Good Morning!!! Well many of you will be excited to hear that today is the eve of the launch of the 2011 Summer Catalogue!!! It is extremely exciting for all of us at Dale and Waters because the general consensus is that this catalogue is even bigger and better than the Spring Catalogue! My favourite outfit has to be the one featured on the front cover. I think it truly epitomises what Dale and Waters was aiming for with this catalogue. It is fun, light, comfortable and very flattering. I also really like how versatile each piece is and how it can be easily mixed and matched with many other items. As usual all of us are looking forward to finding out what you like / don’t like / or want to see more of! So feel free to post your opinions via the blog or Facebook! Styling Tip After a week of indulgence I realised my tummy was quite bloated and bigger than usual. To help distract other people from noticing this I made sure that I wore similar neutral colours on the top and bottom. I then wore a scarf loosely wrapped around my neck with a beautiful big glass pendant as a necklace (similar to the one Dale and Waters have in their accessories range). Thus drawing all eyes to my neck region and away from my tummy! It’s a very useful trick to keep in mind  Have a wonderful week and happy shopping!!! Emma P.S. I realised that it has been a long time since I gave you an update on my not so little, not so baby, boy Joseph (Google). Well he is growing to be a beautiful, gentle giant of a boy. He is so happy in temperament and so tall in size! Currently wearing a size 8 shoe and size 3 clothes my 16 month old towers over most 2 year olds and some 3 year olds! Look out Eagles... your next ruckman is coming!!!

Hi all, I hope you have all had a fabulous start to the week! Dale and Waters have been very busy in response to the Spring Catalogue AND the advertisement which aired on channel 7’s The Morning Show last Friday! So far the response has been 99% positive, which is really wonderful. I want to send out a special thank you to those of you who have taken the time to share your thoughts with us via the blog and facebook. It really does make such a difference! Something else over the past week or so that has caught my attention has been the furore over certain comments regarding the use of ‘plus sized’ models in the fashion industry. I am sure most of you know what I mean and I will not degrade this blog by quoting them. (For those of you who don’t know what I am referring to, the general gist was that plus sized models have no place in high fashion, they promote and celebrate obesity and unhealthy lifestyles and that the larger woman essentially has no right to fashion.) As absolutely appalled as I am by these ignorant, hedonistic, sensationalist attempts to gain publicity and attention by certain people, as a plus sized clothing company I do think we need to stand up for ourselves! I will be the first to do so by saying that I, as a plus sized model, am not only fit (and could probably beat the pants off that idiot who said those things in any half marathon), but I am healthy and I in fact attempt to promote these positive aspects through my modelling. But you know what? Apparently because I am not a size 6, I do not deserve a place as a model in the fashion industry? I do not deserve to wear fashionable clothes? I deserve to dig myself a hole and go and hide in it!? Ok well maybe not the last bit but the important message is that I don’t have to be a size 6, 8, 10 or 12 to deserve to be able to wear whatever clothes I want and neither do all of you out there!!! I am not going to launch into a tirade regarding ‘normal’ (6 – 8) sized models and the messages they are sending either, because many of them are healthy, fit people too. BUT big surprise! – some ‘normal’ sized models aren’t healthy and some ‘plus sized’ models aren’t healthy. At the end of the day I am sick and tired of the negative messages being sent to plus sized people and to society in regard to plus sized people. I am sure that I am not the only one who has been stared at as I walk down the street and called names because of my weight. We need to stand up to people like this because they are supporting the abhorrent message that people who are above average weight, overweight or even obese are less valuable members of society and that they should not be afforded the same rights and respect as others. These are the people telling us that we are NOT ok the way we are. These are the same people who tell our girls that they must not be ‘chubby’, ‘curvy’ or ‘fat’ when they grow up. We need to stand up to people like this because they are wrong. Please send your thoughts about this via the blog and Facebook; helping us at Dale and Waters to stand up for what is right. Have a wonderful week! Emma 