And for the record, I have bought things — including a B & Lu skirt — from the boutique in question. And I LOVE the boutique. But generally speaking, if they’re charging more than twice what shipping would cost me for an item I know I can get easily online? I’m not getting it there.

Actually, it’s a great idea for me to try Maximum Woman first. I can try on the clothes there, and then order them online for a better price and have them shipped to my mom in the US. Hum. I feel kind of sneaky. I’ll have to buy something from them as well in order to salve my guilty conscience. :-)

EXACTLY! While it is frustrating on a personal level, it’s really gratifying to know that I can suggest B&Lu to women (and men if they are so inclined) of almost any shape and the probability will be high that they can find something awesome. And in a decent price point. I was looking at Igigi again today and, again, the prices just KILL ME.

Ditto. I’m lucky that there’s a local boutique that carries them, so I can try things on. (I still order online, though, ’cause if you want to talk redonkulous, you should see the mark-up at said boutique.)

Now that I think of it, in some ways, this makes me respect them MORE, because it suggests they’re designing for different sizes and shapes, as well as showcasing them. Most brands primarily work for big-boned apples, or small-boned pears, or some other combination of characteristics that reflects one fit model. So there are lots of brands I just can’t buy, period. B & Lu seems to have something for everyone — though it’s tough figuring out what’s for you and what’s not.

Speaking of which, Dee, I think Maximum Woman carries them. And if they don’t, you could always ask.

I should add that Zaftique also uses models of various sizes. Most are on the smaller end, but this woman came immediately to mind.

And the interesting thing is, even though this woman in the same dress is probably closer to my size, I can get a much better sense of what it would look like on ME from the bigger model, because she’s shaped more like me. So yeah, it would be nice to see a greater diversity of sizes and shapes among models. It would also probably sell more clothes.

I know that if a lot of people return something for being too big or too small, they’ll put a note in the product description to let you know how it runs.

Right, good point, FJ. I actually just got my heart broken because I wanted to buy another skirt (on sale, even!), but I saw the note saying it runs big, and the 1X is more like an 18W. Dammit.

As far as I know, B & Lu is a really small and young company, so they’re undoubtedly still working out some bugs. My impression, though, is that they’re doing the best they can. They’re also offering (in my experience) really good quality stuff for the prices they charge. Add all that to the bigger models, and I’m a huge fan.