Just last week I had a little rant about the plus-size industry not moving forward fast enough (for me and many others). And I don’t want to go on and on again about that (just yet) but on a related ironic note, I saw in the news today that Avenue is closing all its stores across the country.

That is really a shame because Avenue is a store that was doing plus-size right. And they’ve been doing it for a long time. It was a dedicated plus-size shop that started their sizing at size 14 and went up to size 32. They were truly plus size inclusive.

Over my lifetime, I probably have had more clothes from Avenue than from any other brand. They were really my go-to for work and dressy clothes for many years. I always found as their sizes went up, the width of pieces went up vs. the height. So many brands just make clothes taller and not necessarily larger. I’m wide not tall.  As is the case for many plus size women. So thank you, Avenue, for that.

In fact, and purely coincidentally, the dress I’m wearing for today’s post is from Avenue! You saw this dress previously in my 4th of July post here. Also this white maxi that you saw here.

So I’ll repeat what I said last week about what we can all do to keep our favorite stores open:

  • Spend your money at size-inclusive brands.
  • When you can, go in-store to shop.
  • Use your social media voice to tag brands in requests for more sizing range.

I think this is a real loss, right when we’re fighting for more size-inclusivity in fashion, to lose a long-time workhorse of a brand.

On the plus side (pun not intended. much.), all their inventory is greatly reduced right now, so…be sure to take a look online or go into a store and take advantage of the discounts before they’re gone.

And on a brighter note (because this is really not what I’d planned to write about today but when I saw the news combined with the fact that I’d just photographed an Avenue dress…), after many years of poor planning and never getting to a sunflower field before all the flowers had gone by, I finally made it! I know sunflower field shoots are cliched and overdone but…I don’t care, ha ha! I’ve wanted to shoot with sunflowers since even before I had a blog!

This field (which they called a sunflower maze, but it was really not a maze at all) is owned by a Long Island potato chip company that uses sunflower oil for frying their chips. They also grow their own potatoes to make their chips.

What do y’all think about all the brick&mortar stores that are closing (not just Avenue!)? I have to admit, I love the ease of online shopping. But I also like being able to go into a store to try things on, or when I need something right away.

What I Wore:

Thanks to She Who Shall Remain Nameless for the pictures and that awesome sun flare!

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