Erica Young of MP, Deb Malkin of Re/Dress NYC, and Aimee Cheshire of MP.

Madison Plus was thrilled to attend the Re/Dress NYC Indie + fashion show this past Friday. The show featured some of the best Indie plus size designs from the following brands: La’Dan’s Closet, Size Queen Clothing, Cupcake and Cuddlebunny, Nikki B Decadent Designs, shoe designer Jessica Pritchett, jewelry designer Fennimas and Luxidermy by Taueret.

The show took place at the very trendy The Invisible Dog Gallery on Bergen Street in Brooklyn, NYC and was hosted by Emily Rems from Bust Magazine. Singer/Songwriter Celisse Henderson started out the night with an acoustic performance and the runway show began! Check out some of our favorite pictures from the night! 

Several avant garde looks came down the runway. Love the cute bunny ears on model and MP Fresh Face Alicia.

La’ Dan’s Closet’s coats were amazing!

We loved this woman’s fringe dress and madison magenta accessories!  Plus model Mia Amber always looks so beautiful!

 Rachel of Fennimas Jewelry always looks amazing! Her jewelry is so unique and truly takes an outfit to the next level in style.

 Did you attend the Re/Dress NYC fashion show? Which designer was your favorite?

Ashley’s uses her charms and beauty to seduce us, just like a femme fatale should.

In the classic femme fetale uniform, this trench coat hugs her curves while keeping us guessing whats underneath.

Be sure to pick up Bust Magazine for the full editorial.

Be sure to visit Re/Dress today for the Indie+ Trunk Show.

This Friday, November 12th, Re/Dress NYC presents the exclusive INDIE+ runway show at The Invisible Dog Gallery on Bergen Street in Brooklyn, NYC.

The show will be hosted by Emily Rems from Bust Magazine, feature burlesque performer Tangerine Jones and a live performance by Singer/Songwriter Celisse Henderson. A cocktail hour will follow immediately after the show.

The designers that will be featured on the runway are:

La’Dan’s Closet, Jibri, Size Queen Clothing, Cupcake and Cuddlebunny, Nikki B Decadent Designs, shoe designer Jessica Pritchett, jewelry designer Fennimas and Luxidermy by Taueret.

Re/Dress NYC will collect non-perishable food items for City Harvest throughout the INDIE+ Weekend. Guests are encouraged to bring a food donation with them to the show. A list of desired foods is included on the INDIE+ website.

Can’t wait to see you there and if you can’t make it be sure to watch the live feed from the show.

We were so excited when the London based Anna Scholz and team informed us that they would be coming to NYC and wanted to do an exclusive Spring 2011 line preview and shopping event with us! The event was held at AKA Hotel in the heart of Times Square and fans were able to meet the Anna Scholz and Madison Plus team. The shopping event had the largest attendance to date with Anna’s VIP customers in attendance as well as several of our beautiful model friends.

Check out the full pictures here!

Anna, Erica, Aimee and Darren before the fun started.

Anna and our contest winner Nikki. Shop the dress Nikki won.

Gorgeous ladies trying on Anna Scholz’s Print Jersey Wrap Dress and Print Jersey Wide Band Tunic.

Shop Anna’s silk georgette beaded dress.

Brandon, Monif C, Aimee and Erica we just loved Monif C’s sequin butterfly top.

Tiffany and Aimee, Tiffany was our FNO style contest winner.

WCurve model Bernadett wearing a trench from Anna’s Spring 2011 line.

Shop the Digital Jersey Print Dress.

The lovely Lindsey from Re/Dress.

What do you think of the Anna Scholz and Madison Plus in NYC event?

Would you be interested in doing an event with Madison Plus? Contact us at info@madisonplus.com.

“My greatest joy is to watch women regain a sense of playfulness with their clothing. Our only fashion rule is to start from a place of love and creativity.”

Deb Malkin
Owner Re/Dress NYC

Inspiration for the Fall 2010 Season:

“Our inspiration for fall is our inspiration always, which is to find affordable pieces that will enhance our customer’s already existing wardrobe. Also, we’re always in hot pursuit of the perfect dress. This Fall we’re falling in love with metallic hardware, great vintage inspired prints, draping cardigans and sequins. (we always LOVE sequins at Re/Dress NYC).”

Top 5 Picks for the Fall 2010 Season:

1. Drape sweater
2. Sequin top
3. Vintage inspired
4. Zip front dress
5. Harem Pant

What is your Fashion Week critique of Re/Dress NYC?

Last Friday we spent our evening hanging out with all of our fans at the Lord & Taylor, Madison Plus FNO event.

Erica and I had an amazing time running around the floor styling up the curvy mannequins in pieces from Micheal Kors, Not Your Daughters Jeans, Adrianna Papelle, Calvin Klein and Jones New York.

I loved styling my outfit, I decided to rock Micheal Kors head to toe. I was in love with the animal print skirt and the purple blouse with the grommets just popped my outfit.

All I did to my hair for the night was some big velcro rollers and wore them around the office while I worked. Talk about multi-tasking at its best!

We were so excited that Mandy and Natalie came up to help us cover all the exciting FNO events. After joining us to capture the style competition they went on to visit Lane Bryant, True Boutique and Re/Dress.

Our three beautiful finalists from our style competition were Tina Santiago, Oby Nmezi and Tiffany Bank. Erica and I styled them head to toe in our picks from the Lord & Taylor plus floor.  Which outfit was your favorite?

Our audience picked Tiffany Bank with her Calvin Klein fur coat and Jones of New York faux wrap dress as the winner!

If you want to see more pic’s check out our Facebook fan page and L&T’s.

Let us know what you would like to see us do next year!

Photos By. Myung Choi and Mandy Fierens

My lovely navy poke-a-dot dress, is from everyone’s favorite plus size vintage store Re/Dress. Erica and I were picking some outfits up a shoot and this lovely dress was on the mannequin shouting my name. It didn’t take much encouragement to get me into the changing rooms to put it on. I don’t often go sleeveless, but this dress had a large amount of ruching at the back which helped it get around my back and chest and left me room for a supportive strapless bra (thank you Lane Bryant). All the details from the peplum and the pencil skirt with the razzle dazzle bow were just perfect to wear to this wedding.

My strapy rhinestone heels were left over from my wedding 4 years ago and I was super excited to get more mileage out of them, unfortunately at the end of the night they broke! I am a huge fan of taking your shoes to a cobbler but in this case they were beyond saving. The final piece to my look is my facinator, I figured for an English wedding I needed some sort of hat. Again Deb came to the rescue for me with the one I am wearing here.

If you haven’t seen our wedding issuu yet, click here to browse our wedding dresses, bridal party and mother of the bride picks!

Fashion’s Night Out is right around the corner and we couldn’t be more excited for our event as well as all the other fashion fun that will be taking place in New York City and around the country! We scoured the web to find the best events for the curvy and plus community to check out on September 10th and here are our favorites for NYC:

Madison Plus and Lord & Taylor- 425 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018

Madison Plus and Lord & Taylor team up for Fashion’s Night Out at the Flagship Store on 5th Avenue for a night of stylish fun. Join us for Fashion’s Night Out on the 6th floor at Lord & Taylor! We will be there from 6pm-11pm for a plus event to remember! Bring your girlfriends and prepare for a fun night of entertainment, fashion, MP fun, shopping and style! Be sure to enter our MP Style Contest! Check out the full details of the contest here! RSVP here!

Re/Dress NYC- 109 Boerum Place Brooklyn NY 11201

Part Protest + Part Party! NYC’s favorite boutique specializing in size 14 + up, Re/Dress NYC will celebrate fashion’s curvier customers with a trunk show celebrating new Canadian label Lotis Clothing. They will also be sponsoring a letter writing + video campaign to highlight the lack of attention paid to sizes 14 and up. Help send a message to fashion’s favorites that women with curves will not be denied! Everyone who fills out a postcard and/or video blog will shopping incentives. The first 50 people also get a gift bag!

Lane Bryant- 7 W. 34th Street. Manhattan NY 10001

Lane Bryant will be selling the exclusive plus size Fashion’s Night Out T-shirts as well as having public appearances by plus model Lizzie Miller and Ashley Graham. From 6pm-11pm there will be an appearances by the Lane Bryant Designers. There is a cocktail ring gift with any purchase as well as refreshments featuring the Lanetini. There is also a DKNY Jeans T-shirt gift with any DKNY Jeans purchase from 6pm-9pm.

Avenue- 711 Third Avenue New York NY10017

Participating locations will have shopping incentives, gift with purchase, style tips, and select stores will have a fashion show.

True Boutique- 278 Mott Street New York NY 10012

True Boutique Presents the Love Your Shape Denim Event by Beija-Flor Jeans. True Boutique and Beija-Flor celebrate real women because a slender size 4 and a curvy size 16 should be able to shop at the same store. You’re invited to experience great clothes, custom tailoring, and the chance to look and feel great at this exclusive denim event. 6 pm to 11 pm. Meet the Designers and find the perfect jean. FNO Collection will be available in-store.

If you know of any plus size events happening in NYC or elsewhere for FNO be sure to tell us!

Which stores will you be stopping by for Fashion’s Night Out?  Hint* Hint* Madison Plus!

(Fashion to Figure via Time Out New York)

(Courtney Washington boutique via Time Out New York)

With the Fall season just around the corner, Time Out Magazine recently released a great article catering to the curvy girls and big & tall men of NYC; The Plus Size Guide to NYC Shopping. The guide includes everything from plus size taylored business wear, evening wear, lingerie, vintage, and the best fitting denim. Madison Plus wants to give a huge congrats to Michael Kaplan of Fashion to Figure, Deb Malkin of Re/Dress NYC, and Monif C. of Monif C. for their awards.  The Madison Plus team has greatly enjoyed working with you and are thrilled to see your hardwork rewarded! 

Here is the full list of winners:

Best for Weekend Gear: Courtney Washington

Best Chain: Fashion to Figure ***15% Off All Fashion To Figure Orders with Code: FTFMADPLUS15

Best Tailor: Imparali Custom Tailors

Best for Work Wear: Marina Rinaldi

Best for Denim: HotSexyFit

Best for Accessories: Lee Lee’s Valise

Best for Evening: Monif C.

Best for Vintage: Re/Dress NYC

Best for Men: Rochester Big & Tall

Best one-stop shopping: Avenue

Best for lingerie: Orchard Corset

Best for Halloween costumes: Frank Bee Costume

(Lee Lee’s Valise via Time Out New York)

Check out the Plus-Size Shopping guide to NYC.

Is your favorite boutique/store included?

August is the month that we must relax and recharge before fall comes our way. I am about to head out on vacation to visit my hubby’s family in England, attend a wedding for our friends Claire & Nick. We are finishing off the trip with a visit to The Netherlands.

My last trip to Amsterdam.

So naturally, now comes the time when I have to start thinking about packing. I am bringing with me an amazing vintage dress from Re/Dress,to wear to the wedding. Which I can’t wait to show you! But that is only one day of a two week trip. So what else will I bring? I differ from most girls when I travel, I tend to keep my suitcase pretty empty, I bring only the necessities, work off a base neutral such as black and denim.  I only pack pieces that don’t need ironing. I have learned from my past experiences of bringing too much and not using half of it. I also plan on bringing a collection of European goodies back with me to fill up that extra space.

A cold day in Dublin.

Loved the shopping in Copenhagen, and I ate the best Danish of my life. Quite fitting.

I love shopping in Holland because trousers are made for tall girls in mind and its the key item to wear this fall. I am really looking forward to meeting in person MP Fresh Face Mayra and having dinner with all the fabulous Dutch plus models while I am in town too!

Driving through Argentina in the spring time.

On the beach in Mexico.

Taking a walk in Jamaica.

I hope to bring back photos from my favorite shops, street styles and of course all the wonderful things that I come across during my time away.

I had the pleasure of viewing the plus size collection of aspiring designer and Parsons School of Design fashion major, Alyssa Roberti on Friday, May 14, 2010. The fashion show event was held at Re/Dress, an amazing plus size vintage and resale store in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn. The turnout was a nice small group of 20 or so people, which included Gwen DeVoe, creator of Full Figured Fashion Week.

Alyssa, who is just finishing up her junior year as an Integrated Design Curriculum (IDC) major, is pushing the envelope at Parsons. She started out as a BFA (Fashion Design) major. However, she noticed that her professors were always pushing students to design clothing for a smaller size. Alyssa questioned this by designing a plus size piece, which she showed her professor. The professor’s response was that it was a waste of time. However, Alyssa was determined to continue with plus size design. She realized that a change was needed and that was her “epiphany” moment. So she changed her major to IDC, which still enables her to focus on fashion while having the freedom to create her own curriculum. She has been dedicated to plus size design ever since.

During the Q& A session after the fashion show, Alyssa told the group of an experience she had in pattern making class in the beginning of her studies at Parsons.  She noticed that there were size 12 patterns available so she asked her professor if she could use them for class. Her professor tried to dissuade her but Alyssa stood her ground. In the end, Alyssa proved her wrong.  She has gotten a great response from her peers at Parsons and she hopes to open the door for others who would like to focus on plus size design.

Alyssa is inspired by the art of Cecily Brown, who combines figuration & abstraction with themes of sexuality and attraction.  Cecily’s work contains lots of colors which she shows with a brush stroke technique. Alyssa tried to infuse that in her plus size design aesthetic by painting on clothing with the same type of brush stroke technique and use of many colors. She likes the idea of creating wearable art. She initially did the painting by hand with brushes until a professor suggested she use silk art, which is easier to use.

Marcy and Alyssa Roberti

Deb Malkin and Gwen DeVoe

Marcy with Leslie Medik (Re/Dress employee)

In terms of what Alyssa favors in design, she prefers a refined creative element.  She loves fashion from the 1920’s era. Her favorite plus designers are Monif C and Ashley Stewart. Alyssa loves the convertibleness of Monif C.’s clothing, especially the Marilyn dress. She stated that she loves how Monif C.’s clothing is classic and sophisticated. With Ashley Stewart, Alyssa feels that she has great up and coming designs. Her constant two favorite designers outside of the plus size design world are Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson because of their styles and colors.

Alyssa’s fashion showing at the event consisted of 4 pieces, one of which she wore herself. Her color scheme was a mixture of plum, cream, gold and silver metallic, and blues. The first piece was a long length cream colored dress with a plum velvet neckline, which to me, was a homage to the 20’s era that she loves so much. The dress had a detachable necklace that really went well against the plum velvet neckline. The back of the dress had a “surprise” element. It was that same plum velvet fabric and was draped so that part of the model’s back was exposed.

Alyssa with models in her designs

The second piece was a 2-piece top and pant outfit. The top was beautifully hand painted in a brush stroke fashion by Alyssa in purple, teal, and lilac. The pants were silver metallic stretch “liquid” leggings. The third piece was a knee length dress with the top part of it hand painted as well. Alyssa also knit a type of sash in a plum color that was attached to the dress and layered over part of the top hand painted area. The skirt part was the same cream color as the floor length dress.

The final piece, worn by Alyssa, was a beautiful gold top with velvet sides and a red velvet skirt that had a faux wrap style to it. The draping of the skirt was very beautiful. Out of all the pieces, this one is my favorite because of the colors and the fabric. It looked very flattering and classic. It is an outfit that can be the perfect day to evening piece.

I was very impressed with the pieces shown and am very excited to see what Alyssa will design next. Her plans, as she enters her senior year at Parsons, are to continue plus size design from a sportswear aspect and in the future, she would like to expand to runway plus size couture fashion.

Overall, Alyssa received a very positive response to her pieces and have left us wanting to see more. She was extremely inspiring and great to talk to.  She really encompasses everything a successful fashion designer should be: staying true to herself and what she believes in despite the pushback she experienced. Her determined attitude and great talent will definitely take the plus size fashion world by storm. – Marcy

Tara also stopped by to visit Madison Plus that day!

I had the best shopping experience going to visit the plus size vintage expert herself – Deb at Re/Dress. It was the FIRST time I was ever able to shop vintage, consignment…etc. I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn which is a resale mecca with Buffalo Exchange, 12ft Single, Monk, Beacon’s Closet and that is just a few. I have shopped them all and have found very little as a plus size woman. As you can imagine with past experiences hanging over my head I was hesitant that I would find anything at Re/Dress.

I was wrong! So very wrong.

I was not alone on this vintage shopping trip, my fabulous MP partner Erica, joined me and she could not hold herself back from picking out fabulous outfits for me to try on. Erica is an expert stylist and I was not about to say no when it comes to being the recipient of her skills.

Erica immediately grabbed an early 80′s-style fuchsia dress, and I have to admit that I was a little afraid of the puffy sleeves, but was proved wrong when I put it on, the dress was fabulous and highlighted my waist perfectly and the puffy sleeves just made my waist look smaller. As an apple-shaped girl, I cannot say no to this!

My all-time favorite of the day was a poke-a-dot strapless dress, it had just arrived the day before and it left with me! I never would think such a dress would fit me, thanks to a little smocking on the back of the dress it zipped right up.

Also tried on a fabulous green ruffle hem dress, it was a little too tight for me, so if any of you girls are between a size 12/14 it is waiting for you to take it home.

When your wanting a little something special for your closet, something that you know no one else will have, be sure to pay a visit to Re/Dress. Deb has a fabulous eye for the must have items!

Visit Re/Dress at 109 Boerum Place, Brooklyn, NY. More information www.redressnyc.com.

Images by Erica Young.

We are happy to have today a post by MP friend and fellow entrepreneur, Sahar Parirokh. Sahar owns Freedom Star which is a multi-pronged company that sells accessories, offers consulting for small business owners, and mentorship programs for students. Check out her full site at FreedomStarOnline.com.

Sahar visited the very hip boutique Re/Dress NYC exclusively for Madison Plus! Check out her blog below and let us know what you think of this hip boutique!

Re/Dress NYC vintage and resale boutique in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn offers voluptuous women in New York a one-stop-shop for vintage and confidence. Owner, Deb Malkin, celebrated its one-year anniversary in November.  When I sat down with her this week she shared, “even in a soft economy, Re/Dress NYC has been doing remarkably well.”

It’s really no surprise, Deb’s personal frustrations with fashion for plus size women is what spurred her to start Re/Dress NYC , and you can feel it throughout the racks. Before she occupied 109 Boerum, Deb organized seven Fat Girl Flea Markets. Today, Re/Dress NYC is the only boutique of its kind offering women sizes 14+ a one-of-a-kind option from vintage to resale from labels such as Torrid to “only the cute stuff” from Lane Bryant.  I was there just 15 minutes and left with three purses for around $40!  Deb says “you can style an entire Re/Dress NYC outfit for under $100—$50 if you take your time and look for the bargains!” She loves to dress her clients so they walk out feeling comfortable and confident, never pursuing a fashion agenda.

When you’re done shopping, you can throw on your new outfit for an in-store pic that will be displayed. Re/Dress NYC also has indie designer trunk shows and a holistic class with a health every size activist.

A visit to Re/Dress NYC will leave you feeling empowered in your wallet, closet, and heart.

109 Boerum Place, Brooklyn, NY 11201 
http://www.redressnyc.com/

Click here for more info on how to enter and good luck to everyone!