Designers Take Note: Plus-Sized Women Strut Their Stuff in Couture

Fashionistas everywhere have been glued to the TV over the past two weekends as we watched our favorite celebrities walk the red carpet at the Golden Globe and SAG award shows. While some have wowed us with head to toe "fabulosity" (Olivia Wilde in Gucci), others have left us hoping that we never have to look at such fashion faux pauxs EVER again. (Thank you, Tina Fey!)

Last Monday, I joined "Good Day Philadelphia" anchors Mike Jerrick and Sheinelle Jones to chat about the Golden Globes red carpet hits and misses. I am happy to say that of the three women I picked, one was plus-sized: Mo'Nique. I thought she looked absolutely amazing in her gorgeous bronze gown by Reem Acra, and I was in awe when I saw her again at the SAGs all decked out in Balenciaga. Mo'Nique consistently shows us that plus-sized women can be glamorous too.

I must say that it is refreshing to know that some couture designers (including Pamella Roland who designed Gabourey Sidibe's dress for the SAGs) are starting to embrace the fact that everyone isn't a size 2. Women of all shapes and sizes want to look and feel fabulous, particularly when they are thrust into the limelight. I personally get quite frustrated with the limited selection of formal dresses I have to choose from when I'm asked to dress a client over a size 14. I feel like I'm in a tangled web of cheap fabric and dowdy designs that are reminiscent of a mother-of-the-bride dress gone bad!

I recently had to dress such a client for her wedding reception, which of course is one of the biggest events in a woman's life. I was fortunate enough to have had a relationship with an amazing up and coming designer in New York, NIMA, and he custom designed a knock-out couture dress for her that made her look and feel like a queen. She was thrilled, to say the least, and could not stop telling her family and friends: "Big girls can wear couture, too!"

To all of the designers out there who have broadened their size spectrum . . . thank you!