Simply Yours are offering up to 40% off past season Gok Wan shapewear. That means huge savings on slips, corsets and magic pants! For a review of some of the pieces, see here.

The Dorothy Perkins sale begins today. Get up to 50% off selected items now!

Gallery: Evans Autumn / Winter 2010-11 Press Day

Today was press day for Phillip Green’s Arcadia, which owns Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Evans (among others). I joined the fashionistas to take a look at what some of the high street’s biggest players have in store for Autumn / Winter 2010-11, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Evans more than held its own against it’s ‘trendier’ sister brands.

From biker jeans to shearling coats, faux fur to boho dresses, all the key trends were covered. There was some brilliant footwear (put me on the list for the Victoriana-inspired lace-up calf boots) and great bags (look out for the blue one in the pics). Other key items to look out for included a Balmain-esque t-shirt with stud and chain covered shoulders, a coral dress with cut-out shoulders, and a great sheer jersey top with angel wings front and back. Right now these are all early samples, so who’s to say if all of them will make it into local stores come September, but it’s still worth making that shopping list now. There should also be some surprises to come – apparently the ash cloud meant some samples were stranded abroad!

Superdrug have 3 for 2 on all Bourjois products at the moment. My fave product is the round pot eyeshadow in Argent. I’ve been using it to add contrast to a smoky eye for almost ten years!

Vintage reproduction clothing (Pin-up, burlesque & rockabilly) – The ultimate shopping list!

It’s not hard to see why so many curvaceous women turn to fashions from the 40s and 50s when it comes to making the most of their bodies. The era’s pin-up girls, ‘cheesecake’ models and Vargas girls all had waspish waists and sexy curves. Actresses had hourglass figures that their clothes could barely contain (think Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors) and all women wore girdles that sculpted their bodies to perfection and bullet bras that gave the appearance of a Joan Holloway-esque bosom on even a petite woman.

I know from reading comments and looking at search terms that many of us wish we could eschew badly-designed, poorly-fitting modern pieces for something more flattering from the past. But finding true vintage pieces from that era for a larger figure can be difficult. Most good pieces are expensive, and many come in very small sizes, especially on the waist.

So three cheers for the many great brands and retailers who’ve allowed us to get a bit of that old-fashioned glamour in modern sizing. Some of the labels below stock plus size, some don’t, but I’ve chosen to include them all for reference…

Fancy those wedge sandals? New Look are offering 20% off with the code MWOL20 from 9th to 11th April. (Thanks to Fi for this one).

Secret sale sites are my latest obsession. Limited-length sales offer really huge discounts on branded fashion. Try Cocosa for high end labels like Matthew Williamson and Gucci or Brand Alley for labels like French Connection and great lingerie.

Top Ten: even more ‘buy now, wear later’

There’s no real link between these ten products except the fact I love them and I will be investing in some of them ready for when the Sun finally shows its face! This Summer, I’ll be eschewing the more off-the-wall catwalk trends (jogging pants? Leather shorts? I think not…) for something a bit more flattering.

On the relaxed, bohemian side there’ll be an update on last Summer’s gladiator sandals, pretty maxi dresses, nude wedge sandals, 50s sundresses and vintage-inspired doctors bags. For something a bit more dramatic, I’m thinking chandelier earrings, waterfall frills, graphic print dresses and military inspiration. All these items are available now, so get shopping before they sell out…