Designing DivaHip clothes for full figures

When Abbie Lynn Kearse, 34, was offered a chance to emerge fromher behind-the-scenes job at MTV and become an on-air reporter, sheturned the seeming dream job down. The reason? A warped body imageand personal insecurities. "I wanted to be on the air, but Iwasn't ready to deal with being under a microscope,"explains Kearse, whose full figure initially hindered her from TVstardom.

But six years later, after turning 30 and experiencing thelife-altering loss of her grandmother, Kearse decided to tossapprehension aside and ask her bosses for another shot at 15minutes of fame. The only problem? Though equipped with a newfoundconfidence, Kearse couldn't find any fun, hip clothing to fither plus-size figure. "They'd usually hand me somethingfrom Bill Bellamy's wardrobe, like an oversizedwindbreaker," says Kearse. Not wanting to dress like a rapperevery day, Kearse was determined to find clothes to reflect hergirlie, glam-rock image.