Ups and downs with George

My George order arrived today. I ordered 4 things. 2 I'm keeping and 2 I'm sending back. Here are my reviews...

Bit sad about this dress. I went for a size 24 because I didn't know how stretchy it would be. My shift dresses from George are all a 24 because the 22 always flattens my boobies! I really don't like the fabric. I was kind of expecting a nice stretch cotton feel (not actual cotton of course) but it feels very synthetic and thick - it's like a 70 fabric.

 The patterns good, but the dress itself really doesn't sit right on me.....

 It's far too short. once it's over my bum it is a mini!

The neck is all baggy and sticks out in the middle so it's not comfortable and looks too big across the shoulders. It's going back.

 I'm going to keep this cardi. It is a little bit odd (can you see where the seams are on the arms / shoulders?!) but it's kind of cute and I will get lots of wear out of it.

I do like the split at the back - it's a good bum cardi. I also like a high neck because I get well chilly this time of year if I wear my hair up. It's good to have the extra warmth from a high neck!

 Joggers! Not the most attractive of items but I needed some more comfy bottoms to kick around the flat in, and I refuse to wear regular jogging bottoms because they disgust me (not when exercising of course, just when worn as lounge pants) and wearing my zumba joggers at home would be a sure sign that I no longer felt sexy! These have zip pockets and look a bit like tweed so I find them acceptable! They're a size 22, and are just about long enough for me. They're quite loose round my waist, but any smaller and they would be very stretched over my bum!

 Check out the ass though. My boyfriend is really going to like these joggers!

My only complaint is that the ankle is massive. I think these are supposed to be tight on the ankle, but as I've said before, when manufacturers just size up a whole garment then the fit is often going to be odd on plus size women. I have bigger ankles than a size 8 woman for sure (my inability to fit into many boots - even so called extra wide ones from Evans - proves this) but they are not this bloody big! I think I will probably take these in a bit at the bottom, because I want them to keep my ankles warm, and at the moment they are too baggy and not long enough to do that.

The last item I ordered was this bra. Basically it fitted nicely but made my boobs too flat. I like them to stick out like they're sitting on a shelf so I'm sending this back!
I think this might be the first bra I've written about on my blog? I love women's bodies, and I think many Women feel empowered by getting naked and letting people see them in their full glory - more power to them, I'm not prudish. For me personally though I have a myriad of reasons for not wanting to get too much of my kit off on the internet. Family, work & my own privacy being amongst them. I will happily review undies when I order them, but I'm never going to put pictures of me in my undies up on the blog - not because I'm ashamed or embarrassed by my body in anyway, but because that is for me and my man to enjoy and I'd like to keep that special and just between us. I don't think he would mind at all, but for me there is something nice about him being the only guy who gets to see me naked or in sexy undies (how soppy I am!). In addition to this, I'm am not naive enough to believe that all of the people looking at fatshion blogs are there for the clothes, particularly men. I'm not sexist enough to believe that none of them are either may I add! I know that men get sick of models and pornstars and just like to look at real-life women going about their business, and I get it - many bloggers are hot and it is natural to get sexually excited by hot women (I'm not going to lie, seeing Gabifresh in her stripy bikini made me feel like a horny teenage boy for more than a few minutes!) and I genuinely don't think there's anything wrong with that.... unless of course it makes the woman in question feel uncomfortable or objectified. After all men can turn ANYTHING into porn with a little bit of imagination, but I'm not about to make it easy for them. I digress.....

A bit of a mixed bag overall this George order. I'm a bit pissed off actually, because I didn't realise that George doesn't offer free returns. You can't even return it to store unless you collected it from store. Yes I realise that I should have checked the return info before I ordered, but I still think it's a bit lame!

OOTD - Anna Scholz & Nitrile gloves!

I hope your not getting sick of my Scholz collection?! I know Anna looks at blogs and twitter pics etc, so in her honour I've avoided the bathroom and gone for some tungsten lighting!

I normally don't have time to photograph what I'm wearing before I leave for work (or during unless I do it while in the bathroom!) but today I had a moment to snap myself in my studio with my glorious gloves that kind of match the dress!. Hair is getting nice and dark and I'm loving being brunette again for the first time in 5 years. This is one of my older Anna Scholz dresses - I'm off home to see the family in a couple of hours and I don't see them that often so I like to dress nicely. In addition I'm sure that my 4 month old Nephew will love the colours. One of the best things about Anna Scholz is that her dresses are as comfy as you can get, so I can wear them while fighting my way across London, in the office, in the studio, running around the building, on the train and then while lounging around on the sofa. I won't get to my mum and dads and think 'I can't wait to get out of this'!

Here is a little fact peeps - I wore this dress to a rather regal job interview in the summer and not only was I the most colourful person for miles around, but I was offered the job the next day. I didn't actually take the job as the post turned out to be too junior for me but the offer did lead to a bit of panic and eventual salary increase at my current work place, so this is now considered to be a rather lucky dress. Lets hope it brings me good luck this afternoon with the First Great Western Railway!

Damn you George!

Oh my giddy aunt! I was planning to do an ASOS wishlist, but having realised that there were only 2 items from Curve that I actually like (only one of which I would be tempted to buy) I thought I'd spend my lunch hour browsing some stores that I have been ignoring for a while. George (Asda) has some things that are making me weak at the knees, and I've had to make a sneaky little order before they sell out in my size!

Before I go on though, George only seem to go up to a size 24, and many things (like blazers for instance) only go up to a 20. Ridiculous! I'm sorry, but ASDA of all places cannot be snobbish or sizeist without hating on their own customers.... I've been to ASDA many times and it ain't no Marks and Spenser's - fix up please George of Asda!

I could not resist this dress. I know I don't need any more dresses, but it was only £18 and I've wanted a forest print for TIME!

Sadly this jumper has sold out in my size. Didn't stop me wanting it very badly!

How can you get such a good party dress for only £20?! I love this metallic rose dress and it's available in 2 colours. I already have my Christmas party dress (this sexy little Kiyonna number to be precise), but I would have gone for this if I was still looking for something special. Almost got it anyway thinking I could wear it on Christmas day with the fam, but decided that one of my many stretchy dresses would be better as I'll be eating myself into a Christmas coma!

This cardi is odd and I love it! From the 'Graduate fashion week' collection and for £12 couldn't be more perfect. Long sleeves, short at the back and high at the neck. Love at first sight. I've ordered it and hope it fits nicely because I know I'll wear it with all my short sleeved dresses if it does. Fingers crossed!

 I just like these joggers so I've ordered them. I need more comfy trousers for kicking about in!

Again, quite an impressive sparkly dress for £20. I think this would be very impressive at a Christmas do with some nice jewelry!

 I just like the print on this dress.

This dress looks like such a flattering shape, and is very on-trend with it's 'military' colour pallet!

Finally, I've always liked George Bras. They do bras for big boobs and go to bands above 38 - which is something that many other bra manufactures don't do, and it gets right on my raving titties to be honest!. Some of my favorite balconette bras are from George, and I ordered this one to try because it's so very pretty (and only £8, which is amazing for a 42DD bra!)

I've added this one to the list because it is very similar to an Ann Summers bra I have, but at a quarter of the price. So sexy and feminine!

Thats it folks! Hopefully I'll be as excited about all this when the items I ordered arrive.......

Anna Scholz sample sale joy!

What a fantastic day I've had so far! How can I describe walking into the Anna Scholz sample sale today? The doors to her studio opened and it was like walking into Narnia, but better because there were more pretty dresses and less fauns & beavers! I knew I would spend lots of money, but you only live once right?! There wasn't a huge amount of size 22 pieces when I got there, but this being a sample sale I have come out with lots of different sizes so I'll do my best to describe the fit of each. Sorry my pictures are all from a bit of a high angle today, the dresses are not as long as they may look in these snaps! Lots of these are still available on Anna's website and are on sale.

This picture is a bit poo, but the dress is lovely. It's super soft jersey, double layered & ruched on the skirt. I always liked this pattern and it was on about 4 dresses (this colours palette as well as grey) but I never knew which to get. I decided this was best as it's a really good work dress and I'll get lots of wear out of it. This is a 24, which is great because I think the 22 might have been a bit tighter on the bust than I'd like for this high neck style. Super stretch though so it' would depend on your body shape! It's knee length on me.

Sorry I look bloody manic - I've had a bit too much sugar today and I'm over excited! This is my first ever double silk dress from Anna. I've never really known what 'double silk' with stretch would feel like because I've never seen or felt it until today. It's quite thin fabric, but feels amazing, and I imagine that it wont all start to fray at the seams as pure silk does. The pattern is heavenly (and available in a few different style dresses) and comes to just above my knees. It's so fun. this one is a size 22 (my normal size from Anna Scholz) and fits perfectly, even across the bust thanks to the stretch. Now I look at the picture it occurs to me that I have some florescent leather heels from clarks originals that would look awesome with this - a good enough reason to buy it I think!

Me and this print? We were meant to be! I bloody loved this crayon print when I first saw it on the website, and I bought the dress as soon as it went on sale. Sadly when it arrived the cut just didn't suit me - the neckline was a bit too high, the sleeves were too short, the dress was too long and there was a band in the middle that clung to my belly. This little beauty though is clearly a sample that Anna didn't go for in the end. It has no branding or labels in it, and despite it hanging on the size 18 rack I caught a glimpse of it from the corner of my eye and thought 'I'm fucking HAVING that, no matter what the size!". Totally delicious!

This is another dress that I'd always wanted, love the print, and I always thought the the model on the website looked smoking hot in it. I feel sexy in this, but also super girly because of the flowers. And what great colours! This is a size 24. In an ideal world I would have got it in my usual size 22 because I like this shape to be quite body-con, but it's still a good fit. I suppose the bonus of having the slightly larger size is that the neck line is a bit lower than the 22 would have been , and I wanted this to be a bit of a booby dress! Fabulous soft stretchy jersey, so comfortable. Knee length.

I really wanted the other dress with this print on because I thought it was super sexy. Sadly there were no size 22 or 24's to be found so I was scuppered. I thought I'd try this one instead, because after all the print is amazing. I could only find a 20 so I thought it was worth a try. I got it on without a problem, but it was too fitted and the style didn't suit the tightness. The ladies in the dressing room were cooing over the dress while I sadly told them that it was too tight, and then a wonderful lady handed me the size 24 (which for some insane reason she didn't want to buy - thank goodness!) and I tried it and was in love. You know I think even if the 22 had been there I would have gone for the bigger size, because it seems to somehow work better when looser. Comfortable too. slightly below the knee on me. This is now my second double silk dress!

JOY! I have a coat at last! To think I nearly spent £90 on an ASOS coat! If you have been keeping up with my blog you'll know that I've been trying many coats on trying to find a black one. This coat is just.... I have no words! I have broken every rule I have about what I want in a coat with this - It doesn't have a collar, the sleeves aren't full length and it has POPPERS! But the way I look it is this - I broke every rule I had about men with my boyfriend and he is 100% the love of my life, so sometimes rules need to be broken! I can wear long gloves and big scarves so who cares anyway?! I got it for cheap because there is a little bit of damage on the arm. I really love it. It's actually a size 20, but it's a really good fit, and the fabric is so soft and warm. It is so cute and I am totally in love!

Now I'll tell you about some of the items I tried but didn't buy - I couldn't take changing room shots because it was so busy and there was no room! This top / tunic / dress was nice, but I didn't get it as I wasn't mad for the fabric, and it was a bit see-through so my bra showed through. I tried it in a 22, but I would size up with this becuase it was tighter than the style needs really.

This dress is really sexy on - I have a few dresses in the same style (ruched on one side) as well as many black dresses so I didn't buy it. I tried the 22, and I would advise you to size down, because I think this dress needs to be quite tight to work, and it was a bit saggy on me in my own size!

If I hadn't got the shift version of this pattern I would have gone for this maxi. I tried the 24, but I think I could easily have worn it in a 22 or 20. It's kind of tented then the waist comes from the tie belt. It's a lovely jersey fabric and is nice and long (longer than the maxi I have from Anna Scholz). I can't imagine that there would be anyone who wouldn't look awesome in this dress!

Same pattern, different dress! I nearly ordered this from Anna's site when it went on sale, but I'm not really a fan of georgette fabric. I tried it today in a 22 and it was far too tight across my boobs and completely flattened them. The waist and skirt was perfect though, and I loved the pockets. Not a style for busty ladies, but if your hips are bigger than your boobs then this dress would be perfect!

Oh man I so wanted this dress! Sadly they only had a size 20 and it was way too tight for me. In fact I think I probably would have needed this dress in a 24. Double silk deliciousness!

I tried this dress in a 24 and the fit was really nice (the 22 would have fit too I think), the fabric was heavy and fell nicely. The colour just didn't work on me though. Good work dress if your skin can cope with the pink / nude shade!

This dress is really nice on. It's kind of classic and lady-like - typically I went for the sexified version of this print instead, but this was my second choice! I tried the 20 and the fit was pretty much perfect. I don't think I would have liked it so much in the 22 as it would have been a bit loose on the waist.

The sample sale was really fun, not just because I got lots of clothes but because there was such a lovely atmosphere there. Anna's staff were lovely and helpful, her dog was so cute I wanted to steal her, and all the customers were so excited and friendly. I tried on some things that were too big or small, then passed them on to other ladies I saw eyeing them up, and they did the same for me. We all gave each other our opinions on how the clothes looked / fitted, and suggested what would look good on each other. There was a communal changing room, and I loved how unabashed all the ladies were about getting changed in front of each other. I've always been a naked person, I've never been embarrassed about getting semi-naked (or even totally naked) in front of other women, despite the fact that we can be so judgemental about each others bodies. Interestingly though, many of my slim friends (size 10 / 12 / 14) are really uncomfortable getting changed in front of other people. How refreshing to see so many big, happy, proud ladies today!

I'm off now to eat, drink and be merry while watching some awesome fireworks!

change room post - Evans winter coat disaster!

Disclaimer! I don't want to offend anyone with this post - I don't have brand loyalty with any clothes shops. I know many of the lovely ladies that write plus size fashion blogs really like Evans, and I always enjoy reading their reviews. My review below is not meant to be rude, it's just how I feel!. Each to their own and all the better for it. Also, I apologise for my terrible pictures - my phones camera is rubbish and likes to change the white balance with every shot!

I'm just going to come out and say it - I think Evans is rubbish. I have done for years, and nothing that I've seen recently has changed my mind. I admit that I have high expectations when it comes to clothes, and I will also happily admit that I have even higher expectations when the retailer in question is supposed to be a plus size specialist store. Additionally Evans is pretty much the only plus size retailer on the high street (apart from the dreaded Ann Harvey) so it really should be cornering the market and selling some great clothes.

Walking in to Evans is always uncomfortable for me. The shop is nice enough, the staff are often lovely and the changing rooms are nice. The thing is I can't help but look around with disdain at 90% of what I see in there - sometimes because I think the styles are the worst type of 'fat girl' clothes, but sometimes because of the too-expensive price tag attached. Anyway, I figured that I might be okay with coats and that the sparkly new Marble arch store would have most of the good stuff from the site. Typically it didn't have much of what I wanted to look at. I did however spot a few that I thought had potential.....

Despite most of these coats being in the region of £70, none of them had buttons that had been sewn on properly. An annoying quirk of cheaper retailers, but for the prices Evans charge for coats they should be properly made.

This is a decent enough coat. Not keen on the colour (because I have a brighter version that you can see in the corner of the picture) but the style is quite nice. This is the size 22. Perfect width across the shoulders, nice length. A bit tight across the belly, too tight on the arms and stupidly tight across the bust. I tried the 24.....

Ergh. This is one of my biggest coat problems - better on my my arms and bust, but look at how massive the shoulders are! and its all spacious above my bosom. I'm sorry, but just because a woman is fat it does not mean that she has shoulders like a god damn American footballer!

What.... the fuck...... is this? THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SAME SIZE AS THE COAT ABOVE! Size 24 my ass! And here we are again in the situation I hate most. I do not care about what size the label has on it - if it fits me then it's irrelevant. But if I have to wear 2 sizes bigger than I normally would, then that means that women at the top of the size range probably won't fit into their normal size, and won't have a size up option. It really really pisses me off. Fluctuation by one size up or down is normal, but a size 22 woman having to buy a size 26 is ridiculous.

I would have bought this coat. Fabric is lovely, style is lovely, but its so tight across the bust. Why why why?! My tits are not big from a plus size point of view. They are completely in proportion to my fat body.

 To add insult to injury, the fastenings are POPPERS! What madness is this? In my experience poppers last for about a month before becoming loose and come apart.

Hopefully you can see how the popper is pulling across the chest. Where do plus size women with very big boobs get coats from?!

The last one I tried was one of the swing coats I originally went into look at. They didn't have the plain black one at all, and they only had this version in a size 30 so it is clearly too big for me. I think this might be nice if it was my size. The fabric is good and heavy. the (non-detachable) fur collar is quite nice, although because it's so light there are fibres from it all over the darker body of the coat, which I would find annoying. Plus I don't always want a furry collar. I'm considering ordering the plain black version in a 24 to see what its like.

To be honest, after trying all these slightly cheaper coats, I think that I should just try the £90 one I like from ASOS. Anyone got a discount code?!

Change room post - the endless search for a good winter coat!

Selfridges has gone all Christmassy, and being a Festive loony it has made me enjoy high street shopping much more than I normally do. I decided to go down to New look to try some of their Inspire winter coats.

My very coat arrived yesterday and I was pretty sure that I didn't like it, which is why I braved Oxford street to try some others and compare.

Most of my summer coats are size 22, but in winter coats I always get size 24, as they are often to tight across my chest. 70% of the time they are also way too tight for my arms which I can't abide. This is a size 24 from the Very 'so fabulous' collection. Too tight on & under the boobs so fit was a bit odd on me.

I love the fabric, and the arms and spacious and it's really warm so I did consider keeping it but was put off by the pockets....

.... they were almost on my back! so far round the side I could only just get my hands in, and so they would be useless (no good for me as I use my pockets!) and it also means that they stick out and ruin the shape of the jacket. I've sent it back feeling a bit gutted.

In New Look I tried this rather nice padded jacket. Quite liked it - it was very comfortable. On sale on the website I believe, but not in store.

I love a good hood. Sadly this is to casual for what I'm looking for so I left it.

The less said about this coat the better. It reminded me of coats I had to wear when I was 17 and always ended up having to get them from Evans (back in the day when they were seriously unfashionable). It is fucking awful. I nearly came out in hives looking at myself in this.

Not sure about this one. It's kind of cute, but not on me. Quite tight on the bust, but arms were comfy, and I quite like the length.

Again, Loving the hood. For my body though, this jacket flares in the wrong place. It's too fitted on the bust to be a proper swing coat so it's got a slight maternity feel to it. I like a swing coat to flare from the armpits really, so I wasn't feeling this.

Well, New look Inspire was a bit of a flop but tonight I'm going to Evans to test out some of their coats. I haven't bought anything from Evans in years, and I kind of hate the fit of their clothes (ruby rocks / Beth ditto collection excluded), but the website has so many lovely coats that I thought it would be silly not to try them just because of my Evans prejudice! I'll post the results tomorrow.