Maternity Dresses & Weddings

Times have much changed when it comes to maternity clothes.  Just because you are pregnant doesn’t mean that you can’t still be stylish and look great.  There is a vast arrange of maternity clothing out there now, for every occasion.

My friend Jen is going to a wedding in January, exactly a month away from her due date and has been looking for the perfect dress to wear in which she will feel comfortable but elegant.  I promised her that I would have a look over some websites for her as she isn’t very tech savvy and find her a few dress possibilities (like me, she is a real dress girl who loves vibrant colours and prints).

Here are a few examples of what I have found for her:

 

One - Blossom's Maternity Dress Range

Two - House of Fraser Champagne Maternity Dress

Three - Asos Maternity Dresses

Four - New Look Maternity Dresses
 

I think that there is something in there for everyone and goes to show, just because you are pregnant, you can still still amazing, no matter what the occasion.

PR Collaboration - all opinions and choices are my own 

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! 

I Feel Good 2

Today is the second outing of a challenge that I thought up a while ago now.  I was so happy with the first posting went out last month.  Just a wave of women putting up photographs of themselves that they felt great in.  I found the posts really inspiring and couldn't wait for this month.

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 am using something that was taken a couple of years ago on a girl's night out.  I chose this one in particular to highlight the example of what confidence levels can do for you.

When this photograph was taken, I hated it.  All I could see were the faults.  I was completely focused on my arms which I don't like, my left eye which looked wonky, my breasts which looked weird.   These are all the reasons why I told my friend I didn't want it uploaded anywhere.   She told me I was crazy.

Roll on two years and I found this photo again, discarded in my Not Uploading file.  I look at it now and I don't see all the faults that I once did.  I see me, looking happy and you know what?  I think I look good.  So today it's going on my Facebook profile picture.

Times change, for the better.

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/

Lazy Day OOTD

Last night I went to my best friend’s for a long awaited catch up.  A few drinks and a late night meant that today was definately labelled as a lazy day which needs comfortable clothing.

I went with a jumper from the Ava Collection from Marisota which was kindly gifted to me at the recent launch I attended together with some leggings and ankle boots.

Everyone needs a little sparkle sometimes!

Tired face

Sequin Stripe Jumper £33.50 from +Marisota  *

High Waisted Leggings from South at +Very.co.uk  - 2 pack for £14.00

Someone decided that she wanted to get in on the action!

How have you spent your weekend?

* Denotes a gifted item

Perfect Tweedy Coat Review

I was recently asked by +Simply Be if I wanted to have a look through their current Winter coats and chose one for review. 

I always tend to chose coats that are either practical but plain or stylish but conservative so this time I wanted to chose something that was both warm and stylish; but also just a little bit special.  I also had an eye out for something that would work either day or evening and could be used during the week at work or to dress up a weekend outfit.  Yes, I wanted a lot!!

After much searching through the various styles, colours and shapes, I decided upon the Joe Brown Perfect Purple Tweedy Coat 

I have taken photographs of the coat wearing a black bodycon dress that I wore to work this week and also in a pair of leggings and a tunic dress that I would normally wear at the weekend.  The Purple Tweedy Coat is definately a coat that can be used on all occasions, except perhaps a muddy field, by why would you want to do that to something so pretty?

At £110.00 it is on the higher side of what would be my budget for a Winter coat, but it ticks every single box for me and works doubly well for work or play. 

The coat has a luxurious feel with attention to detail in the coordinated lining and the detailing on the buttons.  It is warm and the neckline can be worn higher or lower depending on how cold it is.  One thing it is missing is pockets however that may have detracted from the lines of the coat.

One thing to mention, the buttons on the coat, mine at least, were quite loose and on the second of time of wearing, one fell off, never to be seen again.  Thankfully there is a spare button and I have restitched them all so they are all now secure.

I feel like a million dollars in this coat, I really do.  I have never been a real lover of coats before this year as they always seem to be teamed with the word "serviceable" which I hate.  This coat is stylish, comfortable and absolutely fabulous.

What will you be wearing this Winter?

 *This coat was gifted to me however all my opinions are my own

Beaucoo

Whether you are browsing through a shop, or checking out the latest styles online; how many times have you said to yourself "If only I could see clothes on someone the same size as me!"  I'm betting hundreds, if not thousands of times.  I know that I have.

When you are a plus size woman in particular, 99% of the time the model you see wearing the dress that you want is not your size. The way it looks on her will not be the way that it looks on you. What I have done in the past is order a large selection of clothing and hope that one or more items look the way I want it to. That is obviously not ideal, particularly if you are on a budget.

However, no matter what size you are, even if you did see a model wearing your exact size, you are not guaranteed that it will look the same on you either. Two people can have the same dress size, but look completely different in it due to their difference in shape.  A larger bottom, a smaller waist; large breasts; tall or short; all can make a vast different in how clothes look on you. so you never really know until you try something on.

Until now. It turns out, there is another way.

 
I recently discovered a site called Beaucoo. 

Beaucoo enables users to upload their photographs via their Android or Iphone apps of what they are wearing that day. Now how it that different to any number of fashion blogs out there? Well, the difference is that when you join Beaucoo alongside creating your profile, you also enter your measurements and your height. These are stored confidentially and are not visible to other users.

Hit the “Fit Match” button and hey presto, pictures of women with your measurements are shown to you, wearing whatever they have posted on to the site. Along with the photographs are the size they are wearing, wear they got it from and along, how it fits.

What I particularly love is that because the photographs are uploaded by regular people, the outfits have also been styled in their own way so you can also get inspiration of how to wear your garment.

Beaucoo is an amazing site which not only lets users share their pictures for the benefit of others, but also promotes body positivity across all the social networks, just search for the hashtag #BoPo. Check out this Video to see what their message is.

Beaucoo offer a number of buttons to enable you to spread the word on your blog or website and also have a blog themselves which covers a variety of subjects including body positivity, plus size and petite fashion as well as celebrity style and DIY fashion which offers many tips, trick and ideas to help you out.

Like me, I think that you'll find Beaucoo becoming the indispensable wardrobe aid you can't live without!


* Sponsored Post

OMCZ 16 - Your Choice

Welcome to OMCZ 16 - this time there is no theme, just our choice of what is outside of our personal comfort zone.

What I decided to wear was the dress that everyone has been talking about, the +Pink Clove UK tartan dress.  Now this dress is out of my usual comfort zone as red check is something I have never thought would suit me and indeed when I saw the trends emerging for Autumn Winter, I swore I wouldn't buy any tartan at all.

Yet here I am today, wearing a tartan skater dress and loving it.  How times change.  I wore this dress to the the +Marisota blogger event last week and it was comfortable to wear all evening and I didn't need to do any adjusting half way through the night which you can find with some dresses.

The lighting isn't great in these pictures I am afraid, I was having a bit of an argument with the flash which seemed to insist on highlighting where I didn't want it to.

With the dress I am wearing an Alice in Wonderland quote necklace which I got from Etsy and wedge ankle boots which are from +Simply Be and I am totally in love with them.

Standing Out

I was reading a post called The Looks, The Stares  by the fabulous Leah of Just Me Leah recently.

It made me think of the extra layer of veneer that is necessary sometimes when out and about in the general public.   It shouldn’t be necessary, you should be able to walk around in public without judgement but as you know, some people can be idiots.

What it did make me remember was an incident last week when I was at Euston Station that made me realise that something has changed.   I am not as self conscious as I used to be.  Not by a mile. 

At the time the weather was fairly warm and so I was travelling in my striped floral Asos Curve dress.  It is pretty and was just right for wanting to be comfortable whilst travelling.  I have always travelled in black previously and have usually blended into the crowd.  This dress stands out, but I didn’t even think about it.

So there I am stood at Euston Station, looking at the departures board for my train and I spy a woman openly staring at me.  She stares, she looks away, she stares again.  She looks a bit baffled.  At that point I could not understand why she was staring at me in such a way.

Then a minute or so later the penny dropped.  She was staring at the fat girl who was standing out.  Not wearing black, not trying to blend in.  Wearing stripes and bright florals.  I wasn’t playing by the rules.

Instead of feeling self conscious and wanting to cover up, I smiled at her.  Which made her even look even more confused.  Then a wonderful thing happened.  I started to laugh.  I walked away and went to board my train.

Another layer of veneer fell off me that day and the world got a little bit brighter.  Here is me in the oh so shocking dress by the way.

 

 

Have you experienced anything like that?

 

 

Magnificent 7th - Polka Dot!

Hello and welcome to today's Magnificent 7th Challenge - Polka Dots!

 

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!

I had a bit of a panic this month as I realised that I owned three different pieces of polka dots, and every one was either packed away for the Winter or in the wash!  So I have in haste found some photographs that I have taken previously of me in polka dot!

 

Check out the other  in their polka dots!


Beth http://tinkerbellandthelostgirls.blogspot.co.uk
Kaye http://polishedcurves.wordpress.com/
Becky http://www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com/
Nicola http://www.nicolarelph.blogspot.co.uk/
Gail http://gailygumdrops.blogspot.co.uk/
Kirsty http://www.hellokirsty.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 thecurvedopinion.com
Christiana http://www.lifeofouk.blogspot.co.uk/
Megan http://theclosetofmeganfaye.blogspot.co.uk/       

Ava Collarless Coat Review*

Hi all!

Last Wednesday I was invited to the launch of the Ava Collection for Marisota in Soho.  I was lucky enough to be allowed to take a couple of pieces away with me on the day and as a result, I have this gorgeous coat to show you!

This collarless coat is available in black, dusty pink or red and is priced at a not at all unreasonable £49.00.  Now me being me, I went for the red and immediately fell in love with it.

The simple lines of this coat are effortlessly classic and the just above knee length (on me, I’m 5ft 4) is just at that right length that will go with both dresses and trousers.

My original idea was to show you this coat in a simple black dress so as to show off the beautiful red but then I changed my mind.  Rather than use the coat as a colour pop to finish an outfit, I wanted it to add to an outfit instead, give it a little extra zing.  Just because it is a classic style, doesn’t mean that it can also be versatile.

So here I am, complete with blue leopard print dress!

This coat will fit into my work wardrobe perfectly and will also, as shown in the above pictures, be added to some more fun outfits for nights out and weekends.  All in all, a very hardworking coat!

What coats have you been buying lately?

*This coat was gifted to me however all opinions are my own.

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.