Brie's Closet

Monif Clarke is a force to be dealt with within the Plus-size fashion industry. As the co-founder and CEO of Monif C. Plus Sizes,  She has designed a collection of plus size fashions that any curvy girl would dream of wearing.Conceived in 2005 by mother/daughter team Monif and Elaine Clarke, the Monif C. collection of dresses and swimwear reaffirms every woman’s desire for an inspired life, filled with luxury and unadulterated sexy appeal. A love of color, prints, and vintage details has been a part of Monif’s life from her childhood in Barbados. Today as a plus size woman, Monif understands the need for a new perspective in the plus size market.

Voted “Best Plus Size Clothing Store” by City Search, “Best Store For Plus Size Evening Wear” by Time Out New York and featured in the October issue of Essence Magazine’s “Power 40 Under 40″, Monif C. has made its mark as a plus size industry leader. Monif C. has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, ABC News, Barbara Walters’ the View, The Washington Post, Essence, Glamour, TLC’s What Not to Wear, The Tyra Banks Show, Ebony, Jet and many more. The Monif C. collection is quintessentially the wardrobe for the young, contemporary, sexy plus size woman. When you wear Monif C., you reclaim your femininity and your strong sense of self. Celebrity fans of Monif C. include Emme (Plus Size Supermodel), Sherri Shepherd (the View), Jill Scott, Jennifer Hudson, Raven Symone, Gabourey Sidibe, Kim Coles, Tocarra (America’s Next Top Model), Angie Stone and Amber Riley (Fox’s Glee). Monif C. is sold online, in the Monif C. Boutique in New York City, as well as specialty boutiques throughout the US, London, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Jamaica, St. Maarten, Bahamas, and Bermuda.

 When asked why she started her fashion line she simply states, "I started this business out of my own frustration with not being able to find sexy, sophisticated fashion forward clothing for plus size women like myself. I knew that if I was having difficulty finding beautiful clothing, there had to be many other women like me with the same problem, so I decided to design my own collection." Check out her interview on madamenoire.com below: 

Who doesn't know Mercedes Jones, the dynamic fictional diva-in-training who refuses to sing back-up, and is a member of the glee club at the William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. Amber Riley the 26 year old actress portrays Mercedes on the hugely successful musical comedy-drama GLEE. Her character gets through her schooldays with her "diva-style", stylish clothes, and has a friendship with the first openly gay boy in her school. Very few know that at seventeen she was turned down by the producers of the 2nd season of American Idol. Ironically, she landed at FOX as diva Mercedes Jones on Glee and belted out the National Anthem before Game 3 of the 2009 World Series. The La Mirada, CA, native honed her craft appearing in numerous theater productions, including Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Into the Woods, and Mystery on the Docks with the Los Angeles Opera, and even fewer know of her philanthropy work that she has done as a spokesperson for both Do Something and VH1's Save the Music Foundation. She also was an advocate for Safe Awareness for Beginner Drivers and Encouragement for Youth. With such a busy schedule Amber still finds time to show us what makes her our celebrity style icon.

Fabulous!