That Bucket woman- A Bonmarche Review
Posted: March 23, 2014 Filed under: My Wardrobe, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: Bonmarche, David Emanuel, Dresses, Fatshion, polkadots 3 CommentsI’m not very good at taking my own advice. I get a fair few number of emails from readers asking me where to shop for clothes and I always tell them not to rule out any stores because you never know what you may find, even if you only find one gem in five years- still keep going in.
One shop I never go into is Bonmarche. It’s my mother’s favourite clothing store. My mother is 82. I am not. My mother used to be a C&A fanatic but since they closed down all British stores some years ago, Bonmarche has taken up the gauntlet and she gets all her embroidered tshirts and microfibre jackets from there. They would never have anything suitable for a bright not-so-young- thing like me. Or so I thought.
I was recently contacted by Bonmarche to review an item and my first thought was “Yehright” but before I hit send on the “yehright” email I thought I’d check out the site. Lo and behold, I was pleasantly surprised. Not knocked off my seat by the edgy fashion forward styles, more raised eyebrows that there were items there I would actually wear. Like this dress…
…from their David Emanuel range. I’m trying to stay away from mock wrap front dresses but they work so well for the big of boob that they’re hard to stay away from. I wore this today and might even have gotten away with not wearing a vest underneath if I wasn’t on my way to church and trying to exercise a little modesty. A comfy dress in a great length and fab print. My only complaint is that a longer peplum would have given the dress a better, more on trend silhouette and maybe balanced out my big boobs a little more, but I’m very pleased with it and will be wearing this frock until its threadbare.
PS- I must remember to remove the bucket from my photo spot. No-one wants to see that. Apologies.
The Fresh Princess
Posted: February 2, 2014 Filed under: My Wardrobe, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: Fatshion, Plus size, Vivian and Clair 2 Comments
Jacket- Courtesy of Simply Be
Jeans- Courtesy of Simply Be
Boots- Old Evans, dyed red
I wasn’t really sure this outfit worked when I first put it on, but by the end of the day I felt it was a shame to take it off. I first saw the jacket at a Simply Be preview event and fell for it immediately so it was only a matter of time before I snapped one up. The jeans are from their Truly Wow slim leg range and fit like a glove. There are seam along the back legs that I initially didn’t like at all but they really do help these jeans to fit snugly without being too tight. However much I love the bomber and jeans, the jewel in the outfit crown is the tshirt…
From first click to shopping cart within a couple of minutes. Never has a tee spoken such volumes about my youth as this. Like many people I grew up watching the Cosby Show and as a child with no sisters I would dream of being adopted into the female heavy Huxtable household, with big sister Denise and twin sister Vanessa (we’re approx the same age). Later on I got hooked onto the Fresh Prince and loved Will’s school blazer with the funky lining and did a similar thing with my schoolbag. This tshirt was coming to my house, come what may.
I was a little doubtful the XXL would fit but it fits perfectly. Most of the sizes are sold out but there are still some XL and XXL left- grab them while you can and join me on my retrospective ride.
Vivian and Clair- Apartment 349
Asos Competition- Wha hey!
Posted: August 1, 2013 Filed under: Information and Events, Sponsored Posts | Tags: Asos, competition, contest, giveaway 28 Comments——————————————————
Update- 08/08/13
Contest now closed. Winner will be announced soon!
——————————————————-
Okay, so after slating an Asos item only 48 hours ago, here I am hosting an Asos giveaway. Slightly duplicitous perhaps?
Ahem.
Anyhow. Its been aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages since I did a giveaway on here so I’m shaking things up a little at FGLNCT HQ, and giving one of you lovely readers the chance to win a £50 Asos gift voucher, courtesy of my new friends at Appliances Online. Fifty squid for you to spend on anything- as long as its not those grey dungarees.
Unfortunately, the contest is only available to UK entrants (I know, I know, I know- soz).
To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what your current favourite Asos item is and sha-bam- you’re in the draw.
Competition ends at 10.pm GMT, Thursday 8th August, Good Luck!
PS- This is my 500th blog post. Hurrah!
Bright Trouser Bravery
Posted: June 6, 2013 Filed under: Clothing, My Wardrobe, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: Fatshion, print trousers, Simply Be 8 CommentsI talk a good game but deep down I’m trying to slay my inner naysaying voice. I’m always saying how much I love bright colours and crazy patterns but I’ve never had the guts to wear brightly patterned trousers. I don’t mean patterned trousers with a black or navy base, I mean bright- like below.
Why are my eyes closed? Maybe I was so taken by the beautiful summer sky that I just had to close my eyes in awe. Or maybe I just love to mess up photos with my bad blink timing.
Colours don’t really come much brighter than chartreuse. I was immediately drawn to the print but had to think twice about wearing it in a pair of trousers. Fat legs and bold prints command so much attention and make so much noise that I wasn’t sure my world ready for that much volume. I’ve seen other bloggers in patterned trousers and they look great but I usually stick to solid bright colours for my own pins. Well when Simply Be gifted me with these trousers I decided to dive right in and crank up the volume a little louder by teaming them with the brightest top I could find. I wore this outfit to the Simply Be Blogger Takeover event (more about that in another post) and I have to admit, felt so self conscious that I took a cab to the train station rather than risk rush hour ridicule on the bus at 8.30am. Chicken? You betcha. The yellow belly didn’t last long and by late afternoon I ‘d forgotten about my amplified legs and was strutting around like I owned the planet. In fact, I’m planning to find some more brightly patterned trousers as I’m now a changed woman. Can you recommend any? My thighs have found their voice and its deafening.
Jacket: Evans
Top: Made by me
Trousers: Simply Be
Shoes: Office
Bag: H&M
Mercy, mercy me
Posted: September 16, 2012 Filed under: Clothing, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: dress, KSY Plus 7 CommentsLoving my new dress. This frock scores bonus points all over the place for being comfy, a great length, and needing minimal ironing, but its highest rated features are without a shadow of a doubt, the pockets. Dresses with pockets rock my world and this one is shaking things up for sure. I only have two other dresses with pockets and they’re in steady rotation for work as being a teacher, they’re perfect for always having a pencil sharpener/ rubber/ detention slip to hand. There are not enough dresses with pockets around and am considering adapting some of my favourite work dresses to include pockets, I value them so much.
This dress (minus belt) comes courtesy of KSY Plus which is a relatively new online retailer with a good line in youthful affordable pieces in bright colours and a variety of different fabrics. The mercy dress as worn below is one of my favourites and is also available in navy. I’m hoping they will repeat it in other colours as it truly is worth having in every colour under the sun.
Mercy dress, $75
Evans Styling Challenge
Posted: August 20, 2012 Filed under: Clothing, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: dress, Evans 12 CommentsI’m always up for a challenge so when Evans set me the task of styling this snake print dress for their blogger challenge I jumped to it. It’s only recently that I’ve made friends with animal prints as I used to avoid them. Now we have come to a mutual understanding- I’ll embrace you into my wardrobe as long as you’re not too loud and attention grabbing. So here we have snake print in monochrome tones. This I can do. I decided to err on the side of caution and not wear much jewellery apart from a pair of my favourite earrings. I think this busy print is all the accessorising I need. I really dislike wearing black or grey from head to toe so I thought I’d break it all up with burgundy tights and a vintage clutch with flashes of burgundy on it. If you ever catch me wearing head to toe black you know I definitely woke up in a bad mood and you should bring me cheesecake. Immediately. Where cheesecake is not instantly available chocolate is an acceptable alternative.
This is my second foray into animal print territory and I’m liking it more each time I try. The dress is comfy, stretchy and the snake print has the added bonus of disguising any creases so it doesn’t need much ironing- what more can a girl ask for?
Dress: Evans
Waistcoat- Very Old New Look
Shoes- Evans
Bag- Thrifted
Tights- We Love Colours (I think)
Earrings: Etsy
One Dress
Posted: March 24, 2012 Filed under: Clothing, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: dress, One Stop Plus 15 CommentsOne Stop Plus have gotten me well into the summer mood by gifting me with this bright orange dress which is perfect for marking the official start of British summertime. Clocks go forward tonight in case you forgot……
The style of the dress is nothing we’ve not seen before, but I love love LOVE the colour. It’s also available in pink, purple, black and white. I didn’t check the size chart before ordering but I usually wear a size 26, and this 26 fits perfectly. The only thing that would make this better is the addition of pockets but I’m a little biased. Dresses with pockets rock my world but even without pockets this is still causing a considerable commotion.
Other details: Jacket- Evans, Bag- H&M (both old), Shoes- thrifted, Earrings- Rachel Stewart.
A Different Kind of Animal
Posted: September 20, 2011 Filed under: Clothing, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: Lovedrobe 4 CommentsIt’s very hard for me to disassociate animal prints from the Bet Lynch character in Coronation Street even though I don’t even watch it and its been years since she was in it anyway. Every now and again though, I call a truce and show the print a little affection. On this occasion the love is being spread in the form of this dress, courtesy of Lovedrobe. In fact, its more than just affection, I think we’re having a full blown relationship as I’ve only had this dress for 10 days and I’ve already worn it three times. It’s easy to forget it’s animal printed as the print is large, abstract and multicoloured. And tasteful. Just what I need to cut all ties to a fictional character of questionable style.
Dress: Lovedrobe at Evans, £38
Belt- Asos
Shoes- Evans
Vest- M&S
‘Round Midnight- and GIVEAWAY!
Posted: August 11, 2011 Filed under: Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: Igigi 49 Comments‘Twas a very good day when the postie delivered this gorgeous dress to yours truly, courtesy of Igigi by Yuliya Raquel after they asked if I would be interested in reviewing an item. HELL YEH. I often look at the Igigi site, particularly for their evening and cocktail styles, but have never bought anything as potential customs charges scare me! Midnight blue is my second favourite colour (violet is number one) so I didn’t have to think twice about what to choose as I fell for this dress on sight.
From the heart- this dress reigns supreme. It’s a bit of a sexy lil number made from silky smooth jersey cut to fit and drape in the right places, and its fully lined too so quite a substantial dress. The antique silver sequin embellishments provide just the right amount of sophisticated sparkle without being too loud and blingy, giving me just enough glitz.
This is my first Igigi experience so had to study the size chart before ordering and I can confirm that this dress fits true to their sizes. I ordered the 22/24 and it fits perfectly. Would I recommend them? You bet.
AND
Guess what?! Those generous folks at Igigi are giving you dear readers, the chance to win a $50 gift certificate- ya- hey! All you have to do is comment on this post and you will be automatically entered into the draw. The contest ends on August 18, 23.20 GMT when a winner will be drawn at random. Good luck!
Fabric Reunion
Posted: October 31, 2010 Filed under: My Wardrobe, Product Reviews, Sponsored Posts | Tags: Asos Curve 9 CommentsLast night I attended the Music Video and Screen awards in Birmingham and FINALLY got to wear a dress I’ve had for a couple of months but have been saving for this occasion.
Crushed velvet is one of those fabrics that I never thought would hurry back onto the fashion radar , but high fashion it certainly is. I’ve not worn it myself since 1992 in the form of a fitted tee I made myself which was teamed with a jacket I made in textiles class at school…..
As part of my reintroduction to a fabric I used to wear a lot, the ASOS gift fairies sent me this dress (size 26) along with the coat I blogged about a while back and I promised myself I wouldn’t tarnish it before this event.
I love it. Its super comfortable, fits well and requires no ironing! I’ve kept it folded up in a drawer for the past few weeks and just took it out and slipped it on- my kinda frock! I have no real complaints about it. I thought that being a fitted velvet dress it might continually ride up but it didn’t, it held its position all night even during the after party boogie. The only thing that did ever so slightly irritate me was that the lining on the inside of the side drapey bit was sometimes slightly visible at the top edge so I found myself tucking that back in a few times, but apart from that minor I am very happy with it and is something I would buy myself. In fact, I’m contemplating buying the red version for Christmas day.
As for the event, I had a FANTASTIC night and saw loads of slebs so was doing my best not to gawp but get a good look at the same time. Alison Hammond was there and I REALLY wanted to get a photo with her but I didn’t see her at the end but Alison, if by any remote chance you are reading this- HELLO! I did see Rudolph Walker though (Patrick from Eastenders) and we hammed it up a bit for the camera.
Correction- I hammed it up for the camera. Rudolph being the cool calm and collected man he is, looked well- cool, calm and collected and I just look like a crazed fan. Lawd.
Fat Girls Like Nice Clothes Too 
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