Wardrobe Weekly

Sunday

 Lookin' ruff y'all! No make up today 'cause it's Sunday & all I'm doing is cutting my boyfriends hair and roasting up some lamb! So I went to Primark last week to get some more pants and I came out with a couple of extras (as normal!)

 This dress was on sale for £5 and it just felt so very soft and nice. Love the colour.

 It's pretty short but for me it's a leggings job so who cares?!

Now then, I don't do crop tops. Nope, not for me. Some people look great in them and others look shite. I fall into the shite group. The truth of the matter is that I don't want my back fat love handles on display. It's all very well being confident but in my case it would just be unsightly and they could knock over small children when I walk, so no. I did think I'd try this dress on backwards though, to go for a bit of a midriff flash... plus I can flash my boobs at the BF at any moment and throw him of his game!

 

Dress 20 - Primark

Leggings 20 - Primark

Shoes - Primark

It's actually a really pretty dress in it's usual form, but the open back means I'd wear it with a cardi to stop my flab escaping!. I was rather happy to see the hot-to-trot Hayz from snap that curvy gal wearing the same dress on her holiday. Very good taste!

Can we just talk about my lush shoes for a moment? How friggin' long has it taken me to find some comfy black 'going out' shoes?! Bloody ages in the answer! I was so happy to find these, they're sooooo pretty.... nice and wide too! I think they give the impression of heels from the front.

I've fallen in love with Primarks set of 3 modal knickers. Size 20-22 I think, £5 for a pack of three (on hangers, not the horrid itchy ones you get in the plastic packs). I also got this £5 bra which I'm rather smitten with. It's non padded 40DD (I'm a 42 so I'm using a bra extender with it!) but gives me a lovely shape. Oddly the black version isn't quite as good but that's primark for you. The pink is a winner!

Saturday

 

Mac 22 - New Look Inspire

Denim Shirt - Vintage

Skirt 20 - Primark

Leggings 22 - New look Inspire

Cowboy booties - New Look

 

Terrible pic of a simple outfit but Saturday wasn't supposed to be about clothes... unfortunately for my other half I noticed that Traid in Brixton had a sale on and made him come in with me while I  flicked through the rails like Number 5 scanning a book in Short Circuit. So glad I did, I spent £14 and got a topshop pleated swing dress (to be worn as a top or skirt on my fat ass!) and 3 vintage dresses....

I will have to wait for cooler weather to wear these (super synthetic obviously) but I'm friggin' cuffed with them!

Friday

 I'm going to wear this dress loads, I can feel it in me waters! It's super comfy (since I cut the bottom of the super-tight sleeves off!) and think it looks ace.

 My boss thought it was amazing.... 'you have a Byzantine on your boob!'

 I thought my wing ring went rather well with this outfit

Dress 26 - Ebay / AX Paris

Leggings - H&M

Shoes - Brako via TKmaxx

Ring - New Look

Thursday

 It was so friggin' hot on Thursday that I had to go for double silk. Loose fitting and light, super cool. It's just the most comfortable thing in the world to be honest. I got this Anna Scholz white label dress on Ebay from a seller who has presumably lost their mind... I ADORE this dress and plan to keep it forever! The waist is cut in a sort of v shape & it falls so nicely. Doesn't need the belt at all so I cut off the loops!

I managed to take a photo while I was flicking my hair out of my face... TIMOTEI!

Would you just look at the AMAZING pattern. The lady on the Primark changing rooms was like 'oh your dress is amazing - it's like really military but still super feminine!'.... I guess it'll be pretty on trend this season then?!

Dress 22 - Anna Scholz White Label via ebay

Leaf skeleton earrings - Forever 21

Flip Flops - Ipanema

Wednesday

Dress 24 - Anna Scholz black label

Necklace - China via ebay

Flip flops - Ipanema

 Another hot day called for another super thin dress!

 This is one of my new moonstone necklaces (Okay, I know I'm obsessed with moonstone but I'll buy what I want yeah?!)

Check it out under flash! Fucking awesome!

BTW, if you want a real Anna Scholz (as opposed to a simply be piece) but don't wanna pay loads of dollar then I'm selling this lush black label dress in a size 20 here for £25... very sadly too small for me! xx

Tuesday

Dress - Primark via ebay

Belt - Primark

Honest to god I got way more male attention in this that I normally do. My journey to walk seemed to be full of men smiling or saying hello to me. One even stopped at my bus stop to say hello.... I had this outfit on with my denim jacket.... seriously. It's nice but it's nothing amazing surely?! I can only assume it is the effect of a big belt making my waist look smaller whilst pushing my boobs out. Men are such simple creatures sometimes. Very odd frankly!

Monday

 Properly love this dress. It's so damn lady-like! I'm selling the size down from this on my blog shop if you fancy it (fits size 22-24 if you're flat chested, or smaller if you have boobs!).

 Wearing my blue bloomers from my chub rub post... they're the best things ever!)

Dress - Ebay / Yours clothing

Cardi - Primark

Shoes - Fly London

Thats all for now.... trying to get back into the right frame of mind for the cooler weather. Preparing for the big swap where my winter dresses come out of their suitcase and the summer frocks leave my wardrobe.... that's right, despite having an ENORMOUS dress wardrobe, there still isn't room for all of them. I'm mentally ill. Can't help it, I love dresses!

A song of thighs & fire

This summer has been a hot and sticky one. Too hot to wear leggings with everything and WAY too hot for jeans. I do love summery trousers, but at heart I'm a dress wearer and I really have tried everything I can get my hands on to combat chub-rub. I'd like to tell you I'd found a miracle cream or something but no.....

I tried Lanacane years ago. A friend of mine swears by it, but as she is around around about a size 16 I'm pretty sure that her thighs don't cause quite as much friction as my 32 inchers do! Didn't work for me, I'd have to reapply it every 10 minutes or so.

I recently tried Monistat after reading rave reviews of it from other plus size bloggers and their readers. Sadly this didn't work for me either. I tested it out on a grocery shop on a warm day. It was great for the first 20 minutes, but I could feel the sweat starting to ruin the effect quite quickly. Nobody seems to talk about the sweating, but with thighs the size of mine (so close to the lady oven) I get super sweaty between my thighs. Surely I'm not the only woman to leave a fanny shaped patch of steam on a plastic chair, or get an embarrassing crack shaped sweat patch on jersey dresses of a certain colour? I know I'm not because I've seen it on other women! Anyway in my case it seems to be enough to dissolve these miracle gels rather quickly. If I lived in a world were I could freely go legs-a-kimbo every 30 minutes to rub gel on my upper inner thighs then maybe these would work for me (although considering the price of a tiny tube it would cost me a small fortune!) but in the real world I just can't go about my business without some fabric separating my massive thighs!

I know there are many other anti-chafe products on the market, but I just don't want to spend loads of money on things that don't work for me.... having said this I will certainly be taking my tube of moonistat swimming with me the next time I go, as it stopped my thighs sticking when I was walking around the pool before getting in, and there was enough of it left when I got out of the pool to make my departure less sticky!

More recently I have discovered Sloggi basic longs, which are brilliant. Comfy, soft, stretchy cotton in nude, white or black. I can just wear these as knickers, they're great. They go up to a UK size 26. I've got a pair of size 24 but I could easily fit the 22. I think I'll end up with lots of these, they go under EVERYTHING and are almost invisible!

Next up we have the new 'sexy' way to stop the chafe. Above are Bandelettes, which you may have seen other fatsion bloggers talking about. These were even in the guardian a while back.... my boyfriend told me about them (knowing that I chafe like a mofo!) so they were on my radar in a big way. The problem is I know they'll be too short for my chafe-prone areas. They're 6 inches long, and that leaves a few inches above or below on my thighs to rub like mad. I emailed the company and asked if they would consider bringing out a longer length, explaining my predicament. They responded really quickly and politely, but basically they said no, so I took to etsy to search for alternatives.

Step in Thighlettes! These are 8 inches long, and come in a great range of sizes (from a 20 to a 40 inch thigh) so I thought I'd give 'em a go.

SOOO disappointed with these. Length is not quite long enough for me, but the main problem is that there is nothing to keep them up I've got suspenders on in this pic to hold them up. Even stockings have the rubber edging to hold them in place, but these roll up or slide down almost instantly. Sad face.

On to this things I actually use.....

There was a time when my only option was to wear shaping pants under my dresses. They're long enough to stop most of the chaffing, but short enough to wear knee length dresses without being visible. My sister and I are in agreement that the Primark ones are our favorite. Size 20-22 fits a size 24 easily, and they do smooth a bit but they're not mega firm. The best hardcore shapers I have are actually from matalan, so don't worry that spanx are (insanely) expensive, most high street retailers do their own versions now, and they're excellent in my experience! I'd only go firm on a special occasion, the rest of the time I want something I can breath in! Girdles etc are great for the right outfit and under a bodycon dress they smooth me out fantastically. My problems is that I don't always want or need to be smoothed out or sucked in. Sometimes I just want to be comfortable. If I'm at work all day I don't want to be wearing shapers, and getting in / out of them for a pee is such a ball ache!

I've tried 'comfort shorts' before, but they're a bit like ribbed tights, so not only do they itch me like mad, they also don't stop the chafing. In addition to that they have the old double seem at the back light tights, so I couldn't wear anything clingy without them being visible. They don't work for me, but if you get on okay with tights then these are pretty good value. Naturally close sell packs of 2 for £12 here.

A while back, during a discussion about plus sized tights Naomi from Diamonds 'n' Pearls recommended the big bloomer company, and when I asked Georgina from Cupcakes Clothes where she got her tights from, because I've yet to find any good tights that fit me and stop my thighs chafing or itching, her response included the word 'bloomers'. Bloomers. Well that's a word I'd never entered into a search engine before, but wowzers I'm glad I did! I think the big bloomers website extremely badly designed and hard to fathom, but they do sell some things that look promising! The super stretchy seam-free shorts above could be a god send... for me I think they will be too short, but if you like wearing mini dresses these would be ideal! The Big Bloomer Company also sells cotton shorts in two different length, and some of their items go up to a UK46!

I needed something longer though, and I found these bloomers on ebay from Catty b's Lingere store. I really love these, they've been life savers this summer. They're just the right length for me, totally stop the chafing, (sorry to be gross but lets be honest here) absorb the sweat and pull up over my double belly!. I now have 2 pairs of pink ones and one pair of blue. They don't ride down, or up, and they're 100% cotton so are comfy, breathable and not at all itchy. I bloody love them! I wish they came in a bigger range of colours but otherwise these are a great buy. These go under all my maxi and midi dresses.

Last up we have my new favourite discovery to go under tight and short skirts / dresses. These are technically long knickers from Sloggi and at £13.50 a pair they're not exactly cheap, but I don't need loads of pairs so it's fine! These are excellent for pencil skirts (wore them under my comic print skirt last week), and I have them in nude so they're pretty invisible. They are thin cotton so they don't hold you in or shape you at all. I wanted comfort and that's what these give me. They come in nude, black or white and go up to a size 26. I got the 24 first and they're not tight on me so I think the 26 would stretch to a 28 easily. Sloggi also do a more pricey version of these called 'slim long' but they only go up to a size 20 (argh!). You can get Sloggi Basic longs from here.

I think I'm going to give up on miraculous ways to stop chafing and just stick with my bloomers and long leg pants!