The Arrival of Plus Size Fashion

Not so long ago, it was almost impossible to get fashionable clothing on the high street if you were over a size 12. Times are now changing and the spotlight is now firmly on the Big Beautiful Woman.

It is a blessed relief to be able to wander the high street and see fashionable plus size clothing available in stores such as Littlewoods over a range of styles. Thankfully, gone are the days where larger sizes were only available in brown and bore a remarkable resemblance to a tent.

Especially pleasing, as the party season approaches, is the variety of plus size dresses available, from strapless prom dresses to the maxi dress, the choice of fashionable styles for the larger lady is almost limitless.

The beginning of this trend started on the catwalk, when larger models took to the stage in fashion shows. Designers then supported the plus size movement and women across the world could finally be proud of their curves.

The plus-size-only runway show in New York fashion week was one of the first, and included lingerie, accessories and wider shoes. London Fashion week continued this trend with designer Mark Fast sending only plus sized models down the catwalk, further building the case for larger ladies' fashion.

I never saw the attraction of stick thin women personally, I am biased, being the proud owner of a few curves myself, but I am glad that the era of the size zero model seems to be drawing to a close. We are the way genetics dictates and we should be able to be happy with the way we are.

How Much Money is Safe in Irish Bank Accounts?

I know that up to £50k is guaranteed in savings accounts in the UK, but consider the situation of a couple moving back to Ireland after living abroad.

At the moment, Irish current accounts have an absolute guarantee on bank deposits until the end of December, so our couple should be ok to put their hard earned cash into a current account until they find a suitable savings account to swap it to.

However, at the end of December, unless there is an extension to the situation, the deposit protection scheme will come back into force. This means that only the first 100k euros (200k in the case of joint accounts) will be guaranteed.

This covers all accounts, but if you had 100k euros, you'd probably store it in a savings account to get the interest.

Whilst the money being deposited into the Irish bank account is going to be safe as its a joint account, it would be wise to move into a higher interest account as soon as possible.