Ava by Mark Heyes Launch at Marisota

This week I was lucky enough to be invited to the exclusive launch of the AVA Collection by Mark Heyes for Marisota. 

One thing that I love about Marisota is the fact that they listen to what their customers want and they actively promote fashion inclusivity.  There are quite a few brands on the market now that offer a plus size section along with their regular collection.  Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to be sectioned off in this way.  I love fashion and want to be able to buy what I want to wear, without restriction or being told that I “can’t wear that”.  

That is what I love about Marisota.   Their new AVA Collection runs sizes from 12 – 32 with as much availability at size 12 as size 32.  This is across the board on their website.  They understand that women want to wear the latest clothes, in the current trends no matter what their size.

This Autumn they have launched their Shapeology collection, designed to enhance your assets and give you the silhouette that you want, without compromising on style.  Their new designer Mark Heyes who you will no doubt know from his appearances on Lorraine on the television was at the event to greet us along with his new collection of 17 pieces for Autumn Winter.   Here's what he had to say about it:

"I've always wanted to design my own range, so when Marisota presented me with the opportunity I jumped at it!  Ava is my take on this season's trends such as clashing prints, dusty pink, winter florals and the ever flattering illusion dress combined with Marisota's cutting edge Shapeology technology that ensures you look your best no matter who or where you are.  I hope the range will give the Marisota's customers the confidence to know that they can wear the latest looks".

The launch of the collection with held at Kettners in Soho.  We were warmly greeted with champagne and canapes after which I got my hands on the clothes.

We were then treated to a scrumptious three course meal and I indulged on cured salmon, sea bass and a chocolate marquise dessert.

After the dinner myself, the gorgeous Caroline from CurvyWordy and the lovely Hanna from The Wardrobe Challenge decided to go and have another look at the clothes and have a trying on session.

Here are my favourites from the collection.

Collarless Coat available in black, red or dusty lilac

Floral Print Jeans

Lace Trim Tunic

We were allowed to choose something from the collection to take away with us and I chose the red version of the collarless coat, blog post to follow.

Overall I had a fabulous time with Marisota at the launch of the Ava Collection.  I love their ethos when it comes to clothes and their belief that fashion should be available for all, not just certain sizes.  I would definately recommend that you check out Mark Heyes' new collection as well as their other ranges.  There are some definate wardrobe staples that will carry you through the Autumn/Winter season with style and comfort.

The Favourites

I have posted so many outfits on my blog now and looking back, there have been some definate favourites which I have noted chart my progress quite well. 

 

Here are some of my favourites:

 

 

This is the second proper outfit post I put on my post and it is still one of my favourite pictures.  I still remembering feeling very "loud" and was feeling insecure without my all black security blanket.

 

 

 

 

Like many of my earlier pictures, this was taken in my long mirror as I wasn't comfortable with the whole posing thing yet as you can see as I had chopped my head off!  I may have to do this post again with this dress as I do love it.

 

 



This type of dress was so out of my comfort zone at the time, but the pictures came out well and it was hard to pack this one away for the Winter!

 

My first venture into the "high necked" type of dress. I'm still not that sure about the whole look, although I love the dress.

After this I seem to have got into my stride with photographs, not feeling as awkward in front of the camera and what I have definately noticed is my new love of print!

You've come a long way baby!





What Would You Pack?

A fire is coming.   Assuming family & pets are already out of the house, what would you save if you only had five minutes?

First would be the irreplaceables. 

My photograph album filled with photos of my childhood with my mum and dad; my mum’s diamond cluster ring that my dad bought her; the old teacups and saucers with the dark red rose pattern that my mum has had since the age of 19.

 

 

I couldn’t bear to part with any of the above and would be devastated if they were to be lost, especially the photographs which are the most precious thing that I own.

Then, the non essential essentials:

Laptop

Internet dongle
Mobile phone & charger
Camera
Handbag

I figure by that point I would be left with around a minute so I would quickly throw a change of clothes into a carrier bag and I would be out of the door.

If you gave me an extra five minutes I would pack my clothes in a case as below:

Black long boots

Black Mary Jane Shoes
Underwear
As many dresses as I could fit in a bag!
Another coat
Nightwear

 

New Horizons

 I am a bit of scaredy cat sometimes.  I like to have some sort of a structure that I can work within and I prefer to have a plan.  Without them I get nervous and a bit overwhelmed.   

I am not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal, but I’m not obsessive about arranging things either.  As long as I have a point A that will eventually get to an arranged point Z, with the occasional point of reference in the middle, I’m ok.

Whilst these tendencies can be muted a little when in a group of friends, when I am alone it does become a little more compulsive.  This leads to my saying no to things that I actually really want to do, but are too scared to do them.  

But things are changing.  I am starting to say yes to the things that scare me, and wonderful things have happened as a result.  Over the past few months I have been a model at Plus North and now I am going next week to a fashion event in London on my own.  Neither of which I could have dreamed of doing this time last year, hell, even six months ago.

I got an email through last week from Marisota asking me if I would like to attend an evening where their new designer Mark Heyes is showing his new collection for them.  Usually I would see the word London and immediately say no.  A million problems instantly speed through my mind, giving me reasons why I shouldn’t go.

You don’t know anyone
How will you get there?
How will I find my way in London?
I’ll never be able to navigate the tube.
What if I get lost?
They’ve asked you by mistake
You can’t afford it
What if I miss my train?
What if I don’t fit in the clothes?
What if they don’t like me?
I’m scared


ENOUGH!


Enough with the what if questions.  They are not asking me to circumnavigate the globe; they are asking me to go to London for something tremendously exciting.  I get the train; I go to the event; I stay over and I go home.  It really isn’t that complicated.


I said yes.  I am so very excited and yes, very nervous and a little scared.  But I have my planning head on now; I have my train times; where I am staying; where I need to be.  I've even bought myself a travelcard so I don't need to rely on taxis. I will be fine*

There will be a post blog after the event of course and can't wait to have some adventures in London.  Am even regretting now that I didn't arrange a later train back!  By the way, if anyone reading this is going to the Marisota Mark Heyes event, give me a holler!  Would be great to see a friendly face!

* This does not mean I will not be live tweeting if I get a bit panicky and need to vent.  You’ve been warned.

OMCZ 16 - Nightwear

This challenge was chosen by Rebs from Sullen Hearts.
 

“I want to pick nightwear.  Let’s see what you wear to bed, or flash us your naughty but nice undies, or shoe us what you’d wear for a good old fashioned sleepover”.

I wasn’t sure what to wear for this challenge as all of my nightwear is mismatched and generally needs replacing! 

Recently though I have invested in the most cuddly, cute and cosy dressing gown in the entire world so that’s what I am sharing with you today, along with my fluffy slipper boots!!

I bought the dressing gown from Sorbet at @Very and you can find it here

Check out the other ladies in this challenge and see what nightwear they love!

Stephanie	http://www.seeingsp0ts.blogspot.co.uk
Leah	http://www.justmeleah.blogspot.co.uk
Mary	http://www.marysbigcloset.blogspot.pt
Becky Brown	http://www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com
Rachel	http://www.adressisforlife.com/
Natalie	http://awheelbarrowfullofstyle.blogspot.co.uk/
Nikki	http://www.nattynikki.blogspot.co.uk/
Rebs	http://sullen-hearts.blogspot.co.uk/
Verena	http://aplussizefashionobsession.blogspot.de/
Beka	bekasstuffystuff.blogspot.com
Vicky	www.TheCurvedOpinion.com
Rebecca	http://theplussideofme.com
Hollie	Http://www.prettybigbutterflies.com
Sabina	http://www.femmefatalexsabina.blogspot.de/

Work Wear 2

I haven't had much time lately to do any outfit posts so with that in mind.....

This the second post I have done for my work outfits of the day, thought I would share what I have been wearing!

 

 

Silent Sunday

The Hidden Word

A new feature I am going to try out on the blog, check out the new section above called "The Hidden Word".

 

Confessions of a Shoeaholic Idiot

I’m an idiot.  I will get that done and out of the way first, because I really am.

You know that phrase that gets trotted out, usually in movies, about when nothing else in your wardrobe is working “Shoes always fit”.  Well in my case, I seem to be working the opposite way to everyone else.

See my clothes fit me quite well thank.  Yes I am a fat girl but I still loves fashion and I buy clothes that I love and look good (now that’s a statement and half coming from where I was this time last year!!!).  No problems there.  My footwear however, they are like beautiful torture devices. 

The problem is that most of the pairs that I own don’t fit properly.  I have wide feet that don’t always fit into the standard widths you find in the shops and it took until yesterday, yes I did say yesterday, to realise that there was another way.  Wider fittings.

Now you see why I called myself an idiot at the beginning of this post.

For years I have just “managed”.  I have surrounded myself with beautiful shoes, many of which that pinch because they are a bit too tight and my solution has always been “I’ll break them in”.  You know what that entails.  Weeks of uncomfortable tightness until the leather eases a little, sore feet, rubbing against your skin etc etc.

The other day however I was ordering my new Winter boots when I happened across a beautiful pair of t bar wedges that I instantly fell in love with.  I noticed that they were available in a wider fitting so for the first time I decided to give it a go.

OH     MY    GOD.  They are comfortable!  They don’t rub, they fit perfectly, I can walk easier in the heels (something I always struggle with no matter what the height).  They are perfect.  I feel like I should buy the entire stock out in case they go away.

So just as I once had to resign myself to the fact that yes, Evans was “for me” and not run past it in that “I’m not fat really” kind of way; now I accept that wider feet need wider fittings in order to be comfortable.

I may be a slow learner, but I get there in the end.  Anyway, here is a picture of my new lovelies, found at +Simply Be .

 

Model Behaviour

I have been waiting to do this post until I managed to collate a few photographs together of me on the catwalk for Plus North.  I only have a few here which I have managed to grab from other people, but I love them all.  If I get more at a later stage I will add them on.

 

Courtesy of Becca Simmons

 Image Courtesy of Yours Clothing

 

 

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life walking down the catwalk for Yours Clothing, Curvissa and Evans and is certainly something I will never forgot.

There is one thing that I have been waiting for to happen since Plus North ended which hasn’t happened yet.  I hope it never does.  The come down.

Plus North has boosted me so much, in so many ways that I feel like one person walked into Plus North and another walked out.

For one thing; getting changed.  I had four outfits to model on the day.  There was a side room to get changed in with all the other models, or the disabled toilet if you wanted more privacy.  I hadn’t got changed in front of people like that, even my best friends for more years than I can even count. 

Inspired by the other girls who were just happily getting changed all around me, I threw off my inhibitions and by the second outfit (changed into a millisecond as I was number 12 and 14 on the catwalk!) I didn’t give it a second thought.

The other thing that I have kept with me since Plus North is that I no longer worry about what strangers think of me.  I am me, this is the way that I look and if people don’t like it, they can go to hell.   The first thing my best friend asked me when I called up after the day event was “Please tell me that you were yourself?”  She knows only too well the front that I normally put up in public. 

I am so used to being judged, silently or verbally by strangers about the way that I look that when in public there is always a self preservation wall that I put up.  That wall was torn down within the first ten minutes of being at Plus North.  All thanks to the AMAZING people there.

The sparkle that I felt when modelling has stayed with me.  I even smiled at the cute guy walking down the street this morning.  Unheard of for the girl who always looks down at the floor.

I cannot wait for next year.

 

Fell in Love with a Girl

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am completely besotted with the Mary Jane style of shoes.  They hold a tiny, permanent place in my heart and I have lots of different varieties. 

I wanted to show you a new pair that I originally bought for Plus North for my stint of modelling (still feeling do a little "Eeeeek!") when I say that.  Unfortunately due to a prevailing swollen ankle, I couldn't even fasten them up and they had to stay in my suitcase.

Today though, my swollen ankle is gone (hopefully for good!) so I am working the edgy librarian look today complete with below the knee butterfly print dress, purple tights and my new Mary Janes which I bought from Clarks.

I love the mixture of patent leather and suede and they are the perfect height for work.

Here are my new lovelies!

I Feel Good Challenge

Today is the first day of a challenge that I thought up a while ago now.  I put out a call on Twitter and happily I had a great response back.  Here is the premis of the challenge:

You know sometimes when you spend ages getting ready for a night out, an event or even just a blog post, and the reflection in mirror isn't what you hoped?  This challenge is for those times when you look in the mirror, no pre planning involved, and think "I look good today".  

We all have our good days and our bad, but this challenge is to record those good days and to remember that confidence, at any size, is beautiful.

For today's photograph I have used something that I took recently.  

I was going out later and was going to start getting ready.  My hair had dried naturally so was in it's bird nest stage, the dark circles were still visible under the eyes and the red freckle on the front of my noise was staring back at me.

Ah the standards that we constantly think we have to maintain....

But that day, I looked in the mirror and thought "You know what, I look good".  The unstraightened hair, the dark circles, the freckle that no one notices but me, it didn't matter.  I just thought "You look good ladt".  So I snapped the photograph and here it is.

Please check out the other lovely ladies in this challenge.

Becca http://bekasstuffystuff.blogspot.co.uk/

Becky http://www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com/

Bee http://www.thelittlestbuzz.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Felicity http://felicityhart.blogspot.co.uk/
Hallie http://knitteddaisy.blogspot.co.uk/  
Hollie http://prettybigbutterflies.com/ 

Karen http://toodulltoblog.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Kaye http://www.polishedcurves.com 

Laura http://laurapantslifestyle.blogspot.co.uk/ 
Leah http://justmeleah.blogspot.co.uk/
Mhairi http://www.lilybobombslovelylumps.com/ 

Natalie http://awheelbarrowfullofstyle.blogspot.co.uk 
Nikki http://nattynikki.blogspot.com 

Toni http://theonlywayistoni.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Vicky http://www.thecurvedopinion.com/