Rancho Santa Fe Review
Solana Beach’s Curve Couture launches upscale designer boutique for full-figured women What do Scarlett Johansson, Marilyn Monroe, and Kate Winslet all have in common? The answer? All of these iconically beautiful women were blessed with naturally endowed assets and a plethora of enticing curves. But while these women are indisputably worshiped as among the most sexy women to have graced Hollywood, the fashion industry counter-intuitively promotes size 00 rail-thin models in their fashion shows and advertisements. By today’s standards, Marilyn Monroe would be a size 14. And even more noteworthy is the fact that, according to Women’s Wear Daily, the average woman’s body size in America today is a size 14. Yet designers, fashion magazines and gossip tabloids continue to showcase the mannequin look popularized back in the 1960’s by Twiggy. In other words, when it comes to women’s fashions in today’s real world, we are experiencing a distinct reality disconnect. Enter Deirdre and Joel Mick, a husband and wife power couple, who after years of noticing the disturbing trend of designer boutiques offering smaller and smaller sizes to clientele, decided to launch Curve Couture, an upscale designer boutique in Solana Beach, created exclusively for women wearing sizes 12 and above. “Most upscale designer boutiques carry up to a size 10, if you’re lucky,” states Deirdre Mick. “For some reason, many wellknown fashion designers stop designing at size 10, which is fine for teenagers and possibly 20-year-olds, but beyond that it just really isn’t all that practical for the vast majority of women in America. I should know; I’ve been at least a size 12 for as long as I can remember, and I am proud of it.”
Store merchandise falls into three main categories located in three different physical sections of the store, to make shopping that much easier: Weekend Adventure, Impress the Boss, and Hot Date. Pieces and accessories are cleverly and thoughtfully mixed and matched according to each theme in order to make shopping a quick and easy proposition. Mick explains her approach to store layout and design: “The idea is to give the customers suggestions they can relate to. This is an art that has fallen away in recent years, and retail customers (no matter their clothing size) find themselves without any assistance or guidance while putting together outfits. We have done a lot of outfit design work for customers before they even enter the store, yet we also offer an extremely high level of personal service to ensure that customers select outfits that flatter their particular body type. This is what I believe makes us different from everyone else on the scene.” Curve Couture is located at 415 South Cedros Avenue, Solana Beach, California 92075; in the Cedros Design District. For more information please visit www.curvecouture.com or call (858) 847-9100.
November 17, 2011
B5
Earl Warren student wins artistic ‘peace’ competition (L-R) Contest winners (holding certificates): Cameron AshtianiEisemann, Carly Vertongen, Bijan Ashtiani-Eisemann, Bulent Erol, President, Del Sol Lion’s, Danielle Hsu, Joani Kerr, Assistant Branch Manager, Solana Beach Library. Danielle Hsu, a seventh grade student at Earl Warren Middle School has taken the first step to becoming an internationallyrecognized artist by winning a local competition sponsored by the Del Sol Lions Club. On Nov. 7, the Del Sol Lions and the Solana Beach Library announced that Hsu was the local winner of the Lions Club International (LCI) 24th annual competition titled “Children Know Peace.” To compete, local 11, 12 and 13 year-olds joined more than 375,000 children from around the world in sharing their vision of peace in the form of a poster. Hsu was awarded $100 and will advance to the next level of competition. When asked for the motivation behind her artwork, the 11-year old replied, “You can’t accomplish peace with just one person, you all have to work together.” Other contest winners were 11 year-old Carly Vertongen, second place and recipient of $50, 11 year-old Bijan Ashtiani-Eisemann , third place and recipient of $25, 13 yearold Cameron Ashtiani-Eisemann, Honorable Mention. Del Sol Lion Joani Kerr, assistant
branch manager at the Solana Beach Library and Linette Page, first vice president, responsible for Del Sol Lion Programs and Service Projects, arranged the contest hosted at the Solana Beach Library. The poster was selected by Del Sol Lion and supporter of the arts Carol Childs, art teacher and former NASA illustrator Joel Harris, and Del Sol Lion President, Bulent Erol for its originality, artistic merit and portrayal of the contest theme, “Children Know Peace.” “Hsu’s poster will advance to face stiff competitors through district, multiple district and international rounds of competition where she could potentially be declared the international grand prize winner,” Erol said. The international winner will be announced on Feb. 1, 2012 and will receive $5,000 plus a trip with two family members to the awards ceremony at Lions Day with the United Nations in March 2012. 23 Merit winners will also be selected and receive $500 each. For more information on the Del Sol Lions, visit www.delsollions.org.