where's the mary portas thread

[grumpypants]

Can't stand her, but still, nice to chat

they're not supposed to do product placement, but I bet they must get some advertising from them, mustn't they?

epeems - sorry, i missed yourquestion.

yes, i do sell online, too, but that's a teeny part of the business, mainly because there are other internet booksellers that can do it cheaper (not better, obv!, but cheaper)
The website is more of an addition to the shop, rather than a complementer. It's a "ooh, look where we are and what we do, but if you can't get here, you can order this way too!" statement.

Agree with all the comments about Mary designing for herself. The bit where she said she loves shift dresses made me fear for the future. Shift dresses look shocking on anyone with curves. That's why Diana wore them all the time - basically straight up and down figure, like Mary I guess. Ditto Michelle Obama. This does not make them a no-brainer for everyone else. If you have boobs and hips they look disgusting. I don't like the slightly fascist attitude that certain things are cool: shift dresses, tunic dresses, cigarette pants. These things suit thin people with long legs and no boobs. There are other ways to look good.

I have boobs and a waist and hips. I struggle to get skirts and trousers to fit because if they'll go over my hips they gape at the waist. I also have to get all my shirts sewn up the front because otherwise they gape at the boobs - bigger sizes are too big over my shoulders. I think these are the intricacies of deisgning for individual women's shapes (and I think women's shapes probably vary more than men's because men all tend to put on weight in one place whereas some women are hips/bum/thighs and some are all on the belly and up top). I do hope Mary gets on top of this stuff. She came across as a bit arrogant I thought - shame because I like her vibe a lot but the bit about Stance's duct dape dummy was a shocker (and btw stance I thought you had a very nice, curvy figure).

exactly - i have the same problem with skirts as you, but i don't have the boob problem...

jsut like they design trousers that are for "tall" or "short" people, they should have "big boobs" or "small waist" skirts and tops.

how hard would it be?
It's easy enough to grade for that kind of thing, in the same way they design a bit more fabric for maternity bumps.

stance, your body cast looked a lot like mine would. A lot like many women in the UK. I like a lot about MP but was horrified at her reaction to your shape - great idea to send it to her by the way. She thinks she knows loads about fashion (and I think she is a fabulous dresser by the way) but seemed to be shocked at a perfectly normal (and lovely) woman's body! I have no truck whatsoever with any 'real women have curves' nonsense but I'm willing to bet that there are a lot more women in the UK who look like you and me than look like MP! I also imagine she is a living nightmare to work with, despite being very dynamic and possibly good fun (not asking you to spill any beans by the way )

I have exactly that problem with skirts/trousers than I can get over my hips then gape MADLY at the waist. SUrely it's not THAT unusual but it must be because it's impossible to get clothes that actually fit.

Was really disappointed with the Portas collection - it is entirely based around her own taste and shape. Entirely.

Katisha - M&S thinks it's that unusual.
They did a whole "survey" a couple of years ago and decided that women now had thicker waists in comparison with their hips.
which meant they changed all their clothes shapes, and things that only just gaped at the waist suddenly became monstrous!

Oh god, the waist / hips thing. It drives me so mad not being able to buy clothes that I have to take succour from all those articles that say I'll live longer because of my fat arse tiny waist.

I give up, often.
I've got a few lovely skirts that I've had to take in at the waist.
My rule now is fit the hips, and alter the waist.

I would live to be able to wear a straight skirt, for example, rather than something fully flared and quite possibly elasticated. I would need the elastic not because my waist is fat and flabby but because without it the waistline would be flapping everywhere.

Yes M&S and huge offenders in this department - hundreds of skirts and not one that remotely fits.

And frankly "curvy" jeans are not much better as their idea of a large hip to waist ratio is to add another cm to the hip, not the 6 or 7 inches I actually need.

Mmm! Clearly some of us need a range which adopts a Curvy standard.

I'm working on my own collection, but I'm not sure that it would ever see retail!

Out of interest, can you post links to clothing items you would LOVE to buy, if only they were cut differently for your figure?

JosieRosie

Ha, yes! Well, you'll see it all come out next week...

I agree, I think there is a massive market of women shaped like us. I also know it is NOT easy to create flattering designs for curvier women, having battled with it myself. There is just so much more to consider, topographically.

Fashion designers don't seem to be be taught this, though Caryn Franklin seems to be tackling that issue.

On the other hand, it's much more satisfying than just creating yet another sheath dress with a lace trim for novelty. Think civil engineering, rather than felt-tips and paper...

This for example Kept looking at it last year. Gaping waist.

Well I'm exactly her target market. And I hate the clothes. I really don't know that many 50 year olds who are a size 8/10, or who feel happy wearing ultra skinny jeans or short skirts. And cigarette pants are truly the work of the devil. They are designed to look good on MEN with snaky hips (think matadors ).

After all the hype I feel terribly let down. What on earth is she playing at? Fucking SHIFT dresses? Straight up and down with no tits or arse?

I can't find a link but I want a good trouser suit.

I think the duct tape dummy had a lovely curvy figure, with great norks. Mary portas is just a style fascist. I want to know why she's getting so much free advertising too.

Interesting how many of us have the skirts problem. Agree that M&S are shocking at skirts. Mary kept going on about how there would be no elasticated waists and I thought - if only I could explain to her that without elasticated waists I wouldn't have any skirts.

Stance, I did see some items from her collection in a magazine and I thought - I would buy those if they were longer. There were a couple of nice dresses but I just can't get away with anything two inches above the knee and I wonder how many 40+ women do want to wear this length, particularly for workwear/daywear.

And anyonebutlulu - LOL at the crumb of comfort from the fact that big-arsed women live longer than apple-shaped ladies apparently. Also we have our own theme song "Fat-bottomed girls making the rocking world go round" which I believe was actually written as a tribute to my backside.

I'm a size 16 curvy and the same problem, anything that fits on the hips tends to gape massively on the waist. Trousers tend to be worse than skirts. If I ever find jeans that fit I buy several pairs, but am yet again going into winter with no jeans that fit because the last lot are all falling to pieces but I haven't found a satisfactory replacement.

I do have a couple of M&S denim skirts bought last year which fit OK, but they sit lower on the hips than normal skirts. Other than that it has to be A line or slightly flared, or wrap dresses. Then people wonder why so many curvy
women wear leggings....

@katisha - nice skirt! Very simple, so a dry cleaners' tailor should be able to do a nice job on that. I routinely get skirts taken in at the waist when I buy them (but am more likely to make my own these days)

@anyonebutlulu - trouser suit - a serious challenge! So many things to go wrong....

@lapsedpacifist Tell me about it! I can usually not get them further than my knees.

@josephinebonaparte Norks! Haaaa, what a fabulous word - thank you!

@margoandjerry Yes, I don't like higher hemlines on me - they just don't look right.

Have any of you seen this trailer for next week's show? I'm the one whining "I'm exasperated", as Mary launches back in. . It gets interesting....

I watched the prog yesterday on 4od and thought MP doesn't have a clue how most 50 yo women would like to dress.

Just looked at the collection online too and I can't believe she's flogging a barely covering the bum leather dress. Most 50yo's, as has been previously said, are not pencil thin and most of the population, whatever their age, would struggle to pull that off!

Im just watching it. I normally love her but, what is this supposed to be about and why is carrying loads of dildos around with her?

She's just put me right off with the statement "most women read the Daily Mail".

I love Mary! ...but I missed that statement

...loving Spencer!!!!