I can remember the old days as a young kid seeing all the skinny girls wearing allthe really cute clothes, while me,being a fat kid, I was stuck wearing clothes that mademe not only look like a clown, but made me feel fat, frumpy and like a total reject.

When the teen years hit it only got worse. All the other girls were wearing the latest fashions while I was stuck wearing tacky polka dots and other hideous looking designs. Designer jeans? Forget it! They didn't make them past a size 14 and at the time I was a size 20.

It took the fashion industry long enough, but it's finally happened. Plus size clothing has come a long way from the goofy looking tent styled clothing that used to plaguethe industry to new trendy stylish fashions that everyone can wear.

Some of the big name labels have finally gotten the hint and have expanded their lines to incude plus sizes. There's a lot of places you can go to find the perfect outfit to fityour size and your style.

First of all people need to lose the old way of plus size fashion thinking. Wearing all black does not make you look thinner, nor does wearing an oversized "A" frame dressor top. What really flatters a persons figure are clothes that fit correctly, show your actual shape and accent it. When you wear oversized clothes, it only makes youlook bigger than you are. Tight clothes especially jeans, may make your lower abdominal area appear smaller, but the fat will have to come out somewhere and it will usually bulge out above the beltline causing a really odd looking roll.

Denial is futile! If you're a size 20, buy a size 20. I know a girl who can't handle the fact that she's a size 22 and insists on stuffing herself in a size 18 to 20. Her clothes are always noticeably stretched out and when she wears jeans she can hardly sit down. When she does manage to, she gets this monster fat roll that bulges out which extends outward equal to her bustline. It looks terrible!

Only after we tackle the denial issue can we all go out and look good in our clothes.

No matter how proud you are of your body, one of the worst fashion faux pas for the plus sized woman are the cropped tops. Being a mall rat and a people watcher, I can't keep a count on how many times I've seen these young girls with pot bellies wearing lowrise jeans and a bare midriff top walking through the mall not knowing thatthe attention she's getting is almost all negative. There are some that like the look of that, but they are far and few between. I've overheard what people say when a girl walks by dressed like this and it's very upsetting. People can be cruel and brutal whenthey think nobodys listening.

When shopping for clothes, it's not only fun, but it can be very helpful to bring friends that are honest in their assessments of how you look. Never rely on the sales associate to give you a truly honest opinion on how an item looks on you. Keep in mind that most of them are being paid to tell you that you look great in anything you put on because their bottom line is making the sale. You will find the exception here and there though. I used to shop at a certain store all the time because the sales associates were totally honest. When I put something on that looked horrible, they'd tell me. I appreciated that because

who wants to spend big bucks to look hideous?

When buying clothes online, make sure you know your exact measurements and be sure that the person selling their items has complete measurements of the article posted. If you don't see all the measurements posted, ask the seller what they are and be sure they have a return policy.

When buying high end designer name brands on an auction site, be aware that there are a LOT of replicas out there. Replicas are poorly constructed and are often passed off as the real thing with an inflated price.Your best bet to avoid the replica rip off is to buy the clothes from the actual manufacturer or authorized store.