Paris Fashion Week Presents Beth Ditto for Jean-Paul Gaultier

Gossip singer Beth ditto strutted down Paris’s catwalk this week for Jean-Paul Gaultier modelling once again two of his beautiful dresses. Beth also sung at the fashion show and received huge applause. The invitation card for Jean-Paul stated the aim was to show beauty between XXS and XXL.

The plus sized diva who designs her own range of clothing for British retailer Evans opened and closed the shows this weekend.

However this is not the first time Jean-Paul has used plus sized women on his catwalk during a fashion week. Models such as Velvet d’Amour and Johanna Dray did this for Jean-Paul 10 years ago.

The sized 26 star has become a fashion icon and is a regular guest at Paris, London, New York and Milan fashion shows.

Beth Ditto strutted down the run way modelling a 3D JPG dress made for this year, while the audience wore 3D glasses to appreciate the full effect of the dresses print.

To show that Ditto mattered JPG wore a gossip T-shirt as Beth greeted him on stage with a glass of champagne.

So is this just a one off or is the world finally ready to embrace fully figured fashion. We’ll just have to wait until next season.

By Shaniece Aldred.

Top 3 Curvy Celebs of 2008

The year is drawing to a close and what a year it's been!

2008 has seen the size acceptance movement fall into full swing and real women everywhere are learning to accept and be proud of their curves. They are demanding a voice in both the public domain and in the retail sector & the choice of plus size clothes has never been so great.

The rise of size acceptance has seen an increase of curvy women in the world of celebrity, those rare role models who refuse to bow to the pressure of life in the limelight as a curvy women.

As 2008 wraps up I wanted to celebrate my top 3 curvy role models of the year...

Chloe Marshall has to be my number 1 curvy celebrity in 2008. Her stirling work in raising awareness of the sexiness of curves earlier in the year when coming second in the Miss England final was monumental. Chloe is a beautiful young woman and the UK really got behind her.

In second place has to be Beth Ditto, who has won the admiration of women across the world for her attitude and daring dress sense. Beth knows how to steal the show, and proves to the world that you dont need to be a size 0 to do it. BTW - love the new orange hair Beth!

In third place it has to be Adele, just because I love her. She is my favourite by far of the new singing talents of 2008. when I first heard her voice it gave me goose bumps, so I was doubly pleased when I found out she was proud to be a curvy woman.

There have been many sad stories of celebritites who have suffered at the hands of the size stigma in the UK - such as Fern Britton and Natalie Cassidy.

Here's to a 2009 which celebrates the beauty of the female form in all its wonderful variations, and where celebrities and normal women alike can feel confident of who they are without being judged.

Celebrity Plus Size Designers

The last couple of years has seen an increase in the number of celebrity designers - either going solo or designing for well known high street stores. Kate Moss, Lily Allen, Jodie Kidd to name a few - but where are the plus size celebrity designers?

Beth Ditto of Gossip has expressed her interest in working with Topshop. This hasn't materialised which is a shame as I think Beth would make a great contribution to the plus size fashion industry.

Another curvy celeb with great style is Adele, who I would love to see share her style with us.

Which celebrities would you like to see design for the plus size fashion industry?

Topshop Snubs Beth Ditto

After Beth Ditto publically refused to sing in Topshops flagship store as they didn't stock her size, it was widely rumoured that Ditto would be their next celebrity designer collaboration.

She was quoted as saying 'Give me the job. I want to design. I want you to make clothes for big girls - big boys. I want you to make big sizes.'

It has now come to light that Topshop have snubbed her offer, however, it is set to launch the new line by Kate Moss imminently.

Earlier in the year, NME also favoured size zero over plus size, when they crowned Kate Moss with the sexiest female award, beating nominated Beth, size 20.

Although the high street may not see the value in Beth's quirky, but highly regarded style, this is not the case in designer land. Henry Holland, one of the hottest names in British fashion at present, is keen to work with Beth.

'In terms of collaborating, I absolutely love Beth Ditto,' Holland said.

The pair met at the Brits when the Gossip star wore one of Holland's jumpsuits. The all-in-one featured in his autumn/winter collection and bears his signature motto.

Top Style at Brits

The celebritites attending the 2008 Brit Awards did not disappoint, and all arrived well turned out amidst a whirl of sparkle, shimmer & glitz. For me, the red carpet winners were Fearne Cotton, who presented the ITV live show and showed up in a small but perfectly formed satin shirt dress, Rihanna who looked simply stunning in a silver strapless dress, and of course - Beth Ditto in a daring coral strapless tutu style dress.

The show was opened with an extravagant performance from Mika, who went on to win best breakthrough act. He was joined on stage by gorgeous plus size inspiration Beth Ditto, who had changed & looked stunning in a sexy red satin & lace number. As always, size 20/22 Beth shows the world that you can be just as daring with your wardrobe when you're more voluptuous.

It was most heartening to see the array of shapes and sizes on show - raising hope of a more accepting view on size acceptance for the future. This included Adele, whose debut album 19 recently went to number one. She picked up the Critics' Choice Award at the ceremony and sang as part of Mark Ronson's act.

So, if you've been buoyed by the likes of Beth and need a fantastic new plus size outfit to make you stand out from the crowd, try Curvety.com, where fab fashion in sizes up to a 36 is much more reasonably priced than the one off designer pieces sported by Beth!

Gossip about plus sizes in Topshop

You may remember that I recently wrote about Beth Ditto refusing a gig at Topshop's flagship store as they didn't cater for her size. It seems she struck a nerve as, although a link-up has yet to be confirmed, the singer declared she is currently talking to the clothes shop about a range.

'I'm in talks to do something with them at the moment,' she told London's The Sun. 'I love their stuff.'

New Look are currently refusing to comment so time will tell if anything will come of this. However, it's refreshing that the high street is finally taking the possiblity of plus size seriously and following the already rapidly growing online market with brands such as Curvety.com. Even if a massive icon is needed to push them in the right direction.