As you know, IGIGI is totes my favorite of all plus size fashion lines. I’ve been to the headquarters. I’ve run through racks upon racks of garments like some RomCom fashion montage. I’ve been styled personally by Yuliya. I’m not bragging: I just want you to understand that I am an unabashed IGIGI devotee, hands down, so with that, know that going into this product review.
The lovely ladies of Weetacon were given the opportunity to road test some of IGIGI’s winter and spring line this year, as I mentioned in an earlier post this month. So very cool! I was thrilled, because I am a firm believer in supporting businesses and causes I believe in and love giving back to a company that has made me and others feel so good about ourselves. I believe we all use our talents to make the world a better place and while I think my conduit might be Weetacon, it’s clear that Yuliya Raquel is making the world a better place via fashion.
When Igigi told us to pick out our top three choices, I had only one word for them: WRAPS. Give me the wraps. I have several (I almost said a number but then realized that it’s oversharing and also, reveals a little too much about my OCD shopping fetish) Igigi wraps and I wear the hell out of them constantly. They are truly investment pieces and would I have realized that when I bought my first plain LB wrap dress, I would have bought four more of them because it’s always on the pile to go to the dry cleaners.
Let’s face it, Yuliya OWNS the plus size wrap ouevre. Okay, I don’t want to hear about DVF: yes, she’s great, love her, but she doesn’t make for my body, and there are countless plus-size lines who are now making wraps but they DO NOT FIT RIGHT. That doesn’t make sense, right? Everyone loves wraps because supposedly they fit every body type! And yet, I have two wrap dresses in my closet this very instance with the tags on them, because the patterning was upsized poorly and the shoulders are not hanging where they should and it makes me ANGRY because it’s like $300 worth of unwearable crap taking up space and I missed the return grace period so I’m stuck with them.
It all comes down to skill and understanding a plus woman’s body. Garments from lesser manufacturers may fit fine if you are a size closer to the original pattern (probably size 14 but some of them size from their regular line) but the further away you get, it’s all about the skill of the patternmaker and the process they use. For instance, 
traditional fashion designers pattern using a “nested doll” method, which makes sense: a size 10’s armpit isn’t going to be egregiously far off from a size 4’s, the difference between those sizes being anywhere from 15-30 pounds on the scale, depending on height. However, the difference between a size 14 woman and a size 20 could be 100 pounds or more but it doesn’t mean that our shoulders have gotten tremendously wider. If you just layer up on the patterns, suddenly our shoulder seams are hanging by our elbows and our necklines are way too wide. Bad scene. And that’s why plus lines will typically stop at size 20 or 24: because in order to offer the bigger sizes, they have to make an entirely new pattern. They can’t just keep tracing around the little original pattern they were using for size 14. That’s the IGIGI difference: they size up the right way, taking into account the simple laws of a woman’s anatomy. Brilliant! And thank god someone finally figured it out!
Here’s the Boulangerie in Merlot Grape, which got the most compliments of all three garments I wore during and after the Weetacon fashion show. I absolutely love the color and the fabric is very luxurious and thick, perfect for getting away without undergarment lines (or hey, get away without any undergarments at all!), reminding me of the quality and workmanship of a Burberry trench coat. Because it is a true wrap, you can cinch it into your waist exactly where it needs to be for a great fit. I didn’t heed my own advice and compare my measurements to the IGIGI size chart and really should have gone down a size, but since it’s a wrap trench, I’m getting away with a good fit and don’t look like I’m swimming in it. Keep in m
ind, also, that this was hastily thrown on in a dark, unheated stairwell behind the scenes at the Weetacon fashion show while dodging elbows and legs of my fellow IGIGI models so it’s a bit more of a “Just got off the jetway from Singapore” than your everyday look.
My next dress was the Boulangerie Wrap Dress in Richelieau Blue. It’s a very deep blue, almost a blacky navy that only really looks blue in bright lights. It’s like SURPRISE! You thought I was wearing a black dress, but you were wrong! Since it’s the same as the dress above (TWINSIES!) I get a double dose of awesome. What’s very cool about this is the way you can change the look by varying the accessories. Also, I invite you to be jealous over the great strappy D-ring detail on the 3/4 length sleeves and also, POCKETS. God, I love me some jaunty pockets. Also, this is one of those dresses that goes great on different body types: Fredlet is probably five inches shorter than I am, and Ladyloo has got at least three inches on me, and yet follow those links and you’ll see they are rocking the hell out of the very same dress!
The last time I saw Yuliya in the IGIGI headquarters, I was raving over the spring lines fabrics, still on the bolt in the staging area, but I had no idea those prints would be so artfully realized. Sachi Printed Wrap Dress in Blue — two patterns on the same dress! SO FASHION FORWARD. I’m sorry, I can’t stop shouting but the made me squeeee! when I opened the box in the week leading up to Weetacon and actually sent me running into the bedroom midday to try it on. And then I whined via IM to my Weetacon cohorts that I really really really wanted to wear the Sachi before Weetacon because it was JUST SO GORGEOUS DOOCE CAPS. I didn’t, because I follow the rules, even my own, but still, oh, it was painful ! It’s just so beautiful. Also, pockets! And a low v in the back! Check out the back view on Suzanna D! I am actually considering buying this one in Merlot too, because I can predict that when it sells out, I will cry for months. For reals, 
you guys, I love this dress. Design aesthetic aside, let’s talk practical: it’s so soft and silky and impossible to wrinkle!
I have often said that once a season, Yuliya makes one garment that looks straight into my heart and answers some unspoken question. This is it. When I saw the Fashion Week videos, I thought that heart-stealer was going to be the Tres Chic in Black and White (and check out how great it looks on so many different body types at Weetacon!), and while I do love the Tres Chic, my heart absolutely belongs to the Sachi. We’ll be married in June. It will be an intimate affair, just family and very close friends, I hope you’ll understand.
Were you reading the above with seething jealousy in your heart because who the hell is Wendy Bix to get all of these great clothes free just because of stupid old Weetacon grumble grumble mumble crap? Admit it. You were. It’s ok. I would be grumpy too, and might have a headache after reading the previous paragraph from all the eye rolling (I’m sorry, I know, but I really love the Sachi that much).
Well, here’s the sitch: go to the IGIGI website, pick out a dress you’d love, and come back here and leave a comment telling me which one you want and where you’ll wear it. One lucky commenter will win a $50 IGIGI gift certificate! But wait, there’s more! Visit the other Weetacon IGIGI reviews, leave comments on THOSE entries and you’ll be automatically entered in their drawings for additional $50 IGIGI gift certificates. No lie. Leave a comment, get a chance. We are not limiting the number of gift certificates that a single person can win, so that’s a LOT of fashion dollars to possibly win!
Maybe you should pick out a couple of garments, just in case?
Also, just to sweeten the deal, I’m going to also draw from these comments one winner who will get a $50 gift certificate for my Etsy shop. And all commenters will receive a 10% off discount code to use until June 1. So win-win-win!
The fine print: You must leave me your email address so that I can get in contact with you to tell you that you won. You must leave a comment by midnight on April 7th, 2011 to qualify for the random drawing and you must promise to do one awesome thing to make the world a better place today (recycling your water bottle or telling someone they are pretty counts)! That’s it!
36 Comments
Have I mentioned today that I love you!? Well, I do. This? “Keep in mind, also, that this was hastily thrown on in a dark, unheated stairwell behind the scenes at the Weetacon fashion show while dodging elbows and legs of my fellow IGIGI models so it’s a bit more of a “Just got off the jetway from Singapore” than your everyday look.” Is such a perfect statement that I will use it from now on instead of “I’m nervous, my face sweats, shut up… (crys and runs away like Jake in red heels).”
Thank you for putting together this awesome chance for so many people to try IGIGI and KNOW true garment love and (to sound Dr. Phil-ish) to know self love*. Thank you. Really. Also, I am a little jealous of how much hotter you are in your Sachi than I am. The boobs, they are mesmerizing.
I would like to say, that I would love to have the Ishiko Top in Chocolate because HELLO! Reversible Belt! I could wear the hell out of that top.
(I recycled a water bottle and you are very very pretty!)
*not like THAT y’all
My favourite is the Sachi in merlot as well. Its truly lovely, and I already have the shoes for it…
I love the Babette Curvy
needlegrrl at gmail
I love the Gloria dress! As to where I’ll wear it – everywhere! work, dinner, events – it’s fab!
Will definitely pass the goodness along – am already using a refillable water bottle, but I’ll recycle stuff at home! 🙂
I love the Heloise Maxi dress. I would wear it to pick my kids up from school, out to the mailbox, for a quick run to Walgreens…JUST BECAUSE I will look slammin’ in it!
I am already a recycling fool so I’ll tell everyone I see today something pretty about themselves instead. 🙂
Have a wonderful day, love your writing and love you for turning me on to Igigi.
I want to win so I can get the blue Sachi dress and have a chance to be as hot as you and Suzanna D.
That Sachi dress!! LOVE IT.
I really want the Misaki dress. I’d wear it with ridiculous red heels for a night out on the town!
OMG! OMG! OMG! Have you seen the Lila Eyelet Blouse in White that came out today! I’m in love. With a shirt. And not just because I’m wearing a crappy mens golf shirt at a trade show in a hurricane right now. I’ve been looking at eyelet all over the place for summer, and haven’t have anything catch my eye. Trust Yuliya to make my dream eyelet.
Where would I wear this? I would wear it to a trade show in a hurricane. Which is to say everywhere. With jeans. With my fabu Bardot Pencil skirt. With cropped pants and ballet flats.
You look great in the Boulangerie Wrap Dress! That’s the dress I would buy. I’d take it almost anywhere, as soon as I find cute shoes that don’t kill my feet.
I’ve always wanted to try Igigi but just never did. I love the Gloria Dress in Bordeaux or Sachi in Merlot. I think either would be perfect for a upcoming wedding I have to attend in June!
Oh, the pretty… I’ve been pretty sold on the boulangerie for a while now, as earlier comments indicated, but I’m getting a bit sold on the Tres Chic as well – I don’t know if my daily life is fabulous enough for the pattern, but maybe the dress will bring more visits to museums or other places that seem to call for gorgeousness. (And I’ll bring the industrial carpeting up a notch by letting it bask in my fabulousness).
I want another Tres Chic, the black and white one I think. I need more work type clothes and it fills the bill beautifully. So comfy.
I want the Sachi dress in Blue for my SIL’s upcoming wedding in June in San Francisco. I also want to go to Igigi while I am in town.
I am swooning over the Nina Origami Dress in Royal — I would wear it to work, to after-work cocktails, to fancy Sunday hotel brunches and on Friday-night dinner dates with my husband.
I love the Boulangerie dresses on you! You look smashing, even after changing in the stairwell! 🙂
And thanks to LadyLoo I’m now jonesing for some eyelet, or the new green dress (Gianna) – that has been my one (very tiny) complaint is not enough green! 🙂 I need green to wear to garden parties!
Thanks so much for giving us all the chance to be fashionistas! And I’ll do something good for the world tomorrow! I promise!
B
OMG. I love you, love you, love you! Seriously! I get so excited reading all the comments on everyone’s reviews and feeling all pretty and happy and loved. I made a preemptive Igigi order from the sale racks because I have a job interview and I wanted to make sure I got stuff on time. (Ryan understood that it is fashion and important.)
I’m in love with the Bardot jacket and pencil skirt, and now the Gianna dress. I desperately want the Aqua flower clutch. There’s too much pretty!
I own a few Igigi dresses and the quality is unparalleled! They are seriously so great. I am hardcore crushing on the Sachi right now — it’s the dual prints that make it.
Oh man, the new Giana has me LUSTING. Because I have the very perfect black strappy sandals to wear with it this summer. Yesterday I recycled a water bottle and mentored my Little Sister and let people get in front of me on the freeway even though I was running late and they were asses.
First of all, I am never missing Weetacon again, ever ever ever and you can hold me to that. Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I would love to have the Sachi in merlot and/or the Gloria in bordeaux and/or the Ishiko top in chocolate (because I already have it in purple and it is AWESOME)and/or the Misaki dress. Wow. Oh, and I recycled! And complimented a coworker on her amazing boots! And didn’t kill my boss! (Come to think of it… never mind.)
Seeing you in the Boulangerie convinced me that it’s a must get. It looks so damn good! And it’s so versatile. Where wouldn’t be a good place to wear it?! I hope I win this, but I’m scratching together the dough to get one for myself somehow before they vanish!
i love the Gianna Dress so cute.
I would love to try the Champs Elysees Dress. It looks SO sophisticated. I would wear it to work, and I would look HOT!! 🙂
What a great giveaway! I’m rather taken with the Boulangerie Wrap Dress in blue. I think it would be great for work. It looks really classy, which is something I always aspire to, but feel like I fall a bit short.
I am so in love with the L’Amourette. I think it would be beyond perfect for a retro-themed wedding I am attending this summer. That said, a GC for your etsy shop would be equally as fabulous! Thanks for hosting the giveaway : )
I absolutely lust over the “Francesca Dress in Black” My budget screams “no, No NO” while my heart whispers “yes, oh please, yes”
I LOVE the Tres Chic in Black and White. I’m also a recycling fiend, so I hope you’ll enter me in the Etsy giveaway as well!
I love the Luna Gown and want to wear it to my friend’s wedding. 🙂 Thanks for turning me on to IGIGI!!
I just did some mental math and realized I’ve been reading your blog for like, 7 years I think? Word! You ladies all look so fresh and beautiful, I hope Igigi can work the magic for me, too. I am eyeballing the Boulangerie and the Tres Chic, both for work since we’re all normally such frumps around the office.
All of these look great on you, but the Boulangerie is my favorite. I’ve got my eye on the Elianne Top in purple or perhaps raspberry flambe to wear to work.
The Sachi looks amazing! You look awesome in it. That would be my pick too.
I love the Vilenna dress. I can’t resist a great mix of red, white and black. It’s sassy. I would create a special event just to wear it. (But every day is special, no? I feel so French for some reason when I see these mahvelous dresses).
You look awesome! I am in love with the Estrella in red and I want it for when we renew our vows. Love Igigi’s stuff.
That Tres Chic is growing on me… I keep going back and looking at it 😉
Uh oh, just saw the trench–olive!
Gorgeous stuff! I need the try this line!
Gorgeous stuff! I need to try some things from her line!
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