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.