbags as well as swimwear and a number jewelry items. The merchandise on sale will easily give a chic head-to-toe look.

In this sale you'll find a great line-up of designer clothing including fashions from Nanette Lepore, Rebecca Taylor, Tracy Reese, Ya Ya and more, designer jeans from 7 For All Mankind (love the Edie in Bright Blue Sweden designer jeans shown here and discounted down to $118.80), Frankie B, Citizens of Humanity and Antik Denim, handbags by Trina Turk, GoldenBleu and Royal Plush, as well as Juicy Couture swimwear and Jewelry from Adina Reyter and Marcia Moran.

Fashion Chateau is dedicated to providing top designer fashions online with a local boutique feel and as well as sale items, has a great line-up of new fashions. For example, I love this comfy Dark Guava Parker dress by Susana Monaco. Yes it's simple but super chic and the color is hot. The fitted bust with spaghetti-strap detail and the open back with tie-closure accent makes this a fun and flirtatious number! As well as new arrivals by Susana Monaco, Fashion Chateau has a good range of designer clothing by this designer on sale.

Also check out the Fashion Chateau Look Book which includes ensembles for each and every event you'll be attending this season. Discover a variety of outfits, everything from casually chic looks to knock-out ensembles for a night out on the town.

Additional 50% OFF Designer Shoes and Designer Handbags

We're now into the final days of this great designer sale with an additional 50% OFF already reduced designer shoes and designer handbags. Visit Plaza Too and check out the range of designer shoes from favorite designers including Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch and Cole Haan and designer handbags including Kenneth Jay Lane, Lauren Merkin, L.A.M.B., Kooba and Botkier.

I love the casual yet chic "St Tropez" satchel by Monica Botkier. I recently saw and fell in love with this Botkier designer handbag at Neiman Marcus. It's in black patent leather with logo lining and fitted with custom logo hardware and hidden magnet flap closure, and priced at $495 and so at $299.99 for this gorgeous sure hit designer handbag from Botkier in Plaza Too's designer handbag and designer shoes sale, I love it even more. The Italian-made Botkier 'St. Tropez' satchel gives a super chic and elegant look for a day-or-evening handbag.

Visit Plaza Too and join the ranks of celebrities including as Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, and Lindsey Lohan whose arms have graced Monica Botkier's designer handbags.