Bon Marche Spring/Summer

I was recently sent the Spring/Summer lookbook for +Bonmarche and was yet again very pleasantly surprised by some of the pieces available.

I have put together some of my favourite images and am happy to confirm that I have been given a 10% discount code which is valid for one month which can be used by you!

When checking out just copy and paste this code:  SFD23XP9VMW

Check out the new in section at BonMarche and see what you can find!

A Charity Case

This week we have seen the latest Facebook craze which is to raise awareness for breast cancer by posting a makeup free picture of yourself. 
 

This originated back in September when Escensual.com launched the campaign Dare to Bare for breast cancer, which aimed at getting women to get sponsored to go to work or have a night out without their make-up on.   The first 1000 people were sponsored £1.00 by the company.

That has been taken over this week by Facebook users by posting a makeup free selfie.  The problem is that whilst many people have posted the photos, they are putting little or no information about cancer and are forgetting about the donation part. They simply post the photo, nominate some people to join and then forget about it.

I am aware that Cancer Research posted a message yesterday saying that although they hadn't organised the Facebook campaign, there was a text message number you could donate to (text BEAT to 70099 to donate £3).  For the majority of postings I have seen however, it was picture only.

It was the same with the colour of your bra game and where you put your handbag.  Neither did much of anything to help, unless writing "on the table" suddenly cures cancer.

Am I being too judgemental?  Probably. 

But what actually irritates me (and this may get people shouting at me) is why is it that these Facebook crazes always fixated on cancer?  Whilst Cancer Research is of course a very worthy cause, what about the other charities that need donations and awareness as well?  Alzheimer’s Research, The Stroke Association, FMA UK, SANE, the RSPCA, the Down’s Syndrome Association, everyone has a charity that means something to them because a friend or relative is or has been affected or indeed themselves.

I want to do something to emphasis that although charities like Cancer Research are important; there are others out there too that need help and support. 

My suggestion is simple.  If I can get enough people together who would like to do the same thing, my idea is that on a day to be decided next month we would all post on our blogs and Facebook/Twitter accounts a picture of ourselves holding a sign with the name of your chosen charity, the link or text message number of how you can donate and the hashtag #IDonated.

 

 

You don’t have to donate a lot.  You can donate as little as a pound if you want to.  The point is that this would be more proactive than taking a silly picture in order to raise awareness.

 

 

This is just a fledging idea at the moment so if anyone has any thoughts and hopefully wants to collaborate on this with me, please email me at thecurvedopinion@gmail.com. 

Thanks for reading!

Vicky xx

Taking Shape Store Visit

I was recently asked if I wanted to check out the Taking Shape Southport store to have an appointment with their personal stylist and try on some of their pieces. 

Now to start off I should say that I can't even remember the last time that I did a shopping trip in the high street. Where I live there is nowhere that I can shop and I have been buying online for probably the past six or seven years.  I had completely forgotten what the "in store" experience was like and I confess, I was more than a little nervous.

I need not have worried.  My stylist Sharon was absolutely lovely and immediately put me right at ease.  I had a look around the store prior to my styling session and was very impressed with what I saw.   What particularly impressed me was the amount of frankly fantastic jewellery available (I would wear all of it) and the fact that many of the clothing items had been styled with a necklace or accessory to give you an idea of how it would look like on.

After a restorative coffee we headed to the spacious changing rooms which were airy and well set out.  I still remember the horrors of changing rooms from years ago, ill shutting curtains, no room to move around etc etc!  There were lots of mirrors and a comfortable sofa which made you want to linger rather than hurriedly try something on and make a quick decision.

Here are some of the outfits I tried on.  I have tried to link where I can!

Cria Dress £39.00

I have previously seen this dress on Betty Pamper and it was my first choice for trying on.  The fit was just right and I loved the leopard print touches throughout the patterning.  It has gone on my "To Buy" List!

Honor Dress £39.00

This dress has a very strong floral print to it and makes quite a statement on, which I like.  This type of dress I would probably wear for work.  Yes, I dress up for work but hey, why not!

Tropical Maxi Dress £49.00
I loved loved loved this dress.  For some clever reason I can't tell you it makes me look taller and I loved the necklace detailing to the neckline.  This came home* with me, ready for Summer time frolics!

Enchanted Lands Dress £40.00

I am gutted that we didn't manage to get a great photograph of this dress as it was one of my favourites of the day and one that I took home* with me.

Lexa Dress - £45.00

I really wanted to try this dress as I haven't worn a stripe print before and was interested to see how it would look.  I really loved the dress and personally, I loved the stripes!

Annabell Pullover £35.00
Bella Vista Trousers £29.00

This was without a doubt the surprise outfit of the day.  I NEVER wear trousers and have never worn orange before but the combination just seemed to work perfectly.  I felt stylish and yet comfortable.  Both items have also gone on my shopping list as I regretted leaving them behind as soon as I got home!

Gigli Pullover £45.00
Summer Night's Necklace £15.00
Visa Versa Trousers £39.00

After trying the previous combination I then moved on to the above outfit.  I loved the trousers which were silky to the touch and had a drawstring at the bottom in order to create different looks.

Looming Necklace £10.00
Water Colour Dress £55.00

This was such a pretty dress and the picture doesn't quite do it justice.  It was a fabulously swooshy dress, yes, that's a word :)  I just wanted to spin around and around in it.

Olivia Dress £39.00

I absolutely love a paisley print but am not quite sure I can get away with it in this dress.  What do you think?

Uninhabited Tee £35.00

One thing I do want to talk about is the lengths of the dresses.  One constant irritant of mine is that so many of the dresses that have been around for the past few seasons are at that length where tights or leggings are needed.  

All of the dresses I tried on were knee length or just below, basically hitting me exactly where I wanted (I am 5ft4).  When wearing a pretty dress I don't want to wear leggings (just my personal preference) so I could happily wear any of these dresses bared legged, as I have in the photographs.

All in all I had a brilliant couple of hours at the Taking Shape store.  The theme tune to Pretty Woman was playing on repeat in my head and I have never had so much fun trying on clothes in a shop before.

Taking Shape's clothing is all about interesting cuts, bold prints and patterns and completely works with the way I love to dress.  If I ever win the lottery, just pack up the whole store and I would be good to go!

* I was not paid to write this review of the Taking Shape store, however I was gifted two items as denoted with the * above.