It started with a duster...
You may think you've found another typical clothing site, but we hope to correct that misconception. If color, drama, femininity, and a sexy, curve-flattering fit is what you've been looking for, then welcome to the Astárte sisterhood. Our greatest strength is our personal approach to everything we do. We are not and never will be about "fashion" -- we are about empowerment in every sense of the word. Fashion companies follow trends and sell "looks" that women want. Astárte is about solutions that are delivered through gorgeous fashions. Our goal is to create classically sophisticated and comfortable clothes that that you will reach for again and again because of how they make you feel about yourself: confident and beautiful.
So who, or what, is Astárte? Astarte was "born" in 1991, the creative idea generated from the personal frustrations of two plus-size sisters (with lots of support from our mom). The amazing force behind every Astárte creation is designer Jennifer Davis, who has no formal design training or education (although she's lectured to design classes from local colleges at their request). What she does have is an artist's eye for color and line, and a natural talent (plus years of experience fitting women of all shapes and sizes) to "engineer" clothing to fit a woman's curves. When you order from us, you are getting the benefit of years of Jennifer's personal knowledge of the right fit for the right shape, so trust her advice if you aren't sure what to choose. This is our story.
Professionally, our backgrounds had nothing to do with the fashion industry. In early 1991, Jennifer wanted to find a sexy glamorous outfit for an industry banquet she was going to attend and found no such thing existed in her size (28 at that time). So she started experimenting (as she did as a teenager, cutting up her clothes, much to our mother’s horror) and came up with a new design for a duster and dress based on a quasi-acceptable set she bought off the rack. In blissful ignorance, we figured if the worst we did was end up with great wardrobes for the two of us, we might as well try.
The concept for Astárte was born when Jennifer’s then-boyfriend found the name Astárte in a book called The Source. We wanted a name that evoked feminine power, so we took Astárte in honor of the Phoenician Great Mother goddess, “a figure of pride in feminine being, a celebration of the abundance that comes from a woman in touch with herself and her body.” The images of the goddess Astárte depict a voluptuous being with full hips, which is a common representation of fertility goddesses. (The “woman by design” was added to clarify what we do.)
We cut and sewed the first Astárte pieces over July 4th weekend in 1991, and the first Astárte outfit sold within an hour of being placed in a Torrance, CA boutique. We had our own boutique from December of 1991 until October of 1996, when someone threw a brick through the window and stole all of our brand-new fall/holiday design samples in the two minutes it took for the police to arrive. Astárte went home with Jennifer and became strictly web/mail order for six years; we have never wholesaled. In 2002, a showroom and design center was opened in Signal Hill, near Long Beach, California, and then we moved to a new retail location on Broadway in the Arts District of Long Beach, which we have since closed. Our focus now is on delivering the Astarte vision personally to women through this website, trunk shows, select boutiques, and fashion shows throughout California. (In case you’re wondering, the long version of our story includes such details as an antique Singer revealed in a pool of celestial light, our personal “angel” Mr. Levitt, and cut-up donuts on a tray served by our mother. We can laugh about it now.)
Since 1991, Astárte designs have evolved with us. We are plus-size women ourselves and have been all of our adult lives -- we KNOW what it feels like to worry about things like annoyingly chafed thighs, the mono-boob swimsuit look, and the frustration and disappointment of shopping when everything seems to make you look larger and frumpier. Although there are a lot more choices today than there were in 1991, Astárte is unique in our approach to creating clothes that are as comfortable as they are beautiful and flattering (no, you don't need to compromise!). By the way, we have solved all of the problems just mentioned: our Freedom Skirt has a built-in lightweight shaper to prevent chafing, our swimsuits are designed to wear with your own bra for maximum cleavage and support, and all of our designs in every category are guaranteed to make you look sleeker and sexier than you ever imagined. Trust us.
Jennifer has created amazing gowns that were worn to every awards show in Hollywood and a presidential inaugural ball. She has designed costumes for musicals and a variety of flamboyant divas, and loved every minute. But by far the most rewarding and exciting moments for her, what keeps her motivated and sparks her creative flame, are the women who rediscover, with tears in their eyes as they twirl in front of the mirror in an Astárte design, the beauty, the sensuality, and the powerful femininity they thought they had lost. We know it's never lost...just waiting to be revealed.
So who, or what, is Astárte? Astarte was "born" in 1991, the creative idea generated from the personal frustrations of two plus-size sisters (with lots of support from our mom). The amazing force behind every Astárte creation is designer Jennifer Davis, who has no formal design training or education (although she's lectured to design classes from local colleges at their request). What she does have is an artist's eye for color and line, and a natural talent (plus years of experience fitting women of all shapes and sizes) to "engineer" clothing to fit a woman's curves. When you order from us, you are getting the benefit of years of Jennifer's personal knowledge of the right fit for the right shape, so trust her advice if you aren't sure what to choose. This is our story.
Professionally, our backgrounds had nothing to do with the fashion industry. In early 1991, Jennifer wanted to find a sexy glamorous outfit for an industry banquet she was going to attend and found no such thing existed in her size (28 at that time). So she started experimenting (as she did as a teenager, cutting up her clothes, much to our mother’s horror) and came up with a new design for a duster and dress based on a quasi-acceptable set she bought off the rack. In blissful ignorance, we figured if the worst we did was end up with great wardrobes for the two of us, we might as well try.
The concept for Astárte was born when Jennifer’s then-boyfriend found the name Astárte in a book called The Source. We wanted a name that evoked feminine power, so we took Astárte in honor of the Phoenician Great Mother goddess, “a figure of pride in feminine being, a celebration of the abundance that comes from a woman in touch with herself and her body.” The images of the goddess Astárte depict a voluptuous being with full hips, which is a common representation of fertility goddesses. (The “woman by design” was added to clarify what we do.)
We cut and sewed the first Astárte pieces over July 4th weekend in 1991, and the first Astárte outfit sold within an hour of being placed in a Torrance, CA boutique. We had our own boutique from December of 1991 until October of 1996, when someone threw a brick through the window and stole all of our brand-new fall/holiday design samples in the two minutes it took for the police to arrive. Astárte went home with Jennifer and became strictly web/mail order for six years; we have never wholesaled. In 2002, a showroom and design center was opened in Signal Hill, near Long Beach, California, and then we moved to a new retail location on Broadway in the Arts District of Long Beach, which we have since closed. Our focus now is on delivering the Astarte vision personally to women through this website, trunk shows, select boutiques, and fashion shows throughout California. (In case you’re wondering, the long version of our story includes such details as an antique Singer revealed in a pool of celestial light, our personal “angel” Mr. Levitt, and cut-up donuts on a tray served by our mother. We can laugh about it now.)
Since 1991, Astárte designs have evolved with us. We are plus-size women ourselves and have been all of our adult lives -- we KNOW what it feels like to worry about things like annoyingly chafed thighs, the mono-boob swimsuit look, and the frustration and disappointment of shopping when everything seems to make you look larger and frumpier. Although there are a lot more choices today than there were in 1991, Astárte is unique in our approach to creating clothes that are as comfortable as they are beautiful and flattering (no, you don't need to compromise!). By the way, we have solved all of the problems just mentioned: our Freedom Skirt has a built-in lightweight shaper to prevent chafing, our swimsuits are designed to wear with your own bra for maximum cleavage and support, and all of our designs in every category are guaranteed to make you look sleeker and sexier than you ever imagined. Trust us.
Jennifer has created amazing gowns that were worn to every awards show in Hollywood and a presidential inaugural ball. She has designed costumes for musicals and a variety of flamboyant divas, and loved every minute. But by far the most rewarding and exciting moments for her, what keeps her motivated and sparks her creative flame, are the women who rediscover, with tears in their eyes as they twirl in front of the mirror in an Astárte design, the beauty, the sensuality, and the powerful femininity they thought they had lost. We know it's never lost...just waiting to be revealed.