Plus 40 Fabulous - The Style Council - 0-20.

For this month's Plus 40 fabulous Lee has picked the theme how the influences from our childhood and teens influence our choices today?

Firstly my style is probably eclectic and so are my influences.  My early influences were from old films I used to devour old films on the TV and thought that most of the women in them looked amazing, especially their clothes.  I also had a book of film that was lying around the house and I used to pour over the pictures and wanted to be as glamourous when I grew up.  I also loved Blondie and thought she was the coolest in her white dress looking like she controlled the boys at the back on the front cover of parallel lines.

So from about 0 to 7 my influences were

Influences 7 to 11

My next influences were sassy. naughty girls with big hair.  I really wanted to be Siobhan from Bananarama or Marmalade Atkins.  I didn't do big hair cos my parents cut mine about this time and I didn't know about backcombing, but I did rock fake wayfarers, denim blouson style jackets and oversize T shirts, oh and those fake cheerleader dresses.

Influences 12 - 16.

My next influences I supposd mainly came from John Hughes films, I was sort of obsessed with Andie from Pretty in Pink and dyed my hair red wanting to be her, I also adopted hats, vintage clothes when I could get them to fit and flowery dresses/  I also identified with Ally Sheedy's character from The Breakfast Club, was in love with Tiffany's hair.  I also was a bit of a hippy and would stop around in tassled skirts from the local Indian shop, Karma, anything crochet , floaty and used to go in Oxfam and look longingly at 70's boots knowing they would never fit my chunky calves.  My main influences in this look were probably Melanie and Stevie Nicks.

Influences 16 to 20

I think these have the biggest influences on my dress sense now as I was a Riot Grrl in Doc Marten's and flowery dresses which morphed into Brit Pop and of these it was the retro, nostalgia of Pulp especially in the technicolor Babies video that influenced my style most and I loved everything about how Drew Barrymore looked, even modelling my hair on her at the time and I adored Edie Sedgwick especially in leopard print. 

Me rocking Drew hair

So there you have it a whistle stop tour of my style influences.  They all influence my style now but I guess the styles I was into from 16 upwards probably does the most still, as I still wear fake fur and leopard print, love Peter Pan collars and print frocks (in fact I would go as far to say this is my signature look) Hair clips and skinny logo Tee's are still my jam.  

Yes new influences creep in but I think the essence of me is tied up in these styles.  I am happy that I have had great style icons and whilst they might not be necessarily the most cutting edge or badass, I am happy and glad I have had them in my life.  I suppose the only thing I lament is I never had a fat girl to look up to, never knew that fat could be pretty, stylish and beautiful till I was past my youth and spent so long feeling well fat in not a good way.  I hope in 20 years when other women are doing this, that perhaps fat, stylish women will make their lists.

There are lots of other fabulous 40 plus bloggers taking part in this, please check out their posts:

Cathy: http://www.southernyacht.blogspot.co.uk/
Christy: http://www.sprintingwithscissors.blogspot.co.uk/
Daisy: http://daisysays.co.uk
Kath: https://fatheffalump.wordpress.com
Kellie: http://www.bigfashionista.co.uk/
Leah: http://www.justmeleah.co.uk
Lee: http://www.pinkybellesshed.co.uk/
Lisa: http://www.kitandkoboodle75.blogspot.co.uk/
Mookie: http://www.mookieslife.com/
Nikki: http://www.nattynikki.com/
Perelandra: http://www.pamperandcurves.com/
Sarah: http://www.plussizeproud.co.uk
Steph: http://www.misskittenheel.com
Yvonne: http://woosangwashere.blogspot.com

Vegas 2015- The what I wore edition. (Part 1)

At the end of the year I was lucky enough to go to Vegas for my 13th Wedding Anniversary.  I was going to write about it whilst it was all still fresh and as sparkly as the neon adorned skyline. However, what can I say life struck I was pretty much straight back to work with a killer cold and there was Christmas.  Basically life was kicking my arse.

So here is a what I wore post which is basically print dresses and headbands from Janine Basil.

Day 1

My red Robot dress came out to play on landing but in honesty after a 11 hour flight we were just grabbing a pizza then heading for a snooze.

Day 2.

Conjunctivitis struck so I am in glasses, but I tried a kinda librarian look with a headband my Hell Bunny dress, black tights bizarrely the 100 denier Primark ones in XL fit but the 80 denier ones don't and I cannot find the legendary plus size Primark tights near me.  The shoes came from Top Shop but I got them from E bay for a bargain £2.99.  We may have indulged in drinks on the big wheel

Day 3

I wore my very old Galaxy Print Get Cutie dress with leggings and my Janine Basil Solar system headband, which I adore.  I may have indulged in the R2D2 handbag.

Day 3

My eyes were well enough to wear contacts again.  Yeay!!!!  This was the day the Hub went out to the desert to shoot guns, I watched and we went on allegedly the world's biggest monster truck.  I wore my Ninja turtles Vampire Bunny Dress, Primark Cardie and Leggings.

Day 4

So this was the dress that got the most compliments, people seemed to really love the Lady Voluptuous lip print Phoebe, which I teamed with my red glitter heart Bete noir necklace that says Mrs Jones and Red flat Mel shoes with a bow I picked up a few years ago in a sale,  I am also wearing the glitter heart headband in red from Janine Basil.  I felt like a Cartoon character and loved it.  I must say sizing down to the 20 in the Phoebe alleviated the sizing problems I had with my first one.  

This day was my day and we hung out in old Vegas and went to the neon graveyard.

Day 5

I had this dress made by someone, and it is based on a Get Cutie dress, I chose the elephant fabric from Fabricyard and the tiger necklace is one I won from Snixy swoons do check them out.  

I am going to leave it here and show you the rest of my outfits at a later in the week

16 in 16

Happy New Year you lovely lot.  Years ago I used to do resolutions usually diet, join slimming world, the gym yada yada ya.........  Usually these would be broken by the 14th of January if I was lucky I would feel bad, beat myself up about it, feel bad a bir more, then move on with a nagging sense of failure.  However, I like goals something to aim for, so when Sophie over at Busy Little Fee suggested 16 things to achieve in 2016 I was in, so I have set myself some goals for the year and if your super lucky I might update you.

1/ Read 24 Books
I used to be a proper bookworm with 2 books on the go most of the time, but after my Dad died I found it hard to read.  I don't know if it was because he was a bookworm too and a lot of the time we spent together was either reading or visiting bookshops.  However, 2 books a month seem nice and achievable.

2/Save for a Holiday.
Last year I was lucky enough to go on a brilliant holiday to Las Vegas and we would love to go back or go to South Korea.  Now whilst I know I won't be able to save all of it in a year I would love to manage to put a decent sum aside for this to make a start.

3/  Cook more.
I used to cook a lot and really enjoy it.  Lately I seem to have lost my mojo this might be a case of my husband going veggie and his shifts mean he is not home for dinner a lot.  So more and more take away and ready meals are featuring more which is less than ideal.  So i want to get back to cooking nutritious, simple and tasty meals.

4/  Aim for Promotion
I have been in a bit of a stale situation at the start of last year, treading water not really progressing or feeling happy and fulfilled.  I now am working for a great company and feel like maybe I am ready to make the next step.

5/ Update Blog
I am a bit hit and miss with this little space of mine but I am going to try and update once a week at a minimum.

6/Sort out Wardrobe
My clothes are crazy i have 3 bin bags I need to sort through from when I moved, it is past time I need to sort that shit out so I know exactly what I have, want and need,

7/ Buy More Indie Brands
None of the big players on the plus scene really scream to me and at times their messages are less than body positive.  So when I adorn my fat little body I will look further afield and maybe this will mean buying less nut at least what I buy will make my heart sing.

8/  Spend less time on Social Media
Social Media is great and I have met some fantastic, rad babes through it.  However, I am letting it become a time sucker spending ages on it looking at life rather than getting on and living it a bit more.

9/  Visit Harry Potter Studios
I have always wanted to go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, as I loved the books and need to go and indulge my inner witch.

10/  Have a Ritzy Afternoon Tea
I have always fancied a lovely super indulgent Afternoon Tea at a Ritzy Hotel, maybe even the Ritz so this is the year I will do it.

11/Dedicate More Me Time
I used to love indulging in facepacks or lovely bubble baths but for some reason this has gone out the window.  So I am going to dedicate one night a week for me time to have a face pack, do my nails and make me treat myself like a princess.  As in the words of Ru paul; "If you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love someone else?"

12/  Take More Pictures
For year I avoided the camera which meant I didn't take a lot of pictures, I want to take more pictures so I have evidence on a mean red day of all the good stuff.

13/  Go back to Zumba
I used to love going to Zumba, the movement made feel good and alive.  Then I moved and stopped going, I moved back and still didn't return.  It's time.

14/  Write More
I got into the idea of blogging as I love to write and I wanted a outlet for that.  I have tried writing a book for years, now I don't want to challenge myself to finish that book but I want to get back into the habit of keeping a creative writing journal.

15/  Go to One of The Plus Fashion Events
I always want to go to these but I never get there so this year I need to go to at least one.

16/ Be More Brave
Whilst most people would say I am confident I actually think I am quite shy.  There are several things I would like to do such as: join a local book club and I don't ever get there as I think I won't know anyone and they all not talk to me. Really I need to just do it and if this happens so what, just stick it in the fuck it bucket at least I tried.

So there are my goals, do you do goals or resolutions?  I know other bloggers have done this so do check them out too.

Nikki

Sophie

Daisy

Charli

Kerry-Ann

Tanya

Katya

Kitty

Katt

Lucy

Cathy

Becky

Becky

Katt

Charlene