Tried & Tested: INES Collection’s plus size prints!

I’ve been sitting on this review for months (literally) because I didn’t want it to disappear in the middle of all the Dressember madness, so please forgive the fact I didn’t tell you all about INES Collection sooner! The brand (available at ShopTranslated.com, who ship internationally) offers affordable plus size dresses and blouses with an emphasis on prints – a great move as plus size fashion is so often black, black, black, and while some people can totally pull that off, others want a bit of colour!

I was sent the Graphic Pop dress ($72) and a ruched sleeve peacock print blouse to try out, so read on for how I got on!

20 Fabulous Sale Finds – grab a January bargain!

I know that in the sales you’re supposed to buy up classics and basics and ignore the faddy trends that you didn’t buy three months earlier at full price. But while I do use the discounts as a way of stocking up on chic work dresses and nice shoes, I also see sales as a super-cheap way of trying out things I’d never normally give a go – like capes, coulottes and crazy heels. So I’ve put together 20 of my favourite sale finds, some of which I’ve already bought, to help you hunt down the best discounts…

Fashshot goes Plus Size!

A little while ago I was invited to the Fashshot studio to take part in a video interview as part of a Plus Size episode of their online magazine show. The videos are now online, and while I’m obviously cringing at the sound of my own voice, it’s lovely to see myself alongside great people from the likes of Style369 and Ann Harvey, along with the FashShot team and some gorgeous curvy ladies in the street style section (one of whom has the same New Look dress as me – obviously Grace has fab taste). My contribution is only a tiny bit of what ended up being fab show discussing all aspects of the plus size industry, so if you’ve not seen it yet, take a look…

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…

October must-haves: aviators, capes & velvet

My lack of enthusiasm for the new season has finally started to wane. Is it because I’m getting used to the Winter trends, or have the latest additions to the virtual rails been better than what we got in September? Perhaps it’s just the fact the temperature has dropped and I can finally see the need for a beautiful coat or a fabulous cape. Whatever the reason, I’m finally getting excited about what’s in the shops, and have picked out some of my favourites from a range of retailers. Top of my list is Miss Selfridge’s super-glam velvet coat with fur trim. It may not be the most practical piece of outerwear, but it’s definitely beautiful, and the rich, thick, stiff velvet is far nicer than the cheap stretchy stuff that can be found elsewhere…

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!