Thursday kicked off Full-Figured Fashion Week, and yesterday I had the pleasure of attending The State of the Curvy Community discussion. Honestly, it was even better than expected; the speakers were inspirational, the crowd was lively, and I met some pretty amazing people.The consensus among the panelists seemed to be that plus size designers and retailers need to listen to their customers and truly show they care about our desires and complaints. Celebrity stylist Susan Moses said it best: "I think the biggest problem today is a lot of ignorance... and a lot of companies just wanting to take our dollars, but not speak to us, not show us any love."
Unfortunately, I didn't get to record the entire thing, but here's what Nikki Blonsky had to say about her experience as a fat girl:
Nikki Blonsky at FFFWeek from gabi gregg on Vimeo.
She was super sweet! Hairspray is one of my favorite movies, so this was especially exciting for me.
Susan was also wonderful and helpful, I should be meeting with her soon for some tips.
For the first time ever, I had people recognize me from YFF! They asked to take a picture with me, it was a humbling moment:
After the discussion, I headed to the press party at Taj Lounge, where I mingled with more beautiful women. Model Mia Amber looked amazing in her Igigi maxi dress:
I also hung out with the model from SWAK Designs
And I had to get a picture of this cutie in her H&M outfit (by the way, that's where my top is from too):
All in all, I'm having a blast. I can't wait for the runway show tonight (even though I have no idea what I'm wearing...)