Have you ever landed in your tropical destination and you find out your luggage missed the boat? Your friend says to you, just go grab something from the hotel gift shop to hold you over, not knowing that there is nothing for you there that would fit. We get it!
Ever since I was a little girl I loved fashion and dressing up. There was something about the way a flowy dress made me feel, or wearing high heels and an oversized hat that just made me feel so pretty. As women we are boxed into beauty standards at such an early age and I ate it all up, I was obsessed. A family friend was a stylist at Bergdorf Goodman and I remember visiting her as a young girl. I just wandered the floors admiring all the touchable art, dreaming of the day when I could one, afford it and two be big enough to wear it.
As I got older, I quickly learned how hard it was to conform to these beauty standards, at 5’9’’ so there was no place for me to hide. I fought hard to have the body I wanted, maybe even too hard at some points. It was after college that things changed for me and it became even harder. Looking for the fashion that I loved to fit me and my style was becoming non existent. I would find oversized ponchos, or a floral one shoulder and I often thought to myself, wow, this is what designers think we want? I pushed through making it work and finding items that would do rather than what made my heart flutter. I missed that feeling of trying something on and having an emotional love affair with myself in the dressing room mirror. Now I stand in terrible lighting, thinking… okay I guess we can make this work.
I am that woman that stresses about losing her luggage and not having anything to wear, I am that woman that wants to shop with her friends but has nothing but accessoires to try on, I am that woman who gets ignored at stores because associates don't know what to show me.
After years of struggling and understanding on a personal level what a plus size woman wants, I co- founded AMOUR781. This is our love letter to the plus size community. We will focus on bringing you elegant, sustainable fashion that will make you feel great every time you reach into your closet. Over the past year my cousin and Co-Founder Charlotte and I have been working with nationally known plus size brands, to put together a great one stop shop for the best of the best when it comes to quality options. We are plus size women buying options for other plus size women, not a size 6 thinking they know what's best.
We are most excited to share that through this process we have worked tirelessly with multiple brands to help them understand the need and want in the plus size market… hello we want more than a poncho! We want designers to understand that we want to embrace our bodies, curves and do all the things we were told not to do. Don't wear print, wear only black, don't wear stripes, wear only solid, don't wear something tight, wear only flowy,don't wear low cut… you get the idea.
AMOUR781 will bring you collections, curated and designed with you in mind. Everything from elevated bodysuits to sophisticated silks. Clothing that we would admire from the shop window knowing that it didn't even make sense to enter the store, clothing that has embellishments, made with quality fabric because we deserve more than just the cheap and cheerful. AMOURyourself
Love, Ashley