We are heartbroken to have paid a second visit to the very promising plus-sized clothing web site, La Grand Dame only to find these crimes against womanity gracing its pages:
A clingy midsection in screaming scarlet does this lovely lady no favors. Neither does the lank hair, cowl neck and wan face.
This skirt is a wrinkled mess. The garment itself is in trouble, but the photo is inexcusably bad.
The shapeless smock atop these garish legging is almost as bad as the leggings themselves. Yes, leggings are back in a big way, but NOT in patterns (especially for you, ministers — maybe for the under 20-set) and NOT in ill-fitting, baggy form like this. Disastrous.
These black pants don’t fit. They’re a rumpled mess around the hem. Who styled this website!!?
Is this, as the web site declares, the “perfect pencil skirt?” I don’t think so. But I can’t really tell, as the horribly tacky patterned stockings distract me too much to see the skirt properly. It looks too snug and too short.
This drab schmatta isn’t TOO terrible, but it’s pretty bad. The lines are bad, it doesn’t sit right on the model’s upper body, and her styling is all wrong. Why is she made up like a drag queen? This gorgeous gal is drowning in make-up!
This is a great look except for the unfortunate screaming ugly stripe of the wrap. What were they thinking? I’d kill for the shoes, though.
At well over $100, these dark denim jeans are neither fashionable nor flattering. Again: they do NOT fit. Look at all that floppy material around the thighs. Go to Lane Bryant and find the right fit for $40. The hem is unfinished and they’re just plain ugly. Can I please have those shoes, though?
She’s cute and it’s a pretty cute top, but wrinkled like that? And hundreds of dollars? I don’t think so. I can find something in a far more interesting color on the sale rack at TJ Maxx if it should come to that.
I would like to understand what make this incredibly expensive dress the Jackie O. dress. I don’t remember Jackie O. ever looking like a rumpled Catholic schoolgirl. This is an insult to plus-sized women. We don’t need this nonsense. And especially not for $348 dollars. They didn’t have an iron anywhere on the premises? During a photo shoot? If I was the designer I’d be furious.
We will certainly continue to revisit La Grand Dame in the hopes that they improve their offerings (the garments I showed are very pricey) and their styling. We are rooting for you Grand Dame! We encourage you to find a better stylist and photographer. I know you’re running a family business, but if we’re going to buy your clothes, they have to look good!
This is a YES! Interesting garment, good fit and vibrant. Please give that model’s hair some volume, though. And send the shoes to me any time. I wear a 6.5.
And this is also a YES because I would totally buy that top and wear it with a black suit over the holidays:
The hair and make-up and shoes look good.
Hi – yes, I will admit, the red sweater just didn’t fit. We use REAL women and sometimes their weight fluctuates between shoots. It stinks and we are re-photographing it.
I wish you would have taken time to realize that so many of our clothes are of a quality unavailable anywhere else, and the items that are available elsewhere are photographed on size 8 models with the clothes hanging off the girls – how are you supposed to figure out what it will look like on you?
Mom and I are a 2 woman team – that’s it – we do everything from web design, buying, photography, styling, everything. I am sorry that sometimes you don’t agree with all of our purchases but just FYI, that gray and pinked striped sweater is nearly sold out and has been our best selling item this fall.
We are really trying to be everything right now but we are a start up sometimes we just can’t get everything right, but you know what we do get right? Customer service and selection.
Thanks,
Catherine
[Good to hear from you, Catherine! I bet my readers will be like, “PeaceBang, you are TOO critical!” And they will look at the site and hopefully they will order. – PB]
I have that Diane Keaton thing about having anything too close to my neck, so the cowl neckline is deeper, and the sweater is black, but I have a Liz Claiborne sweater that’s pretty similar to the first sweater and it is quite flattering and I love it.
I wish the folks behind this site mucho luck and encourage them to stock lots of suits and things people can wear to work.
CC
I think it’s great that they’re using plus sized women to model plus sized clothing. Hopefully they can work out the kinks in the styling/photography. 🙂
[Me too. Although I don’t know who could possibly afford a little sleeveless shell for FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. That’s just … wow. – PB]
Yikes. How demoralizing. Can they really not even make they’re backdrop look nice? What is that saying about how they feel about their customers?
Those dresses at the end are cute though!
I praise them with highest praise for using REAL plus sized women, though. Like Catherine said, other places use size 8 models, and clothespin the backs up to sorta fit.
I guess if you’re used to girls that are 5’9 and wear sizes 0-2, a size 8 IS big. Argh.
Catherine – I think it’s great that you read this site and took the time to respond to PB’s critique of your latest offerings. I also think it’s great that you’re a small and very human company that uses actual plus-size models to sell your clothing. Hallelujah!
One of the things, though, about being a for-profit business is that image is everything – especially when your goal is to sell very expensive clothing to a demographic that has typically had to put up with clothing of shoddy quality that is just plain ugly. Thankfully that is changing, little by little. Fat women are catching onto the fact that they have real clothing options out there at all price levels. That being the case, the burden is on your company to provide reasons why a fat woman (who statistically speaking, earns less than her thinner counterpart) would want to lay down her hard-earned cash on your product.
It may be helpful to think of PB’s critique as helpful and constructive criticism, even perhaps a free session with an image consultant. She has boldly told you things that people closer to you and the company might be more reticent to mention. What a gift!
I am glad Catherine spoke up, and can continue to use the real women in her site. What I like about her website is that the models are standing up so I can see the garments. (I despise catalogs that have the models so contorted that you can’t see the fit of the clothes.)
Other websites use masses of clothespins to make the garments look more fitted than they are.
Good luck and keep learning about your target market! There’s plenty of competition, and if you can fill a need with your product—you’ll suceed!
I’m impressed that they responded to your critique but making excuses does not cut it. Those pictures makes it look like they hate larger sized women. [Wow, that’s strong. But I hope they will hear you, because these women are working themselves very hard to make this business work. Maybe this is a case of needing to delegate or ask for help. It’s a tough market out there, and if you’re trying to sell expensive garments like that (I still don’t understand why some of these things are so exorbitantly priced), I agree that they just have to look smashing on the web site. – PB]
The reason these clothes are so expensive is because they are designer clothes. I googled some of the designers they feature and that’s just how much their stuff goes for.
This has to be the first time I’ve seen pictures of larger women modeling. I like that they grouped clothes by body type, for one way to look through what they have.
Tadashi gowns run for $400 or more in dept stores.