NEW YORK – In a midtown Manhattan showroom, fashion blogger Amelia Pontes picked up a pair of “jeggings” (jeans tight enough to be leggings) from a table filled with trendy jeans in boot cut, boyfriend and skinny styles.

“The tighter the better for me,” Pontes explained to Liz Munoz, an executive from plus-size fashion retailer Torrid.

“I prefer mine just a little loose,” said Munoz, who tugs on the fabric of her jeans at the hips. “And check it out, you can wear these on an airplane,” she added, bending down to show Pontes how stretchy these jeggings really are.

This cocktail party and jean “sampling” was thrown by Torrid for some of its best customers: young bloggers who proudly call themselves “fatshonistas.” The event is part of the Young Fat and Fabulous Conference, a series of meet-and-greet events between 11 bloggers and retailers in New York City.

The conference was a collaboration between fashion blogger Gabi Gregg, a 23-year-old Chicago-based blogger who runs the blog YoungFatAndFabulous.com, and several plus-size retail outlets including City Chic, Faith 21, Evans UK, Torrid and American Rag.

“I got the idea when I went to the Weardrobe conference,” says Gregg, referring to a conference that assembled style bloggers and retailers last year. “There were no plus-size girls there. I try not to separate, because really, it’s all just about fashion. But when we weren’t included, I thought, we’ll just make our own event.”

Gregg rallied her tight-knit community of fellow “fatshion” bloggers, such as Washington, D.C.-based Christina Lewis from MusingsOfAFatshionista.com, Australian Hayley Hughes from FashionHayley.com and the two bloggers from Finland behind MoreToLove.fi, who have become like celebrities in their country with 20,000 readers a week and a manager.

For these social media tastemakers, clothing is meant to be chic and not necessarily slimming. The new attitude is part of a growing size acceptance movement with fashion at the forefront; the fact that the bloggers or readers might be a size 18 or 24 is secondary.

Most of these websites showcase photos of the bloggers wearing outfits they’ve styled, often by mixing “straight fashion” with plus-size pieces, resulting in looks that are more structured jacket than colorful caftan.

“I don’t know how to say this without sounding elitist, but I’ve never shopped at a plus-sized store,” said Nicolette Mason, who runs an eponymous blog and blogs for Vogue Curvy, Vogue Italia’s online magazine. “They have limited options. And the quality is often poor. It’s so easy to modify straight sized clothing and make it work.”

Over the last two years, U.S. retailers have taken note and stores like Forever 21 added an extended sizes line, Faith 21. Target added Pure Energy last year and American Rag debuted their plus-size collection last month.

According to the most recent figures from the NPD group, a market research firm, the $18 billion plus-size market is an area of growth. While sales in the overall women’s apparel category remain flat, the plus size niche increased by 2 percent between May 2009 and May 2010.

The bloggers are at the forefront of that change.

“When different designers launch their collection they’re coming to us to help get the word out,” says Marie Denee of TheCurvyFashionista.MarieDenee.com. “Traditional media does not offer these options to spread the word. It’s kind of been built in the culture of the plus-sized community to get social.”

Many plus-size retailers now advertise on the most influential blogs, some of which garner hundreds of thousands of page views per month. The brands sponsoring this event are willing to spring for the girls’ hotel rooms, $150 gift cards, elegant lunches and a free pair of jeans. The bloggers all insist as part of Federal Trade Commission regulations, they will clearly disclose any free merchandise they’ve been given to review. Gabi Gregg draws the line at “pay for post.”

“Torrid offered but I declined,” Gregg said. “I need to be honest with my readers.”

Torrid’s president Chris Daniel said that the bloggers’ influence can’t be underestimated.

“These bloggers have a very sharp eye,” Daniel said. “They almost always pick the best sellers – whether they become best sellers because they pick them, or vice versa, it’s hard to say.”

Daniel said he understands the growing need for high-fashion looks that work for Torrid’s size 12-to-28 market; they’re listening to these fiercely demanding customers who want over-the-knee boots, trendy denim and fitted leather jackets.

“The (bloggers) have stopped apologizing for the way they’re made,” Daniel said. “They see right past the size 2 girl that has on the Dolce and Gabbana dress to say, ‘I want that dress.’ At Torrid, we never assume any look can’t be adapted to be beautiful and sexy for a plus-size girl.”

To get the latest, on-trend looks, the U.S. bloggers will often cross the online seas to British sites such as Evans U.K. or this blogger group’s hands-down favorite, ASOS.com.

“The overseas companies owe a huge debt to these bloggers,” said Deb Malkin, who runs the Brooklyn-based shop Re/Dress NYC that sells vintage plus-size and designer looks. Malkin also hosted an open party for the bloggers and their fans. “When Evans, Dorothy Perkins and ASOS launched their curvy lines, I had never seen a group of women so passionate about their products. Maybe because it’s exotic and it’s not Lane Bryant.”

To their credit, Lane Bryant also held a blogger meet-and-greet with a different set of bloggers this past June.

At one of the final YFF Conference luncheons, held by American Rag in the penthouse of Macy’s, executives asked the bloggers, “What piece do you need more of in your closet?”

One answer, short shorts, prompts a debate. Some feel that their readers wouldn’t go for short shorts; others feel that if “straight size” girls can wear it, well, so should they.

“You’re fat, you’re full-figured,” Mason said. “You’re not supposed to show your legs or you shouldn’t wear that. We’ve all been socialized to think this way. But if everyone sees Gabi wearing a certain look on her blog and they say ‘wow, she looks great in that,’ it changes everything.”

Deb Malkin of Re/Dress puts it another way.

“I imagine the kind of suffering I could have avoided if this kind of imagery was available to me when I was young,” she said. “I don’t really see plus-size I see a young, confident women who looks fantastic.”