After much anticipation and many, many hints, we’ve finally got some solid details on Melissa McCarthy’s long-promised plus-size clothing line. Hell yes.
What, you mean we can wear something other than black polyester with ruffles and an asymmetrical hem?
Nor does this sound like some half-assed capsule effort with a celeb’s name slapped on: Casual sportswear is scheduled to roll out fall 2015, with plans to expand to higher-end offerings, accessories and beauty in 2016 and 2017. They’re still negotiating with potential retail carriers. Judging from her comments, it won’t be strictly plus-size, either: “I’m doing all sizes. It’s a strange thing to stop at a certain size. Women don’t, so why should clothes?”
“I have experience dressing me as a 6, a 12 and more. And when you go above a size 12, you don’t lose your love of fashion,” she added. In fact, McCarthy originally landed in New York as an FIT student, rather than an aspiring comedian, and she’s a longtime fashion lover:
McCarthy said growing up, she wasn’t much of a shopper — “I lived on a farm in Illinois and we didn’t have a lot of money. But I lived vicariously through magazines. I was obsessed with Jean Paul Gaultier. I still have the scrapbooks and I’ve kept all my designs and sketches. I loved the playfulness of fashion. I think maybe that’s why I became an actress. You put on one outfit and feel one way, and another one will make you feel another way. Clothes are a wonderful tool.”
Now it sounds like she’s going for those Jessica Simpson dollars. Let’s hope the hems are a little longer, though—I’m getting too old to wear skirts that end a mere inch past my ass cheeks. Sleeves would be nice, too.
Image via Getty.
