Shop Your Stash

Welcome to the Shop Your Stash Challenge run by the lovely Hollie of PrettyBigButterflies. This is all about finding a gem in what you already own and creating a blog post on it. This is to let go a little of the stress that comes with being a blogger - even if it is just once a month. Rummage through your beauty products and climb through those clothes draws. You might surprise yourself!

This month we were to chose something that we had brought back to life for the Summer.  What I have chosen to do is show you an old black (yes, I did say black) jersey casual dress and how I have revamped it ready for the Summer months.

It is a simple does what it says on the tin dress that you can throw on and let your accessories do the talking, if anything you choose to wear any!

The first way I am wearing it is designed for the daytime with black sandals and a big chunky necklace.  I would be happy going out for the afternoon, shopping with the girls and I have also on occasion worn this dress to work, styled much like this when it is hot.

Then imagine this.  You are at work, wearing the sad outfit when your work colleagues decide that tonight is the night to nip into the city after work for few cheeky cocktails.  No time to change, what do you do?  

What I have done here is simply swap out the sandals for some heels, changed my neck to a pearl costume jewellery piece and add something I have discovered recently which is quite frankly a genius invention.  Wingz !

If you have never heard of Wingz before, they are sleeves; either short, elbow or wrist length that you can add underneath your dress.  Whilst some may choose to wear them if they are not happy with their arms and want coverage, from my point of view I love the different options that they give you in being able to style in different ways.  In this case the lace Party Wingz * have helped me to bring a night time edge to my outfit  and also add an interesting detail with the lace.

 So what do you think?  I was sent the lace elbow length Wingz and also a shorter jersey pair and I am looking forward to playing around with different dresses and seeing what changes I can effect.  The things with wearing a dress is that it is a full piece and only by using accessories can you make it look different.  I think this is where the Wingz really come into their own.

Check out what the other ladies have done to change up old Summer outfits!

* gifted item

Bird Printed Doll Dress

A couple of Saturdays ago I attended the +Simply Be store in the Arndale Centre, Manchester.  You can read about my visit here

I was lucky enough to given £50.00 to spend in store and after playing dress up and taking photographs with the magic mirror (which you need to try, it's brilliant) I decided on the Bird Printed Doll Dress * I had previously seen the dress on the lovely Sally from The Human Mannequin and thought that she looked gorgeous so wanted to try it for myself.

My magic mirror picture from the store.

I sized up with this dress to accomodate the boobage, but i think most people would find it true to size.

I first decided to style the dress with the office in mind (yes, I like to dress up) and so went with a chunky necklace and my black ankle boots from Dorothy Perkins.

After taking the pictures however I was going out in the afternoon so decided to keep the dress on and style it down a little by changing the chunky for three long ones and adding some black sparkly sandals, from +Fashion World .

The bird necklaces are from Primark

The red heart necklace was a bargain £1 from Ebay

I adore the print on the dress and I like the high-low detailing.  I will be getting a lot of wear out of this dress all summer and with the addition of a cardigan it will probably take me into autumn too!

* Denotes gifted item

Silent Sunday

How I am silently feeling at the moment!

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!!

A Dangerous Precedent

Now and again I will write an opinion piece on my blog about something that I feel strongly about.  Most recently it was my yearly post that I write about the Grand National. 

My aim was to create a bit more awareness regarding the number of horses that die as a result of horse racing.  I wanted to dissuade people from betting but as with everything, you can only present the facts and let people make up their own minds.

When I published my Grand National post this year I received a comment on Twitter asking why I bothered even writing it, as most would never read it and even less would change their minds.  My response was that I would rather speak up and put my opinion forward rather than keep silent.  Silence accomplishes nothing.

I know that mine is only a tiny voice, speaking out amidst a sea of other voices and opinions, but I would always rather say what I think than keep quiet.  Did I change anyone’s mind this year about horseracing?  I don’t know, but I’m still glad I wrote it.

So here I am today, with another opinion. 

UKIP.  When I see a party like UKIP, I truly get scared for the country.  You do not have to be a political genius to see that voting for them would send the country down a path going backwards in time and to places that are beyond our imaginations.

One of the problems however is that unlike the BNP and EDL who carry a thug mentality with them for which they are infamous for, UKIP have that most dangerous of things, an outwardly nice looking veneer.  The head of their party looks like Rupert the Bear.  Harmless.   The man standing for UKIP in my area is an ex local police constable.  Trustworthy.

I’m not going to give you the whys and wherefores about why you shouldn’t vote UKIP.  It is each person’s decision to vote for whom they choose.  All I really want to say is actually look into who you are voting for.  See what they stand for.  What their policies are.

I’m unfortunately from a place where the BNP always won seats and carried favour with many (absolutely not me).  The problem was, just as is the problem with people voting for UKIP now, is that people are seeing one particular point that they agree with, usually about immigration, and voted accordingly.  They don’t look at the bigger picture.

I was talking to someone recently who had decided to vote UKIP.  Their reason was purely because of their immigration stance.  When I mentioned other points that UKIP want to bring in, such as scrapping maternity pay and introducing a flat tax system, their face went blank.  This is why voting without research is dangerous.  

Whilst people need to vote and not simply give up on the system; they also need to think.

I Feel Good

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.

This month I am following on from last month and am sharing my Capturing the Curves photographs with you.  Warning: there are a LOT of pictures in this post!

I recently had a fantastic experience at a photoshoot arranged by the lovely Betty Pamper.  The theme was vintage and having my hair and makeup done, along with meeting all the other ladies along with Betty herself and Becky from Rambings of was a brilliant experience.

For the first time I even enjoyed having my photograph taken and playing around with the different props.  Nicky Rockets made me feel completely at ease and this, combined with a couple of cocktails after the shoot, made a very memorable afternoon.

I was very happy to learn that two of the photographs that we would be given would be “photoshopped” alongside the regular pictures and excited to see the “new and improved” me.  

We got a surprise preview of one of our photographs a couple of weeks ago and all I could see was my wonky eyebrow that I hate so much.  Looking back at these photographs now, I think it may have turned into one of my favourites!  Fickle woman, as is my right ;)

I wouldn't hesitate to do another photo shoot again and would love to do another vintage style one with Betty Pamper, but very very surprisingly, I would say this time, no retouching!

Here are my photographs, which I have already started to use on my profile pictures everywhere.  I will let you make your own decision on whether I look better retouched!

The above are retouched, so slightly better versions of me!

Dannimac Trench Coat

One thing that you can guarantee about the British Summer is that it will be unpredictable. You can have blazing sunshine in the morning and rain in the afternoon. Carrying a coat or a cardigan with you if you are leaving the house for more than an hour is always advisable.

This year when thinking about buying a Summer coat I had something very specific in mind. The golden fleece of coats. Seemingly unobtainable (if previous years are anything to go by) until you are willing to pay well over £100.00 (which I am not). What is the coat on my clothing pedestal? A stone coloured trench coat.

But they are everywhere I hear you cry! Well yes, they are, unless you are as particular about coats as I am. There is a long list of criteria that has to be met in order to be my perfect coat. It is after all something that you are going to get a lot of wear out of, so it has to be “the one”.

• The colour has to go with everything. (I thought that I have found my perfect trench coat last year, only for the stone colour described to actually be a dirty beige)

• The fit has to be impeccable. Not too tight, not too loose and comfortable.

• The fabric shouldn't crease and also, it should neither be too thick or too thin.

• I should feel like a hot female spy in a film noir movie.

Ok, the last one isn’t essential, wait, who am I kidding, of course it is :)

Anyway, I found my coat of dreams in the Dannimac coats section at +Marisota  and it can be found here: Dannimac

The dress underneath the coat is the bird print doll dress from +Simply Be and there will be a review up soon!

Vicky xx

Twice as Nice

Last week I was reading through my favourite blogs and came across Becky's +ASOS haul post.  As she has a similar body shape to myself (albeit with much better legs than I have!) I love to check out what Becky is wearing and get some ideas of what I would like to buy.

Upon looking through her Asos Curve Review Post I immediately spied the green goddess that was the Asos Curve Midi Dress in Check Print and fell head over heels in love.  I didn't own anything green and the colour was so luscious and the pattern so vibrant that I had to have it.

I wore this dress on Friday night for cocktails in Manchester and striding down Deansgate after a cocktail or two, I have to say that it did give me some added confidence!  My pictures however were taken today and I have gone for a simple look, simply adding some black glitter sandals from Fashion World.

Both Becky and I decided to do a joint post with our dresses and so we bring you Twice as Nice.  Please have a look at Becky's blog as linked above to see how she has worn her dress.

 

Silent Sunday

Plus Weddings

At some point when she is growing up, a little girl's thoughts invariably turn to what kind of dress she will wear to her wedding. I know that I spent many an hour as a child dreaming of wearing a beautiful princess dress with crystals and lace. Interesting I never thought about who the groom would be, just the dress so in that respect, nothing has changed!

I still love to look at wedding dresses now and wonder what kind of dress I would choose. Although I am a plus size girl I am very specific about the kind of dress that I would wear but I confess, at the back of my mind I always wondered if I would be able to find a store to accommodate me.

There could be nothing worse than wearing a dress on your wedding day that you didn't completely love. Buying a wedding dress should be a complete experience, working with the store to find just the right dress for you and not having to settle.

I recently heard about a store in London called Bijou Bridal Wear and decided to check out their site online. I knew that I had found a great place when I read their tagline:

“Our dresses are not about what you 'should' wear to hide

but rather what you should wear to shine.”

I was chatting with the owner of Bijou Bridal Wear who has been a stylist herself for many years and her ethos behind buying a wedding dress with a plus size woman in mind is right on point. She says

“ I take everything into consideration, size, style and personality when I work with a client and definitely wholeheartedly am against the idea of any bride having to cover up because they don't fit the profile of what is being advertised in magazines!”

She really understand that whatever size a woman is, she still wants fashion and that it is up to the client to dictate what she wants to wear, not the other way around.

Here are some of my favourite designs:

Screen Goddess anyone?

The detailing to the shoulders of this dress and the design

to the waist area is just exquisite

A real princess feel to this dress.

The skirt looks to have a thousand layers.

This is my absolute dream dress. Clean lines, gorgeous pleating

and more than a hint of va va voom!

The range goes from size 12 to a very impressive size 34 which is very rare to find in a wedding shop, especially one selling such beautiful designs. 

 Prices start at £490.00 and you can contact them via their Twitter page, Facebook page by Instagram or by telephone in order to arrange an appointment. Bijou Bridal Wear are currently organising a 15% off weekend in June so I would urge you to give them a follow and grab yourself a great discount!

Now will someone please find me a groom so I can wear dress number four?

*Sponsored post

Look Where You Wish

I watched the Look Up video recently and have seen it quickly go viral all over the internet, the irony of which is not lost on me…. 

The fact that the video was created for the internet makes it nothing more than a cog, taking full advantage of the machine of which it is a part of.  The video is just a highly romanticised concept, practically begging to be shared across the social networks.  It isn’t telling us anything we don’t already know and I have seen similar such videos saying the same things.

Preaching at people that we should be less reclusive and reserved is all very well and good, but not all of us are naturally outgoing.  It is ok to be introverted; it is ok to be shy.  It is ok to be whoever you are.  Technology at its core is about making life better for people, finding solutions and improvements to whatever you need and social media is about connecting people in different ways which is a good thing.

I agree that sometimes we can be too connected to our phones and in a social setting it can be that everyone is on their mobile phones or on the internet; socialising with others yet ignoring the people around them.

But there is another side to the story.  (At this point I must mention that Big Fashionista has spoken about this subject in Look Down and you should definitely read it!).

For some, social media isn’t just a form of entertainment.  It isn’t just about playing Farmville or seeing how many likes you can get on your Facebook status.  It isn’t just about Lolcats or sharing your day on Twitter.

For some, it is an escape route.  For some it is a place where they can find a community of people that they don’t have in their offline life.  For some it is the place to go searching for answers when none can be found.  For some it gives you a voice where you had none.  For some, what you find on the internet ends up enriching all aspects of your life, both online and off.

Many of those reasons I can apply to myself.  I can pinpoint the exact point that my life started to turn around for the better.  I joined Twitter.  The small voice that I had, it got louder.  My opinions got stronger.  I found people like me, who think the way I do, who have experienced what I have. 

I know a network of people online that I could never have found offline.  A group of bloggers who are based all over the country who get exactly who I am.  They understand the way I think, why I think it and have lived similar lives.  This couldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for the internet.

My offline life has been enhanced by the time I spend online and I have met some amazing people, some whom I have met face to face, others who I am yet to meet but feel like I know well.

The beauty of the internet and social media is that you can get out of it as much, or as little as you want.  It is a resource.   Yes we should probably spend more time off our phones when in company and should ring our friends more than we should text, but the benefits of social media are vast and shouldn’t be discounted or discouraged.

Magnificent 7th

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 is your favourite accessory.

I think that the favourite accessory I have is probably the double strand bird necklaces that I bought from Primark, for the princely sum of £3.00 per necklace. 

These necklaces are my go to when I look at an outfit and it needs a small “something” added, but nothing too obtrusive.  I love the dull gold and the length of the necklaces which work with all types of necklines and can either blend with an outfit or add a little interest to it.

These necklaces are also the bane of my life when they are hanging on my necklace tree as they seem to attach themselves to everything and every single time I decide to wear them I end up fighting a five minute battle in order to detangle!

Here are some of the outfits I have worn the necklaces with recently:

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

Kitty http://misskittykaos.blogspot.co.uk/

Emma http://emmaatouchofsparkle.weebly.com/

Michelle http://stageyourpresence.blogspot.ie/

Abi http://aisforabi.blogspot.co.uk/

Sarah http://pookledo.blogspot.co.uk/

Charlie http://www.freakumdress.co.uk/

Sally http://www.thehumanmannequin.co.uk/

Mayah http://www.beautyfulyouniverse.blogspot.co.uk/

Lucie http://www.fatbeautyx.co.uk/

Natalie http://www.awheelbarrowfullofstyle.blogspot.co.uk/

Another Month on Instagram

It is FULL of selfies.  For this I make no apologies as if you can't make yourself believe that you look good, you will never believe anyone else.

Fashion, without Limits

Hello all, hope that you are all having a fantastic Bank Holiday weekend and are off out in the sunshine (crosses fingers for sunshine) doing exciting things with people you like and love.

If you have happened across my blog today by intention or by accident, I have to apologise because I'm not here!

For the first Sunday in every month the fantastic FashionWorked website lets me prattle on in my monthly column - The Plus Perspective

Sometimes I talk about fashion, sometimes body image and confidence and sometimes, well it could be anything frankly!  Today I am talking about fashion, without limits.

Check it out Here!