Summer lovin'

 Yesterday was a day of chores, but a lovely sunny one that made going out for groceries a nice trip!

 This is a bit of an old favorite summer dress-wise. I feel super girly in it! I love the puffy sleeves on this dress, I think they are it's nicest feature!

Dress - Ruby Rocks for Evans

Cardi - Primark

Leggings - H&M

Shoes - United Nude

Today was all about lounging in the sunshine... what a fabulous day!

 I'm a happy bunny!

 I went for a vintage look today. The kaftan is quite sheer so I have a bra and come capri leggings underneath it (there are kids in the park you know?!).

 I don't wear hats that often, but when I do, I do it with gusto!

Nothing better than the feel of grass between my toes!

Hat - Next (probably about 10 years old now!)

Dress - Vintage

Capri Leggings - George

Flip flops - Ipanema

Bag - H&M

I'm spending the rest of today cooking (and eating!) so my outfit has shrunk to this little playsuit I got from Primark last summer. Lumpy thighs ahoy!

Wardrobe weekly

This is what I've been wearing this week....

Saturday

 Making my smart black maxi a bit more casual! I normally wear this dress with a mega plunge bra but just a regular bra today and a safety pin to keep my norks under control!

Head to toe in Primark!

Sunday... didn't get dressed!

Monday

 Smart but comfy today. I've been waiting for Spring weather for so long so that I could wear this jacket! I got it from ebay ages ago and this was it's first outing!

 I can do full on formal but I generally like to add a bit of casual or funkyness so I don't feel too mature!

 The jacket went down a storm at work and even my boyfriend complimented me on it (I totally thought this would be too grown up for him to appreciate!)

The shoes are orange and pink which is why I had a pink cardi underneath!

 

Jacket - Romans Originals size 24 (via ebay)

Black dress - George (well old!)

necklace - actually a belt, so old I can't remember where I got it from!

Leggings - New look inspire

shoes - Crocs

Tuesday

 Morning (upstairs) casual version. LOVE this dress.... the Orange version was a disaster on me as it showed up every bit of celulite I have, but this printed version is a beaut.

Afternoon (downstairs!) smartened up for a meeting.

Dress - Anna Scholz for Simply Be (size 22)

Leggings h&m

Shoes - Clarks

Wednesday

 Needed something cool, but not too flimsy for this odd weather. Asos to the rescue!

Matching it all up with accessories!

Dress - Asos Curve

Earrings - Forever 21

Ring - Ebay

Flipflops - Ipanema

Nail Varnish - Primark


Thursday
 

 

A nice bit of clashing today! I've been wearing my coat from the first Clements Ribeiro Swan collection quite a bit during this odd weather. It's lightweight and folds up nice and small so when it get's hot I can just put it in my bag!

 

 Dress - Ruby Rocks for Evans

Cardi, leggings & shoes - Primark

Coat Clements Ribeiro for Evans 

Friday

First outing for my lovely in your face leaf print dress.

 I totally wore a cape today. A fat girl wearing bold prints, bodycon & a cape?! No fashion rules in my wardrobe!

 Cape - Primark

Dress - Xclusive Fashions

Leggings  - H&M

Shoes - New Look

Bring on the weekend!

 

Evans changing room

Regular readers will know by now that I'm not a very happy bunny in Evans, but I wanted to try out the most recent Swan collection now that its on sale. All size 24.

 Nope.

 Nice pattern, but too boxy. This fabric is so odd, it feels like t-shirt material but there's no stretch and it's really thick. I was well hot in this, which I wasn't expecting from a summer collection! It's hard to see in this pic but because it's so straight up & down there's no room for my bum, and so it pulls really tight across my belly. Nice on other people, but not for me!

 Same problem with this, and I'm sad because this would be a great dress with a slightly different cut.

can you see the push-me-pull-me situation going on between my belly & bum. Sizing up to a 26 would have made this too big on the top, so I had to leave it. My opinion on the Clements Ribeiro Swan collections haven't changed. 3 collections down and still the clothes are too boxy and without stretch. Such a shame. The reviews online aren't great so I guess I'm not the only one who thinks the clothes aren't very well fitted. BTW they had a few of the lip print shirt dresses in the sale at the Marble arch store, thought I'd mention it as they sold out online pretty quickly!

 While I was there I also tried the Live Unlimited top I've wanted for ages. Size 22-24. I liked it.

 My issue with this was the price. In typical Evans style it was a rip-off to begin with and is still £30 even in the sale, it's nice but I just couldn't justify spending £30 on it... most of my tops cost £10 & under, and I only wear each one a couple of times a year! It also has stupid open shoulders which I would instantly sew up... I cannot cope with 'cold shoulders'! It'll be one I keep an eye out for it on ebay, but if your not as tight as me then I think it's a really cool and comfy top!

Bargains Bargains Bargains!

I've got a few funky little bargains from Primark & Ebay recently, so I thought I'd show you them! 

First up thought, based purely on price I decided keep the asos long black dress, rather than ordering the 113 version. I've wanted a dress like this for ages, pretty much just so I have something to wear my little capelets with!

 Finding a nice (plain) sexy dress WITH SLEEVES to wear with this has taken me forever!

It's a really long dress, perfect for me! This feather collar is from Zara via ebay (£9 last year for a burlesque night!)

I've never been able to wear this delicious Primark capelet until now, nothing went with it! I'm glad I kept this dress. Good decision!

Isn't it divine?!

Right on to the Primani bargains!

You may have seen the lovely Gemma wearing this skirts twin sister here and for £10 they are a bargain. I just had to go for the cool minty palette as I don't have many of these shade in my wardrobe. This is actually a size 18 as they'd sold out of size 20, but it fits me fine. Thank god for elasticated waists!

Did I hear you say stretch wet-look joggers?! Errrrr hells yeah! Size 20, £8, soft and buttery comfortable heaven! I will certainly go for a less 1980's look when I wear them for real!

Now for my Ebay spoils!

Ahhhhhh..... My elvish circlet! Bieng a bit of a Fastasy nerd I've always wanted a circlet. Can't afford a proper lord of the rings headpiece (Arwens wedding one... amazing!) but this was about £15 which is quite reasonable (good ones are more expensive than I'd anticipated, and harder to get hold of too!).

I like it upside down too! I got it from this ebay store.

Not all from the same seller, but I got these lovely agate / nephrite rings from American store GemAvenue (they were about £3 each I think) as I'm massively obsessed with gemstone rings at the moment... can't get enough! 

The hair chop sticks are from a ebay site called QueCraft as are the 2 hair forks below. Love love love this kind of thing!

 Super cool!

Last but not least is a little pill box hat / fascinator from China that is available in loads of different colours. Love it! The buyer I got it from has sold out but you can get them here

Ahhhh the joy of Ebay! I do so much of my shopping from there, I'd be bankrupt if I didn't!

My boyfriend loves to walk in just as the shutter goes!

One out of six

So my Asos sale haul arrived, and it's not that thought it was all rubbish but I just didn't really want to keep any of it! Unusual for me, but there you have it. I'll give you my reasons....

This dress is cute, the lace is soft and the size is spot on (size 22). It's just not me! I have just never found a lace dress that I like on me!

I went for a size 24 in this dress, and the top half fits nicely, but the bottom section looks pretty crap. On the site the dress looks like the body is fitted and then the hips balloon out and create a really nice shape. Not so in real life, it's a really standard cut, and the thin fabric makes it really creased up and clingy.

Such a shame, it looks really interesting on the site, and the print is so cute! 

I like this top, but I just don't need it. I wanted to try it because it has a longer peplum than many other peplum tops I've seen.

This is a size 22 which is a good fit everywhere other than the arms, which are really tight on me (I have massive arms to be fair!).

I kind of liked these from the front. I ordered a size 24 but would have been fine with my normal 22.

They're really not very flattering from the side, but I could have lived with that. What I couldn't live with was the noise they made when I moved. The friction between my legs against this shell like fabric sounded like a steam train! Gutted... would have kept these in a different fabric, they're unusual and cute :(

 This belt is unfathomable. I've still no idea which way up it is supposed to be worn!

I'm having to hold it in place because I just couldn't do it up... not because it's too small (I got the biggest size) but because the fastenings are ridiculous! Not impressed.

 The last item.... this is a lovely dress (I went for a 24 because I didn't want it to be too tight!) and I really recommend it. It has full length sleeves, and a nice split up the front, lovely scoop neck and it's only £15! Lots of belly, but also lots of ass! 

I'm in a real quandary about this dress, because there is an almost identical version from Oneonethree that I LOVE, and I think the high neck on that version makes it a more interesting shape. The 113 version is £35 which although more than twice the price of this one, is a really good price for an independent designer dress, and I definitely want to support smaller plus size retailers. Of course I can't justify having 2 long black bodycon dresses with splits up the front just because one has a high neck and the other is low-cut! Either way I have to make my decision before the end of the day when I take the asos parcel to the collect plus store! Argh... decisions decisions!