SimplyBe Store Visit

I recently had the opportunity to attend the +Simply Be store in Manchester for a styling session whilst I was spending the weekend there.

I was massively excited as I have been shopping with SimplyBe for some time now and couldn’t wait to roam around the store and try on lots of pretty dresses.

Upon entering the store I was immediately greeted firstly by the lovely Becky and then Steph who was to be my stylist. I do have to make a special mention to them both as they made me feel completely at ease and welcome and I had a great time with them.

I was chatting with Steph about her role within the store and her passion for styling woman and making them feel good about themselves was fantastic. You could really tell that she loved her job and I could have happily spent all day there talking about plus size fashion and body confidence.

Now on the clothes!

With every dress I tried on, I used the magic mirror that SimplyBe have in their stores which enables you to photograph yourself in the mirror and then send the pictures to either your email or upload on to Facebook.

I think I must have been a bit overexcited when typing my email address on to the screen as unfortunately only two images came through to me which ironically were also the dresses that I chose to bring home with me!

PU Pink Biker Jacket

Bird Printed Doll Dress

I was hoping that I wouldn't love the pink biker jacket.  I really was.  I knew I couldn't afford it at the moment but tried it on anyway because I couldn't not.  I love how well it goes with the bird print doll dress (coming soon on the blog in a separate post).  The jacket is now at the top of my ever growing wishlist!!

Tile Print Tea Dress

I spied the tile print dress and immediately thought that it would be perfect for the office.  The fabric flows nicely, is cool to wear and nips in at the waist to add a little va va voom!  Again, I will post about this dress properly in a separate post.

I am gutted that the other dresses didn't transfer to my email but I will show you the ones I tried on anyhow.

Daisy Printed Doll Dress

This is the daisy print version of the bird print dress above.  I loved them both but for my specific colouring, the bird print dress worked better for me.

 There is no reason for this jacket to be here again in the post other than the fact that I can stare at it and swoon.  I have it bad! haha

Joe Brown Rambling Rose Dress

I took this dress into the changing room as a kind of a wild card.  Pink dresses and added ruching below the waist generally doesn't look good on me, but I really liked it.  The only personal thing for me was that it was a little bit too short to wear without leggings and I HATE wearing leggings.  That is just me though, the dress is gorgeous to wear and had a flattering shape.

I am already planning when I can next get to the Arndale in Manchester and I urge you to go.  The girls there are so friendly and helpful, it is nice to see an engaged staff when you walk into a store who are interested in the fashion they are selling.

Bravo SimplyBe!!

Joe Browns Vintage Flower Dress

Today I have to show you another purchase that I made this week.

I have had my eye on this dress for a while now as I love the Joe Brown dresses and the vintage look of this dress had me sold.  After spying a cheeky discount code for +Simply Be I decided to thrown caution to the winds and give it a whirl.

Joe Browns Vintage Flower Dress

The patterning on this dress is beautiful and very 50s esq.  I found that the length was just right on me, just a little past the knee.  The sizing is a little generous, it works on me but I would suggest that anyone with smaller breasts than I size down one.

There is one thing about this dress that I wasn't too impressed with.  The material is so thin that you can see through it.  To be honest I did debate about keeping the dress because of the quality of the material, but as I wear a black slip under all my dresses anyway and I loved it so much, I decided to keep.

Below is a picture of the material up against the morning light.  Now of course it doesn't show as that see through when it is next to your skin, but it is certainly something to consider.

I wore this dress to work today (yes I do get dressed up to go to an office, I know) and I wore it with some gold seasons from Hush Puppies and a costume pearl necklace which I found in a charity shop.

If you are a slip girl like myself, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the dress to you, but for £40.00 it is something to ponder on.

My Current SimplyBe Loves

My current loves from +Simply Be 

I need those Gemini Tropical shoes in my life!!!

 

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.

Joe Brown's Flattering Floral Dress

For one reason or another I haven't managed to get a new outfit on the post for a while now.  I have lots of new clothing to show you but no time to photograph it!

Today though I managed to grab five minutes to show you my new Spring dress from Joe Brown at +Simply Be  As soon as I saw it in the new Joe Brown collection I knew it had to be mine.  The floral print is something that I love to wear and the shaping of the dress is just right for the style I like to wear.

Today has been the usual wet, windy and cold but I have had absolutely had it with Winter clothing and am moving to Spring, whether the weather agrees with me or not.

You can find the dress here

Shoes are from Hush Puppy

The Magnificent 7th Challenge

We will be posting on the 7th of each month, and the aim of the challenge is to create an outfit to fit the theme, using clothes from our wardrobes, and yes that does mean digging deep into the depths and finding those long lost clothes! Hopefully one of us won’t end up in Narnia, but you never know with a bloggers wardrobe!

This month’s theme was Valentines Day.  Now as I am a single gal, I decided to use this month by choosing an outfit that I would like to wear to a Valentine’s Day meal.  Sadly I won't be attending no as nobody loves me (kidding).

This particular outfit has actually just been bought by me with the Capturing the Curves photo shoot in mind in March 2014 arranged by the incomparable Betty Pamper. Both the dress and shoes are from +Simply Be and together they form my new favourite outfit.

I can’t wait to combine the gorgeous dress with the vintage hair and makeup at the photo shoot and of course will putting the photographs here, and Facebook, and everywhere ha (sorry in advance for the spam)!

I would definitely wear this outfit for a Valentines Day meal as when I put them both on, I felt flirty and confident, just what you want for a special meal with your fella!

Luxe Print Prom Dress

Sole Diva Peep Toe Flared Heel

Aren't they perfect?   I am not sure I am going to be able to wait until the end of March to wear them so I may end up parading around the house in them.  The Capturing the Curve shoot is a 35th birthday present to myself and I want everything to look perfect.  This outfit will certainly help!

Check out the other ladies in the challenge (and hello and welcome to the new ladies who have joined us this month!

Kaye http://polishedcurves.wordpress.com/

Nicola http://chunkycatcuddler.blogspot.co.uk/

Gail http://gailygumdrops.blogspot.co.uk/

Mary http://marysbigcloset.blogspot.pt/

Kathryn http://misskathrynsmisstakes.blogspot.co.uk/

Steph http://seeingsp0ts.blogspot.co.uk/

Charley http://www.biggirlabouttown.blogspot.co.uk/

Rebecca http://sullen-hearts.blogspot.co.uk/

Leah http://www.justmeleah.blogspot.co.uk

Lindsey http://linzerellofatshion.blogspot.co.uk/

Vicky http://www.thecurvedopinion.com

Nikki http://nattynikki.blogspot.co.uk/

Christiana http://www.lifeofouk.blogspot.co.uk/

Leah http://www.thirtysomethingcurvyme.blogspot.co.uk/

Nancy http://sugardarlingblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Beverly http://www.thecurvyword.com/

Gillian http://www.weegillie.com/

Katt http://acurvycupcake.blogspot.co.uk/

Sarah http://plussizeproud.wordpress.com/

Hannah http://www.fabulouslyfatfashion.com/

Hollie http://prettybigbutterflies.com

 

Purple Skater Dress

How do you know that you are on to a winner with a dress?  The answer is when you see the same dress in a different colour and snap it up without a moment’s hesitation.

I recently showed you the Forest Green Dress I bought from +Simply Be   I was completely in love with the mesh sweetheart neckline and the way the dress nipped back into the waist just at the right point for me.  It is warm enough to wear for Winter and can easily be taken from day to night. 

The simple back drop also allows a variety of statement necklaces to be worn, which I seem to be addicted to at the moment! 

Here I am in the purple version of the dress which I love just as much.  Alas in my bleary eyed dressing this morning I neglected to notice that I was wearing the same jewellery as in the green dress photographs, but as you can see, you could style this dress in many ways.

One thing I particularly like is that when you remove the cardigan, it immediately takes the dress into something I would wear out in the evening making the transition from work to party simple with the exchange of jewellery and minus one layer!

Forest Green Dress

I have been completely remiss in posting my outfit posts on here lately but when I got dressed this morning I couldn't wait to take some photographs of my outfit, so here they are!

 

I am wearing a new green dress from +Simply Be which is actually sleeveless but the weather is far too cold for that, hence the black cardigan (South from +Very.co.uk )!  My two bird necks I bought from Primark yesterday and the large statement necklace I managed to find in a charity shop but was originally from Per Una at Marks & Spencers.

 

 

 

 

Just Another Blog Challenge

Recently the lovely Toni of The Only Way is Toni put a call out to see who would be interested in a new blog challenge.  I held my hand up as yes and here we are!

The first month is transitional pieces, what items of clothing you wore in Spring/Summer and are carrying forward into Autumn/Winter.

One item I loved wearing this summer is the gorgeous paisley print dress from +Simply Be and I couldn't bare to pack it away for the Winter so decided layering up was the answer.  Here's my Summer and Autumn looks (you'll notice that the hair gets bigger in Autumn haha):

Now you may have spotted my new knee length boots in these pictures, they are what appear to have become the boots of the season as I have seen everyone wearing them!  They are the gorgeous quilted boots from SimplyBe!

Strutting Like a Peacock

Knowing that a parcel is waiting for you when you get home from work is always an exciting prospect.  Even more so today because it knew what it contained, the beautiful peacock dress designed by the fabulous Em of The Boombands Blog for +Simply Be 

I have wanted this dress since it came out yet for some reason it has never made it to check out.  I have watched many different bloggers wear the dress, all looking gorgeous, yet still, no purchase.  Then a couple of days ago I saw it worn by lovely Leah of Just Me Leah and I was instantly sold.  I bought it 30 seconds later, sat on the bus, cursing at my slow connection.

Luckily I also saw that Leah had noted on her blog that the dress was available on the Crazy Clearance website for £23.50, a bargain considering the dress is at the full price of £45.00 on the main site.

I absolutely adore this dress.  So much so in fact that I had to take photographs of it right then and there so hence you will also see no shoes, windswept hair and a face with less make up on it than it had this morning!

I don't know why I waited so long to buy this dress, but now it's here, I feel amazing in it.  Perhaps a contender for my work Christmas party??  

Spooky coincidence, just seen that the brilliant Nikki from Natty Nikki has just reviewed this dress today too.  She looks a million dollars in it so I urge you to check her out!