Work Wear to Party Wear

Hi there!  It has been so long since I have done an outfit post that I thought that it was high time that I pulled my finger out!

Today I am talking about the conundrum that is work wear to party wear.  You know the scenario, it has been a long week in the office and the suggestion goes round to go out for a couple of drinks on Friday.  Now if your workplace is anything like mine, those couple of drinks after work can easily turn into you being on the dance floor at 1am wondering how the hell you got there. 

The question is, what do you wear?  I for one do not want to be carting party dresses and shoes to work.  When we tend to out after work, that means straight after work, so I do not want to be messing around changing clothes and changing my makeup.  So what to take?

For me I like to wear an outfit that can be changed up to suit any scenario, be it the quiet couple of glasses of wine envisaged, or the party animal on the dance floor with a cocktail.  

So my after work checklist runs simply to bringing my eyeliner with me (I would recommend the Nars Larger Than Life longwear eyeline which goes on like a dream and really does long all day), some concealer and a couple of accessories.

This is an outfit that I have worn on one of my Friday night jaunts, the outfit being changed up simply be unbuttoning a few buttons, taking off my cardigan and adding a necklace.

Sleeveless Shirt Dress £30.00

Fit is true to size (I am wearing a 26)

The length on the site size 37" but I would say it more like a 39"

Cardigan - old from SimplyBe

Peep Toe Shoe Boots E Fit £24.00

Heel height at 2 1/2 inches - perfect when you have a long day/night

Necklace - vintage - charity shop

Boots for Autumn

Curvissa recently contacted me and asked if I would like to try out some boots from their Autumn collection, along with another four bloggers.

My thoughts have been turning to Autumn and Winter a lot lately as the weather here has not exactly been all sunshine and blue skies.  So I jumped at the chance to try out some new boots and decided to go for the Extra Wide Fitting Boots * 

The boots come as an EE foot size fitting and are available in either an XL or XXL fitting.  I went with the latter as I wanted to be able to wear them under jeans. The boots come in either black, dark brown or cognac and have an 1 1/2 inch heel.  Happily, there is also a really good grip on the sole and the heel (Is it just me that wonders why so many companies put a good grip on the sole and usually forget the heel?)

I decided to show you two different outfits, one casual for a walk in the park and the other with my usual attire of a dress; and because I could not resist pairing the dark brown leather with burnt orange of the dress.

The leather is lovely and soft and after wearing for a full day out I can attest that they do not even need breaking in.  Practically unheard of in my shoe collection!

I would give them a five star rating as they are comfortable, style and will be a great staple in my wardrobe.

Curvissa have been nominated at the British Plus Size Awards for the best footwear retailer.  They would love your support so why not hop on over to the website and give them a vote.

In the meantime, please take a moment to check out the other fantastic bloggers involved in this five way challenge.

Nikki

Hollie

Katie

Emma

It's All in the Jeans

Today on the blog I have a new outfit for you.  Now I don't want to overly shock you, but I am NOT wearing a dress,  I know right?  What happened?

Well the truth is that I do wear a dress every day, but now and again I also cannot resist that classic jeans and a jacket combination.  It is comfortable and can look just as stylish and evening/afternoon out appropriate as a pretty dress.

When the lovely Cecilia told me about the new +Fashion World  360 Fit Bootcut Jeans I was intrigued to hear about their new fit philosophy.  Ever on the quest for jeans that actually fit properly, I wanted to know more.  Here is what they have to say:

Achieve a 360 degree fit with our amazing new four-way stretch bootcut jeans. This revolutionary denim has been expertly crafted to fit perfectly to your curves wherever they may be – and stay that way. Thanks to great-recovery fabric, you can say bye bye to saggy jeans and hello to long-life, on-trend denim 

+Simply Be Tux jacket - reviewed here

Jeans from Fashion World £38.00 from here

One of the reasons that I rarely wear jeans is because of the fit.  I buy them and at first, the fit is perfect.  Two washes later however and that fit is gone and I faced with either wearing a belt or having jeans that are practically falling off me.  It has happened so many times before.

For this reason I really wanted to review these jeans properly in order to give you an accurate perspective.  I have worn these jeans several times now, have washed twice, and the pictures below are from the last time that I wore them, this weekend.

I chose my usual size and would say that the fit is pretty much spot on.  I am used to wearing jeans that you squeeze into the start, and then wait for them to "settle" within the next twenty minutes.  Not the case here.

These jeans immediately clung where I wanted to them to cling without being tight and felt very comfortable.  The fit didn't change over time, wearing more than once and survived the multiple wash test with ease.

In short, I would highly recommend!

* The jeans have been gifted to me, however all opinions are my own

I Feel Good

You know sometimes when you spend ages getting ready for a night out, an event or even just a blog post, and the reflection in mirror isn't what you hoped? This challenge is for those times when you look in the mirror, no pre planning involved, and think "I look good today". 

We all have our good days and our bad, but this challenge is to record those good days and to remember that confidence, at any size, is beautiful.

I have been playing around with black and white photographs lately as they lean towards the vintage feel that I love.

I asked my friend to take a photograph of me today with a view to this post, a day late, I'm sorry. They say that whenever someone else takes your photograph it shows your emotions more than when you take it yourself and I think that this is true here.

I felt good when having this photograph taken but looking at it now, I looked tired and stressed; which is exactly how I am feeling.  Life is crap at the moment with various things going on my family life and people close to me that I am very worried about.

I'm trying to keep on with maintaining my blog as it is an escape from what is happening and it still brings me joy.  I will continue to try and do more outfit posts but for the moment, I ask that you bear with me.

Fast Affordable Fashion

I was recently on the hunt for a new black cardigan when I came across a fashion site that I hadn't come across before called Wear All that I thought that I would share with you.  

Sites that have fast, affordable fashion that cater to plus size ranges are few and far between and after a few items accidentally dropped into my shopping basket, I thought I would show you my new outfit!

Margaret Crochet Knitted Cardigan £9.00 from Wearall
found here

Floral Print V Neck Sleeveless Dress from Wearall
Found here

 I didn't intend to pair the two together originally, but upon getting the dress through the post, I wasn't entirely sure about the bodycon fit on me.  I loved the colours and design of the skirt so much however that I decided to do a Tim Gunn and "make it work".

Spending less than £25.00 on a dress and cardigan is my idea of a bargain so I have put together some other items from the site that I love and intend to buy to start off my new Autumn/Winter season (even though I am in denial that Autumn is fast approaching).

 

I love finding new places to shop and with each of these items less than £20.00, even my bank manager can't object ;)

New Outfit of the Day

I haven't been able to do many outfit posts lately but I wanted to share with you what I am wearing today for work.

I love outfits that you can just throw on and feel comfortable it.  I particularly love my necklace today although I confess that it is a bit on the heavy side!

The attempt to look sultry but ending up Monday morning grumpy look

 
The dress is from +Very.co.uk for the bargain price of £25.00, the cardigan and sandals are from +Simply Be and the necklace I found in a charity shop.

A Summer OOTD

Today I thought that I would share with you an outfit that I wore this week when I went out for the day.   I wanted an outfit that would be cool given the gorgeous balmy weather we are currently having, but also with a bit of style to it.

What I ended up choosing was the +Simply Be  Tile Print Tea Dress which I picked up recently as I thought that it would be perfect for the Summer months.  With it I wanted a few pops of colour so I went with the Evans Turquoise Crossover Peeptoe Pumps * from +House of Fraser in a wide fit and also the Heart Pendant* 

The cotton dress kept me cool and calm all day and the gorgeous turquoise sandals were comfortable and gave the pop of colour to the outfit that I was looking for.

What are you wearing in the hot Summer days?

* Denoted gifted items but all opinions my own

Kaleidoscope Shift Dress

In line with my blog post yesterday which highlighted some of the improvements I wanted to make to my blog, I am going to try and post more fashion posts.

With that in mind, today I have for you the Printed Ruched Front Detail Shift Dress for you from +Kaleidoscope UK.  This is the first time that I have bought from this website but I was lured by the on sale section and bought myself snapping up this dress which I got for the bargain price of £22.50.

One particular bugbare I have are the amount of dresses that you purchase that look like great quality, only to find that when you hold them up the light, you can see straight through them.  Happily the material on this dress is good quality and is lined, but without that constricted feeling you can sometimes get with lined dresses.

I am 5ft4 and for me the length of 39 inches is just perfect.  The pinks, turquoises and yellows look vibrant against the black background but without making it look tacky.  I was happy wearing this all day at work and was really comfortable.

What are you wearing at work lately?

Joe Brown Vintage Tea Dress

Hello all!

Just a quick post where I thought that I would show you what I wore on Saturday in readiness for my photo shoot with Capturing the Curves.

I wanted to wear something that would put me in a fifties frame of mind so I went with a dress that has been sitting in my wardrobe for a while but I haven't had chance to wear.  The Joe Brown Vintage Tea Dress from +Simply Be 

I bought this dress a few weeks ago now and at the time wasn't sure about whether to keep it, but now I absolutely adore it.  For me, it just needed a wide black belt to pull the look together.

Birthday Dress

Back in January I was participating in the "Just Another Blogging Challenge" and I was talking about a floral dress that I had managed to grab from +Very.co.uk for the bargain price of £17.00.

Sadly this dress is no longer available so this post is a little like "here's what you could have won".  Sorry about that!

Anyhow, this is the picture of the dress as shown by Very at the time:

This is the dress that I chose to wear for my birthday last Saturday and I can honestly say that I have not felt as good in something for ages.  I absolutely adored it.  I am wearing with purple tights from +Yours Clothing and shoes from +schuh.  I'm not sure where the black shrug is from as I have had it forever.

My Month in Pictures

Quite a few pictures for you this month, it's been busy!