Oh my gosh I think I died and hit religious fat woman heaven!
I went to the store I had heard about. It is called black and white and it is located in someone's storage space here in Beit shemesh. Yes, yo uheard me right. A storage locker.
Needless to say I was not expecting much.
Lord was I in for a surprise!
The place was tiny, but it was, quite literally stuffed with loads of stuff, and for the first time ever I could wear all of it! Not only did it fit (lets face it, there were stores in the past that dealt in large sized clothing so a store of stuff that fit was, while nice, not totally novel), but it was all totally religiously acceptable to my level of modesty. Obviously there were some pieces in which I would not be caught dead (a stripped chifon sparkely thing comes to mind) but theoretically I could buy and wear every single piece in the store!
Ok, so what was there.
Basically, it was a line of clothing, designed and produced in Israel, for people like me. There is a chain of stores that carry the clothing, but this was an independant supplier. The name of the brand is "Discreet".
The clothign was classy and elegant but not so boring as to scream "Hi there I am a religious fanatic who wants to be sure that men are not tempted by my gorgeous curves". They obviously had chosen not to only carry items for the strictest of the stric,t but also for the rest of us who actually like people to notice that we exist once in a while. (Ok, so I am not beign 100% fair. can you tell I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder).
I tried on 7 skirts. I wanted them all. I tried on 2 shirts. I wanted them both.
Aha, now here is the rub. I could not take them all becuase prices were, well, pricey. I took 2 skirts. One a long lycra mermaid ish sort of cut skirts. It was 140 nis (roughly $35). The other was a very israeli skirt, 2 layers, one a wool and the under one more of a cotton with tulle edging. Shades of brown. It was 240 nis (roughly $60). The shirt I got was just a soft, stretchy, light pink, long sleeved t shirt and it was 80 nis ($20). The prices may not sound so bad, but when you compare the fact that salaries here are lower, and non-plus sized stuff can be had for 50 nis and up, well the prices are a little steep.
Not too steep that I would not go back.
they do not carry sleepware, underwear, tights/stockings or any other sort of lengerie (they are not that progressive) so I still have no idea where to get that sort of stuff other than to bring it in.
Oh, and she wants ot have dispaly of my work and some cards in the shop. As she is the only plus sized show in town, and I do plus sized work, it seems like a good "shidduch" (match).
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Ok, so I have heard of a store, now how to find it
I have been told of a store here in RBS that carries plus sizes and supposedly has really nice stuff. I have been told that although the prices are not exactly reasonable, they are also not as terrible as they could be (greeeeeeeeat...). I even saw an add for them in an English publication that we get (seemingly randomly as I have no idea how often we get it and never know when to expect it) last week that my husband tossed before I told him I actually needed it (thankfully, I got to read the section of short story they printed becuase I am enjoying the serial and do not want to miss a segment).
There is a local private phone book here in Beit Shemesh called, funny enough, the shemesh-phone. It is not there. At least not in the 2 year old version we got for free when we moved here from a friend of ours who has the more up to date version. We can nto get an up to date version as there seem to be none left. In any case, we asked and they do nto seem tobe in there.
So I have no idea where the store is (chances are it is in someone's basement. Most shops here are not in actual store fronts unles they are willing ot pay the big bucks as there is not a lot of commercial space in RBSA). I have no idea what sizes they carry- someone told me they think to European size 62. Anyone know what that is in the old contry?). I haven o idea how to reach them.
This is fun.
On the other hand, my mommy and a friend of mine sent me real, honest to goodness, Canadian tights. I am a much happier camper now when I need to go out at night.
Going into Tel Aviv tomorrow. There has to be a plus sized store in Tel Aviv right? Any idea how the heck I would find it?
There is a local private phone book here in Beit Shemesh called, funny enough, the shemesh-phone. It is not there. At least not in the 2 year old version we got for free when we moved here from a friend of ours who has the more up to date version. We can nto get an up to date version as there seem to be none left. In any case, we asked and they do nto seem tobe in there.
So I have no idea where the store is (chances are it is in someone's basement. Most shops here are not in actual store fronts unles they are willing ot pay the big bucks as there is not a lot of commercial space in RBSA). I have no idea what sizes they carry- someone told me they think to European size 62. Anyone know what that is in the old contry?). I haven o idea how to reach them.
This is fun.
On the other hand, my mommy and a friend of mine sent me real, honest to goodness, Canadian tights. I am a much happier camper now when I need to go out at night.
Going into Tel Aviv tomorrow. There has to be a plus sized store in Tel Aviv right? Any idea how the heck I would find it?
Monday, November 10, 2008
Tights
Well I am no importing tights from Canada and the US becuase I have given up and my legs are freakin' freezing! Thank goodness I have some wonderful people back in the substantially colder (and clearly more plus sized friendly) north to help me out or I might be the first person in the Mediterranean to lose a leg or two to fristbite.
I am starting to think about opening a plus sized shop over here. It seems to be a nice that needs filling. The only problem is that I do not tihnk it would fly hwere I am. Too small town. I think if I am going to do it I need to do it in either Jerusalem ore Tel Aviv. Truthfully, I figure there has to be something, but there is probably a local colloquialism for "plus size" that I jsut do not know to look for.
Be that as it may my mom is sending a bunch of pairs, and my friend Andrea is sending over a whole bunch that are mroe colourful. I am also thinking of ordering a few pairs from "we love colors" but frankly they ar really expensive. The colors are awesome, but once you convert the price into shkalim it just kills me to think about actually doing it.
On the "plus" side, my studio is now back up and running again. I love my new studio here. I am so much light and space. I never imagined the difference that having a seperate, dedicated work space would make. It make me feel so much more professional, and I think it comes across when I am dealing with people as well. I can now actualy have clients into the studio and do not need to meet them at a local coffee shop (which is a good thing becuase there isn't one).
My Etsy shop is slowly getting back up on its feet after months of neglect. I have some local work in both custom work and repairs starting to come in. Other than the fact that having to go on a supply run is a 6 hour trek into Tel Aviv, from a business point of view things have never been better.
Well, except for the fact that I sliced my finger last week becuase I was doing something particularly stupid. Ruined the piece as well becuase my hand jumped and my saw took a huge gash out of the silver I was working on.
Dumb.
Oh well, such is life I guess.
I am starting to think about opening a plus sized shop over here. It seems to be a nice that needs filling. The only problem is that I do not tihnk it would fly hwere I am. Too small town. I think if I am going to do it I need to do it in either Jerusalem ore Tel Aviv. Truthfully, I figure there has to be something, but there is probably a local colloquialism for "plus size" that I jsut do not know to look for.
Be that as it may my mom is sending a bunch of pairs, and my friend Andrea is sending over a whole bunch that are mroe colourful. I am also thinking of ordering a few pairs from "we love colors" but frankly they ar really expensive. The colors are awesome, but once you convert the price into shkalim it just kills me to think about actually doing it.
On the "plus" side, my studio is now back up and running again. I love my new studio here. I am so much light and space. I never imagined the difference that having a seperate, dedicated work space would make. It make me feel so much more professional, and I think it comes across when I am dealing with people as well. I can now actualy have clients into the studio and do not need to meet them at a local coffee shop (which is a good thing becuase there isn't one).
My Etsy shop is slowly getting back up on its feet after months of neglect. I have some local work in both custom work and repairs starting to come in. Other than the fact that having to go on a supply run is a 6 hour trek into Tel Aviv, from a business point of view things have never been better.
Well, except for the fact that I sliced my finger last week becuase I was doing something particularly stupid. Ruined the piece as well becuase my hand jumped and my saw took a huge gash out of the silver I was working on.
Dumb.
Oh well, such is life I guess.
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