Eloquii recruits fashion bloggers for the most empowering lookbook of the season

Nearly a decade ago, finding trendy and cute clothes as a size 26 was a next to impossible task, and I was always settling for what I called “old lady clothes,” which tended to be potato-sack-shaped and either black or brown. Because back then, us bigger gals tended to be shunned in the fashion industry (and apparently we were excluded from wearing bright colors and patterns, too). Fortunately we’ve come a long way since then, and brands like ModCloth are not only providing adorable clothes for women of all sizes, but paving the way for others to follow suit—and to use more diverse models along the way.

Eloquii is one of those brands. Starting as an offshoot of The Limited back in 2011, Eloquii quickly made waves in the fashion industry when they branched away from the work-wear retailer and shifted their focus to trendier, more fitted clothing ranging from sizes 14-24. The brand took fashion risks like nobody’s business, inspired by runway trends and consumer feedback—and steered clear of those typical boring black-and-brown-potato-sack garbs of yesteryear, to much fanfare on social media. They really listened to their customers—and even started using them in their lookbooks.

Eloquii just stepped up their game by using influential fashion bloggers in their new spring lookbook. Their impressive lineup includes Sarah Conley of Style It, Liz Black of P.S. It’s Fashion, Margie Ashcroft of Margie Plus, Clementine Desseaux of Bonjour Clem, Kellie Brown of And I Get Dressed and Chante Burkett of Everything Curvy And Chic.

Kellie Brown of And I Get Dressed recently told the Huffington Post, “Listening to your consumer is key. . . rather than dictating what one thinks [curvier] women want, ask them,” she goes on to say that Eloquii is “lot more fearless in their approach to design.”

Eloquii might be onto something: listening to your customers and actually caring about offering more high-fashion clothing beyond standard sizes (and at reasonable prices!) is not only smart, but it allows more self-expression in an industry previously built around the idea that women were only given the opportunity to be trendy if they were a certain size.

Lookbook model Sarah Conley wrote on her blog, Style It:

Another thing Eloquii wants to do is tear a hole in the idea that we are defined by our size. Personally, I wear about three different sizes in dresses, pants, and shoes. Here’s a fact: sizes are an arbitrary system, and we’re wired to feel guilty about buying a size __, when really we should just buy what makes us feel our best. We dress to express ourselves, and it’s awesome that brands are providing more opportunities to do just that—and featuring diverse women to model clothes and help redefine beauty standards. Recently, Modcloth put its staff in front of the camera for a swimsuit photo shoot celebrating real women of all sizes.

As Eloquii model Margie Ashcroft of Margie Plus told HuffPost, “I wanted to show girls around the world that your size does not need to define your fashion identity.”

We love the army of fabulously vibrant fashion bloggers that Eloquii chose to represent their new line, and we hope that other retailers in the fashion industry will continue to expand the definitions of beauty along with clothing options for women of all sizes. As Eloquii says in their mission statement, “We love fashion. We believe in its transformative power. . .It’s time for fashion to move forward.” Preach!

Here’s some more of the amazing looks from the shoot (and check out the behind-the-scenes video for more fun times from the midi-celebration).

[Images via The Gloss]