Moving My Wardrobe to Autumn/Winter

This weekend I was finally dragged (kicking and screaming I might add) into packing my summer clothes away and greeting the old friends of my Autumn/Winter wardrobe.

As the nights now draw in and the days get colder, my thoughts turn away from pretty Summer dresses and move towards cosy, warm clothing.  Vibrant scarves, faux fur, gorgeous warm clothes that you can wrap yourself up in while still maintaining your style.

It is this point that I have a ruthless cull of anything that I have not worn over the previous season, giving me a good excuse when the seasons change and I change my wardrobes, to purchase a few new key pieces.

That being said, at this time of year my focus has to be on buying Christmas presents and saving for my New Year break away, so my clothing choices and the costs thereof have to be measured.  I always look for free delivery offers and check out sites such as Boohoo Discount Codes and Crazy Clearance for discounts on clothing.  The Boohoo site also donates 20% of its profits to charity, so I can also feel a little philanthropic while I shop.

Here are some of the finds that I have my eye on at the moment.

No need to disregard colour when the cold hits, embrace it!

Asos Curve £35.00

This glittering bomber jacket is perfect for slipping over a party dress or funking up an ordinary weekend outfit

Boohoo £40.00

No florals in Winter?  Think again with this gorgeous dress from Joe Browns

Crazy Clearance £20.00

Everyone needs a traditional Christmas top, my choice comes with baubles!

Very £25.00

 What are your favourites for this season?

What to Wear to a Wedding

Every year we inevitably see a certain kind of envelope drop through the post box.  The wedding invitation.  

For me, the first question I ask myself is "What am I going to wear?"  I read an article in Cosmopolitan recently that answered many of the questions that we ask ourselves when choosing a wedding guest outfit.

Much of the advice I agreed with (no long white dresses, nothing see through; no jeans); but other tips such as no animal prints, I was not so sure of.  There is no reason why you cannot be fashion forward or wear a strong print at a wedding, it is just a case choosing the right dress.

Wedding Appropriate                               Keep for the Club

I have picked out some of my favourite dresses that I would wear when attending a wedding.  All of them can be carried through from day to evening and as this is a plus size fashion blog, I have ensured that you can find dresses from a 10 to a 32.

David Nieper Uncrushable Tunic Dress
10-24     £135.00

This is a very classic style dress that will take you from day to evening and is also made from an uncrushable fabric, meaning no creases after sitting in church pews or a very long best man's speech!

Asos Curve Fit & Flare Dress

16-30 £55.00

You cannot go wrong with a classic black and white dress.  I love the lines on this dress and the pleating will look amazing when twirling around on a dance floor!

SimplyBe Print Up Down Hem Belted Dress
10-32 £25.00

This is the boldest choice of my dresses.  It will look gorgeous on a sunny day and is must for a fashion maven wedding.

House of Fraser Studio 8 Aliona Dress
12-28 £175.00

Who doesn't love a little bit of sparkle with a wedding.  This beautiful dress has sparkle without being too flashy and I love the light green colour.

Which one would you choose?

New Dress Wishlist

It has been a while since I had a good look around at the various brands to see what new dresses catch my eye.  I had a bit of time to spare tonight so I decided to have a browse and do a little wishlist of my current favourites.

First up is a gorgeous red lovely from +Yours Clothing

I am a sucker for a red dress and I love the pattern of this Glitter Flocked Skater Dress and for £35.00, what a bargain!

Next up is the stunning Briar Rose Dress from Taking Shape.  I love the black accents and as you will know if you have read my blog before, give my a floral print and I am happy.  This is £99.00.

Next is the Claire Richards spot mesh prom dress from +Fashion World   This is such a classic look and would be perfect for the Christmas party season.  

Adding a little va va voom to my wishlist is the +ASOS Paper Dolls Plunge Neckline Pencil Dress priced at £58.00.  You cannot go wrong with a monochrome theme and the neckline detailing is just gorgeous.

Finally, I have a dress that I recently spotted on the beautiful George from FullerFigureFullerBust and I have been lusting after ever since.  This is the +Scarlett Jo red floral jersey dress from Evans which is currently on sale for £40.50.

That is it for my wishlist today, hope you have liked my choices!!

Friday Wishlist

I was watching “This Old Thing” last night, the vintage clothing programme with Dawn O’Porter who I have a bit of a girl crush on.  She was having a conversation with a lady who was a complete vintagephobe and in it summed my ethos to clothes perfectly.

Vintagephobe (she has a name, but I forgot it, and it’s 10pm and I don’t care that much) “But that dress, where would I wear something like that?”.

Dawn “Just put it on and wear it wherever you like!”.

I don’t believe in saving clothes for a special occasion.  The days of wearing your “Sunday best” are long since behind us.  I want to wear my best every single day.  It makes me happy.

Every night before I go to bed I have a rummage through my wardrobe and find something to wear for work the next day.  Shoes are pulled out, jewellery is selected; it takes less than ten minutes out of the day and is time that I willingly sacrifice to be able to look good the next day.  Another ten minutes (ok fifteen) with my makeup bag in the morning and I am good to go, happy and ready to face the world.

I still remember going to work every day from head to toe in black.  I felt invisible.  I made an active choice not to blend into the surroundings any more and now I celebrate the fact that I don’t.  As is well documented in this blog I love bright colours and bold prints so with that in mind, here are my current things on my lusting after list!

1   Multi Floral Print Prom Skirt

2   Sydney Loose Pants

3   Oriental pleated maxi dress

4   Tapestry Floral Dress

5   Jeffrey & Paula Print Dress

Twice as Nice

Last week I was reading through my favourite blogs and came across Becky's +ASOS haul post.  As she has a similar body shape to myself (albeit with much better legs than I have!) I love to check out what Becky is wearing and get some ideas of what I would like to buy.

Upon looking through her Asos Curve Review Post I immediately spied the green goddess that was the Asos Curve Midi Dress in Check Print and fell head over heels in love.  I didn't own anything green and the colour was so luscious and the pattern so vibrant that I had to have it.

I wore this dress on Friday night for cocktails in Manchester and striding down Deansgate after a cocktail or two, I have to say that it did give me some added confidence!  My pictures however were taken today and I have gone for a simple look, simply adding some black glitter sandals from Fashion World.

Both Becky and I decided to do a joint post with our dresses and so we bring you Twice as Nice.  Please have a look at Becky's blog as linked above to see how she has worn her dress.

 

What a Girl Wants

I have recently joined Polyvore and have been playing around with creating different sets and finding items that I love and putting them together.

I was looking through the +ASOS Curve dresses and thought that I would share my favourites with you! My favourite I think is the skull print dress that I have been ogling for weeks now.

What favourites have you got your eye on at the moment?

 

 

Links Below

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Yes, I Can!

I’m not very fond of the use of the word “can't” when it is being directed to someone else.  If I were to use it myself for example saying that “I can't ride a bike” (true!) what it generally implies that the person has tried something but is unable to do it for one reason or another. 

When you apply the word to someone else however, it is with the purpose, however well hidden, of restricting and controlling what they do.  You can’t do that, you’re female,  you can’t go there, this may happen, you can’t wear that, you’re fat.

That last one is something that I have been thinking about lately.  All the clothing do’s and don’ts that are inferred that somebody who is plus size should comply with; you can’t wear stripes, you can’t wear print, you can’t wear bright colours etc etc.   The never ending jibe of “black is very slimming you know”.  Well you know what, I love colour, I love print, I love everything about fashion and if I want to, I will damn well wear it!

Here are some of my favourite dresses that are around at the moment, all of which break “the rules” of what a fat girl should wear.  I never was one for rules anyway.  Which puts all these dresses on the top of my wishlist.

Cartoon Print Skater Dress

Busy pattern, bright colours, look at me dress, why not?

Lovedrobe Polka Dot Print Pleated Dress

Another busy print, up to the neck (an apparent no no for the larger chest) and pleating!

Blue Floral Skater Dress from Asos Curve

Floral, feminine and visible.  Yes please!

SimplyBe Enchanted Print Dress

This dress took my breath away.  I adore this dress.  

Convention would say I can't wear it, I say.... I've just ordered it

So there you have it.  Four dresses that society says I "can't" wear.  One of which I have ordered already (post to follow) and the rest will stay on my wishlist.

What do you wear that convention says you shouldn't?

Polka Polka Polka Dot

Over the past few weeks I have been lusting over this dress.  A polka dot dress with a pussybow neckline and pleated skirt – there is nothing I don’t like about that sentence.

After waiting a few weeks till payday and allowing myself a little treat, I finally got my hands on it and here it is!

I’ve just had a quick try on for now but when styling it properly I will no doubt be playing around with accessories. I have a lovely pair of red shoes that will look fabulous and no doubt a little cardy will be coming in somewhere.

The very day that we have nice weather, this dress is coming out to play!

Have you had your eye on a must have dress lately?

Planning - Outfit of the Day

I'm not generally someone who can put an outfit together first thing in the morning.  I can barely get myself out of bed and organised for work, never mind have decision making capabilities.

As such, I always choose my next day work outfit the night before.  Here's what I wore today, together with the snap I took of the outfit that last.

The dress and the cardigan are from Dorothy Perkins, the belt is from Asos Curve.

How do you plan your outfits?

Wardrobe Staples

There are a few things that every girl should have in her wardrobe.  One of them is a biker jacket.

A biker jacket is one of those items that I have always meant to buy, but have never gotten around to purchasing.  They are just as perfect with jeans as they are with a pretty dress.

After reading MrsBeBe's post today which showed her styling of a biker jacket with a floaty dress, I have decided to have a look around and have picked out my favourites with a view to hopefully buying one soon.

Image from Asos Curve
£100.00

I love the zip detailing to the wrists and the quilt trim to the this jacket.  It can be found here

Image from So Fabulous at Very
Currently £34.00

 I like the simple styling on this jacket.  It has a quilted look to the shoulders but generally it allows your clothing to make the statement whilst providing a stylish finish.

Image from Yours Clothing

£65.00

This jacket is very on trend at the moment with the studding detail to the shoulders and the side buckles.

So those are my favourite biker jackets available at the moment.  Now I just need to decide which one is right for me and get saving!