Styling Plus

Foreword: This is a competition entry, but as ever, I am saying what I think, unedited!

La Redoute are giving two bloggers the chance to be ambassadors for a year and also a a trip to Paris.  What is not to love about that?  They have asked us to write about fashion and give a styling tip.

Now, if a friend or someone you knew asked you for styling tips, what would you say? Would you suggest colours for them to wear or perhaps recommend shapes that might be flattering to their figure? Maybe if you are playing it safe, you can go with the mainstay of “You can’t go wrong with a little black dress” – which is of course very true!

If someone had asked me a year ago for styling tips I would not have had a clue where to start, but now; my thought process when it comes to clothes has changed.

My tip for styling yourself? When choosing an outfit, forget for a moment that it is yourself that you are dressing.  Pick up the items that sings to you from the hanger.  Choose the dress that you love so much that you can stop thinking about it.

Ignore the fashion rules

Below I have shared three photographs of styles that "the rules" tell me I shouldn't wear.  Stripes, a busy pattern and a high neckline.  I love wearing each of these dresses and I think that this shines through, more than if I had been playing by rules dictated to me because of my size.

Fashion should be about what you love and what makes you happy.  That is my styling tip.  Take yourself out of the equation, choose what makes you smile and that as Tim Gunn says "Make it work!"

This a competition entry for La Rodoute.

The Perks of a Plus Size Blogger

The plus size community seems to be at antsy with itself lately and it is a sad thing to see.

Bloggers are being accused of various things to include: peacocking about working with brands, having too many gifted items on their blogs, always going on about going to events and generally saying that everything is "gorgeous" as long as it is free.  They are also accused of encouraging consumerism and killing fairies.  Ok, not the last one, but such negatively towards people in the same community as yourself makes me rant a little.

I properly started blogging about fashion about a year and a half ago.  I started because I caught sight of Becky's blog, saw all the fabulous, colourful and fashionable clothes that she was wearing and her awesome attitude and thought to myself, I want a piece of that.  Not the free clothes, the confidence and her attitude.

The number of plus size fashion blogs I read grows on a daily basis.  I don't pick and choose based on their brand interaction, I chose on the basis of if I find their blog interesting and also the kinds of clothes that they wear.  Seeing how clothes work on different bodies is extremely helpful to a plus size person and also seeing someone wearing something that you would not have dared to, encourages you to be a little more adventurous and jump out of your comfort zone.

One of the unexpected perks that has arisen is that occasionally I get opportunities from brands in order to review clothes or maybe attend an event. This isn't something I expect or court, but when it does happen, it is obviously extremely exciting. When I see other bloggers doing similar things, I feel happy for them also. 

The biggest perk I have gained from blogging though is this: I am so much more than the shadow of the person that I used to be.  Fashion blogging has completely changed my life. I am no longer hiding and I wear the clothes that I want to, not the clothes that I "should".

Someone said on Twitter today that wearing clothes doesn't give you confidence, but they are wrong.  Fashion can take you out of your safe place, which often can be the very place that you are hiding in, and into places that you could never dream of. 

The other bloggers in the community continue to inspire me and I draw my own confidence from them.  I don't care if the clothes they show are free, paid for, stolen or borrowed, what makes me continue to read their blogs is their confidence and their friendliness to others.

The plus size community has always been a supportive and friendly one and it is a shame when discomfort arises because some work with brands and others don't.   Blogging is hard work and time consuming, especially if you are working too, or have children, or both! If someone gets a perk from doing their blog then well done to them.

I love writing my blog, both my opinion posts and my fashion posts.  If I stop loving it, I'll stop, simple as that.  If you don't kind reading someone's blog, then don't read it.

This is just a little of my perspective, but I urge you to check out Hanna's post and Leah's post

*Edit
Having read Gina's comments on the Facebook feed

Capes for Heroes

Today is the donation date that I have been speaking about on a couple of blog posts recently. 

The idea behind it stemmed from the Facebook #nomakeupselfie from a couple of weeks ago. 

What I have noticed about these Facebook games is that it is always focussed 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. 

The idea is that we are all to 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. 

Here is a bit about my chosen charity and my picture!

Capes 4 Heroes is a non profit organisation that have a very simple, but very powerful idea. Here’s what they have to say:

“We make and personalize superhero capes for kids with disabilities, kids with life threatening illnesses and kids who just need to feel empowered. We hope our capes give these deserving kids an extra boost of strength and courage and make them feel like the superheroes they truly are!”

Sometimes it isn’t about trying to cure a disease, sometimes it is as simple as putting a smile on a child’s face when they really need to smile.

You can donate a cape to a child for $30 or alternatively whatever you can afford to via Paypal on this link You can also nominate a child who you think needs a superhero cape of their own on the website. They also send capes to the UK.