Armed with a gift card in my hand and Nordstrom love in my heart, I headed to the nearest Nordstrom Rack, in San Leandro, California, to do a little shopping.

The first thing I noticed is that Nordstrom Rack does not exactly provide the full Nordstrom Experience. I’ve been to Nordstrom proper many a time, and have had luck finding gorgeous clothes and fancy party dresses. Nordstrom also has impeccable customer service, making it a joy to shop there. Not so with Nordstrom Rack, which is more like shopping at a really really nice Ross Dress for Less. But of course, the prices are a lot lower, so that’s the tradeoff.

Whereas the selection at Ross is hit-or-miss (and mostly miss), the selection at Nordstrom Rack is amazing. (And they are expanding their plus size selection and adding plus to more stores starting September 15.) They have everything from Coach handbags to Bliss products to (of course) designer clothes, with a nice selection of plus sizes (I saw sizes up to 3XL and 26/28). My favorite thing about the Rack is actually the shoe section, as they have a great selection of shoes that go up to Women’s 13. My time was a little limited since I had a B-A-B-Y with me, but I found a lot of stuff to try on in an effort to put together a fall outfit. I was looking for something to wear when I go back to an office job in October, with “comfortable” being my main criteria.

The first thing I found was a pair of black Not Your Daughter’s Jeans. I’ve never heard of this brand before, but they are super comfortable. I was in love with this pair of pants the minute I put it on (original price $138). I paired it with an oversized striped Blu Seven top ($48) that says “fall” to me somehow. I’m also super into stripes! I added a Calvin Klein cropped shrug ($58) as a nod to the crisp San Francisco weather, and a super long, jet crystal necklace ($78) from the Nordstrom Crystal Collection. The original total cost was $322; my total before tax was $125.88 (pants $37.97, top $24.97, shrug $19.97, necklace $30.97). I saved almost $200! That’s almost enough for one of the purses I was drooling over!

fall outfit , a photo by mo pie on Flickr.

I also had picked out a pair of gold shoes (original price $78; my price $38.97) in size 11 1/2 to finish off the look. However, there was a slight customer service snafu, and I didn’t end up getting them. I didn’t get bad customer service, exactly, it just wasn’t particularly good. I should say that the dressing room attendant was very nice about accommodating me and the stroller that I had, and a woman restocking merchandise was very friendly, but the checkout experience wasn’t great.

I had picked out a shoe and had neglected to go to the “shoe mate” window because A) the baby had started crying, and B) I had no idea how the shoe mate window worked. I asked if I could pay for the shoes and then go pick up the second one; this is apparently against policy (which I understand) but I was told I had to go to the back of the store to get the second shoe, wait in the line again (which had gotten really long) and then pay for the shoes separately. Since the baby was fussy and hungry by that point, I simply had to put the shoe back. I think if I were at regular Nordstrom, someone might have been willing to either run back and get the shoe for me, or let me skip the giant register line that I’d already waited in once. But again, it was my mistake, and their policy makes sense.

Overall, if you’re a fan of Nordstrom and a fan of saving money on expensive Nordstrom merchandise, it’s definitely worth poking around Nordstrom Rack.

Want to try Nordstrom Rack out for yourself? One lucky winner will receive a $100 Nordstrom Rack gift card to create their perfect fall look! Simply leave a comment telling me what fabulous fall piece is a must-have in your wardrobe. Make sure to leave your email address! Sweepstakes runs 9/15-10/31. Visit the Promotions & Prizes section. Official Rules.

No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment in this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. Good luck!

I received $200 from Hanes to shop for this review, and did I know what I was getting into? I kind of did not. But I would never write a review that wasn’t honest, so rest assured, these are my Real Opinions™.

AHanes Just My Size (which offers clothes in sizes up to 4X) gave me the opportunity to go pick out some clothes and write about them. And since the clothes ranged from $9 to $15—even the jeans were just $15—I was able to get a lot of clothes for the money.

The first picture is a before-and-after dressing room shot. As you can see, I was just wearing my basic jeans (my favorites, Lee) and a tank top from Target, which is where I usually shop for wardrobe basics. Then I tried the JMS jeans and floral top. The pants have a nice dark wash, skinny-leg look. And they are very comfortable. The biggest negative for me is that they have no pockets. Also they have an elastic waist, which gives me the heebies. I know I’m not alone here.

Anyway, I generally prefer boot-cut jean styles, but I feel like I could experiment with these pants, plus my own top, if I were feeling brave. (Do skinny jeans work on fat girls? I might need to consult some Fatshionistas on this.)The top I’m wearing in the picture feels a little matronly for me—although if you worked in a conservative office, and only had $12 to spend, it would be a great choice.

I also tried a tank with a scarf that I didn’t end up getting, because it quite frankly seems like an insane item of clothing. Two tank tops and a scarf? I don’t get it. The material also seemed really flimsy, and did not look upscale. At all.

The good: a lot of basics in a lot of colors for a very low price-point: I liked the floral tank tops (black and brown) and the navy blue scoop-neck shirt I got. But the more fashion-forward pieces fell flat for me, although I can imagine other people really loving them. Actually, I was tempted to get a bunch of stuff my mom, because these are clothes that she would love—reasonably priced, bright colors, floral patterns, lots of glitter. They even had orange!

In case you’re not familiar with eShakti, they have an amazing concept. They will customize their garments to your exact specifications. You break out the measuring tape, you tell them exactly what to do so their clothes will fit your body, and they will do it. It’s like magic, especially if you are hard to fit!

They recently offered to partner with BFD and let me pick out a dress. I now wish I’d gotten this dress, which is super adorable, but in fact, I got this one. In order to test out their modifications, I asked for sleeves! I seem to not have gotten the belt. Hmm. That’s weird. But anyway, if you click through the picture, you can see all my notes on Flickr about the dress I got.

Our own Jenfu had this to say in an email, about eShakti’s fabric:

The heavy satin cotton worked really well for the very tailored dress I bought–it had a tailored bodice and waist and then was a floofy skirt, and the print on it (goldfish! which were gold!) was gorgeous and rich-looking, and i would have kept the dress and loved it always if I had measured myself correctly and it hadn’t been 2 sizes too large.

I think anything fitted, you have to make sure the fabric has stretch. Anything tailored, the cotton satin is good (but heavy, so it’s not good for a floaty dress). Is your dress just plain cotton? It seems like it might be a flimsy cotton. I would probably only buy structured things from them, especially after your experience with the Charlie Brown sack.

She meant “Charlie Brown sack” lovingly; I know this because she also told me I was cute. In all caps. “You are CUTE” she said. Also, I may have called it a Charlie Brown sack first. If you have any experiences with eShakti, good or bad—or any tips on how to measure yourself accurately—feel free to add them in the comments!

And if you’d like to try eShakti for yourself, I’ve been given an affiliate code: piegirl123. This code will be good through the end of July (so a few more days now) and you’ll get 10% off. Just note Jenfu’s advice on fabric! And whatever advice the comments give you…

(As an aside, I have to say that as I was packing for Weetacon, I discovered that our house has mildew and that most if not all of my dresses need to be drycleaned before I can wear them again. So I was grateful to know that at least I had something to wear to the party!)

My first reaction when I put on the dress is that it’s pretty and flattering… and kind of a fat-girl dress. Way more sophisticated than sequins and appliques, but still the details that are meant to draw the eye away from Places of Fat and say WOO! LOOK OVER HERE AT THE SPARKLY BUSINESS! I suspect that my real criticism is that it’s not low cut enough, because normally I prefer WOO! LOOK OVER HERE AT MY BOOBS! But I put on the dress and looked hot and had a great time.

(I do have to say I was jealous of Ladyloo’s blue dress, which looks gorgeous with her eyes, and that Trance Jen made the right call with the Imperia dress, which looks amazing on her.)

I stole my friend Melinda’s camera and took pictures of myself on the night, but they’re all close ups of me kissing or hugging or smothering or kissing various people (some of whom are also wearing Igigi clothes), or just like HERE IS MY EYE or JENFUUUU or WENDY MCCLURE IS PRETTY. But I also danced and drank in the dress, and it was all magical.

But I didn’t get a picture of the dress. So for this post you’re stuck with this picture that I just took with total out-of-the-shower hair, after-a-facial face, and a camera self-timer. Which means it’s also blurry. Yay?

If you’re interested in picking up anything from Igigi, which sells clothes in sizes 12-32, there is a 20% discount code that will work until the end of March: WEETACON. Their clothes are well designed and well made and not cheap, so 20% is a good deal!

I might actually cave and buy the Forget Me Knot dress in blue.

Plus-size designer Igigi was the official sponsor of the BFD meetup at BlogHer. This meant that me, Weetabix, and three of our lovely readers got to pick out outfits from the Igigi website to wear and review at the convention. I went to Igigi on Friday morning to pick up the dresses and meet up with the delightful Katrina, and I even got a little sneak peek at the new line, which includes some spectacular clothes for the workplace (a blazer I already covet).

I have to say that I was hoping one of us wouldn’t like her outfit, so that this ensuing post would seem like less of an Igigi lovefest. (After all, back in the day, Anne and I were not afraid to criticize Igigi’s clothes.) I guess I could pretend I didn’t like my dress, but, well, do you see the dress? Empirically, I look awesome in it. Sorry, but it’s true.

One little snag is that they were out of the dress in my size, 18/20, but I loved it so much that I decided to try a 14/16, and it worked fine. It probably would have been even better in an 18/20, and cling to my fat rolls a little less lovingly, but I decided to work with the slightly-too-small smaller size, and I really felt saucy and slinky and okay with the clinginess. (The other dress I tried on was this one, and in case you think I have nothing whatsoever bad to say about anything, I looked like an undead bridesmaid at a vampire wedding.) I got a ton of compliments on my breasts (for which I should also thank my brand new balconette bra) and on the dress itself. Someone even complimented me on my “personal branding” (oh that’s so BlogHer).

The other lovely women in the photo are (starting from the left) our own Weetabix, Corinna from This Lush Life, and Deb from Deb on the Rocks; as you can see, they all looked genuinely spectacular. And indeed, all of us were happy with our outfits. The other thing that strikes me about this picture is how different the dresses and our personalities seem to be; all the same designer, but four strong individual styles. Thanks again so much to Igigi, and the lovely ladies at the meetup. We’ll have to do it again sometime!

More pictures from BlogHer and the meetup are here. Full reviews from Weetabix, Corinna, and Deb after the jump!

Weetabix:

I’ve always loved Igigi since I started wearing the designs back in 2003. I keep saying that, because I would like some damned credit for discovering them, but it’s really my own stupidity for talking about it, as now w so many lovely ladies are wearing Igigi and I have to worry about someone showing up at events, wearing the same damned dress. Ok, I’m not bitter. Really, I’m not. It’s hard to be bitter when everyone looks so damned tasty. Clearly, Igigi has quality merchandise and designs to have gained popularity on their own merit. At the BFD Meetup, I kept feeling Deb up because the silk portrait collar top she was wearing was just so lovely, I couldn’t keep my hands off. And Corinna’s dress… like, wow is the only thing I can really say. It was made for her. I got the colorblock dress and threw it on right away in the morning, since I knew that I’d never have time to run back to my room and change. So, yeah, I’m biased, because I am fortunate enough to basically have the body type that Yuliya seems to be designing for a lot: tall, big boobs, hourglass figure. Like many of the Igigi dresses, the colorblock dress was made from the soft, almost bamboo-ish material that packs like a dream. I wish they’d use that fabric for all of the designs: for instance, I own the dress Mopie was wearing too (see? I told you!) and unfortunately, that one is NOT wrinkle-resistant in the slightest. Walking through the conference, I got SO many compliments on the dress that I was starting to get tired of spelling out the URL and wished that I either had Igigi cards to hand out or that my own cards didn’t have shiny backs so that I could write the URL on the backs for the people who were interested. Also, an unintended benefit: the dress is designed in such a way that if you feel the need to flash your boobs at an entire room full of women, you can totally do that. You know. If you want to, anyway.

Deb Rox:

Bob Mackie once said that Cher made it easy for him to be a great designer. “She had such an unbelievable body. She could wear anything. She was like a big Barbie doll,” he said.

I’m the opposite. It takes me forever to find something that fits, that has rockstar style and that also flatters my curves. So when I was offered the chance to pick an Igigi outfit to wear at the BlogHer 08 conference, I didn’t know what to think. It was absolutely fantastic to receive gorgeous clothes and the clothes looked stunning on their website, but what were the chances that they would fit and make me feel great at the important events I was attending? Honestly, I brought a spare outfit of my own, just in case the new clothes didn’t fit this Empress.

I ripped open the plastic covering my Igigi outfit to complete excitement. The Portrait Collar Blouse in Flintstone was exceptional. The fabric was exquisite, with the perfect softness and drape, and when I held it against me it felt like a painting, like the pale blue sky in “Birth of Venus.” It was so beautiful that I became even more scared—what if it didn’t fit? So I immediately got as naked as the Venus (well, I kept my great bra on—gotta have that!) and slipped into the sky blue blouse. Gorgeous! The collar flawlessly framed my face and neck and the finely tailored rows of double buttons made me feel like a poor girl gone rich, like Madonna or Cher or Cinderella on Ice.

And miraculously, it fit. That never happens! The shaping on the sides and back showed my waist and accented my chest in heavenly ways. I felt like a rockstar making a costume change for the final number, the one where I would pull up a stool and sing directly to one person an intimate, meaningful number under a soft spotlight. Maybe “Baby’s Got Blue Eyes.” Maybe “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”

The black Wide-Legged Pants were equally elegant, glamorous, and constructed from lovely fabric. They were a little snug in the waist and needed to be hemmed, but they flowed off my hips and legs and had sexy movement. To even come close to fitting new pants is amazing. Simply amazing.

The outfit was great, so I consider Igigi my new rockstar secret. Bob Mackie is right, it’s not a huge trick to design something beautiful for a hanger or its Barbie body equivalent. But it is a major feat to provide well fitting, gorgeous clothes right off the hanger to a curvier girl with the impossible standards of an Empress. Igigi can dress me anytime!

Corinna Makris:

I’ve always thought of Ava Gardner as my own personal style icon. Of course, she is slender and taller but she had my dark coloring and a curvy body. I was about 12 years old when I saw Night of the Iguana and she immediately became my fashion role model. She was sultry, her presence was riveting, and she always got her way. Since then, I have searched for clothes that would make me feel like Ava but sadly 1940′s pencil skirts that fit my hips are impossible to find (I suppose I could have them made, but I haven’t), and while long elegant dresses with plunging necklines can be found in my size, I don’t have season tickets to the opera, and those dresses aren’t appropriate office party attire.

Finally I have found a dress that fulfills my desire to be an exotic femme fatale, one that is also modern and fits like a dream. I had never worn Igigi before. I know I am always telling everyone at www.ThisLushLife.com to wear Igigi but I am going to admit that I’ve never bought anything from the Igigi website for myself. I thought the clothes too dressy for my workaday life, too elegant for my simple local restaurants, too clingy for my curves. Those opinions have changed forever.

Thanks to the fantabulous Weetabix and Mo Pie and a recent Igigi contest, I now own the Marianna dress, and I believe it looks better on me than it does the model! It doesn’t just fit well, it fits like it was made for me. I can’t promise that it will fit you the same way but I can tell you that I am 5′ 7″ with an hourglass curvy figure. The Marianna dress hugs me like Frank Sinatra hugged Ava and then floats around the places where I want it to float.

The Marianna dress is made from strong stretchy fabric, with long lovely lace sleeves. I feel confident that I will wear it many times, but not too many – after all there are so many other Igigi dresses I now want to own!

Thanks so much, ladies! You all looked unbelievably fabulous.

The best sex comes with humour. Whether it’s being able to share a laugh at the noises bodies make when they stick together, or to feel the warmth in your heart of chuckling at a partner’s quirks, a dose or two of laughter can make good sex even better. And Celia Kyle’s Love Defined, a blend of erotic description, romance novel and fantasy, proves it.

Kyle’s heroine, Dr. Virginia Taylor, creates opportunities for the second type of humour; as billed, she’s a unique personality whose quirks offer both Mattias Kilgrey, the leading man, and the reader, plenty of smiles. Whether she’s lost her glasses in the breadbox (or on top of her head), manages a pratfall in the shower when surprised there, or orders enough for four at her local take-out place so she can have a taste of everything, Ginny’s habits are endearing and create a believable personality. She comes off the page reminding the reader of herself, or of someone she knows whose habits lead to similar fond chuckles.

But Ginny isn’t just a ball of quirks. Kyle rounds out Ginny with deeper and quieter feelings, touching on her passion for her work and her self-doubts. Readers might find the relationship arc both gratifying and recognizable as Ginny initially shys away from Mattias in embarrassment about unshaven legs and in doubt that he’d be interested in a body like her own: a fat body. While insistent on being loved as she is (on revealing her naked body to her lover, she says, “This is me. Get a good look. I won’t have you telling me to lose thirty pounds in two months. . .”), she had struggled with fear about how the man of her dreams will respond to her body. Any reader who’s wondered something similar will know how gratifying it is when he responds with a full panoply of erotic moves and a resounding assurance that her body, exactly as it is, is exactly what he wants. The romance is sweet and human, and Ginny’s quirks as well as her doubts serve to make it real.

In terms of erotic content, the book teases throughout and builds up to a big finish at the end. If you’re looking for explicit detail, the action here will usually meet your needs: Kyle gives a full play-by-play from the first lustful gaze through the big finish, and intersperses the description of what’s being done with commentary about how it feels, so that readers with an interest in either have something to take away. (Those looking for more of the “kinky” side may be disappointed; there’s a lot of action but no fetishes or orgies or actual spanking; and readers should also note that this is hetero romance). Having been introduced to the book on BFD, I will say that I was expecting a bit more of a description of what it’s like to make love to a fat body, or to be made love to in one – Kyle does make it clear that Ginny is a fat woman, and that this is what Mattias wants, but the descriptions of their sexual contact could almost all be mapped onto any body type. That may be important for an erotic novel – if you get too detailed, it will be harder for readers to imagine themselves in the action – but it was my one disappointment with the book. I would have welcomed a few more lines about exactly what it felt like for Mattias to run his hands over a fat body. Kyle does invest words in Ginny’s curves, though most (not all) of those are devoted to the two ‘curves’ she’s carrying in the front. That said, we know from the start that Ginny is a fat woman, and an eminently desirable one. Kyle isn’t coy about that. And Ginny’s internal dialogue does at times concern her body, and there were gratifying, recognizable moments for me in that dialogue. Neither the romance genre or the erotic genre is known for involving fat people, and Kyle’s book clearly steps out from the crowd here.

Love Defined also distinguishes itself in its use of fantasy. The first chapter presents a mystery – what is this Mattias, exactly? It’s clear that he has the hots for Ginny’s very human body, but it’s also clear that his own body isn’t always human. He starts out in a snow leopard habitat at an animal sanctuary, turning up his nose at raw meat. We quickly learn that Mattias is the possessor of both a male-model type human frame (Ginny counts to see whether he’s got a six-pack or an eight-pack) and a feline form; with the assistance of an earth goddess, he can switch from one to the other. Rawr. Kyle doesn’t spend a long time delving into the fantastic backstory, but fantasy is an important frame for this plot. Mattias’ abilities cause the characters to come together in the first place, provide rationale for a love story rather than just an series of erotic encounters, and give a nod to the idea of “animal passions” throughout. It’s used well, and guides the plot deftly without getting in the way of the main characters’ very human interactions. Kyle also writes erotic novels without the fantasy – so if shape-shifting cats aren’t your thing, don’t be turned off by that element here. What I found in the book (in addition to a loveable heroine, steamy action, and a satisfying romance) was pleasant use of language, an extremely good sense of pace, and a good use of dialogue. I’d wager that these strengths hold up across her work.

If you’re looking for some good, clean fun – stay away from the erotic shelves. If you’re looking for some good, sexy fun involving a delightful fat woman and a man who both loves her and aims to please, this is a great choice.