Sexy comes in all sizes, says plus-size lingerie boutique owner
August 23, 2014 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Chrystal Bougon is a big woman with bold ideas.
“Life is too short for bad sex and ugly underwear,” she says with a candor that could cause some people to blush, but is fueled by purpose.
She is not a slender size 8 or model size 2, but a size 20/22 on top and 22/24 on the bottom, and not only fine with it, but feels sexy, too. In hopes of helping others to overcome fat-shaming societal mores and see themselves as soigne, in 2012 she founded Curvy Girl, an intimate apparel boutique for plus-size women, in San Jose.
“I would go to lingerie stores and feel so bad because the pieces were so small,” she says. “When I shopped online, I would return seven of 10 pieces because the sizes were inconsistent.”
It was frustrating. “I knew I couldn’t be the only fat girl wanting sexy clothes,” she says.
Bougon, who worked in high tech from 1987 until she was laid off in 2002, laid the foundation for Curvy Girl with an online romance company she founded after her workplace downsizing. With Bliss Connections, she sold adult toys and accessories for date nights — and peddled her wares at trunk shows that she euphemistically called Pleasure Parties. During 1,250 parties during the next decade, she met hundreds of women, including plus-size women who came up to her and asked where they could buy clothing like hers, and plus-size lingerie, too.
She might have continued the parties indefinitely, but one day, while flipping through a trade magazine, she developed a new idea. The magazine featured a line of fetish wear designed for plus-size women, and instead of a skinny model advertising the garments, there was a picture of a plus-size model wearing the clothes.
“That blew my mind,” Bougon recalls. “I thought, ‘If a billion-dollar company makes a line for women up to size 4X and puts that image on the packaging of the box, the world is ready for this.’”
She opened the doors to her boutique in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose in October 2012, gaining a loyal following from her plus-size Pleasure Party friends. Clothing ranges in size from 12-28 and in price from $55 to $110 per outfit, with more than 100 styles to choose from (including corsets, chemises, baby dolls, sheer net dresses, and robes). Bougon sells shoes and other boudoir accessories, too.
The shop gained international attention in November (and became a destination for curvaceous women from Singapore, Australia and even Mexico) after Bougon posted pictures of her clients in lingerie on the store’s Facebook page, and an Internet flap ensued. A Sacramento fitness entrepreneur, “Fit Mom” Maria Kang, wrote a blog accusing Bougon of glorifying obesity. The pair were invited to offer dueling views on TV’s CNN, “Omg! Insider” (now named “Insider”), “Today” and “Good Morning America.” There, Bougon cited studies and research showing that body mass index is not a predictor of longevity and that fat people with certain diseases often outlive thinner people with the same disease.
“I kept saying, ‘There’s a war on women’s bodies, whether you’re a size 0 or a size 28,’” Bougon said. “If you think fat girls have low esteem, realize there are girls who are 0 who have low esteem, too. You can’t be small enough or fit enough for the media.”
Kang and Bougon met at Bougon’s shop and agreed to a truce.
“Your health is your business, but if you want to feel sexy, that’s my business,” Bougon said. “What she’s doing is awesome, and what I’m doing is beautiful, too.”
Carolyne Zinko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: czinko@sfchronicle.com
