6 Plus Size Beauties

The plus size industry has been booming as of late! New voluptuous models are showing up all around and showing the world that beauty does indeed come in all shapes and sizes. Check out these 6 pretty faces, for example! One of them is even wearing our shapewear!

http://www.refinery29.com/plus-size-models

"Say the word “supermodel” and one immediately thinks of women like Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Iman, etc. But with the broadening body- acceptance movement and the increase of full-figure fashion, the general public is being exposed to supermodels of a different size.
They may have been dubbed “plus-size” models (seriously, we should just call them models!) but these beautiful women prove that they can hold their own among the under-size-4 set. Whether they’re starring in banned commercials or strutting down haute couture runways, these are some of the hottest size 14+ supermodels in the biz."

Tessa Munster wearing Rago Shapewear

Beautiful Women Larger Than Size 12

Beauty absolutely does come in all shapes and sizes! If you're a size 12 or larger and feel less than beautiful because of your size, just take a look at these 10 beauties:
http://www.oddee.com/item_98119.aspx

Fashion Designers Talk Plus Size Fashion

Watch these fantastic plus size designers talk about fashion and what inspires them to cater to curvier women!

Joan Holloway in American Shapewear

Our shapewear is a favorite among curvy ladies that are fans of vintage styles! Those panties that Christina Hendricks, the actress that plays Joan Holloway from Mad Men, is wearing in this picture have the signature shaping bands and tummy panel. The pair she's wearing is Rago style 6101 in black.
See it here! http://www.americanshapewear.com/cart/product.php?productid=16176&cat=254&page=1

Amy by the 1966 Batmobile in Rago Shapewear

Tim Hunter took an absolutely fabulous image of pinup model Amy posing by the real 1966 Batmobile in Rago Shapewear!

Check out his work on his website: http://www.timhunterphotography.com/
The piece Amy’s wearing: Rago Body Briefer Extra Firm Shaping: Style 9357 in Black and Red
You can find it here: http://www.americanshapewear.com/cart/product.php?productid=16216&cat=262&page=1

Body Type Quiz

Are you unsure about what your body type is? This fun little quiz on ChaCha can help you figure it out! http://www.chacha.com/quiz/1055/ladies-what-s-your-body-type?utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=035f3

How Barbie Sizes Up to Real Women

Have you ever wondered what Barbie would look like if she were real? It may not be a glamorous and you'd think. Model Katie Halchishick, co-founder of Healthy Is The New Skinny, uses her body to illustrate how impossible Barbie's figure truly is.

"This is hardly the first time that someone has pointed out how unrealistic a Barbie doll's proportions are, but it's still interesting to see the proportions drawn out onto an actual body. Some initial observations:-- Oddly pointy chin.-- A chest about half the width of her chest. -- Giant eyes!-- A neck that seems unlikely to be able to support her head."

The moral of the story is: Don't look towards impossible and imaginary icons to gauge your own beauty. You're perfect just as you are. All you need to do is realize it, and then you'll glow.

Read more on The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/barbie-real-woman-proportions-mildly-terrifying_n_1749204.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Fashion blogger Georgina reviews Rago Style 1294

The glamorous fashion blogger Georgina, founder of Fuller Figure Fuller Bust, makes a post about her excellent experience with Rago girdle style 1294!

"Rago has been producing shapewear for fifty years and it is one of the most talked about brands put there.  They were and are an American company who paid great attention to detail when it came to crafting that perfect piece of shapewear.  They took customer feedback very seriously and based their pieces around people's wants and needs, constantly evolving to suit them.
I have a new found love and respect for Rago.  I love the way the company has stood the test of time and I love my new silhouette.  Top marks for Rago."

Read more: http://www.pinupgirlstyle.com/profiles/blogs/rago-shapewear-the-original-innovator-in-mid-century-under

Your Perfect Shapewear

There's a perfect piece of shapewear out there for every woman. Have you found yours? If not, plus-size fashion blog Fuller Figure Fuller Bust has 7 strategies for you to find shapewear that you truly love to wear.

"If you’re like many women, you either don’t wear shapewear at all, or you just can’t seem to find the right fit, no matter how hard you try. Luckily, we have the inside scoop that we’re excited to share with you.We’ve learned from our mistakes and have compiled a list of the top tips you’ll need when shopping for shapewear. Let’s dive right in..."

See her tips here:
http://fullerfigurefullerbust.com/2012/08/23/top-secret-7-ways-to-find-the-perfect-shapewear-for-you-by-cindy-prosser/

10 Tips to Flatter Your Figure

Lauren Conrad has got a few tips for you to flatter your figure with style, no matter what your size or shape may be! Check out her 10 tips here: http://www.laurenconrad.com/post/tuesday-ten-slim-your-silhouette

"With dozens of trends constantly coming and going in the world of fashion, it can be hard to determine which looks are the most flattering for your body type. I must admit it’s taken me a few fashion faux pas myself to learn the tricks of the trade. But I’ve found that dressing to flatter my figure is truly a rule of style—no matter how much I love a trend, it has to work on my frame. Today I’ll be sharing 10 of my favorite foolproof styling tips to keep your look on-point and looking lean, no matter what. Without further ado, here is my go-to guide for dressing yourself the flattering way:"

Pinup Persuasion Reviews Our Girdle!

A lovely fashion blogger has reviewed yet another Rago product! Her blog, Pinup Persuasion, has plenty of reviews of beautiful vintage pieces. If you're looking for some great recommendations, her blog's a place you'd want to check. She's written a great review of our pink girdle style 1294 under her "Vintage Shapewear" tab.

Check it out here! http://pinuppersuasion.com/2012/07/31/a-clos-runner-up-to-the-rago-1294/

Rosalinde's Shapewear Story

Rosalinde tries on Rago high waist leg shaper style 518 and falls in love with the support it gives her belly and thighs! What do you think?
Try it on yourself! http://www.americanshapewear.com/cart/product.php?productid=16151&cat=255...

Rago's Recommended by The Lingerie Addict

The Lingerie Addict has created a list of recommendations for women who are brand new to the world of lingerie! Guess who made first on the list?
Thank you so much for the mention, Treacle!

The Lingerie Addict is the world's leading lingerie blog. It's fun, intelligent, and very informative. All of your questions regarding lingerie have been answered on http://thelingerieaddict.com/.

Read her recommendations here: http://thelingerieaddict.com/2012/07/7-pieces-lingerie-for-newbies.html

Tea, via Girdlebound

"Making lingerie accessible to the everyday woman is what drives TLA,, but sometimes I forget just how much “stuff” I’ve learned in the last four years. Knowledge I take for granted now would have been completely foreign to me even a year and a half ago. Yet The Lingerie Addict gets dozens of new readers everyday, and judging from the questions I get in my inbox,  there are still hundreds (if not thousands of women) who have just started their lingerie journey.
Looking back, one of hardest things for me when I first became interested in lingerie was knowing where to spend my money. There are so many lingerie boutiques and and so many brands (way more than when I started blogging) that just knowing where to start without resorting to expensive trial and error is overwhelming. And I wish I’d had someone to help sort everything and at least give me a place to start shopping.
So this blog post is all about sharing a few of those discoveries I wish I’d made earlier with you. These are my lingerie drawer staples, the brands I buy with my own money all the time. And whether you’re new to lingerie or an ‘old hand’ at it, I hope this list of 7 pieces (in no particular order) helps you when you’re shopping."

The Vintage Doll

There's nothing more satisfying than the love of a happy customer.
Pin Up model, The Vintage Doll, expressed her love for her newfound perfect brand of shapewear: Rago!

Check out her review.
http://rockitroost.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/shapewear-by-rago/

"For a pin-up model, it is important to have a great line of shapewear with you at all times.
It’s like our red lipstick; we always have to have a tube somewhere. Without these items, we feel naked.
The problems with shapewear that we tend to come across are: stiffness, to coarse of fabric, not enough support, or just plain lack of sexiness. As a pinup, and just women in general, even if it is under our clothes we want it to be beautiful and sexy; it makes us feel confident.
I recently came across the shapewear line “Rago” and let me tell you, it truly is a shape wear line all women can love. I not only wore it shooting my recent spread for Lash & Ink but I also wore it under my dress at a wedding, and while out dancing all night long. It looked beautiful in my photos, slimmed and held everything in under my dress for the wedding. It was comfortable and sturdy enough to hold me in and keep up my stockings while I jived all night long (without any uncomfortable pinching, rubbing, or the garter clip unhooking).
I am a very petite woman, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t use the perfect lines and smoothness that shapewear provides. I am also a mom, so there are always little areas that I would prefer to be smoother and supported while wearing a slim fitted garment. Rago provides a wide variety of styles, colors, and sizes for every woman with every need; in addition to the support and smoothness under one’s dress.
So whether you are a pin-up girl, a business woman, or just need a little something sassy for later, Rago shapewear has you covered.
XoXo,
The Vintage Doll"

Women's Figures Are Changing

Women's body shapes have been changing over time. Are designers changing the body type their clothes are made for? See how women's bodies have changed in the past 50 years.

Read about it on The Independent here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-shape-of-things-to-wear-scientists-identify-how-womens-figures-have-changed-in-50-years-516259.html

"The fashion industry is ignoring the changing shapes of women's bodies, a study claims today. Designers and manufacturers still insist on making clothes that fit the traditional hourglass figure, when women's shapes are more likely to be top-heavy, rectangular or pear-shaped.The research found that although only 8 per cent of women now had the sort of hourglass figure flaunted by curvaceous 1950s film stars such as Sophia Loren, designers and manufacturers continued to make clothes to fit a slim-line version of that figure.Of the 6,000 women's body shapes analysed, 46 per cent were described as rectangular, with the waist less than nine inches smaller than the hips or bust. Just over 20 per cent of women were bottom-heavy "spoons", or pear shapes, with hips two inches larger than busts or more, while almost 14 per cent were "inverted triangles" - women whose busts were three or more inches bigger than their hips..."

Swimsuit Confidence

Plus-size blogger Gabi Fresh has enough confidence to suit a big and beautiful woman like herself. She has a strong personality, and curvy body worth flaunting, and a fantastic sense of what looks great on her! After flaunting her body in nothing but a bikini, Gabi encourages other women to do the same and contribute to her gallery of confidence women of all shapes and sizes, showing off their gorgeous beach bodies.

Read about it on loveyourbodydaily.com!

"Popular plus size blogger Gabi Fresh posted photos of herself in a bikini from her recent vacation in Vegas and the feedback on her blog was so great she was inspired to pitch a idea to XOJane to keep the body positivity going. The idea was to create a gallery of women, all shapes and sizes, in bikinis: THE XOJANE AND GABI FRESH FATKINI GALLERY: 31 HOT SEXY FAT GIRLS IN SKIMPY SWIMWEARThis morning Gabi appeared on the Today Show to talk about the fatkini gallery and about how the type of clothing you wear shouldn’t be restricted because of the size of your body."

Watch her interview here! http://loveyourbodydaily.com/bikini-wearing-plus-size-blogger-gabi-fresh-appears-on-today-show-tells-the-world-i-love-my-body/

Love Your Curves!

It can't be stressed enough how important it is to love your body. Take care of yourself, adorn your body with pride, know you look beautiful and strut your stuff!
With messages left and right telling women they need to change, it's difficult to ignore it all and just know that you're fabulous as you are. When you come to understand that and love yourself, it becomes much easier to nurture your mind and health to improve yourself rather than "fix" yourself.

The famously curvaceous Christina Hendricks has a body type that goes against the new beauty ideal, but the fact that she is absolutely gorgeous is undeniable. She feels the pressure every woman does, and this is what she had to say:

"Sure, I'd be happier with 10 pounds off -- wouldn't every woman? But when I looked at pictures of myself at the Emmys, I thought I looked beautiful. I didn't tear myself apart."

And that's just what every woman should do. There may be a few things you want to change, but that doesn't mean you aren't beautiful. You are. Own it.

Exercise.com also provides some tips on how to keep a voluptuous body in tip-top shape here: http://www.exercise.com/article/love-your-curves

Must Be Blond

The story of a woman who was told to change herself in the name of beauty and her reaction to it. Read it on Lingerie Briefs.

That was all good training for Hollywood, where you are never good enough.  I was told if I wanted to be a star, I had to dye my hair blonde, have larger breasts, become interested in networking, which I hated and still hate.  When my very powerful agent told me that all heroines and leading ladies are blonde and busty, I said, “Really? Tell that to Betty Davis and Kate Hepburn”.   “Well,” he shot back, “THEY weren’t sexy.”  Check mate.  Silly me, I thought they were. Not one, even at 21 to be easily swayed, I resisted the advice, not that I wasn’t tempted to take it.  I guess I thought I was okay, until 12 years later when I left the business knowing that if I stayed, I would become one of the insecure, desperate and depressed actresses that I met every day in Hollywood.  Now instead of being famous for being a skinny starlet, I help the skinny starlets get their time in the spotlight.  I help the bride feel like a princess on her special day.  I help prom girls feel the most gorgeous they have ever felt as a young woman; Not a bad thing, even though critics would say I am perpetuating their insecurity by having them believe that they need shapewear.

Read more: http://lingeriebriefs.com/2012/05/06/must-be-blond/

Love Your Body!

Dr. Robyn Silverman has some great advice for women who don't accept their own bodies and struggle with confidence.
Think of all of those terrible things you think about yourself when you see a picture or look into the mirror. Now, try saying that to someone else. How does that make you feel? It's rude, nasty, and untrue.
If you wouldn't say it to someone else, don't say it to yourself. You don't deserve that.

Watch it!

Mad Men This Sunday!

The premier of the fifth season of Mad Men is this Sunday! It's been over a year, so if you can't quite remember what happened in the last season, here's a quick summary of the characters to freshen up your memory on Jezebel.

"It's been almost 18 months since the most recent episode of Mad Men. Do you even remember what happened? Something about a pregnancy and an engagement and financial ruin? With the premiere of the fifth season this Sunday, we have a primer on all the happenings of fledgling ad agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and its employees."

Read them here: http://jezebel.com/5894610/cant-remember-what-happened-last-on-mad-men-heres-a-quick-character+by+character-refresher

Shapewear Tips!

Having shapewear troubles? Tyra Banks knows how you feel. In fact, she has solutions to share for the most common shapewear problems she's encountered in her carreer.

Tyra and vogue contributing editor Andre Leon Talley discuss shapewear's history, usefulness, and tips on Fa-Fa-Fa Fashion!

Busty Girl's Style Guide

For women with fuller chests, finding clothing that fits right on her figure is a bit more of a challenge. With the right style and sense of what works with your body type, clothing shopping isn't about limitation. See refinery29's style guide for busty women and perfect your style in a way that suits your assets!

For a woman with curves, knowing what to wear is not about limitation, but rather about really perfecting what works. I credit my know-how from countless hours in store dressing rooms and the experience of always ordering everything in two sizes, but I've also tapped some real professional help to assemble the tips every, ahem, extra-blessed woman should know.

Jessica Paster, whose past celebrity clientele including curvy beauties like Jennifer Hudson and Jessica Simpson, is a wiz when it comes to what to wear to keep it classy without hiding your frame. Pulling out some tried-and-true items from my own closet, I've taken Jessica's tips to heart (and added in a few of my own) to help demonstrate the six ways to show off your personal style without ever making a sacrifice for the sake of anatomy.

See her tips here: http://www.refinery29.com/style-tips-for-busty-women

Instilling Positive Self-Talk

Training yourself to cleanse your mind of negativity and self-criticism empowers you and brightens your life completely. Focusing on disaster and hateful thoughts subjects you a painful life of suffering and disappointment.

Put yourself in control. Welcome love and opportunities by surrounding yourself with it and rewiring your mind to expect and seek it. Rewire your thoughts to accept a beautiful life. The Simply Luxurious Life has 5 steps to instilling positivity into your mind.

"Our past experiences as children, young adults and even in our past as adults wire our minds to expect certain outcomes when particular or similar events occur. Pure and simple, we are trying to put ourselves in control of the situation, and based on past experiences, we are assuming the outcome will be what it was last time. Knowing this information can provide calm and peace of mind if the expectation is positive, but when the hard wiring is based on a negative experience, it can taint future experiences that have no intention of following the same path.

Such negative experiences may have occurred when we were in school – being teased or bullied by fellow students or a teacher who appeared to not be willing to listen or help, or at home with a parent, relative or sibling who was unsupportive, insulting or ridiculing, or perhaps in relationships where infidelity or disrespectful behavior took place. Whatever the negative experience was, it most likely has a triggering effect on your self-talk when similar situations arise, and it is important to recognize this, so that you may change it, thus improving the quality of your life as a whole.

Below are steps on how to permanently rewire your self-talk so that it is positive and reaffirming that a fulfilling and beautiful life is attainable."

Read more: http://www.thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/2012/02/5-steps-to-instill-positive-self-talk.html

5 Tips for Valentine's Lingerie Shopping

Lingerie shopping can be a daunting process, especially when it's for Valentine's Day! With so many different choices that vary greatly in fit and style, choosing a set that works best for you could be a difficult decision. Thankfully, there are tips available for finding the right color and style that'll make choosing much easier!

See the article on Betty Confidential for 5 Valentine's lingerie shopping tips, brought to us by Treacle, the blogger behind The Lingerie Addict!

"Valentine’s Day is less than a week away, and while flowers, chocolate and champagne dinners are all wonderfully romantic ideas, and I’m a little bit partial to the romance of fine lingerie. But even though I’m a lingerie blogger, I completely understand how intimidating the process of lingerie shopping can be. With dozens of brands in dozens of styles at dozens of price points (not to mention a different fit for each brand!), it can be an incredibly complex and confusing world.

But those are more in-depth conversations for another article. Today, let’s just talk shopping tips for Valentine’s Day. Here are 5 bits of advice for finding the perfect Valentine’s Day set, no matter your bra size or your budget."

Read more: http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar/ld/a/5-tips-for-lingerie-shopping-this-valentines-day.html?pageID=1

Beauty is Shape

Beauty is an ever-changing shape. The ideal figure that women have saught to achieve has been regularly changing throughout history. Women have always taken drastic measures to be perceived as beautiful in the eyes of their societies. This has always been fascinating, but the practices of the past were even more amazing in how incredibly severe they were. Just thinking about some of them is wince-inducing. These make me feel grateful that all we have to do today to feel flawless is squeeze into a soft, flexible, and glamorous piece of shapewear to look smooth and beautiful.

The different images of beauty that have existed and the methods women would commonly use to alter their shape in the name of fashion can be read on Fashion Era if you're interested in knowing more about it. Beauty is really quite the dangerous thing.

"Fashion is a shape, a changing shape. That shape is mainly formed and controlled by some device which affects part of the body's natural outline. What is considered beautiful in the eyes of one race may be thought horrific in another. Beauty then is in the eye of the beholder, and for centuries beauty has been shape."

Read more: http://www.fashion-era.com/beauty_is_shape.htm