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If finding women’s plus size apparel is difficult, then finding clothing in large sizes at bargain prices is an even greater challenge. To get the best deals on plus size clothes, consider shopping online, at local stores, and through mail-order catalogs. The following are eight strategies for saving money:

- Go to the website of your favorite plus size retailer and sign up to receive e-mail specials. In addition, if the sign-up form offers a print catalog, request the catalog also. By signing up, you will receive notifications through e-mails and catalogs of any specials the retailer may be having. Note that you should sign up only with retailers that really interest you or your mailbox may become crammed with excessive e-mails.

- Look for a sale, clearance, or outlet section on the website of your favorite retailer. Occasionally, you can save up to 80% off original prices this way. If your retailer is owned by a parent company, also check the parent company’s website for a clearance or outlet section.

- Comparison shop for similar items at different websites. If you plan to wear an item only a few times or occasionally, perhaps you can purchase a similar but cheaper item.

- Buy clothing out-of-season or pre-season. Many retailers will offer steep discounts on out-of-season items.

- Buy machine-washable clothes. The cost of having to dry clean an item will make that item expensive in the long run. If you are not sure whether an item is machine-washable, be sure to ask the retailer before you buy.

- Always use a search engine to look for a coupon code your retailer may have. Many websites actually track these coupon codes along with expiration dates to help shoppers save. When filling out your order form online or in a catalog, look for an entry for “coupon code” or “promo code” and then enter a coupon code that applies. If ordering online, be sure to verify that you have received the discount for entering the coupon code.

- Visit local stores that carry plus size clothing and browse through their clearance racks. Some local retailers try to quickly rid their racks of excessive inventory to make room for the latest fashion.

- Purchase items that coordinate well with what you already have in your wardrobe in terms of styling and color.

Using the above strategies will help you save on plus size clothing. Dressing well should not have to be an expensive endeavor for the full-figured woman.

I remember my mother telling me about the times when she was pregnant. She was wearing nothing more than my father’s jeans and his working shirts throughout her pregnancy. No maternity clothes for her because she was too poor to buy them at that time. Remember, in her time, which was about 30 years back, maternity clothes used to cost a bomb.

And yet, if you walk along any shopping center these days, you’ll notice at least three or four maternity clothes fashion houses catering to the specifically ‘large’ needs of a pregnant mother. And since the web and the Internet is such a magnanimous thing these days, what about online maternity stores? I’d safely say there are just about half a million legitimate maternity stores right now flailing around the Internet wires for business.

And the amazing thing is that…YES, they make money! And why, I was wondering.

Because of one simple thing….even though my mother (like your mother) and my grandmother (and your grandmother) didn’t need maternity clothes when they were pregnant, the modern generation of pregnant women really, truly DO need maternity clothes. We’re living in an era that is completely different from their time and we cannot compare our pregnancy needs with their needs. The same rules no longer apply.

If you’re pregnant right now and am sitting around here wondering if you should get yourself a whole new wardrobe of maternity clothes, you’re in luck. I have some tips about buying maternity clothes for you.

Buy good-looking maternity clothes that can last at least 3 pregnancies

Like I said, maternity clothes are not cheap these days and maternity clothes are only wearable for the nine months that you’re pregnant and maybe another month or two after that. And when you get back in shape, you’re going to have to shelve those expensive maternity clothes or put the maternity clothes in sad boxes with the edges stuck together with cellophane tape.

So, buy only maternity clothes that are classy and of exceptional quality. You wear maternity clothes only when you plan to go out. For casual outings and at home, stick to your extra large clothes or perhaps, you can buy some large sweaters, t-shirts, overalls, or raglan to wear when you’re not required to look all-that-presentable. It works!

You won’t need CASUAL maternity clothes. In my books, that’s an oxymoron.

Maternity clothes that can double up as breastfeeding clothes later on would be good too

If you intend to breastfeed your baby after the whole pregnancy is over, you would have to think about buying MORE clothes…breastfeeding/nursing clothes. Now, as with maternity clothes, nursing clothes don’t come cheap either. And do we NEED nursing clothes as much as we need maternity clothes? Yes, sometimes we do. I have quite a few fashionable looking nursing clothes that I wear whenever I go out shopping or meeting up with friends. Other times, I wear my t-shirts with holes cut out for easy access to the breast! Yeah, it’s funny, but at home, who’s going to care?

And if you can get your hands on some good maternity clothes that can double up as nursing clothes later on, GO FOR IT! You will get your money’s worth that way.

Style of maternity clothes

Many maternity clothes designers are asleep when they’re designing maternity clothes – the selection is bad. Most of them are nothing but flower after flower, spiral after spiral, safety pins or perhaps some form of teddy bear or another. Forget about them! If you were to buy maternity clothes, invest one that makes you look good. If the maternity clothes are plain, that’s fine, it’s better than making you look like Bozo – most of them do, by the way.

The point is that you want to look CLASSY and DIGNIFIED even though you’re sort of….BIG. and wearing maternity clothes with large orange and yellow flower prints is NOT going to help you do that!

That’s just my opinion, of course, and you’re entitled to have your own opinion about maternity clothes that looks good.

Good luck!

For years, electrolysis was the only permanent way to remove hair. One of the newest ways to remove hair also promises permanent hair removal - without some of the skin irritation caused by electrolysis. Like electrolysis, it involves electric currents and so is best left to professionals at a salon or spa. Since it’s a newer form of treatment, though, I’d be even more picky about the spa or salon you visit.

During a session, an electrode gel is applied to the hair, and an electric current from the machine used in this process races down through the gel and destroys the hair. That’s it. No more hair growth in that follicle.

Advocates of this Galvanic Tweezer Hair Removal claim it is less painful than electrolysis, since no metal probe has to be inserted into the skin. The one trick is this: the hair has to be destroyed at a precise time in the hair growth cycle. The therapist or aesthetician is supposed to be able to tell the ideal time to electrocute the hair. If that person miscalculates, or if you can’t make it into the salon at a specific time, the entire expensive process for that hair or hairs will have to be repeated.

So here’s the really bad news: Some experts claim that galvanic tweezer hair removal is nothing more than a re-marketing of electric tweezers that were popular in the 1970s. So now there is some squabbling concerning the effectiveness of galvanic tweezer hair removal. I can tell you that home kits for galvanic tweezer hair removal do NOT work permanently, despite their claims. I have not yet met anyone who has achieved permanent hair removal from galvanic tweezer methods even at a spa, but several reputable salons and spas do use this method. So far, this process seems to be an anomaly in the hair removing world, with some reputable sources claiming it is safe and effective, and other equally reputable experts claiming it is all a big scam.

So who to believe?

Well, if you personally meet someone who has had permanent and impressive results from this method, get the name of her salon and aesthetician and book a consultation in which you can get answers to all your questions. In other cases, I would suggest that you to keep your eyes on the news and get electrolysis for permanent hair removal instead.

Joni McCoy is the author of Hairchick, a fun and friendly guide to hair removal for women.

Maybe you were teased as a child. And, you’ve politely ignored the references to your feet looking like gunboats. Well, the joke isn’t on you anymore. Large size women shoes are widely available like never before. Whether you want a dressy pump or a comfortable athletic trainer, retailers and manufacturers are figuring out that there is an ever-growing market in large size women shoes.

With over 30 percent of all women’s shoe sales being size nine and above, there is big money in selling large size women shoes. The fact is women’s feet are getting bigger. While women over the age of 35 have an average shoe size of seven and a half, their younger counterparts average a shoe size of eight and a half.

This “growing” demand for women’s shoes in sizes nine through fifteen has spawned many new retailers and shoe manufacturers who specialize in larger sizes. Twenty years ago, a woman with big feet had very limited options in shoes. Now, she can choose from a vast array of business, casual, and even golfing shoes.

It is estimated that approximately 85 percent of women buy shoes in the wrong size. Most often, they buy shoes that are too small. Ill-fitting shoes can contribute to a whole host of medical problems including bunions, corns, hammertoes, and calluses. With the larger sizes more commonly available now, women are finding the styles that they want in the sizes that they need. This is a welcome relief for the many women who have bought shoes in a too-small size because there was no other option.

If you are a woman with big, glorious feet, make sure that you have both of your feet sized every time you buy shoes. Take the measurement standing up and sitting down. Ask the salesperson for suggestions on shoe brands that might work with your foot size and shape.

If you are trying to minimize the size of your feet, look for shoes with rounded toes and moderate heels. You may want to stay away from pointy pumps, ballerina flats, and t-straps that can lengthen the appearance of your feet. It is also best to stick to neutral tones or colors that blend well with hose or pants.

Finally, keep in mind that if the average shoe size of women keeps growing, you may find yourself having smaller than average feet. Those jokes about your less than dainty tootsies will certainly be a thing of the past.

Chrisy Diaz is a fashion advisor for plus size women. She has been helping women of all sizes look their absolute best while helping them find fantastic deals on plus size apparel.

Brazilian bikini waxes have become popular over the past few years, and have even been discussed at length on the show “Sex and the City” in the U.S. They take bikini waxing a step further with a certain they-take-all-the-hair-off flair. Most people react to the idea of Brazilian bikini waxes with horror and curiosity. Many men seem intrigued. Of course, they aren’t the ones getting them done.

The process for a Brazilian bikini wax is pretty similar to a regular bikini wax, although Brazilian bikini waxes (sometimes called just “Brazilians”) are almost always done by a professional. Basically, a woman shows up at her salon and is taken into the room where waxing is done. There, she removes her pants or skirt and hops up on the table provided in her top and in her underwear (and most salons suggest you wear thongs for this sort of bikini wax). The aesthetician comes into the room, and preps the bikini line with powder. Then, she puts some heated wax on the bikini line, rubs a strip of cloth over the wax, waits a minute and yanks the strip off. In many cases, the woman (or victim) is asked to hold the skin around her thighs taut, to help minimize the pain.

While a regular bikini wax would essentially end there, in a Brazilian bikini wax, the process in repeated over and over until all the pubic hair is gone (in some cases, a tiny patch is left on the very top). In many cases, the underwear is moved all around to let the aesthetician get at all the hair. Sometimes, a woman has to twist herself around like a pretzel in order to let the aesthetician wax all the hair properly. The sides are left perfectly smooth, although I warn you, getting the sides done hurts like nothing else (try taking an Advil before your appointment). The aesthetician uses tweezers to get at any tiny or wiry hairs that have escaped the wax. Then the woman is left to put on the rest of her clothes and wobble away as best as she can.

The Brazilian bikini wax costs a little more than a regular bikini wax and takes longer. Wearing underwear will feel strange after this sort of wax, although some women like the sensation. As hair grows back to the required 1/4 inch length for the next session, some women may notice some irritation from the hairs at the sides.

I have mixed feelings about this wax. I find it strange that women feel the need to remove so much hair and suffer such pain. On the other hand, some women feel sexier with this sort of bikini wax. I guess it depends on how much pain you are willing to put up with and how curious you are to try this type of wax.

Joni McCoy is the author of Hairchick.com, a fun and friendly guide to all types of hair removal for women.