Hello and welcome to Affinity Fashion where we focus on the customer that brick and mortar retail has forgotten and/or ignored: The Upscale Plus Size Woman – not plus size girl, not plus size teenager: the plus size WOMAN. The plus size woman who has essentially been forced to do her upscale plus size shopping online.
Melissa Masse keeps plugging along and making great plus size dresses for both both work and play!
New Masse plus size dresses just recently popped up at both Saks and Neimans.
Neimans:
At Saks – some Maxi Dresses:
I am especially fond of this cotton “floral impressionistic” for $295:
Both Saks and Neimans have this Ombre Cotton Shirtdress for $325:
And if you’re looking for something to throw on top of your Melissa Masse dress if you get chilly Saks has her white slub cardigan for $125:
Okay, it’s Memorial Day Weekend WHERE are the big sales? Yes, Nordstrom started their half-yearly sale a few days ago and Bloomingdale’s is doing an extra 20% OFF (Coupon Code EXTRA20) but Memorial Day is usually a HUGE Weekend for sales and Saks and Neimans aren’t doing anything special – no additional discounts, no new markdowns . . . Color me disappointed 
Well at least Coldwater Creek is doing 50% OFF EVERYTHING – I’m sure I’ll be able to dig up some treats with that kind of discount! COUPON CODE: MAY50
It’s Half-Yearly sale time at Nordstrom and a fair amount of Eileen Fisher plus size styles have just been marked down by 33%:
Just a reminder a lot of the Eileen Fisher styles at Nordstrom are available in more than one color – so if you like a certain style but don’t care for the color be sure to check if more colors are available.
Some of the new markdowns that come in more than one color is this Open Hemp Cardigan:
This Linen Jacket
The Eileen Fisher Plus Size “Cozy” Cardigan:
And this beaded organic linen tank:
If you missed the sale J. Jill had last week where you could take 20% OFF your entire order all is not lost as they are now offering 25% OFF all sale and clearance items which makes up a good portion of their site. If you didn’t act last week I heartily suggest you get a move on as a few items I tried to buy last week were sold out by the time I was ready to check out
Click Image To Visit J. Jill
No coupon code necessary.
I bought a lot of pieces last week but I did manage to overlook this crinkle trench. The plus size trench was originally $139 and it’s now marked down to $69.99 so with the additional 25% OFF you’re looking at a price of $52.49 a savings of over 62% OFF the original price!
Summer is the perfect time for Johnny Was and Saks has just listed a few new Johnny Was Plus Size styles. While I’m not a huge fan of the lumberjack looking shirt or the addition of the signature Johnny Was floral embroidery added to a horizontal striped top:
I am a fan of the other new additions which include both plus size dresses and tops:
If you like the navy top Neiman’s did just currently list it on their site as well for $15 less:
they also just recently added two other new Johnny Was Plus Size Tops – a great white embroidered wrap tag, along with a brown silk:
Citron Plus Size Duster ($154 - Click Image To View Or Buy)
A new Citron plus size style popped up today at Dillard’s – they’re calling it a “Buttefly Print Duster” but I see more floral than butterfly so I’m calling it a “Floral Print Tunic” so there. 
I sold Spencer Alexis for a few years on my retail site (www.14to24w.com) and while the style wasn’t for everyone the ladies I had who loved the style were rabid fans – I honestly had customers who told me they wept when they found out Spencer Alexis was going out of business. Well dry those tears Spencer fans because the original Spencer Alexis designer has a new line! It’s called Violet Kay (or perhaps it’s just Violet K. – I was SO EXCITED I didn’t ask!)
Anywho: it’s currently at the better Dillard stores in Florida, Dallas and Arizona and should be in the plus size departments in Nordstrom throughout the country. I would suggest calling first to inquire.
From what I understand Dillard’s may start offering it online but Nordstorm as of now will not
The brand is pretty new so there won’t be much overstock for me to buy right now BUT I am going to try and get some samples to sell on my retail site and if/when I do I will share the photos here as well.
As I end this post I don’t mind telling you the song playing in my head is: Oh, Happy Day . . . Oh, Happy Day
So I got an e-mail from one of my favorite stores today (J. Jill): they told me the 20% coupon inside was for “my eyes only” but what kind of person whould I be if I didn’t share this coupon with my readers 
Coupon Code: SUMMER
What makes this sale even better is that most of their Pure Jill line is already 15% OFF and some of their other full price styles are 25% OFF
One piece I am definitely going for is their asymetrical tee. As a pear shape I am so sick of having to get a T-Shirt that is swimming on me on top in order to get it to fit my hips and conceal my belly. It’s part of the Pure Jill Line so with the 15% OFF and the additional 20% it’s $37.40 instead of $55
Almost 9 months ago I did a post about a stunning Lafayette 148 Coat that retailed for $1,148 and quickly sold out in Sizes 18-24. The gist of the post was that it was a fallacy that plus size women would not spend money on high end clothing especially if the style in question was something very special.
I was reminded of that post today when I once again stumbled across this Tahari plus size leather jacket on the Saks website:
This leather jacket from Elie Tahari features a beautiful laser cut trim and retails for $1,298 - already both Size 2x and 3x are sold out. Are the powers that be in the fashion industry honestly surprised by this because I certainly am not.
I can’t say for sure if Kay Unger stopped doing plus sizes and is now doing them again or if they/she never stopped . . . all I can tell you is I used to see some Kay Unger plus size dresses here and there and then: nothing so I just assumed Kay Unger was no longer doing plus BUT now some Kay Unger plus size styles have popped up at Saks.com
As of now there are just a handful of styles but I’m hopeful there will be more.
I’m hoping that the powers that be at Kay Unger saw the gap in the upscale plus size market created by the departure of Dana Buchman and Ellen Tracy and will be one of the designers (along with Elie Tahari) who will be stepping in to fill the void. The styles are listed as being exclusive to Saks so my guess is that even if the designers out there aren’t aware of the void Saks is due to them having to try and stock Salon Z.
In terms of pricing: all 4 of the tops currently being offered retail for $380 – the pants retail for $340 and the skirt $290.
$565
