Category Archives: plus size blogger

British Plus Size Awards feat. Estella

On Saturday night I was lucky enough to attend the British Plus Size Awards held in London because my best friend won two tickets, she was also a nominee for  best blogger WannabePrincess.

I wore a Beautiful Lady V London Dress. This is the Damask print Estella Dress Designed by the gorgeous George at Fuller Figure Fuller Bust I have this dress in three prints as I am in love with the style and think its a great dress for my shape.

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IMG-20141113-WA0002In the hotel lobby showing off this gorgeous dress.

My shoes, necklace and fluffy handbag are all from NewLook in the last two weeks and are all still available.

Overall it was a lovely evening, It was so nice to get all dressed up and have a really grown up sophisticated night, I’m more of a night out in a club type girl so this was a really nice change. We arrived to a champagne reception, which was lovely and it was so nice to see so many other bloggers in attendance. I’m usually really bad at taking pictures when I attend events so I made sure that I had my phone in hand at all times to snap a few pics.

The three course meal was really lovely, I had Pâté to start and then a beautiful beef roast dinner for main and had a citrus cheesecake for dessert.  It was so nice to see so many familiar faces in all their finery, I took a few pics with some fellow bloggers.

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Me with the stunning Kate from How Kate does Fashion and Mary of Channelling Liz

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Me with Beautiful plus size models Sarah Hadzipasic and Olivia Campbell.

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Me with the absolutely stunning and always flawless Georgina of She Might be Loved

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Me and the princess. (if you can’t tell, we love a good selfie) Saturday night was a great night for boobs and selfies lol

I think the nominees should have been given free tickets anyway if you ask me, it may have decreased the amount of ‘Unfortunately _______ was unable to attend to collect his/her award’ speeches. Aside from the lack of winners attendance it was a great evening with some really fun entertainment. I especially enjoyed the humour of presenter Matt Johnson. But I would have to say the highlight of the evening, performance wise, would definitely have to be by Ashleigh Owen. I have seen her perform before at the Hamburger Queen finals and she was amazing then too, a very well deserved standing ovation from our table.

Considering this is an event I wasn’t planning on going to I had a really nice time and got a chance to catch up a lot of people that I already know from various areas of my life, whether it be my makeup work, blogging or my general social nights out and I would definitely be up for going again should another ticket fall into my lap.

Lastly I would like to say a massive congratulations to all the winners and nominees on the night xx

 

The Stellar Estella

This is the dress my dreams are made of.

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I have been on the hunt for a vintage style dress in my size for the longest time. I have come across a few but they have always been in a jersey fabric, which is fine when it comes to fast fashion but I wanted something that was going to last me years.

When I heard on the blogger grapevine that Lady V London were releasing a vintage dress in a number of prints in a size 30/32 I was over the moon.

The Estella Dresses are available here! and were designed by the gorgeous Georgina from Fuller Figure Fuller Bust

I bought the Estella in the black and white polkadot as I knew it would be very easy to style and I could wear it practically anywhere.

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When the cupcake print Estella was released on the website I was literally screaming “Oh my God, Oh my God” Two of my favourite things combined just for me… Surely a gift from the Angels!!! I went on the site and bought the cupcake dress without a second thought… just look at it… I had to!

 

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Love how I can still look fierce in a cupcake dress lol

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The Estella dresses are 97% Cotton and 3% Elastane,  the quality is so good and I feel like they are a total investment, I plan on taking really good care of the ones I have so they will last forever.  A problem I find being my size is that it is very difficult to find good quality clothes that are a good fit, I know the bigger I am the more my body will vary from someone else who wears the same dress size. The Estella Dress feels like it was made for my body, the little bit of elastane allows the dress to hug you in just the right places but still has enough structure to fit how it is meant to.

I am really hoping to see more of these dresses coming out and I would especially like to see the dress in some solid colours.

Aldi Special Buys & Special Size

Special Buys and Special Size

I was recently contacted by Aldi to see if I was interested in reviewing a couple of their pieces, I was a little sceptical at first because their plus size range stops at a size 24 but in the spirit of what my who blog is about I decided to say yes and see if I would be able to make a size 24 work for me.

I have tried a chunky knit cardigan and a pack of two tops, both available here on this list of special buys products

The two pack of tops and the chunk knit cardigan both sell for only £10.99

I am really impressed with the sizing of these items I got both items sent to me in their biggest size (24) considering I wear a size 30/32 I didn’t think they would fit at all.
I am totally in love with the tops, they come up massive, If I didn’t know any better and hadn’t seen the label I would say they fit like a size 30, I love how long the sleeves are and I love how long the torso is.

*please excuse my face in the pics, I’m really poorly at the moment but wanted to get this post out so you guys don.t miss out on the offer*

I will literally be putting these tops on under everything as the weather continues to get colder, I don’t have any long sleeve tops like this so I am really glad I have these now.
I also really like that the two top have different detailing
The cardigan also comes up quite big although I do prefer it unbuttoned, Its a nice little chunky knit piece although I don’t think it will be keeping anyone warm.
I’m mostly impressed with the generous sizing and the good quality, I would love to see more ‘fashionable’ pieces making their way into the range but at the moment it is very good quality and good prices for your basics.

Krazy for Kimonos

Oh the Kimono!

Over the last few weeks I and everyone else have been going ‘Krazy for Kimonos’.
I literally want all the kimonos in the world. I cannot find a single fault with the trend, they are just so perfect. They are perfect as a summer cover up for people who don’t like to show their arms etc. as the Georgette fabric ones are so light and airy. They are also such a nice way to dress up an outfit.
I plan on writing a post on kimonos in general featuring all the kimono that I have so I’m not going to go on and on here about what I love about them.
This post is just about one kimono in particular. This kimono is actually my favourite at the moment. I’m usually kind of fickle in that I am usually in love with my most recent purchases but this time its not the case. This my second kimono out of four and it is the one I love the most.
If you read an earlier post I did about plus size shopping in Derby you would have seen that I visited the Yours Clothing store and tried on a few pieces, I didn’t actually intend to buy anything but once i tried on this kimono I wasn’t prepared to leave the store without it!

This was when I tried the kimono on in store. 

I wore the kimono the very next day to go to lunch with the bestie!

 Absolutely love this kimono, it is literally everything a Kimono should be. I love the Japanese feel floral print and I love the neutral colouring.
Me with a pair of old Dorothy Perkins sunnies. 

 I wore this outfit out to dinner with my best friend and boyfriend, once again my old Evans jeans that I cut up and my Primark wide fit T-bars. 

This Kimono is perfect and I know I will be wearing it loads this summer, what is your summer 2014 go to item?

Scarlett & Jo Staple in Shop your Stash

Welcome to the Shop Your Stash Challenge. 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!

When looking through my items to try and find something that I could use for this post I came across an item that I bought months and months ago and absolutely love.
I picked up this Scarlet & Jo black fit and flare dress from the Evans Flagship store in Marble Arch London.
Scarlett & Jo are one of my favourite brands at the moment, I am totally obsessed with their prom dresses and the new prom skirt that was just recently released.
The fit and flare dresses are made from a really nice quality heavy polyester/elastane blend and the fit is beautiful, I bought this dress in a size 32 but I could have easily sized down to get a tighter fit around the bust.

I find this dress really easy to wear, I love how simple and comfortable it is. It can so easily be dressed up or down. On this occasion I wore it with a pair of Clarks brogues and tan belt and a tan Zara bag.
When I was leaving I couldn’t decide on a jacket to wear so I just throw on my New Look grey boyfriend blazer.
I’m not sure why i haven’t blogged about this piece before because I always seem to reach for it when I’m not sure what to wear.

I love this dress as part of casual outfits too, This picture was after a long day of travelling (straight to the Yours Clothing dressing room lol)
I find this is a great dress to wear on a comfy day with leggings and converse. Not the best picture but I just want you to see how versatile the dress is.
Scarlett & Jo have really got it right with the fit and flare dresses, they have a new one is a gorgeous paisley print that I want next.
What are you guys loving from Scarlett & Jo at the moment? In my head I always have a Scarlett & Jo wishlist.

Love Love Lovehearts Summer Onesie

My “Summer Onesie” from Yours Clothing came in the post today and I love it!
I have a few onsies and I love them to bits so when I spotted the two summer onesies that Yours have available I knew I had to have one.
I bought the Love heart Print one and they also do a pink cherry one.
In the summer it gets way too hot to wear some of my other ones.
These onesies are cotton and sleeveless and I can wait for the weather to warm up a bit so I can wear onesies all year round.
Never put a pic up of myself in my jammies on my blog before but I couldn’t not its just too cute.
This is my ‘Build a bear’ Bella in her blog debut lol
I love this so much I’m thinking about getting the other one too as I know I will be sad once they are all sold out.
 
*I bought this myself and all views are my own.
 
Does anyone love onesies as much as I do????
 
 

Cosmo Questions…





Ok, so Claire suggested a few bloggers answer the ‘What being a fat woman is really like’ questions from the recent Cosmopolitan article.
Loads of plus size bloggers asked to be involved including me…o below I have answered all of the questions that were asked.
I think its a great idea and a really good way for us bloggers and to get to know each other and for our readers to get an insight into what we are like.
*I will be linking all the other bloggers who took part below*


So here we go!!


How do you feel when other women around you complain about feeling/being fat?
I hear it so much it just makes me roll my eyes and I now refrain from commenting. I am very confident at my size (30/32) So it doesn’t really bother me. I do however look around to gauge other peoples reactions to the comments. Mostly its looks of horror like ‘you cant say that around her, she is way fatter’ lol. I just don’t think people consider other peoples self image when complaining about their own looks.





How has your body image changed since high school? College?

My body image has changed greatly since I was in College. I was very unhappy with my size at that age. The size I was in my late teens is not completely dissimilar to the size and shape I am now. What a lot of people don’t know is that I gained a lot of weight after leaving education and have lost it again, so being this size again is wonderful to me. I don’t know if it is just compared to how I was when I was bigger or if it is because I am older and a lot more comfortable with myself in general. Either way there is a world of difference in how I see myself now approx. 12 years on. I accept my body for exactly what it is, I wear what I like and act how I like and I think that’s the way it should be.

Have you tried dieting? What happened?

Yes.
I remember being put on my first diet at the age of 11 years old.
As an adult I have tried various diets but nothing has ever stuck. I have lost and gained bit and bobs here and there but never had a substantial weight loss until about 3-4 years ago.
I do believe that you have to really want to lose weight for yourself if you are ever to succeed. I am very well aware of what needs to be done to lose weight and I think its a common misconception that fat people don’t have a clue how to lose weight when I think a lot of fat people know better than anyone. I am at a stage in my life where I am the most happy I have ever been, I am not at my biggest or smallest but am definitely my most content.

Do you think in your case your weight is partly or entirely genetic?
I will be completely honest here and say I don’t know. All of the adult women in my family on both sides are fat. Growing up that’s what all the women looked like. I don’t know if I am genetically predisposed to being fat or not. It is shown everyday that people can lose weight and I am strongly behind the statement that if you have a problem with being overweight then you should make the necessary steps to get to where you personally feel most comfortable and happy. I also think that people need to get the idea out of their heads that all fat people are unhappy

Do you consider yourself healthy? Have there been instances where people assumed you were unhealthy?
No, I don’t consider myself to be healthy, but that is not solely to do with my weight, I am a lot healthier than I was a couple of years ago and I am very happy about that. As I get older I feel I will need to pay closer attention to my health as with anyone else.
It is expected that people will assume that all of us fat people are unhealthy because that’s what they have been taught, despite the fact that you cant see someone’s health just by looking at them, some idiots think that Fat is a health condition in and of itself.
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Are your parents both supportive of you at the weight you’re at? Have they always been?

My mum is a plus size woman as her mother was and so on.
Both my parents were concerned about my weight when I was younger and tried everything they could to help me lose weight whether that be taking me to a slimming class or just voicing their concerns about health risk etc.
When I was quite a bit heavier than I am now my whole family had a lot to say about it, but like I said earlier no amount of interference from others will make it happen unless you make the decision yourself to make things happen and that goes with many things in life.
At 29 and the weight I am now I have the full support of my whole family but I think that’s mainly because they can see how happy I am and that outweighs anything else and I feel exactly the same I’m just really enjoying life, love and cake…everything else can wait til later,

How do you think retailers can improve clothes for plus-size people?
I don’t really know what to say here because if I was asked this a few years ago it would have been a page full of complaints, but I think plus size fashion has come a really long way in recent years.
I think more companies are getting on board the plus size wagon and shopping is a lot of fun whereas a few years ago it was an absolute nightmare. especially for girls that are at the larger end of plus size. The only problem I have is companies doing plus size ranges up to a size 24, I feel like if your gonna take the plunge and offer bigger sizes you need to go all in. There is nothing worse than hearing about a new brand offering plus sizes then discovering they are just not plus enough. Saying that though over the Christmas season I was looking for a party dress and I had so many options I had to make a dress shortlist, that can only be good news in my book.

Do you think plus-size women are judged differently than plus-sized men are? How?

I think there is a stigma attached to being fat in general, but I do think women get the worst of it when it comes to fat discrimination. Big men up to a certain point are seen as manly and when women are even slightly over weight they are just fat. In terms of relationships and finding a partner I think society believes bigger men are more attractive than bigger women and therefore struggle less to find partners. I feel that large men have the same insecurities that a lot of large women have and I think the lack of confidence plays a big part in how attractive they feel and how attracted people are to them.

Do you think there’s an assumption made/stereotype that exists about plus-size people? How would you respond to it?

Of course.
People assume that fat people are all lazy slobs that spend the majority of their time sitting around eating. I think that’s ridiculous. I know a lot of fat people that have great jobs and great families and have achieved wonderful things in their lives. but more importantly I know a lot of fat people who are genuinely really happy with exactly who they are and I think that lends to doing great things and having the confidence to do whatever they want to in life. I am fat and I work in the beauty industry, an industry that I was told that I wouldn’t be easily accepted into. I work on my feet and travel all around for work. This is what makes me hate peoples assumptions because I shouldn’t have to explain what I do to change peoples minds about me.

Do you think there’s ever a right way or time to express concern about someone’s weight?

(might be a bit controversial but….) Yes
I have a lot of people that I care about and If there was something that I was genuinely concerned about I would mention it to them, that doesn’t mean I would be nasty about it or try to make them feel small, but I do think certain relationships are solid enough that two people can have an honest and frank conversation. That being said I don’t think there would need to be an intervention unless that person was seriously putting themselves at risk.

What are the worst things people have said to you about your body?
I have never really experienced any major bullying, the odd comment in a nightclub, the old whispering ‘omg look at her’, ‘fat bitch’ etc… No real specific instance that has stuck in my mind but yeah for years I was very aware of the stares and little comments.

How did you respond?
When I was younger peoples comments used to really upset me to the point that I just wanted to stay home to avoid it.
I wish I knew then what I know now, and that is that they never really mattered. I don’t know if this makes sense but I think I get those comments less now because I carry myself differently and I think that they can tell that I love who I am so it would kinda be pointless.
When comments are made when I’m alone or out with plus size friends I kinda just giggle to myself at how immature they are. I kinda feel bad that they aren’t as content with their lives as I am.

What have people said (or do you wish they’d say) that would compliment your body or appearance?
People say nice things about my body and appearance all the time (god that sounds so conceited) but again I think its because of the way I carry myself. I am very confident and that translates in the way I dress and do my makeup etc.. I love getting dressed up and going out, what girl doesn’t like to look pretty.

Do you find yourself hanging out with women who are closer to your size?
I have fat friends and thin friends. Having recently gotten into plus size fashion blogging I have been meeting more and more fat girls and I love it. One of my closest friends is a fat girl who wears the same dress size as me. She is amazing and I love her dearly and we would totally still be friends if she was skinny but being able to share wardrobes is the best bonus ever!!! lol

How has your weight affected your sex life, if at all?

Not at all lol.
It may have prevented me from starting til I was 21, but since then not at all.

When you’ve been single, has your weight affected your dating life?

No, when I was single I has full length body pictures on any online dating profiles and when meeting people on nights out etc. they could plainly see what I look like.
I actually really enjoyed dating and meeting new people, my weight was never an issue as they always knew exactly what they were getting. The only thing my weight would have affected is the types of guys that were attracted to me.

Do you feel weird if the guy you’re with only dates larger women?
I have very strong views when it comes to this subject. It really irks me when women say that guys who only date big women have a fetish. I think that’s ridiculous when its perfectly normal for a man to prefer blondes or women with bigger busts. A woman who has a preference for a man with a beard is not seen as having a fetish. It is purely about preference. I have dated men who prefer big girls and I have dated men who have never dated a plus size woman before me. I actually prefer men who are more attracted to bigger girls as they have seen it all before and can appreciate all of you and they are no longer worried about their friends and families opinions.

Do you feel weird if he’s only dated slimmer women before you?

I have dated men who have never been with a plus size woman before and I must admit have been a little worried about surprising them with just how much woman I actually am but all that goes away once you get to know each other better. I would hate to wonder if the person likes me so much that they would put up with my weight. My boyfriend has a preference for big girls, always has, that’s just his type. I want someone to love every single thing about me and I have that.

My personal best bargain ever!

I recently went to the Plus London plus size market evening. I was really excited to be going as a seller and a bargain hunter.  I was initially concerned that I wouldn’t find anything fat enough for me but fortunately I left with quite a few pieces that I will be sharing with you over the coming posts here.
This one I have to say I am the happiest with, it is such a versatile piece and I want to wear it all the time with everything and in my eyes that is reason enough to warrant a blog post all of its own.
However the best part is that I picked it up for only 50p.
I’m gonna say that one more time because even I still can’t believe it… I got this beautiful maroon oversized and deliciously comfy cardi FOR JUST 50p!!!!
It is a Jeffrey and Paula slouch cardigan that I bought from fellow blogger Chattermonkey (check out her blog here)
She initially showed it to me because it was one of her items that was roomy as I approached her table saying “Show me the mega fat stuff!”
I have to admit I bought it because it was big enough and because it was an absolute steal at fifty pence. However when I got it home and had a try on and a good look at the shape I was sooooooo excited.  I love the slouchyness of it and how I am able to just throw it on with anything and I also love the colour.

OOTD Pink clove wrap dress.

I placed an order with Pink Clove around Christmas and one of the items I picked up was the Geo print wrap dress.
I thought about this item quite a lot before I ordered it as it’s not really my style, it’s very grown up and sophisticated but I really really like the colours in the dress for winter.
Thought I would do a quick OOTD post about this dress as it’s still only £10 in the pink clove sale!!!!

Plus London market bargain!

On Friday evening I went to the Plus London plus size market evening. I signed up to be a seller and initially I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t think there would be many people as big as I am buying or selling.
I was pleasantly surprised that there was plenty there for me and I made out like a bandit.
One item in particular I picked up before the event even started, I bought from fellow blogger naomi from diamonds ‘n’ pearls.  A lovely beige cropped new look jumper for £3. The day after the event I was travelling up north for a couple days so I chucked the jumper and a scarf I picked up for 50p in with the rest of my luggage.  I was sooo happy with the jumper I ended up wearing it all the time with everything.  Kinda handy that it was freezing up in Derbyshire so I got to wear the hell out of the jumper. I’m surprised the jumper fit so well as its a size 24 and I’m not lol. I’m guessing it was made to be really oversized but I really like the way it fits! 

I think the plus size market was such a good idea there were so much clothes and accesories and I would definitely take part again. I picked up so many pieces that i’m extremely happy with and will be blogging about over the next few days.