September sunshine

Summer is pretty much over for us in the North East of England, yet today proved to be a sunshiney, warm, gorgeous day. We went for Sunday lunch at a local pub with my parents. It's not a fancy pub by any means, and jeans and a jumper would do fine. However I've been pretty down of late thanks to a lot of work, so I decided to treat myself by getting far too dressed up for the occasion than was necessary

I adore this print. Hibiscus are my favourite flower: I simply adore them. And the side ruffle makes the shape of this dress really interesting. It was a bargain too, from the Collectif sale. It fits beautifully at the side, but there is one problem: it has book inserts which would be fine for less well endowed ladies but for me, they bear no resemblance to my actual boobs. Its probably not that noticeable though thanks to the dark materials. I wore a little light cardigan over the top too. The dress is really flattering, but not so tight that I need to wear shapewear underneath it, so it's really comfortable.

The other thing to notice about today's outfit is my necklace.

It's not just pretty, it's super clever too. It's a scientifically accurate DNA helix handmade by my friend Vicky's mum. She has an etsy shop which you should definitely check out: all proceeds, even the p&p, are being donated to Cancer Research UK. It's definitely very striking, and she does several different sizes and designs. She can even custom make one to make a specific DNA sequence! How nifty!

Hxxx

Saturday Neet

It's a well known fact that a good black dress is guaranteed to make you feel fabulous. Luckily, I've found something of an LBD holy grail in the shape of Lady Voluptuous's Ursula.

My parents were kind enough to buy me this dress for my birthday. I was daring, and asked for it in a size 16 rather than an 18, as I was starting to feel much healthier and happier in my own skin, and I thought it could be a good aspirational dress; something to spur me on with healthier eating and yoga,

Then, after getting in from my birthday meal, I tried it on with little hope of it fitting. And then, my dear friends, something magical happened.

Belt: Asos

Shoes: Joe Browns

Necklace: Tatty Devine

It fit, and I bloody loved it. I felt transformed into some sort of vixen bombshell creature. This dress is a winner, there's no two ways about it. It's a really great price too. I could definitely fancy this in a few diffent colours- particularly the green.

Of course, it was the first thing I reached for when we decided to go for an impromptu night out on Saturday. We just went to our local high street, but it's a canny night out there. This one culminated in some pretty ridiculous dancing to Old Skool classics.

Dress: Ursula by Lady Voluptuous

Shoes: Melissa

Hair flowers: Accessorize

Necklace: Asos

An outdoor picture, what a treat, eh? Especially with the compost bin right behind. And the massively overgrown weeds which I am optimistically calling "the meadow". I have some Maidenform shaping pants on underneath, but in the outdoor light that belly is a little too prominent for my liking. If I'm honest though, I didn't really care- I still felt mighty fine, and I suspect that with the fabulous cleavage the crossover neckline gives few people would notice my belly anyway. I had to adjust the neckline a couple of times to avoid showing off a little too much bra, but it wasn't too much of a problem. It was also a bit of a clart on going to the toilet, thanks to the shapewear underneath, but nothing too onerous.

I wore flats, as we have to walk up a massive hill to get to our local night life. I'm wearing some pearlised Melissa's that I picked up for a great price in a sale in London.

I added some red accents to really vamp it up. Two red orchids in my hair and bright red lips, courtesy of one of my new favourite beauty products. I curled my hair using my new clipless curling wand, so I therefore had a variety of tiny red burns all over my hands just to finish the outfit off. It makes for nice curls but my goodness, it befuddles me somewhat,

I get a My Little Box every month, just as a little treat to myself and to force myself into trying new beauty products. This So Susan Hybrid Colour tube came in the latest Gypset box, and it's really marvellous. I love the look of red lippy, but I normally can't be bothered with it as it ends up all over the place within femtoseconds and I never remember to reapply it. This product is more of a lip stain though- it's a beautiful colour and it really does stay in place all night, even despite some fairly rigorous kiss testing. It can also be used as a blusher, but it's so bright you'd only need a teeny, tiny bit and I think I'd be rather tentative to use it as such. The box describes it as a "game-changer". I'm usually highly skeptical of hyperbolic claims, but I actually think this may well be a game changer for me as it's so easy and long lasting. The only downside is that it only seems to be available in this one colour.

I topped the lip stain off with another My Little Box product; a Loved by Lou Lesage lip balm in Rouge Velour. It meant that I could occasionally reapply the lip balm for a bit of a gloss when I remembered(once!) but I still had the underlying colour so it didn't really matter.

H xxx

P.S. I know that a lot of posts about subscription boxes, clothes, or beauty products are sponsored or gifted. This isn't, in any way shape or form, I'm just genuinely gushing about a lipstick and a dress that I really like :)

The Mane of Doom.

This evening, I have been for a haircut.

My hair is ridiculously thick, and grows ridiculously quickly too. It doesn't take much for it to become completely unruly and out of control. Unfortunately, purely because of my own disorganisation, I ended up going without a haircut from November last year to July of this year, so it was getting to be a rather frightful sight.

Before and after

It's therefore important to me to have a good hairdresser. And, luckily enough, I've found a really wonderful salon and a hairdresser with enough skill to tame my "mane of doom", as we refer to it.

The salon is East Terrace Hairdressing, and it's an absolute joy. It's right in the centre of Newcastle, on Old Eldon Square, and it's beautifully decorated. They've been open for two years now, hence the birthday decorations, and they seem to be going from strength to strength- it's great to have been with them since near the beginning as I've seen them blossom into a really busy little salon. It's run by Nick and his Mum, and they're super friendly and welcoming, as are all the staff. Conversation there doesn't feel forced at all, which is an important factor for me as I'm socially anxious. And most importantly of all, there's often wine, and sometimes even chocolates on offer, so I feel right at home there.

It's worth showing the finished product off again I think. Not only does it look miles better, but it feels beautiful too.

So, if you're in Newcastle, and you want a good quality hairdresser who takes a lot of pride in his work and business, give East Terrace a call.

Romantic Roses

Today I have mostly been setting up Facebook and Twitter for this blog, and that meant that of course I was thinking about clothes on my way home. I had time to kill before my bus was due, so I popped into John Lewis to have a little peruse of their sale. I wasn't really intending on buying anything in particular, but I picked up some gems in Phase 8 that I'm super pleased with. 

 

First up is this little floral number. It's a size 16, so I wasn't sure it would fit, but lo and behold it does, nicely, although I reckon it would look a lot better with some shapewear underneath. It shows a good bit of cleavage, but I think I might end up wearing this for work with a little vest top underneath.I think it'll look pretty good with my black blazer.

When I saw this next one, I basically picked it up and hugged it. Then I put it down again and considered it, thinking that it might be a little on the garish side. Then I wondered what the hell I was thinking, as I love garish things, and this was the only one left and it was my size and it was meant to be. Trying it on, I knew I had made the right decision as I'm absolutely in love with it. It fits in all the right places, and shows off plenty of cleavage. The fabric is heavy and luxurious and hangs beautifully, and the ruching means it is super forgiving. That photographic rose print is to die for, and it would be so, so good for a wedding or valentine's day.

thoughtful face. kind of. 

A close up of the fabric

For the purposes of trying these dresses on, I dug these little Next lurex kitten heels out. I've only worn them once, for a wedding, and they didn't last long, as it turns out that they are really painful. They are pretty though: I love the tone of them; not quite as lurid as gold, but a little more interesting than a plain silver. 

Much as I love Phase 8, I don't think I'd ever persuade myself to buy anything full price. These dresses feel wonderful, but they're much better value for money in the sale. 

In other news, today has been mostly painful in the foot area. 

The first blister emerges

The reason is that I invested in some new shoes at the weekend. I spend most of my time in flats, yet I can never quite justify spending any money on them. I usually end up wearing super cheap ballet pumps, but they can be uncomfortable, are rubbish for walking far in, and they usually fall apart after the slightest hint of rain. I thought I'd therefore buy myself some sensible shoes, and what shoes are more sensible than Dr Martens? I'm really digging chunky  clunky shoes at the moment, so this Lynne design seemed perfect.

In my younger goth days, I had about six pairs of DMs, and I loved them all to bits. I'm hoping these shoes will also be beautifully comfortable, but of course before I get to that point I have to go through the dreaded breaking in stage. This usually involves rubbing all the skin off my heels until my feet are basically skeletal. It's going to be a long, hard slog, but it'll be worth it in the end. 

You might have noticed my curly hair in the photos above. I've been really pleased with it today: apparently the trick to fabulous curls for me is to sleep in rollers the day before I need it to look good. It's messy and chaotic, and with the addition of a little sunflower clip, it's just how I want it!

If you've a minute or two to spare, do pop over to the Facebook page and Twitter and like, share, follow, dance, say hello and anything else you'd like to do. By the way, if you know of a good app for making picture collages, do let me know. I can't seem to find one that does what I want it too.

Hxxx

Flying Fringe Festival Fashion

Today we've been up to Edinburgh for a flying fringe festival visit. It's been a really lovely, packed day.

One great thing about Edinburgh, aside from the unique architecture and truly wonderful pubs, is the abundance of quirky little independent shops. In between various comedy shows and beer drinking, we popped into a couple and bought some gorgeous trinkets.

My obsession with foxes continues. First up is this beautiful brooch. Apparently my eyes lit up when I saw it, so bf bought it for me as a gift. He spoils me far too much! I adore how the orange of the fox stands out against the blue background, and the layering effect makes it really unusual.

This space shuttle necklace also caught my eye, and I just couldn't pass it up. I've had a minor obsession with space shuttles since my awkward teenager days. I'm not entirely sure what it is about them, but I find them really aesthetically pleasing. I used to have a little pewter space shuttle necklace which I got from Kennedy Space Centre when I was much younger. I loved it so much, but ended up wearing it so much that the chain got really discoloured because it was pretty cheap. This little necklace feels like a much classier, prettier, grown up version of that souvenir necklace. I love the little star details.

Both of these little gems came from Hannah Zakari, which is well worth a visit for any fans of cute or unusual jewellery.

Another fox ended up making the journey home with us too. Would you get an eyeful of this cute lil fox cushion? That little floral bow is so delightful. I didn't notice the name of the shop we got it from (this was yet another present from bf. I'm not kidding when I say I'm spoilt rotten) but it is by Sasse and Belle.

I suppose you're wondering what I was wearing, given this is supposed to be a fashion blog after all. Well, I didn't get any photos when we were actually there, so please forgive yet another messy bedroom shot.

Do also bear in mind that this is after a long day of drinking, travel, and sitting in stuffy dark rooms laughing loudly, so I'm rather rumpled.

A trip to the Edinburgh Festival involves a lot of rushing around, up and down steep hills, so comfort is much more important than being glamorous. I got these jeans a few months back; they're from Next and they're absolutely wonderful. They feel really flattering, and they're made of a lovely soft denim. They're a more deluxe Jean, and are a little more expensive than what I'm used too, but they're so worth it and still very reasonably priced. The Kimono top is from Asos, and it's one of my favourite dressy-ish yet casual tops. The crossover style gives just a little teasing hint of cleavage and the tie waist means it's flattering yet super forgiving. The Kimono arms are perfect for rushing about in and sitting in hot rooms, as they mean plenty of air flow and no sweaty patches. The colours are darling too.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

Hxxx

A Rockin' and A Rollin'

Having lost a stone in weight of late, I'm rewarding myself with tentative steps into the smaller sizes in my wardrobe. I'm trying to be a bit more daring than usual. And the first station stop on the train to daring is leather, if you ask me.

I'm off for brunch to celebrate my friend Paul's birthday. We're going to a posh hotel, so my first thought was a pretty dress. But then I stopped myself and thought about putting together something edgier. I've had this skirt for a while, but I've never quite fit into it properly. It seemed worth another try and look and behold, it fits. I have shaper tights on but no shapewear, mainly because the skirt is pretty short and I don't want any scaffolding peeping out!

Skirt: River Island from  Asos

Black vest top: H&M

Kimono: Warehouse

Tights: Primark 

Boots: bought in Switzerland on my hols last year. 

The skirt is a lovely soft leather with a zip detail and an asymmetric hem that gives it a bit of an "I don't give a shit" sort of attitude. It's rock and roll.

I've gone for make up from my goth days. Thick eyeliner, all round the eye. I used a lip tint from e.l.f just to give a bit of a deeper colour. My necklace is a Tatty Devine Angel of the North. I'm really digging Tatty at the mo and my wonderful bf has treated me to a few pieces lately. 

My boots are pretty high, and I doubt I'll be walking far in them. I love the detailing on them though. 

Hxxx

Declare your Shapewear

I’ve mentioned in a few of my previous posts that my current size (about a size 18) is a relatively new thing. I have been big for a while, and have been gradually putting on weight, but its been the last year or so that I have truly started feeling plus size, and noticing my weight get in the way of what I’m wearing.

So I’m quite new and naïve. I’ve found myself really frustrated after buying clothes that look beautiful and flattering on websites but which end up looking lumpy, frumpy and generally horrendous on me. I started blaming myself for being not just plus sized, but a weird freakish, particularly ugly plus size. Buying a pretty dress should make me happy, but instead I have found myself feeling even worse on occasion.

Then I started looking behind the scenes a bit. I started reading a few plus size blogs, seeing how others do it. And what I found was a whole lot of shapewear. Now this isn’t something that I’ve ever really come across before, and it can be pretty confusing. There’s a lot of good reviews and explanations out there, and I’ve found them really helpful. I’ve picked up a few bits and pieces for reasonable prices at TK Maxx, and am in the process of learning how to wear them.

So it turns out it isn’t just me, and I don’t have a freakishly awful body- there’s just a lot of shapewear going on underneath those pretty dresses. Maybe many would say “Well that’s obvious!” but it certainly wasn’t obvious to me, and I wonder how many others have had the same problems, the same feelings of inadequacy because of it.

I have no problem with the shapewear itself, or models wearing it. But I feel uncomfortable about how many websites are using images with undeclared shapewear. My hypothesis is that it’s the plus size equivalent of airbrushing- it makes us believe that we are less worthy because our bodies can’t conform to the imagery we are presented with as natural. The plus size fashion world promotes itself as body positive, as all about accepting and loving your body, yet this sort of thing only serves to make some of us feel worse about our curves.

I’ll give you a specific example. I’m choosing this one just because I’ve come across it lately. Everyone is raving about the Lady Voluptuous range of dresses. I’ve blogged about my own Lyra dress, and I’m waiting for my Medusa to be delivered. I’m excited about this range of clothing, because their sizing tends to be brilliant and their clothes are great quality. In the pictures, Georginafrom Fuller Figure Fuller Bust looks really amazing, with a perfect hourglass figure. Just look at hertiny waist and smooth lines. The expectation is that I could chuck on one of those dresses and I should look just like that.

On her own blog, however, it is mentioned how she is corseted up for the photo shoot. To her credit, she does tend to be clear about what shapewear she is wearing on her blog, but that’s a good few clicks away from the page selling the dresses themselves, and probably wouldn’t be found by a casual buyer. In a follow up post about the Bellatrix dress, Georgina says:

“You don’t need to be ‘brave’ or ‘confident’ to put a beautiful dress on your body, you just need two things – the body, and the dress.”

But then in the very next line goes on to state that she’s wearing a £159.00 corset! So really, the implication is that we don’t just need two things- we need the body, the dress, and the uncomfortable, impractical, extremely expensive corsetry too. This isn’t a reflection on Georginaspecifically, or the dresses, which I do think are great- I just think it is indicative of a lot of the plus size fashion culture.

Perhaps I’m the only person bothered by this, but it feels like a real problem. Its one of the things that prompted me to write this blog in the first place. I think honesty is a much better option, so I shall always let you know what shapewear I’m wearing in my outfit posts. 

An ode to suffragettes.

International Women's Day was last weekend, and I thought I'd use it as an excuse to treat myself to a new dress. Perhaps not the most feminist of ways to celebrate the day, but ultimately the only reason I can't afford pretty things is because of my career as a pharmacist, which I would never have been able to achieve were it not for feminism in the first place.

I was thinking about how I could wear something symbolic, so I went for an outfit in the colours of the suffragettes. 

Their livery was a nice combination of green for hope, purple for dignity, and white for purity. 

Here's my interpretation: 

Dress: Lyra by Lady Voluptuous

Cardigan: Collectif

Hair flower: no idea, I've had it for ages. 

This is the first time I've ordered anything from Collectif. Its a nicely made cardigan, though I feel a bit wary about how to wear it as it is one of those pieces that looks cool and trendy with some pieces but dowdy and old-lady like in others. I can't do it up over my bust, but it fits fine as an open cardigan. It has old fashioned pearly buttons, which are either cool or not, depending on which way you look at it. 

Having seen so many reviews and so much excitement about the Lady Voluptuous dresses, I was excited to eventually get it home after missing the delivery. Its a good heavy fabric, so it hangs really nicely. Its very forgiving, so I didn't have to don any uncomfortable shapewear or anything underneath.

I'd just have one little gripe with my Lyra. The waistband didn't quite sit in the right place. Problem is, because of the ties at the back, its hard to pop a belt on over the top. The colour is really beautiful and bold.

Another really nice touch is the sleeves. They are cleverly attached onto the dress, sort of like a false sleeve, which leaves plenty of room and ventilation, so I didn't have to worry about sweatmarks too much.

Overall rating:

Forgiving nature: 5/5
Cleavage revealing: 4.5/5
Sweaty Betty: 4/5
Toilet Ease (sober): 5/5
Toilet Ease (drunk): not tested. Expected 5/5
Risk of Chafage: depends.

The Hunt For Plus Size Yoga Wear

I’m terrible at any sort of fitness that requires quick movement. Even without being terribly unfit, I am extremely unco-ordinated, like a Great Dane puppy that thinks it’s the same size as a Jack Russell and can’t quite understand why its legs won’t do what it wants it too. I’m also acutely embarrassed by how unfit I am, and am most definitely not a pretty exerciser. I don’t have a quirkily bobbing ponytail and a healthy pink sheen. I just end up looking like a tomato cosplaying as a sweaty scarecrow.

And so it is that I have been avoiding exercise classes for ages. Yoga is a pretty good type of exercise for me, as its not usually so much about moving quickly, and in its different forms it can be either super relaxing or actually quite difficult. I’ve recently been lucky enough to find two fantastic and patient yoga teachers (Jo Hutton of Happy Yoga, and Francina Connelly of Yoganesha), and I’m hoping to get into some sort of a routine mix of the two which means that I can also have plenty of down time after work too.  

My current favourite yoga pants. 

Whilst I’ve been really enjoying the classes, I find that there are two main problems for me.

1. Bulk getting in the way

I’ve done yoga classes in the past, but this time, because I’ve put on so much weight, I’m finding this a real problem. It’s bad enough being conscious of being the Fattest Person There, but it’s a whole other thing when you just can’t manage poses because there is too much flesh in the way. I found it initially confusing, thinking to myself ‘why? Why is this not working like it is for other people?’, as well as crushingly embarrassing. It sounds stupid, but sometimes if a pose isn’t working because of weight, its actually really hard to work out how to rectify it, and of course you don’t really want to stop the class and bawl “Oi, me arse is in the way of me pigeon pose, what do I do about it?!” across the room.

Then I found the Body Positive Yoga website, and that’s really changed things for me. It’s a big bright box of joy for me, as it has made me realise that the sort of problems I’m having aren’t just limited to me being rubbish. There’s lots of super helpful tips and videos on how to adjust poses to take boobs and other jiggly bits into account. I’ve found it really super helpful. Another great thing to do, although it sounds weird, is to check out some pregnancy yoga videos online. Jo from Happy Yoga does some brilliant ones, all for free. 

2. Finding some pretty yoga clothes that actually fit.

I’m a fickle person. When it comes to exercise, my willpower fails me constantly, but it can be over ridden by things like having a nice new outfit to wear.

So it is then that a scrappy pair of old leggings and a scrabbled together vest top and long sleeved top just wont cut the mustard any more. I need a selection of lovely outfits to go to yoga in.

But blimey Charlie it is disheartening trying to find decent outfits in my size for a decent price in the UK.  Sure, there’s websites like State of Mind (actually that’s pretty much the only one I could find), but they can be kind of expensive- this cami top that I’ve got my eye on is £40. I’m not destitute by any means, but I’m also not made of money, and I have to reel in my spending if I want any chance of a holiday this year.

So here’s my current holy grail of yoga wear that I am on the hunt for:

·        Leggings or cropped pants: colourful ones, in gorgeous pretty prints, with a high waist. Made of a fairly lightweight fabric suitable for sports, but that don’t feel horrible on days when you haven’t had time to shave your legs.

·        Vest tops: In dark colours that don’t show up sweat too much. Baggy enough to not terrify other people with my wobbly bits but tight enough to stay in place if I’m upside down. Low cut enough to not make me have monoboob, but not too low so as to be burlesque worthy when upside down. Long enough to not ride up.

·        A Good Sports Bra: One that actually fits and doesn’t have bits of boob splurging out to the side. Also one that doesn’t require a magical person sized shoe horn to get on.

·        Long to three quarter length sleeved tops: In dark colours that don’t show up sweat too much.  Again, not too baggy so as to suffocate me when upside down.

·        Some sort of hoodie/ zippy up top.

I managed to get a nice pair of monochrome patterned leggings in Matalan, for about £12, and they’ve become my standard yoga wear at the moment, but I need variety, both for motivation and because I am often highly disorganised when it comes to laundry. I tried one of Matalan’s layering yoga tops, though that was an outright disaster- oversized is not a good plan when you spend most of your time in downward dog.

My teacher Francina pointed me to H&M plus size activewear section. They seem to have some lovely stuff, and its reasonably priced, though a lot of it is currently out of stock. Once I’ve got my paws on some of their pieces, I shall let you know what they turn out like.

I’m also giving Fabletics a go. They’re expensive, but I got the first month’s outfit for £26, so that seemed worth a try. Now to wait for it all to be delivered…

I’ve always found it befuddling that there is such a lack of general plus size fitness wear out there. If you have any suggestions for me, do let me know.

Foxy Finds

As well as flamingoes and of course cats, I also love foxes. They're my spirit animal I guess. Well, specifically this particular fox:

I'm known to some as "Derpy fox", a name which I think suits me rather well.

I thought that I'd therefore show you a few of my foxy fashion treasures.

First up is some items very close to my heart. A good while ago, a friend of mine held a fabulous housewarming party for which the theme was noah's ark crossed with the roaring twenties. There were already flamingoes going, so I decided to be a red fox with the help of etsy. I bought this beautiful mask and tail combo from a lovely shop called Opposite of Far. Sadly Jessica (her surname is Near, hence the gorgeous name of the shop) doesn't seem to be selling anything at the moment, but if you're after a nice handmade mask, I'd highly recommend her. She was super helpful with all the questions I had- I was worried that the ribbon on the tail might be too small for my massive hips, and she was so sweet and reassuring, and can even change the colour to go with the dress that you're wearing.

The mask has sort of become a signature piece of mine as I use it as my Twitter avatar on my Super Sekrit account. 

Next up is my slightly gruesome, though rather cute scarf. 

That colour scheme sort of makes it look like our poor vulpine friend has been squished. But I loved him so much when I saw him that I had a minor fight to grab him in a John Lewis sale. 

I've made some really wonderful friends through Twitter over the years, one of whom is the truly wonderful @Jackpot73. She was kind enough to send me a super special present the other day.

It's a beautiful little ginger glass fox necklace. It's so cute and stylised, I love it to bits. This might sound weird, but because its glass it's also very tactile. I have a habit of playing with my jewellery a lot, and I just love the feel of this- its sort of comforting. I love that she saw this and thought of me- she's such a good friend, and I can always rely on her to bring a ray of sunshine into my life whenever we chat :)

Finally, we recently moved and bought a new bed. And of course no bed is complete without a lovely new duvet cover. When I saw this Mr Fox bedding set from Scion, I just knew I had to have it. 

I've also very sadly just thrown out my Little Miss Sew fox cardigan. I've had it for years and it never quite fitted right, but since I've put so much weight on lately it was just getting depressing, so unfortunately it had to go. It was super cute in its day though, even if the fox was a little evil looking. 

A Sunday Stroll

I have a severe over-reliance on jeans for pretty much all daily activities except for work and nights out. I'm therefore trying to make a concerted effort to vary what I wear and to stop being such a scruff all the time. I guess that with all of this extra weight right now, I'm starting to not feel that comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.

So today I decided to wear a dress for a nice Sunday Stroll through the park, even though it is only Saturday. Honestly, I've been convinced all day that it's Sunday.  

There I am, waving at you. Simon the cat decided to put in a little appearance too. 

Dress: Club L#

Belt: Goodness only knows, Its the tie from some other top that is probably by now long forgotten.

Tights: Primarni

Shoes: New Look, with pink laces from a Kawaii Box.

Disclaimer: I am wearing shapewear under this dress, so I have a much smoother silhouette than I would usually. I've had this dress for ages, but I very rarely wear it because it is so unforgiving. Its also actually quite see-through- bra outlines and patterns are quite clearly visible through it, though I'm not convinced that's a totally bad thing. Shapewear is a new area for me, and I'll be talking more about it in future posts. The contraption I've been wearing today is actually quite comfortable, and I do feel miles better in it. It hasn't rolled up or down too embarrassingly, but my goodness it's a right faff on whenever one needs a tinkle. 

I put a bit of effort into my hair today, trying a little quiff and scarf combo. Normally these are things that I like the sound of in theory but in reality they don't tend to work too well. Whenever I try to do a decent quiff thing I usually chicken out and end up brushing it out, but today I went for it and even got a compliment on it. 

Its been very cold and pretty breezy out there, so lets check how this hair is getting on after today's excursion. 

Hmmm, its actually not too bad, A good few strands out and about, and the quiffy bit has drooped a bit, but it could be worse. My makeup hasn't fared quite so well, but it never does. 

Post the first

Well hello there.

Today's post is about the picture that gave me this daft blog idea in the first place.

I've been getting quite interested in vintage sort of styles of late. But given I'm a decent size 18 nowadays, and I have a rather ample bosom, there have been a good few false starts in the past. I've ordered countless dresses and pretty things online, only to excitedly unwrap them and find out that I have no hope in hell of even getting one boob into the space designed for two. Either that, or I try on the wiggle dress that looked so sleek and elegant on the plus size model, only to find that I have fleshy splurgy bits poking out all over the place in a horrific manner. Luckily, I seem to have found a good, reliable source of lovely dresses in Lady Vintage, who just yesterday fleshed out their plus size offerings with the launch of Lady Voluptuous. 

So last Sunday, the sun was shining, and I was waiting for my parents to turn up to go for Sunday lunch at our new local. This is not a dressy pub by any means, but I just felt like putting some effort in and whipping out a pretty dress for the day.

I popped on my navy blue spotted Isabella dress. It fits beautifully, with that lovely flattering neckline. I reached for the nearest cardi, which happened to be red, and paired it with my little thin Asos Curve belt. I felt pretty swanky, if I'm honest, especially after applying some rarely used red lippy. So swanky, that I thought I'd be brave enough to take a picture of myself and let Lady V know.

Swallows Necklace: etsy, yonks ago

Cardigan: Uniqlo, even longer ago

Belt: Asos Curve

Dress: Lady Vintage

Tights: Primarni's finest, with a hole at the top of the thigh for good measure

Shoes: Marc Jacobs (courtesy of boyfriend, who is blooming marvellous and aware of the importance of animal shaped shoes.)

It got a whole load more likes than expected, and a couple of nice comments too. So I guess maybe there are a few of you out there who care about what I'm wearing every now and then :) 

I noticed after I had posted my photo how dowdy it looks in comparison to some of the others that people post. Posed girls, with perfectly quaffed victory rolls, tasteful photo backgrounds, and accessories styled to perfection abound. I, however, have a shoddily taken selfie with an ancient, horrible old lady headboard in the background that has since been gotten rid of.  They look fabulous, and they make me envious, but I can't help but wonder if there isn't more of an interest in more...normal, day to day women. So here I am, ready and willing to fill that less glamorous, more pragmatic gap in the blog market. I'm here for the women who are ten minutes late for work and whose cardigan that matches perfectly with their outfit is still in the wash. The people whose skirts ride up uncomfortably, whose make-up is trashed by the time they get to the bus stop, never mind arriving at the party, they're my type of fashion icons. 

See you again soon

Hxxx