Why it’s time to throw out those incentive jeans!

I recently did some talks on the Ideal Woman catwalk at the Ideal Home show about dressing to make the most of your body. It was in a similar vein to what I did at BNTM Live – I concentrated on my belief that we need to stop looking at our bodies and seeing a series of flaws and ‘problem areas’, but we should pick out the good bits instead, in order to start on a positive note. It sounds obvious, but I’ve met plenty of women who struggle to pick even one thing they really like about themselves, and I think that’s a terrible shame…

Fitting Room Adventures: Pepperberry

Pepperberry is the recently relaunched clothing range from underwear afficionados Bravissimo. Available in sizes 8 – 18 in three bust sizes (curvy, really curvy and super curvy) it aims to cater for women who’re fed up of having to buy a size bigger to accomodate their bust. As a DD/E cup, I own a couple of dresses from the old Bravissimo range (bought in the sales!) and they’re a beautiful fit, but in general the range had a tendency to be a bit frumpy and boring at times, so I was excited to see what they came up with in this new incarnation. I’d heard whisperings that there was a bit of a 50s influence, and the image above (the first to be released) definitely supported that idea…

Ten things I love (and none of them are dresses)

We all know by now that I rely a little bit too much on the whole ‘put on tights, add dress, throw on some shoes, leave house’ approach to getting dressed in the morning. But in order not be quite so predictable in the way I dress, I’ve been trying to move away from that. It hasn’t gone particularly well – mostly, I’ve been wearing more coloured tights (oooh, innovative!) and trying to wear a pair of earrings for more than half an hour before I get bored and remove them – but I’m also trying to stop myself from going directly to the ‘dresses’ page when I’m browsing online. I’m finding myself increasingly drawn towards separates – mostly blouses, skirts and shorts – and great statement accessories. Here are just a few of the things I’ve discovered by making that tiny little change…

Tried & Tested: Lingerie Please

You all know how passionate I am about making sure the right outfit is supported by the right underwear, so when Lingerie Please got in touch to see if I’d like to review a few of their products, how could I say no? I dropped them a line with my size and told them what I love, and sat back to see what they chose for me.

But first a quick note about bra size. There’s a huge, huge chance (an 80% chance, in fact) that you are NOT wearing the right size bra. So pull your head out the sand and go and get re-measured if you haven’t done so in the last couple of years. And by ‘couple of years’ I really do mean two, not ten. I spent years unwittingly wearing the wrong size, and the difference a well-fitting bra has made is unbelievable. So if your bra straps fall down, if the back of the band rides up, if your boobs overhang (above OR below the cup) or if you just want to double-check, go and get measured somewhere they don’t use a tape measure and finally enjoy the joys of a bra that does its job…

March Wishlist: Lighten Up

I’m dreaming of Spring, and the time I can finally put my winter coats back in the wardrobe and pull out the lighter jackets, blazers and my beloved beige belted trench (from Gap, bought forever ago). With that in mind, my March wishlist is all about a lighter colour scheme, dotted with my current colour obsession – rust. I just managed to bag the last ASOS pleated skirt 2-in-1 dress in my size and I’m really hoping it doesn’t look too mumsy on a curvier figure. Pleats are hard enough to pull off at the best of times, but I love the colour combo enough to risk it – I can always take advantage of the great returns policy! See over the jump for bigger pics and product details…

More shoes saved & dresses worn!

I’ve been making every effort to actually update this site more often in 2011, but I’ve been a bit quiet this week as things have been a bit busy, so apologies for that. I’ve still been keeping up with my challenges – Frugal Feb the Shoeper Challenge and Frocking Fridays – and I’m finding documenting all those outfits and shoe saves really good fun, and it makes me think a little bit more about what I’m wearing each day, rather than just throwing on whatever dress comes to hand first. Especially as in the last week I’ve had parties, work events and London Fashion Week to attend…

Save 25% at Style369.com

Style369, Arcadia’s younger and more stylish plus size store is currently offering 25% off their new Spring 2011 stock. This includes dresses from Max C, tunics from Lovedrobe and all manner of basics, trends and footwear. To help you spend your money wisely, I’ve picked some of my favourite pieces from the New In section. Just click the links below to shop – you don’t need a special code, the discount should be applied automatically at the checkout. Only some items on the site are included in the promotion so double-check before you put in those credit card details…

A Fortnight in Pictures: Fabulous Frocks & Saving Shoes

It’s been a bit of a mad couple of weeks in terms of events and night’s out, so I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front as a result. Even this is going to be a bit of a quick post, mostly made up of various photos from the last ten days or so. If you follow me on twitter you’ve probably seen most of these already so sorry for the repeats! In the last fortnight I’ve been to blogger meet-ups, shop openings, photoshoots and parties and at one memorable moment even found myself listed alongside some of my fashion idols as I was placed at number 3 in the top fashion tweeters according to The Telegraph. Their cheque is in the mail…

You’d never guess I liked it: The Parka

I have a huge soft spot for the parka. It goes against just about everything that I love in fashion – it’s quite masculine, oversize and screams ‘utility’ not ‘pretty’, but there is something about the artful way in which a really stylish woman can pull off such a functional piece of clothing that I really love. This stems back to about 2007, when The Sartorialist posted a picture of a glam woman in killer heels topped with a massive parka. It’s not a look I could pull off, but ‘Parka on Heels‘ became a bit of fixation of mine. There was even a sequel…

Things to get excited about: new capsule collections

There are some amazing capsule and limited edition collections coming out in the next couple of months, and I’m excited about pretty much all of them. From Debenhams’ new ‘Edition’ collection, featuring pieces from Preen, Roksanda Ilincic, Jonathan Saunders and Jonathan Kelsey, to the much hyped ‘Inclusive’ range from H&M, which is an online-only collection of pretty dresses and separates that come in a larger range of sizes than the usual tiny H&M stuff. Keep reading for pics and info on these great upcoming fashion collaborations…