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‘Fatshion’ bloggers give their plus-sized style tips

'Fatshion' bloggers give their plus-sized style tips

'Fatshion' bloggers at Plus-Size Fashion Weekend Australia. Photography by Danimezza.

In the world of the fashion media, girls who are sized anywhere above the national average of 16 can often be overlooked as there is a severe lack of guidance and fashion inspiration available out there for women of these sizes who want to dress well.

There’s one group of women though who are seeking to change this and who refuse to be invisible just because they are larger size. These ladies are known as ‘Fatshion’ bloggers and they’re taking the online fashion world by storm.

Last weekend in Sydney, a group of these bloggers came together for an event known as Plus-Size Fashion Weekend Australia.

Here, some of the girls met in person for the first time and spent the weekend swapping fashion tips, getting make-overs, attending a designer showcase and participating in a plus-size clothing swap event.

Where the mainstream fashion media often fails to leave the plus-sized reader informed and inspired, the Fatshion bloggers prove themselves to be an invaluable resource on how to work the latest trends in larger sizes.

They do this by posting photos of themselves in their plus-size purchases and providing tips for all the hot brands out there that cater to their sizes. In the process they often prove that a lot of the staid old rules about plus-size dressing are no longer valid.

So who better to ask then for a few fashion tips then? We thought it was the perfect opportunity to gather some insights in how to dress for all shapes and sizes. Click through on the links below to visit the girls blogs for some inspiration too:

Olivia from Wait Until the Sunset: Don’t be afraid of non-plus-size shops, you can find fashion gems right for you pretty much anywhere!

Jeanie from Inspired Wish: An affordable and easy way to update your look is to change your accessories.

Amanda from Amanda’s musings: Don’t be afraid to wear colour. If you love it, wear it!

Messy Carla from Messy Carla: The street is your catwalk – don’t wait for a special occasion to work it!

Melissa from Suger-Coat-It: Wear clothes that fit the body you have now, always, no exceptions. Badly fitting clothes never work.

Nicola from 2manyCupcakes: Fashion is meant to be fun. Let it make you smile and enjoy it.

Fashion Hayley from Fashion Hayley: Break the rules as rules are made to be broken.

Ashley-Rose from This is Ashley Rose: Dress for yourself and no one else and if all else fails, a sharp blazer dresses up almost any outfit!

Caitlin from Closet Confessions: Layering may be your friend in winter, but it’s also your friend in summer. Experiment with texture and sheer, light fabrics. It’s your body and you should dress in what makes you feel best!

Miss Evie from Work it, Own it, Use it!: Don’t cling to the rule-book. You might think you’re doing yourself a service, but you’re really just ruling out a whole world of fun!

Gisela Ramirez from Gisela Ramirez designs: Don’t listen to fashion advice; The most fascinating style icons are always the ones who break every rule at once.

Images supplied by event organiser Danimezza.

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Autism linked to traffic pollution

Kids can 'grow out' of autism, study says

Babies who are exposed to traffic pollution in the womb and in their first 12 months of life are more likely to develop autism, a new study has found.

Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California studied the air quality around the homes of 524 children, 279 with autism, and 245 without.

Related: The autism generation – Why are so many kids born autistic?

They found that autistic children were three times more likely to have been exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution before their first birthday, and nearly twice as likely to have been exposed to those levels of pollution in the womb.

Pollution that caused the highest risk factor for autism was “particulate matter” — a mixture of acids, metals, soil and dust — and nitrogen dioxide, which is present in nearly all vehicle exhaust.

The researchers stressed that their study does not prove traffic pollution causes autism, only that it increases the risk of a child being diagnosed with the disorder.

“We’re not saying traffic pollution causes autism, but it may be a risk factor for it,” study leader Heather Volk said.

Volk said other environmental factors, including indoor pollution and passive smoking, could explain the results of her team’s study.

Related: Autism linked to obesity in mothers

Autism has baffled researchers for decades. A definitive cause has yet to be discovered but studies have revealed dozens of factors that increase risk, including heavy metal exposure, pesticides, obesity, flu or fever and prenatal stress, smoking, alcohol or illicit drug use.

Volk’s study appears in the current issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

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Larry Birkhead: Why I let Danielynn, six, model

Larry Birkhead: Why I let Danielynn, six, model

Larry Birkhead with his daughter Danielynn.

Anna Nicole Smith’s six-year-old daughter Danielynn made headlines yesterday when it was revealed she had made her modelling debut at the tender age of six.

Adding fuel to the critics’ fire was the fact that the little girl has signed with Guess, the same brand her tragic mother represented before her death from a drug overdose in 2007.

In pictures: Are these girls too young to model?

Now, Danielynn’s father Larry Birkhead has gone on US TV to defend his choice to allow the girl to model, claiming it is her way to be close to her late mum.

“Dannielynn has always looked up to her mom’s image and said that her mom’s an angel,” Larry told Good Morning America.

“I think that this is kind of Dannielynn’s way of paying tribute to her mom in her own special way.

“To see her mom’s picture next to hers as a Guess girl and say, ‘Hey, I was a Guess Kids girl and my mommy was a Guess girl,’ that might be her only connection with her mom.”

Despite supporting Danielynn’s current foray into the fashion world, Larry says he won’t be pushing her to make a career out of modelling.

“My goal for her is for her to be a child and just do what all kids do,” he said.

Related: Liz Hurley ‘sexualising kids’ with skimpy swimwear

Danielynn was five months old when her mother died. She was the subject of a bizarre custody dispute, with several men stepping forward claiming to be her father but a paternity test proved celebrity photographer Larry was her biological dad.

Your say: Would you let your six-year-old daughter be a model?

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Brad Pitt talks wedding plans

Brad Pitt talks wedding plans

It will be the wedding of the year, but exactly when are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie getting married?

Brad hinted that it could be sooner rather than later when he was questioned at the premiere of his new drama, Killing Them Softly, which he attended solo.

“I am getting more pressure from my kids, and it is something I want to do within their lifetime, but I also feel like the time has come,” Pitt said at the event in New York.

“The time is nigh. It’s soon. I got a good feeling about it.”

When asked about his marriage plans earlier in the day, Brad was even more vague.

“We really don’t [have one],” he told Extra. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in two weeks. I certainly don’t know what the new year is going to bring!”

Brad, 48 and Angelina, 37, have been together since 2005 and became engaged earlier this year. They have previously stated that they won’t tie the knot until same-sex marriage was legal in all 50 US states.

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Brad Pitt gate crashes charity event by accident

Brad Pitt gate crashes charity event by accident

Brad Pitt may be one of Hollywood’s biggest film stars but he’s shown once again he’s a real softie at heart.

While filming scenes for his movie World War Z in the village of Lulworth in Dorset, England, the actor stumbled upon a mum’s fundraiser and dipped into his own pockets to donate £700 ($1,075) to the cause – as well as getting the crew to chip in an additional £40 ($62).

If that wasn’t generous enough, the 48-year-old heartthrob also promised to send a further donation once back in Hollywood, as a contribution from the rest of the crew.

Organiser Karley Gallagher was raising money for the neo-natal hospital unit that treated her sick son Zachary, who was born with gastroschisis, a type of hernia where the intestines stick outside the body.

But when she heard Brad Pitt was filming elsewhere in the village, she was convinced not a soul would show up to her event as they’d all be too busy star-spotting.

So her friend Tricia Wilson-Hughes, who was helping organise the fundraiser, put the message out to Brad’s people that a charity event was happening close by.

“I asked the security guards if Brad would be kind enough to make a small donation. They then came back with a brown envelope… We couldn’t believe it, we were completely in awe,” says Tricia.

“What he did for us was just incredible,” adds a star-struck Karley. “It was a very generous and sympathetic gesture from him. I was grinning from ear to ear.”

Brad, renowned for his philanthropy, has founded a number of organisations with fiancée Angelina Jolie to aid humanitarian causes around the world.

In 2009 the Jolie-Pitt Foundation donated $1 million to the UN and the following year a further $1 million to Doctors Without Borders, an organisation that helped provide emergency medical assistance to victims of the Haiti earthquake.

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The best royal makeovers

Princess Diana and Kate Middleton are style icons in their respective generations – but they weren’t always so fashionable.

Diana and Kate started their life in the spotlight looking far less glamorous than they would one day become.

These photos document the some of the most amazing transformations from fashion disaster to fully-fledged style queen – or in the case of Prince Edward’s wife Sophie, perhaps the other way around?

Princess Diana, Kate Middleton and Princess Mary.

Diana before her marriage in 1980, announcing her engagement in 1981 and out in 1995.

Princess Mary in 2003, after her marriage in 2008 and christening her twins in 2011.

Kate Middleton in 2005, at Sandhurst in 2006 and at the races in 2011.

Sarah Ferguson before her wedding in 1986, single in 1998, and out in 2011.

Grace Kelly as a movie star in 1950, a young princess in 1958 and an older royal in 1979.

Prince Harry’s on/off love Chelsy Davy in 2006, 2010 and at the royal wedding in April 2011.

Prince Edward’s wife Sophie in 1995, after her marriage in 2002 and out in April 2011.

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Baby beauties: Is six too young to model?

Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter has landed her first modelling job at the tender age of six.

Danielynn is the new face of Guess, the same brand her mother modelled for before her death from a drug overdose in 2007.

The campaign has outraged parenting experts who think young girls should be sheltered from the spotlight and not paraded in it.

Despite these concerns, child modelling is becoming increasingly common, with girls under the age of 16 frequently featuring in major fashion shoots. Do you think these girls are too young to model?

Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter Danielynn, six, for Guess.

Kaia Crawford, 10, modelling for Versace.

Thylane Blondeau at 10, in French *Vogue*.

Thylane Blondeau at 10, in French Vogue.

Elle Fanning, 14, for Marc Jacobs.

Chloe Moretz at 14, modelling ASOS clothing.

Traditional

Hailee Stenfield at 14, modelling Miu Miu.

One of Anna Nicole Smith’s campaigns for Guess.

Anna was the face of the label for several years.

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Why Carla Bruni rejects feminism

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Why Carla Bruni rejects feminism

Former French first lady Carla Bruni has proudly worn the titles of model, pop star, socialite, and bohemian, but don’t call her a feminist.

The 44-year-old former presidential consort has told French Vogue she doesn’t consider herself a feminist, and doesn’t see the need for feminism today. According to her, all the work was done by pioneers of generations past.

In pictures: Carla Bruni’s scandalous past

“My generation doesn’t need feminism,” she said.

“I’m not at all an active feminist. On the contrary, I’m a bourgeois. I love family life, I love doing the same thing every day.”

A mother of two, Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy seems satisfied living comfortably in domestic bliss – she owns two homes in France serviced by permanent staff, as well as drivers and other assorted assistants to attend to her every need.

While the bourgeois life may be suited to some, Carla’s comments are unlikely to go down well with feminists and women not living with such privileges.

Related: Why women are so nasty and how to deal with it

She was born in to a wealthy Italian family, dropped out of college to pursue a modelling career, and quickly became one of the world’s highest paid catwalk stars. She was known to date rock stars before her 2008 marriage to Nicolas Sarkozy, and has never been media-shy.

This isn’t the first time her comments have angered the masses, she is famous for telling an interviewer, before her marriage, “monogamy bores me terribly”.

Your say: Is Carla Bruni-Sarkozy right to say feminism is no longer needed?

Video: What women want

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Prince Charles “impatient” to be king

Prince Charles “impatient” to be king

Prince Charles is growing ever-more impatient to be king, if his recent quip is anything to go by.

Reports are whirling in the world’s media about the prince’s real feelings on becoming king, following comments he made at an event in Scotland this weekend.

Speaking at his 64th birthday celebration held at stately Dumfries House, the prince jested about his long-awaited ascension to the throne.

“Impatient? Me? What a thing to suggest! Yes, of course I am,” he joked. “I’ll run out of time soon. I shall have snuffed it if I’m not careful.”

Although the prince is known for his occasional banter, this isn’t the first time he’s passed comment on the ticking of the clock, suggesting there may be some truth behind his humour.

In 1992, at the funeral of his then father-in-law Earl Spencer, Prince Charles is believed to have confided to his brother-in-law Charles: “You are fortunate enough to have succeeded to the title when still young.”

The Prince has even broken records, having now surpassed his great-great grandfather Edward VII as the longest-waiting heir in his nation’s history. Perhaps it comes as no surprise then that the Duke of Cornwall may have an air of impatience about him.

But with the Queen still in good health at 86, and longevity clearly in the genes – the Queen Mother lived to 101 – it seems his time to take the crown may still be a while yet.

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In review: Magic Mike, Nike+Kinect Training and more

In review: Magic Mike, Winners and Losers, Kinect Training and more