Bluewater Blogger Meet and Boobies

This Sunday I had the pleasure of going to my first Bloggers meet, I have long wanted to join in these fun filled days but I am usually working!  However, this weekend I wasn't and it would be rude not to attend.

It was a pretty intimate get together as it was Father's Day so a lot of people were doing family stuff but the amazing Anne-Lise from Mookies Life, Leah from Just Me Leah, Abi from A is for Abi and Caroline from Curvy Wordy all made it, as well as Leah's lovely friend Rach.  I had never met any of these ladies bar Mookie before but I can report with all honesty that they are totally lovely, gorgeous people inside and out.

First stop was Evans I didn't see a lot that I wanted but me, Mookie and Leah all had a blast trying on this lovely Scarlet and Jo dress in the sale, like a fat bunch of Charlie's Angels.  Leah's friend Rach made a excellent artistic director directing us for our shots and this was the rock one I think you can tell Leah and Mookie are more authentic rockers than me.

I did try on this rather beautiful dress by Gemma Collins that I am kinda in love with, it is a bit different for me as I usually do quirky rather than glam.

Bottom shot encouraged by Leah

Then after Evans we met Caroline, who I greeted by stating: "You're the booby lady, right?  Can you help me find a bra that pushes my boobs together as there too far apart."  The lovely Caroline took this in her stride and said she would and through her I discovered my boobs are 3 cups sizes larger than I thought as through wearing badly fitting bras a lot of boob was living under my arms! (who knew) and that  I had been putting my bra on all wrong for like 30 years!  Although now getting dressed takes a while longer!

We then all headed for a noisy lunch where we chatted nonsense and generally had a lovely time.  Fair play to all the husbands who met us they managed this brilliantly, then took the pictures at our insistence, whilst we posed and mugged for all we were worth.

After lunch Leah headed off for family matters, Rach and her man went off for a wander, whilst Abi, Mookie, Caroline and I headed to Yours and I finally tried on the Tess dress, as I was feeling left out as every other blogger has tried it.

Thanks to Abi for taking this

After that we headed to Marks' for Bras and Caroline helped me with my bra problems, if you don't read her blog do as this lady is a boob and underwear genius and as predicted the husband was appreciative of the new fit.

We then did ice cream and drinks and it was time to say goodbye for me as I had a busy day the next day, but I can honestly say it was the most fun I had, had in a while and proved to me good company is what makes a day as I only spent £14.00 on a bra but it was the best shopping trip in ages, so if more brands could take note so there is a bit more range we could explore whilst out that would be great.

*sorry for the lack of group shots but I am a bad blogger, but if you look on other people's blogs you might see more pictures.

Men Like Nice Clothes Too!

The Hub is not a thin man at nearly 6'4" and as a size 3 or 4xl it can be a struggle, for years we struggled finding the biggest shorts in Tesco and getting T shirts in there too or Asda, and occasionally going to a shop in Margate that used to stock clothes for big men now sadly gone.  Then a few more pounds went on and this was no longer an option.

So then it was Jacamo not a bad selection but the sizing can be a bit hit or miss and you certainly pay a premium for being fat and we occasionally trawled the bigger stuff in Debenhams.  However, I have gotta say in all if you are a fat man there is a serious gap in the market and you have to search twice as hard to find nice clothes than as a fat woman.  

So I am happy that Yours Clothing has introduced a range for men, it is a bit teeny tiny and there are some good options I can deffo see the Hub rocking the burger T-shirt.  It focuses on tops at the moment so please bear in mind Yours some bottoms would be great as a boy cannot wear tops alone unless he wants to be arrested for indecent exposure.

So here's my picks.

I can see the Hub in the Burger T shirt as not to be a cliched fattie, burgers are his favourite and he certainly would appreciate the idea of a big man wearing a burger T shirt.

The Graffiti T shirt is a nice basic that I could see him wearing.

I like the Red and Black shirt and think it could either have a grunge vibe or a fat Dennis the Menace (yes I am aware it usually a stripe not a check but for some reason it reminds me of him) and either look I could see him rocking.

I love the green on this long sleeved T shirt and having spent hours scouring the internet looking for long sleeved T shirts for him it is a welcome sight.

I am really happy that Your have decided to add Menswear and Style XL are doing a men's catwalk as I think men have been seriously under represented in the Plus size fashion for ages, but could we  have some more choice for the boys please.

Festive Fancies

Well if my old friend December hasn't sneaked up with it's festive cheer that somehow brightens the bright grey skies of winter, with all the twinkles and glitter stopping me from feeling like jumping into bed and not coming out till it is somehow more cheerful.

In the past I have eschewed the festive jumper, I remember my Mum buying me one in the 80's that I shunned thinking: "My god has she lost her freakin mind" that was hideously camp with a family putting up a tree embellished with beads for baubles and tinsel and little bits of gold material and ribbon to make the pressies, it was a festive monster that promtly went into my wardrobe unworn to fester in the back till a cull some years later.  Now I would kill to own it and love a bit of the old festive frippery and as the tree goes up here is the pick of my my fancies.

There was a time for me that the festive season meant some glittery diamante now I have to say I am all about the novelty.

The studs would be perfect for work as I can't do danglies there and are a bargaintastic £6.00 at accessorize.

I am seriously in love with the gold and red pressie from Blackheart Creatives at £18.00.

Obviously as a dog lover I am a pug fan and am quite charmed by these Xmas Pug earrings at a friendly £5.87 from Dolly Cool, they would be a perfect pressie for a pug lover.

Finally Hubster if your reading I think I need this Xmas Pud necklace I'm not sure if I can  feel festive without it.  Again this is from £15.00 from Blackheart Creatives.

Finally I am a sucker for the festive jumper as it is a easy way to feel festive and comfy at the same time.

The top two jumpers are from Tipsy Elves and whilst I love the jumpers the first reminding me a bit of the Jesus is my Homeboy T shirts of days gone by and the second of my Dad who I used to say looked a bit like a garden Gnome as he was short and beardy.  However at £38.00 if I am honest it is a lot to pay for a jumper with such a limited wear time each year.  Also not too sure on sizing so I would probably go mens to be certain that it would fit.

The second are more wallet friendly and are both again from Yours clothing they are cute rather than edgy but I really like both and either would be a welcome edition to my winter wardrobe.  Rudolph is £24.00 and the penguin one is £26.00.

Finally if anyone wants to spoil me or I want to spoil myself I could go all out with a Christmas Dress.

The dress with the Xmas beefcake is from Silly Old Seadog and at £95.00 it is a investment piece but refreshingly Silly Old Sea Dog do go up to a size 28 on this dress.

The second dress is from a favourite of mine Vampire Bunnies in the shop it only goes to a 18 but I know that Ellie does custom orders for a little more, this dress is £45.00.

So that is my festive round up what is making your heart sing Christmas Carols this year?

#OOTD Start wearing Purple For Me

As the crisper Autumn days are coming I am beginning to crave the richer Autumnal colour palettes of oranges, browns and of course purple.

As i mentioned previously whilst perusing the Yours store in Swansea on its opening I fell in love with a fluffy purple cardigan, it wasn't really my usual style as I tend to go for a finer knit but it was so bloody cosy and felt as soft as a puppy's fur I had to have it.  Then when I ventured into the basement where the sale was they had the lovely purple playsuit that was seen on Betty Pamper and Becky Brown  at the bargain price of £15.00 (there is also a black version of this) I  loved the colour of it  and wondered if I could make it work in an in an autumn/winter way.

So I thought I would team it with the fluffy cardie, some opaque tights and biker boots and see how it went.  I can tell you it was a cosy outfit I am happy with the fit of the playsuit as it is fitted where I want it to be a loose where needed and I felt the length was just right.

The Biker boots were a bargain at £18.00 from Primark they are comfy, seem to be sturdy and have chunky heels.

The Boots and cardie with the dress has a 90's vibe which as someone who was a teen in the late 80's early 90's pleases me and is in keeping with my love of nostalgia.

Where to get my outfit from:

Playsuit - Yours

Cardigan - Yours

Tights - Body sensor 100 dernier Marks and Spencers

Boots - Primark.

Finally all that purple in one outfit started me thinking of Gogol Bordello and Start Wearing Purple which is a song I enjoy and never fails to make me smile so I have attached it here for your pleasure.

Thanks for reading now have a good day listen to Gogol Bordello and smile x

Yours Clothing - Swansea Opening

A confession apart from the £1.00 dress I have never shopped in Yours I have no idea why I just haven't!  I have seen a lot opening first Llanelli when I was living in Wales, then Ashford now I am back in Kent and I have still never been as I worked on the opening days then sort of forgot as they are not places I go shopping.

Anyhow I am visiting Swansea as I am sort of between here and Kent at the moment and I got a e mail to say a new store was opening on the 25th so it seemed rude not to go.

What can I say I liked it as apart from Evans in the Quadrant there is no other plus size stores in Swansea and New Look took the Inspire range from in the store in Swansea centre, so apart from Primark and Boots I didn't venture much into Swansea itself.

My apologies I didn't take any pictures of the store itself but if your local or visiting it is in the main shopping area of Oxford Street on the opposite corner to Top Shop.  The ladies in the shop were fabulously helpful and it was jam packed with pretty clothes with some good functional pieces like jeans and vests tops at good prices, I felt like the price point was a bit lower than Simply Be who I have used and do use.

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These ladies were super helpful the lovely girl in the the purple top took pictures for me in the changing room, sought out jeans for me, offered to get different sizes and implored me to buy a dress that I am afraid I didn't as I felt I needed more functional clothes.  Whilst the other lovely lady pointed me in the direction of the sale downstairs and who can resist a sale.

First I tried a lovely lace dress which had in my mind a slight Gatsby vibe to it, this is the dress the sales assistant thought I needed to buy and which I might at a later date.

I also tried a very floaty pink dress on that reminded me of summers days, it was very pretty and girly but maybe not quite me.

Then I tried some Jeans which were a good fit but a little long, a vest top which was a lovely fit and nice and long and a Kimono top that I liked but me and Kimono's have a bit of a love hate since the first time I wore one when the hub said I looked like a cross between a art teacher and Keith Lemon cheers for that love!

Finally I tried on a very snuggly warm purple cardie which I did buy again The Hub is not a fan but I really don't care as it is warm and I love the colour.

In all i was impressed with my first visit and felt there was quite a wide range of clothes and I used my £5.00 discount on some vests and the a purple playsuit (I didn't get a pic as I rushed down to the Sale whilst Mum queued) that caused controversy when Betty Pamper dared to wear it with bare legs and the trolls came out to play which I think I can rock this winter with the purple cardie, tights and biker boots.  Whilst my Mum treated me using her £5.00 off voucher to the Purple Cardie.

Some final words from the changing room wall on how the morning made me feel, I found this to be a warm welcoming store which will give plus size ladies more choice in Swansea.

Double Vision - One dress, two ways #1

The idea behind this challenge was to get one dress and wear it two different ways to get some more inspiration to change the look of a dress.  It is probably not the most original idea but Anne-Lise from  Mookie's Life decided to make this a monthly challenge on the last Sunday of the month we will style a dress and post both sets of pictures and hopefully give others some ideas on different ways to style things.

I am also really excited about this as it is my first Bloggers challenge and both Anne-Lise and I have different styles, I am pretty minimalistic usually, whilst I feel Anne-Lise is far more confident with accessorising than I so I am hoping to take inspiration from this. This month we are wearing the same dress which is part of the 99p dress range from Yours Clothing

When the dress arrived my initial thoughts were it was a nice heavy fabric but I hadn't seen the detailing on the arms and this was a bit too much embellishments for my taste so I snipped them off.  The dress said it originally retailed at £60.00, I wouldn't have paid that for it but it is worth more than the 99p.

Some people may love this amount of detail but too much
for me.

So we both started with a more casual day time look.

Anne Lise styled her dress

 White Jacket from New Look (old)

, Coloured tights (that I love) from Evans

Hat - Primark

Boots - Tesco

My Look is more Black

Leggings - Tu at Sainsburys

Cardigan - George at Asda

Boots - Clarks

Doing this post I realised how black my wardrobe is and I really would have liked to do something a bit more daring with this, with some coloured tights or maybe print floral leggings and trainers but unfortunately I just don't own any so that might be my next investment.

For Anne-Lise's evening look she styled it in a very glamourous way with fishnets and heels and her hair in a quiff.  I think this dress looks really good on her as she is pretty glam.

Fishnet Tights -Anne Summers

Black Heels - Evans

My style again is pretty minimalistic with drop earrings, patent heels and glossy tights.

A feature I did like was of the slightly dropped back.

Patent Heels - Marks and Spencers

Earrings - Primark

Tights - Monsoon

Would I have bought this dress if it hadn't have been 99p probably not, and although I love the 80's this dress was a bit over embellished for my own personal tastes.  

Has anyone else bought the 99p dress and if so how did you style yours?