I Heart You!!

Oh yes I do!! Michael and I went to Birmingham this weekend to catch up with some of his friends from uni. We spent the afternoon in the pub before nipping back to the hotel room to get changed. We were out again by 6.30pm so I went for a casual smart look.

Top - George @ Asda - Has since disappeared off the site but is still available in-store

Jeans - Jeffrey & Paula @ Simply Be (past season)

Pumps - Dorothy Perkins

Jacket - Simply Be (past season) 

Finally got my mitts on the heart print top from Asda I'd been lusting over in my pick of the prints post its much longer than I thought it would be, but this isn't a bad thing!!! My favourite smart jacket that I acquired from Simply Be a couple of years ago finally turned up after I was heart broken at the thought that I'd lost it! I love the satin detail to the lapels giving it a tuxedo look.

Here's a couple of pics from the night......

Michael's old uni friends

and a trip to Birmingham wouldn't be complete without spending a stupid amount of time in my spiritual home, Selfridges (mainly the food hall)

OOTD - Cosy Comfort

I just had a few errands to run on Friday, myself and my cupcake supplier Helen at Crofts Cakes are organising a Chari-tea Party in aid of Bliss so I had to go and pick a few donations up that people had very kindly offered for the raffle. This is what I wore....

This just made me laugh!!! (self timer on cameras and toddlers sometimes don't match!!)

Long sleeved T - Love Label @ Littlewoods

Jumper Dress - Love Label @ Littlewoods

Tights - Marks & Spencer

Boots - Kurt Geiger @ Viva La Diva

Five Take: Interview

This weeks Five Take tackles interviews. This one was a tad tricky for me as I'm a full time mum and run my own business so I don't have a lot of smart clothes in my wardrobe any more, but I managed to cobble this together! When I did work full time I was a Personal Assistant to a Director within the NHS, so my work wardrobe was smart but not overly corporate as I found to be the case on the whole in the NHS.

I always used to wear a suit to interviews but I found in the last couple of years before I had Poppy that this was becoming a dated notion. As part of my job I used to facilitate a lot of interviews and ladies interview wear seemed to be steering more towards smart separates and shift dresses.

Blouse - Dorothy Perkins
High Waist Trousers - South @ Littlewoods
Belt - Dorothy Perkins
Shoes - Kurt Geiger

Close up of the print on the blouse

Bit shaky, sorry!!!

 
I decided to wear a lovely patterned blouse from Dorothy Perkins, I think its important to wear a splash of colour, or an interesting pattern to an interview to make a visual impression, obviously in the right way, probably best to stay away from neons and such like!!

I love the look of blouses tucked into high waisted skirts and trousers, thought it was important to add a contrasting belt to break it up though. I sized up to a 24 in these particular trousers, felt with the style they may have given me the unfortunate "camel toe" if I'd have stayed true to size!!!

I finished the outfit off with my favourite work shoes, my Kurt Geiger T straps. I've had these about 8 years, they are such a great shoe, classic but with enough interest not to be boring. Sorry about the picture though, I'm not feeling too good and its come out a bit shaky!!!

Find out what Claire, Rebecca, Nicole and Gina would wear to an interview....

Do you agree? has there been a shift from suits for interviews, or are you a traditionalist?

Gok-a-licious!!!

The very lovely folk over at Simply Yours invited me to the press launch for the Gok Wan for Simply Yours S/S '12 collection at the rather lush W Hotel. Designed exclusively for Simply Yours, Gok has created his definitive collection of must-have shapewear. Gok himself explained to us personally (OMG) that it's a "Wall of Fame", a greatest hits brought together from past seasons collections but in 3 new gorgeous shades, and gorgeous they were!

I myself only wear shapewear occasionally, as in the past I have found it quite restrictive and uncomfortable, plus I actually like my shape, the whole roly poly lot of it!!....but the feel of the material and the look of this new collection will definitely sway me into wearing it more often!

Now forgive me for it being a bit picture heavy, but its really about the product, the place and the people than my words....

The revolving sofa.......Yeah baby!

Gok!!!

 

Gok cops a feel of lovely Lauren!

Hey Hey Rosie!!!!

Gorgeous Georgina & Lovely Lauren (yeh I just wrote that)

And finally..........

He's so pretty.....!

Five Take: Primary Colours

Five take time, I'll be completely honest. I found this one difficult. I have a lot of red in my wardrobe, but struggled finding any blue or yellow. I have lots of mustard but not any true yellow. so I went for a red stripy jumper I've had for about 4 years and teamed it with a blue cord skirt. I had been shopping that day, and found it in a charity (thrift) shop. I don't know if this is a national thing but our local Cancer Research shop has lots of brand new items donated to them from Tesco, I presume end of line, sale stock, so it appears the supermarket giant does have a heart (well that may be stretching it a tad.....) But rather money went to charity then them, so I picked it up for the reasonable price of £3.20!

Once I'd got the skirt on it turns out it was way too big, I think it may require some altering, but for now I popped a belt on with it, my amazing new Marks and Spencer tights (Blogged here) and leopard print brogues.

It's not my finest hour and even Mr BeBe admitted it really wasn't my best ensemble, but that's the point of Five Take, it can be challenging and it will show our strengths and weaknesses and identify what suits us and what doesn't. This week just wasn't my week!

The best tights in the world, ever.....FACT

Somebody wanted to get in on the action!!!!

Why not head on over to the other ladies to see if they pulled it off better than me! (it's not hard!)

Nicole

Gina

Rebecca

and I think Claire is taking a break this week

Do you have a predominant colour pallet in your wardrobe? How would you have coped with a primary colours challenge?

OOTD - Hint of Deco

Popped out for a drink and a bite to eat with my lovely friend Pauline last night, well I say popped out, what was meant to be a bite to eat and few drinks turned into a bit of a sesh!! We met a 6pm, and didn't go home until 11pm, Oops!

The town centre is a bout a mile or so from my house so I had to consider sensible footwear for the walk, even though a mile isn't much, there's no way I could do that in heels!

So I popped on my trusty leggings and knee high boot combo, with a dress I've had for years. It's another prime example of sizing madness. This is a size 14 (baa ha ha, I haven't been a size 14 since I was 12 years old!) from the G21 range at Asda, but because of the swing style (I made it into a bubble hem a few years later) you can totally get away with it!
I love the art deco style collar and the metallics tones. It was bitterly cold last night so I stuck my trusty denim jacket on and then my proper coat on top!!!

Oh and a quick footnote, thought it only fair to add a drunken pic....

OOTD - *That* Dress

It's Thursday, which means playgroup day, unfortunately it got cancelled so we settled for feeding the ducks and doing some crafts!
I pulled out another old favourite, and yes, its *that* dress, the New Look Swallow dress mark one. Except mine is actually the tunic top, but from the tall range so it kind of looks like a dress, but you get my drift! I love this dress because I can rockabilly it up and wear it with cute heels, victory rolls and a pretty flower. Today I went for functionality, popped in on with leggings, slouchy socks (yeah, I'm *that* cool) boots, and denim jacket.

Not just any tights.......

Sorry I couldn't resist. Plus size tights can be the bane of many a chunky thighed lady, I myself have suffered the roll down, the slip down, the ripped before you've made it out the door and the Nora Batty's need I go on?

Twitter has been a light with hosiery based conversations this past few weeks, in one particular exchange with the lovely @CatJGoddard  I was pointed in the direction of Marks and Spencer tights, I was quick to dismiss, oh no they don't go up to my size, and on further inspection, no they didn't accommodate my 52 inch hip, but on a walk through my local M&S today, I saw the Fashion Tights had 25% off, so I had a quick peruse, and found to my surprise, a huge range of, gorgeous, woolly, slinky, colourful and textured tights. I decided on a deep blue, flecked pair, the Cotton Rich Nep Yarn to be precise, in a L/XL. I walked back and forth to the counter several times, putting them back, umming and ahhing, when I finally made it to the counter declaring the the assistant, that "they probably wouldn't fit, but it was worth a try" But low and behold to my surprise when I got home and tried them, they fit!! great length in the leg, nice depth in the tummy area and so soft!!!

I'm quite tempted to go back tomorrow and snap up some more pretty tights!!!

Pick of the Prints

Oooh I do love a good print, so I'm happy to see they play a prominent part in SS12 trends, although lets be fair regardless of whether its in fashion or not, I'm always gonna be a sucker for a bit of  leopard print, or a lovely bird print.

Here are my current high street faves.....

1. Asda - Heart Print Blouse - £11.00 Ermm thank you, yes you're welcome. It's fluffing gorgeous isn't it? Unfortunately the 22 & 24 are out of stock online, but I urge you, like me to run down to your local Asda and buy it.....and if they have a 22 or 24 get me one and I'll pay you back!!

2. Dorothy Perkins - Humming Bird Tee - £18.00 I love this too, anyone want to lend me some cash please?...

3. Simply Be - Floral Print Jumpsuit - £48.00 I'm a bit partial to a jumpsuit as you can see here on one of my very first posts, people, its like wearing pyjama's in public, but smarter and socially acceptable!

4. So Fabulous - Floral Crochet Top - £15.00 Such a pretty little top, so easy to wear.

5. Simply Be - Georgette Print Kimono - £26.00 This is such a great flexible piece for hazy summer evenings, or even lazy summer afternoons in the park to keep the sun off your shoulders.......(one can dream)

6. Tesco - Ha Ha Print Dress - £10.00 Love this striking Aztec style print, unfortunately this dress only goes up to a 20, but should you be of that size, this is half price at the moment and can be picked up at the bargain price of £10!

7. Tesco - Floral Tea Dress - £16.00 Had to throw a little tea dress in for good measure, and this one is a complete cutie!

OOTD - Old Favourite

Since we moved house back in October, a few of my favourite bits of clothing have gone walkies. Who knows where, and why? but they are definitely at the least "misplaced". So you can imagine my joy when my favourite slouchy vest reappeared last week. Great for slinging on top of jeans and black t-shirts. Its an oldy, but a goody!! Its another prime example of don't trust the sizing, its an 18 from New Looks "straight" size range. (about 3 years old too)

Have you got a "go to" piece, comfortable but presentable?
B
x

Review: Maritsota, Printed Kimono Dress

I was so chuffed when the people over at Marisota agreed to send me a peice to review, because I went to them with a specific idea in mind. Although Marisota is part of the same family as brands such as Simply Be and Fashion World, I don't think they'll mind me saying the majority of their pieces are aimed at a more more mature market. With this in mind, I wanted to take an item from their collection and style it on a (relatively) young person (me, 32) and a more mature lady....... Introducing, Mama JuJu!!! Yes folks its my mummy!!! After much consideration, Mum and I decided on the Printed Kimono Dress

Mama JuJu!!!

At just shy of 5'2" and a dress size bigger than me, I thought it would be nice to see the comparison in body shape as well as age.

First up is my interpretation of the dress. I wore it with thick black tights, knee high boots, black belt and orange geometric necklace.....

I wouldn't normally wear this style of dress, but it felt so nice on. I like how it came with a plain black slip underneath, and even thought it was a size 24, the kimono style lends itself to a looser fit. I'm 5'7" so it came up relatively short on me, I personally would wear it with out leggings or opaque tights, the varied colours makes it great to wear with different coloured tights too, I would definitely go for a maroon or teal pair of tights with this dress. It just felt lovely on too!

Now for Mums take on it......



Bless!!!



Mum decided to team the dress with some simple black bootcut trousers, pointed boots and teal necklace. As you can see it comes up a lot longer on my 5'2" mum, aspects she particularly liked was the quality of the finish (things mums notice!!) her favourite feature was the modesty panel though, mums not one for flashing her cleavage, so for her this was just great. It's a little out of mums comfort zone too as she's not used to such a bold print, but she fell in love with it when she tried it on and safe to say she went home a very happy lady!!

Whilst choosing this piece to review I was also lucky enough to pick something from the beautiful Joanna Hope line as my Plus London Two dress, so keep your eyes open for my review on that.

Disclaimer: This item was gifted to me for review. I have not been paid to write this article or comment favourably on the item/brand, all opinions are my own.

Five Take: 1960s

It's that time of the week again, Five Take this week sees us visiting the 1960s.

It was my choice this week, my reasoning behind this one was many, first of all I thought it would be a challenge as there is a fine line between paying homage to a certain period in fashion and looking like you're going to a fancy dress party. Secondly I've been flirting with the 60s a bit more of late, I usually take influence from the 40s & 50s but I've become quite partial to a beehive just lately and I've started to see little bits of 60s-esque clothing start to creep into my wardrobe, and I guess lastly because I have the biggest girl crush on chef and food writer Gizzi Erskine, I love her late 50s early 60s styling, plus, well you know, she's all pretty and stuff.

I decided to base my outfit around this cute coat I got last year from littlewoods, I of course would love to have worn a real vintage piece, but as some of you will know, plus size vintage is few and far between.

T Shirt - Love Label
Jeans - Simply Be
Coat - Littlewoods (Similar)
Loafers - Tesco (in black)

I teamed it with a simple black base of skinny jeans rolled up to mimic the ankle grazer style and staple black tee, and popped on my beige patent loafers to tie in with the coat. Very plain but effective I think....oh and of course a little beehive up top.

Head on over to the other Five Takers to see how they've "done" the 1960's...

Rebecca
Nicole
Gina
Claire

New In? Slim Pickings.

Today was a strange day, the light outside felt fresher, like we were coming out of the gloom of Winter. The nights are noticeably lighter already and so, to this end I thought I'd have a trawl round the "New In" sections of the plus size retailers, looking for inspiration and generally having a good old window shop.

At a size 22 I'm in a position where I can shop some of the "straight" (urgh) size ranges, so when compiling this montage I was acutely aware of my fellow bloggers and readers (baa haa haa, get me readers?!) who are a size 24 plus don't have that opportunity (FFS). I'll be completely honest, it was slim pickings. 

Things are improving, but going through the pages of  the "New In" section I found a big percentage of it was the exact opposite of new. I was greeted with page after page of very familiar silhouettes, fabrics and patterns.

However there was some shining items for me, I've picked 5 of my favourites....

   

1. Evans - Mink Wrap Chiffon Top - £35.00 I love this top it's got a real sports luxe feel about it, but I can see it being a real flexible piece to own. The colour lends itself to corals, khakis, blacks and even navy. Dress it up with statement chunky jewellery and sexy heels.

2. Simply Be - Georgette Spot Dress - £68.00 Oooh so pretty! Such a great cut, I'd love to pop this on with some really bright coloured tights to make it pop!

3. So Fabulous! - Coloured Jegging - £30.00 These also come in a light green and soft blue with a nod to the upcoming pastels that are going to be huge this season. I personally would go for the coral, for no other reason than that I'm mad on coral, have been for some time!

4. Yours - Black Contrast Trim Jacket - £22.00 This is so lush, great for slipping on with jeans for shopping with the girls, maybe a lunch date or over a simple shift dress for the evening. I normally hate waterfall styles but I think because this is a structured jacket and not designed to just swamp it gets away with it.

5. Marks and Spencer - Star Print Jersey dress - £35.00 It's so nice to see M&S stepping up their game with this lovely dress in this seasons must have star print, being jersey it's going to be easy and comfortable to wear.

I'm hoping once the full SS12 ranges have been revealed the choice will have somewhat improved, but it does remind me of a brilliant comparative post Lauren over at Pocket Rocket Fashion did a couple of months ago (click the link to read), and quite frankly I still, to this day find it heartbreaking we're not offered the choice and range of fashion those of a size 16 and under are and which we are quite rightly entitled too - but that my friends is WHOLE other ranty post!!!

Casual days and play dates...

Contrary to popular belief, I don't look like I've just stepped out of the pages of a magazine everyday.... (LOL!!!) I am a mum, so in all honesty most of my days are spent in leggings and long tops or shhhhh....pyjamas. But when I do venture out of the house for other associated mummy tasks, I like to look nice but it has to be practical, flexible and provide good coverage (no builders bum for me thank you muchly!)

On a Thursday Poppy and I go to the play group and my VERY active 21 month old keeps me running around, bending over, sitting on the floor and climbing into tents for the whole 2 hours, so I thought further to my review piece on the Simply Be Chloe Super Stretch Skinny Jeans, I thought I'd really road test them this time!!

Scarf - H&M (old)
Striped top - Littlewoods (Last season)
Cardigan - Primark
Jeans - Simply Be
Loafers - Miss L Fire

I am happy to report that the jeans more than stood up to the test, there was no bottom cleavage, the knees didn't bag, and I still looked presentable at the end!!

Now a quick spotlight on my shoes, they have popped up a couple of times in my posts but I haven't gone into any great detail about them. I completely and utterly adore them, they are the Miller loafer from retro inspired footwear range Miss L Fire I cannot rave enough about the design of their shoes, and the quality of their shoes enough. I picked these little beauties up for just £20.00 (rrp £80.00) they are so comfortable, have a vintage feel about them and for me its all about the details a feature that Miss L Fire never fail to deliver on. Their signature bird print lining is just lush and these shoes in particular have a cute feature; under the actual tassels is a gold drawing of the tassels!! how cute is that?!!

Please excuse my veiny feet!!!

What do you wear on casual days? Jeans, leggings or are you a strictly skirt/dress kind of gal?