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…

Exclusive Sneak Peek: Simply Be SS11 ‘Angel Ribbons’ Collection

The team at Simply Be have always been really supportive of Big Girls Browse and I was really happy to be offered a bit of an exclusive on one of their Spring / Summer ranges. The ‘Angel Ribbons’ collection won’t be available until next week, but you can have a little sneaky peek at some of the pieces right here. I saw some of the samples a month or so ago at the launch, and this was definitely one of the ranges that really stood out for me. I do love a bit of girly glam! Keep reading for all the pics…

Big Girls Browse at BNTM Live

I have to admit that when I was invited to take part in the Style Icon Workshops at Britain’s Next Top Model Live, my first thought was “Me? At a modelling event?” Judging a plus size modelling comp is one thing, but turning up to an event chock full of tall, slim wannabe models is another. Especially as I chose to talk about learning to embrace your body and enjoy clothing whatever your size.

But I learned some really interesting things talking to people between workshops. Women of all shapes, sizes and ages were at the show, and some of them gave me a much-needed reminder that it’s not just curvier women who have trouble knowing what to wear!

Come and see me at BNTM live!

It seems like everything I’m doing right now is related to models in some way. This is not a regular occurance, but I’ll enjoy it while I can! Next weekend I’ll be making an appearance at Britain’s Next Top Model Live, the fashion and beauty extravaganza that celebrates the top rated TV show of the same name. As part of the Style Icon Workshops, I’ll be taking to the stage to do two presentations per day on a subject that’s very close to my heart – dressing for your body shape…

Judging the Simply Be plus size model competition

This week I left London for a couple of days and headed to Manchester for the long-awaited final of Simply Be‘s ‘Face Of Plus Size Fashion’ modelling competition. I was absolutely honoured to be asked to join Alison and Natalie from Simple Be, Jackie from Best Magazine and Sarah from 12+ UK Model Management as one of the judges, though I don’t think I realised until I got there just how difficult it was going to be to pick just one woman from the group of amazing ladies who made up the final 16!

The rules of the competition were left wide open, with no restrictions other than the fact you had to wear size 14+. The finalists (who’d been preselected by the team at Simply Be) were a really wide range of sizes, heights and ages, which I thought was fantastic. It was so wonderful to see women of all shapes and sizes looking gorgeous – and not shying away from fitted shapes, tricky trends and bold colours – but it also made choosing an eventual winner really difficult, because I loved so many of the girls for different reasons…

London Fashion Week gets curvy with All Walks and the LOOK show

Three cheers for Caryn Franklin, Debra Bourne and Erin O Connor’s initiative ‘All Walks Beyond the Catwalk‘ which bought some much-needed diversity to the catwalk at London Fashion Week. For the third season, All Walks bought us models of varying age, size and skin colour, who posed this morning for a photocall with top photographer Rankin to launch their latest campaign, SNAPPED.

All Walks was the reason Hayley Morley so famously stepped out in skintight knitwear for Mark Fast a couple of years ago. This season, Hayley’s already been spotted at the LOOK show accompanied by fellow plus size models Laura Catteral and Crystal Renn…

Are you the next face of plus size fashion?

Just a quick note to say that I’m honoured and excited to be involved in the latest project from UK-based size 14+ retailers Simply Be. I’ll be helping out as one of the judges of their search for the new Face of Plus Size Fashion.

This is an amazing opportunity for all those women who feel they could give the current crop of plus size models a run for their money (and I know there are a lot of you). There are no height or weight restrictions except that you need to be at least a size 14 (and over 18 years old). The prizes are amazing; you’ll become the face of Simply Be’s Style Files, you’ll win a massive £10,000 to spend at Simply Be and you’ll get a consultation with 12+ Model Management.

Click here for everything you need to know to enter. And good luck!

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!

Laura Lees wants you to wear a well-fitting bra!

If you missed the chance to get your mitts on affordable Laura Lees designs when she was creating stuff for Topshop and ASOS, fear not! The quirky designer has teamed up with lingerie brand Freya for a special collaboration to mark the launch of the ‘Holy Fit’ campaign.

The campaign is dedicated to making sure more women are wearing the right size bra. We all know the stats by now – 80% of British women are wearing the wrong size and 60% of those currently wearing a C cup should be wearing a D cup or higher. So there’s a pretty big chance you might be in the wrong bra even if you were measured fairly recently.

ASOS to launch plus size range – ASOS Curve

The wonderful girls from ASOS broke the brilliant news on Twitter today that ASOS – the folks responsible for the fab (non plus-size) items above) will soon be branching out into the plus size market with new called ASOS Curve. It’ll cater for sizes 20 – 26 and they’re currently looking for fit models, so if you’re a Big Girl who fits the criteria, you could be one step away from ensuring an almost custom-made collection…