Delta Burke Women's Fashion Brand

Fashion that is flattering and fashionable for plus size ladies - this page covers Delta Burke Design in strictly product terms: fit, comfort, fabric and value for the customer the brand was built to serve. In 1994, Delta Burke turned her love of fashion and the reality of being a plus size lady into a new business venture. Delta Burke Design opened shop in New York City, and featured reasonably priced, comfortable and flattering clothing for full-figured ladies over the age of 35.

Two facts frame the label honestly. No brand photograph or official brand website is published for Delta Burke Design. What this page adds is buying guidance for the category Delta Burke Design served: women's plus size clothing designed, priced and fitted for real wear, at a time when far fewer labels bothered to design for full-figured women at all.

The Woman Behind the Label

Delta Burke is a designer and manager of the clothing company Delta Burke Design, headquartered in New York City - designer and manager in one, which is why the label read as personal rather than corporate. Delta Ramona Leah Burke is an American actress, producer and author. From 1986 to 1991, she starred as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

That television fame is part of the brand's logic and it belongs in the brand's story for a reason: Suzanne Sugarbaker was a character famous for dressing boldly at a size the fashion industry of the day largely ignored, and the woman who played her built a clothing company for exactly the customer she represented on screen. A designer who was herself a plus size lady, designing for full-figured ladies over 35, at reasonable prices - the positioning was the biography, stated in business form.

Buying Plus Size Clothing Well

The shopping lessons of this label generalise to the whole plus size category, and they start with fit over size numbers. Comfortable and flattering, the brand's own pairing, is achieved by cut: garments shaped for a full figure rather than scaled up from a smaller block, with waist placement, sleeve room and hip ease designed in from the start. Judge a piece seated, reaching and walking, because a dress that only flatters standing still in a mirror has done half its job.

Fabric and finishing decide the rest. Soft fabrics with recovery hold a shape through a day; prints and colour should be placed to flatter, not scattered; and seams, hems and fastenings at plus sizes carry more stress, so they deserve the same inspection a tailor would give them. Reasonably priced, the label's third promise, means cost per wear is the honest test - a comfortable, flattering piece worn weekly is the bargain Delta Burke Design was built on in New York in 1994. Care follows the label, with knits dried flat and structured pieces given proper hangers and room.