OMCZ #2

Hello and welcome to this months OMCZ challenge and the theme for this month is.....

The next theme has more of an open feeling to it. No specific items or patterns to showcase. Just show us what you'd wear to go shopping. 

This is inspired by the Shopping Trip to Birmingham organised by Nikki . Knowing what to wear on a shopping trip in the colder months can be a challenge. You want to be warm enough when you're outside but as soon as you go inside it's too hot. 

What do you wear? Maybe it's your PJ's for a midnight dash to the supermarket or maybe it's full on glam? or somewhere in between. 

Back in March I organised a blogger meet up in Birmingham which was a lovely and informal day filled with shopping, good food and fantastic company. (I didn't blog it due to being so ill around the time it took place!!). Whenever I go shopping I tend to dress for comfort and if I know I might be trying clothes on not too many layers!! 

I also hate overheating as most shops seem to have the heating on full blast so I am wary of dressing too warmly!! 

Anyway being the bad blogger that I am and due to work being so hectic I am cheating on this one and have collated some outfit photos to show what I like to wear when shopping!

I would say these are all typical shopping outfits for me, as you can see I love my trainers as I need my feet to be comfortable, and dresses are easy to get on and off when trying things on!! I must admit I am also that person who tries dresses on over my jeans!! 

Don't forget to check out the other lovely ladies to see what they like to wear when it comes to shopping.

Steph http://www.seeingspots.co.uk/

Sarah http://plussizeproud.wordpress.com/

Becky Brown www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com

Leah www.justmeleah.co.uk

Natalie www.awheelbarrowfullofstyle.com

Gillian www.readysteadyfile.co.uk

Mary www.marysbigcloset.com

Hollie Http://www.prettybigbutterflies.com

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

Sam http://fattyboomtatty.blogspot.co.uk/ 
Kaye http://polishedcurves.com

#WeAreTheThey

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last week I'm sure most of you are aware of the hateful body shaming comments that were made by Jamelia, on Loose Women last week. To counteract this the awesome Debz came up with the most brilliant #wearethethey which quickly went viral on Twitter last week. The idea was to show that we are the they who Jamelia thinks should be denied fashionable clothing due to our size.

Following on from this Debz thought it would be fantastic to show the world that we won't adhere to the 'rules' of fashion that society deems appropriate for us!!

So sit back as I show you some of my rule breaking!!!!

Fat Girls Shouldn't Wear Horizontal Stripes

I love some good stripe action!!!

Fat Girls Shouldn't Show Their Legs

 

Sorry but not sorry if my bare legs offend you as I rather like them! 

Fat girls shouldn't wear crop tops

OMG a fat girl in a crop top and yes I think I look awesome! 

Fat Girls Should Never Wear Tight Fitting Clothes

 

 Oops sorry I forgot to wear my tent that day-my bad!

 Fat Girls Should Never Wear Bikinis

Whoops I never got that memo!!!

I look back now and realise I spent far too much of my life adhering to a ridiculous set of rules, having torn up the rule book I feel so much better!

My motto is now life is short so wear what you want when you want!!!

Don't forget if you want to take part then please tweet pictures of yourself with the #wearethethey as show people we will wear what whatever we want!!

Please also head over and see some more fabulous ladies (there are lots of us check the tag on twitter to see even more).

Debz

Michaela 

Leah

Lucy

Betty

 

 

Modcloth Stylish Surprise

 

I love Modcloth so when it was announced that they were doing another Stylish Surprise I knew I had to try and see if I could get my hands on something!

The idea is you pay a set price which this time for a dress was $20 (there were other categories but I always go for dresses) choose your size and await to see what you will get!!

So this is what I got!!

This is a Doe & Rae dress which sadly is no longer online and when it first arrived I was unsure whether I like the style but after trying it on looking again at the photos its a keeper! 

I do like to think that I am channelling my inner Margot Meanie in this dress and I think she would totally rock this one! 

I think I may pop this away to wear later in the year as it has more of a autumn/winter feel to it.

Now I wasn't the only one who was lucky enough to bag a bargain from Modcloth, so make sure you head over and visit some other lovely ladies to see what they got!

Katt - A Curvy Cupcake

Kathryn - Miss Kathryn's MissTakes

Mookie - Mookie's Life

Sarah - Plus Size and Proud

Vicky - The Randomness of Twee

Plus Size Shopping with House of Fraser*

Now I must be honest when I think of places to shop for plus size clothing House of Fraser is not the first one that springs to mind, so when they contacted me to ask if I would like to review something I was keen to see what was on offer.

A quick peruse around the site and I was pleasantly surprised to see brands such as Evans and Samya on offer so after much deliberation I chose a shift dress from Samya.

I have never had anything from this brand before and I decided to size up as I am always mindful of boob room but I think I could have gotten away with my usual size as it is slightly big under my arms but I think a quick stitch could solve this. I took a chance with trying a cross over neckline as I tend to avoid them as they nearly always show too much bra but this one is spot on. It crosses over higher up so the centre of my bra doesn't show and I found the fit really generous across my bust.
Lengthwise it is ideal for me as it just sits on my knee but as always do remember I am 5'4" so if you are taller it may come up shorter.
The fabric is lovely and slinky and so comfortable to wear, I would be happy to wear this to work with sandals and a cardigan for a relaxed summer look.

I am now pleased to discover yet another retailer offering plus size clothing with this dress being offered in sizes 16-28 and priced in the sale at £24 so very purse friendly as well.

Have you tried anything from House of Fraser?

 *Denotes a gifted item but all opinions are my own

Silent Sunday/My Sunday Photo

Evans Ultra Stretch Skinny Jeans

I must admit that until recently if I was looking for skinny jeans I would have been unlikely to consider Evans. Something seems to have happened and suddenly they have set the blogging world alight with a rather good pair of jeans!

I'm sure I am not alone in struggling to find that one really good pair of jeans they seem to be rarer than unicorn poo, but this time it may have just happened!

I first came across these jeans when Evans had a flash £10 jeans event after Christmas but I couldn't get my hands on some. I had almost given up when by chance I wandered into Evans when I met up with some of my fellow bloggers in Brum. We discovered that the jeans were the Saturday steal and were on offer for a mere £18!! I think we all grabbed a pair to try and several of us bought them myself included.

So here they are as styled last Friday for work.

So I gave these jeans a good run wearing them to work on Friday and they are so comfortable, with  a good amount of stretch but still maintaining their shape. I can see why they have been so popular, for me they won when I realised I could sit down comfortably and not be stabbed in the stomach by the waistband!

I wore my new favourite t-shirt from ASOS Curve, primark cardigan and bargain £5 trainers from New Look to finish the look!!

These jeans are still online but only in the short fitting leg (which is the length I have) but they are back to the full price of £30 but if you have the funds these are well worth it.

Outfit details
Jeans Evans
T-shirt ASOS Curve
Cardigan Primark
Trainers New Look Similar
Necklace Primark

Plus Size International Wish List

We have a lot more choice of plus size retailers in the UK now but there are also some fantastic overseas retailers who we would all love to shop with but often find import duty and shipping costs can be off putting. With this in mind the lovely Debz from Wannabe Princess thought it would be fun if we all compiled a wishlist of items we would love to buy from overseas retailers.

I went on a good mooch round the internet to see what I could find and the options did not disappoint!

I started with Modcloth who to be fair I do have a couple of dresses from as I managed to grab them in the stylish surprise and they were cheap enough to not pay duty on. There are alot of dresses on their site that I would love to own but I know that the duty would be a problem and I don't have the funds!

Here is what I would buy from Modcloth

This is the Coach Tour Dress and I love the nautical theme to this dress and the neckline! If you like the look of this dress it retails for $59.99.

My next retailer is Nordstrom where again I found loads of choice but one dress in particular really called out to me.

I love the clashing prints on this Eliza J Dress but at £141 it is a bit out of my price range!! The one thing I did like was that Nordstrom have an option to display the prices in pounds and also an option to pay duty at order point although I would still worry that customs would charge me again upon delivery!

I then headed over to Macys to see what I could find and again I had the option to display the prices in pounds but shipping is not cheap at £17 plus again duty when it arrives!
Here is a dress that caught my eye!

This is the NY Collection maxi dress and is quite the steal at £21 in the sale but again once you add on shipping and duty it is not quite the same bargain!!

My final destination was Torrid where I found myself torn between two dresses but this one made the final cut!

I love the skull print on this dress as it gives it a quirky edge and it retails for $68.50.

So there you have it my international wishlist and I think if I had to choose one retailer who had a UK version it would have to be Modcloth!

Don't forget to check out the other ladies to see what is on their wishlists!!

Debz - http://www.wannabeprincess.co.uk
Katt - www.acurvycupcake.com
Kelly - http://www.adventuresofariotgrrrl.com
Steph - http://www.seeingspots.co.uk/
Kim - http://www.callmekim.net/
Sharon - http://www.radfatfeminist.com/
Sarah - www.plussizeproud.co.uk
Victoria - TheCurvedOpinion.com
Becky - http://www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com/
Leah - http://www.justmeleah.co.uk/
Vicky - http://therandomnessoftwee.blogspot.co.uk/
Charli - http://curvygirlthin.blogspot.co.uk
Mookie - http://www.mookieslife.com
Filipa - http://uniquelyfilipa.blogspot.pt/

 

 

Silent Sunday/ My Sunday Photo

On The Road With Natty Nikki- Weston Super Mare

As it was Oliver's birthday this week we decided to celebrate by taking him to Weston Super Mare for an overnight stay.
I thought it would be fun to do a vlog so you could join us on our journey!!

Enjoy!!

Simply Be Smock Dress OOTD

Sorry for the lack of posts, I was still recovering from my chest infection and then took a mini break to have some family time over Easter and to celebrate my sons birthday!

I am back with a new outfit post which features a dress which I spotted the lovely Naomi from Diamonds n Pearls wearing so decided to give it a try!

I had been eyeing this dress up so when it went into the sale combined with a discount I snapped it for just over £12!

This is such a comfy dress to wear and I probably should have gone with a smaller size as it is slightly too big but allows for any possible washing shrinkage!!

It has a mock drawstring waist which if I'm honest I wish actually worked as I could pull it in a bit more! The skirt part is quite thin so without leggings is see through but also has  a cute false button detail which I like.
Since I bought it I can now only find this dress on the Crazy Clearance site where it is selling for £16.50 so still a bargain!!

Outfit details
Dress Crazy Clearance
Leggings Yours Clothing
Trainers Primark

Wingz Fashion Sleeves Review*

The lovely people at Wingz recently contacted me to ask if I would like to review a set of their fashion sleeves. I had heard of them and had even considered buying some so I was rather excited to be able to try some out.

For those of you not familiar with the concept they are sleeves designed to be worn under tops and dresses and come in a variety of styles and sizes.

I chose to try these ones the black full length fitted sleeve as I thought they would be most suited to my outfits.

Image courtesy of Wingz

 

As you can see they fit around your bra so are lightweight and easy to wear. I chose to try mine with my Kelly Brook dress.

For me these work really well as they look like a part of the dress, in fact my husband didn't realise they were separate!!

Personally I don't mind baring my arms but from a practical point of view they are great for whilst the weather is still on the chilly side and mean I don't need a cardigan. I am wearing the size 2 which is for 18-22 and I think I should have gone with the next size up as I forgot to account for my bust!! I think the next size up (24-26) would have fitted better across my bust but even so they are still really comfortable to wear.

I did find them a bit fiddly at first to put on mainly because I put them on upside down but once I got used to them I was fine!! 

I am very tempted to try some of the other styles especially the lace sleeves as these would be great for a night out.

Have you tried Wingz yet?

*Denotes an item gifted for review- all opinions are my own