Kavitha Surana“Oh my God, your mannequins are real-sized!”
“Look, clothes for big girls like me!”
Those are the reactions Kathy Sanchez said she had gotten from passersby after opening Curvaceous K boutique over the weekend.
Even petite women have come in to express their excitement about the healthy-sized models in the window, she said.
The store stocks sizes 14 through 26 and a wide range of hard-to-find labels like Igigi, Mynt, SWAK, and Queen Grace.
Ms. Sanchez gained her nuanced understanding of plus-sized clothes from personal experience. “I’ve been so many different sizes and I always had to learn how to dress my body,” she explained. “Eventually I became the go-to girl for styling my full-figured friends.”
Kavitha SuranaAccording to Ms. Sanchez, plus-sized customers have become more vocal about their desire for diverse options in the past five years. These days they are organizing events like Full Figured Fashion Week and creating targeted publications like Plus Size Magazine to showcase new plus-size products. “I don’t think it’s about being curvaceous or being skinny,” she said. “It’s about being a woman and wanting to look good.” Her stock includes everything from well-cut office wear to loud, zany prints, perfect for a night out.
From 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, items will be 15 percent off for Presidents Day.
Curvaceous K, 179 Stanton Street (between Clinton and Attorney Streets) 347-249-4404
Correction: Feb. 18, 2013
The original version of this post was revised to correct an error. The names of two brand names were misspelled. They are Igigi and Mynt, and Gigi and Mint.
