A little over a year ago I was searching online and I stumbled upon a review of the Charla Krupp book How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years Younger, 10 Pounds Lighter, 10 Times Better
Krupp’s success is fueled largely by the sheer numbers of her potential readers: The baby boomers have now all fully passed into middle age and beyond, and we Gen-Xers are right there behind them. Forty still isn’t and never will be the new 30, but it isn’t a “Sunset Boulevard” death knell anymore, either. The women who once camped out for Whitesnake tickets are not going to go gentle into that Eileen Fisher.
And it always stuck in my mind because as a huge Eileen Fisher fan I was annoyed by it and I was reminded of that annoyance when I came across this blurb in my local paper (The NY Daily News):
Rosie O’Donnell doesn’t pretend to be a fashionista, but the comedian was still upset when her favorite designer was dissed in Nora and Delia Ephron’s new play, “Love, Loss and What I Wore.”
The actress was so offended by the slight to Eileen Fisher that she made the Ephrons change a line in the Off-Broadway production . . .
“There’s a line in the show: ‘You know you have finally given up when you go to Eileen Fisher,’” O’Donnell said Thursday at the post-premiere party at Bryant Park Grill. “The first day of rehearsal, I had just gotten brand-new Eileen Fisher clothes. I was so excited to go to the play in my nice new outfit. And then I heard that line – and I was mortified. I felt horrible. So I wrote another line, which Nora eventually put in the play in Eileen’s defense,” laughed the comic, who was dressed head to toe, natch, in the label.
As someone who is perhaps the most body conscious person on the planet Eileen Fisher is a GODSEND and the words I normally use to describe Eileen Fisher are: classic and chic, sometimes arty, always effortless NEVER hopeless.
I understand Eileen Fisher is not for everyone, I truly do – but I resent the notion that somehow the woman who chooses to wear Eileen Fisher has given up. ESPECIALLY the plus size woman.
Does this look like the type of jacket someone who has given up would wear?
Eileen Fisher Plus Size High Collar Jacket (On Sale: $280 At Neiman Marcus - Click Image To View Or Buy)
I have this particular jacket in a lighter brown and if I had a buck for every time I received a compliment on it, I could justify buying this darker version:
Eileen Fisher Plus Size Suede Jacket (On Sale: $270 At Neiman Marcus - Click Image To View Or Buy)
Perhaps these people who like to comment on Eileen Fisher Clothing can recommend a designer the upscale plus size woman should wear.
St. John? Nope, they don’t do plus sizes. Diane von Furstenberg? Nope, she doesn’t either. Anne Klein? Nope, they just discontinued their plus size bridge line and their AK Anne Klein Plus Size line is uninspired crap (ditto so far for Michael Kors Plus Size) and have you seen the plus size that is now being put out under Donna Karan’s name?
It must be nice to be able to pick and chose between countless styles and designers and to be able to joke about clothing instead of the joke being the limited amount of stylish clothing available to you, as is the case for the plus size woman – but until the fashion industry gets their heads out of their collective asses and starts serving the most UNDER SERVED market in the world leave my Eileen alone.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, I never knew some people had that perception of Eileen Fisher clothing
and here I was thinking because I wear Eileen Fisher that that was proof I HAD NOT given up on myself.
I couldn’t agree with you more Donna – especially these days with so many plus size bridge wear lines be shuttered for one reason or another Eileen Fisher is one of the few higher end designers still providing upscale clothing for the plus size market.