Outfit week - BONUS DAY

Guys, last week I did a post about Ruby Belle while I was on my hen weekend. Today I'm doing an OOTD in the rain. I think it's safe to say I've become quite obsessed with dedicated to this blog.

Today isn't exciting; tidying my room and playing videogames with the boy mostly. But tonight should be more exciting, my friends and I are having our annual eurovision party.


Khaki Parker - Evans (circa around 2004)
T-shirt & Skirt - New Look Inspire
Leggings - Matalan
Blue shoes - Walmart
I feel like it's important to state, for the record, that I own three pairs of black leggings from Matalan and have not been wearing the same pair all week.

I really wanted to do an OOTD with just my stripey top without it being covered by a jacket, but the weather was NOT being helpful. The pics don't show it very well but it was absolutely pissing down on us. (In case you're curious, the welsh have a word for this kind of rain: pistyllio)

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Some day my stripey t-shirt will make it solo and show up in an OOTD without a jacket. Damn you weatherrrrr!

Outfit week - day five

Apologies for not posting an outfit yesterday - it was a busy day and the time kind of got away from me. I was only going to keep posting outfits until today, but since I was rubbish yesterday I'll carry on tomorrow to make up for it.

So anyway, on to today...

Dress - Bought from Xtina
Boots and Belt - Evans
Leggings & T-shirt - Matalan

Today was more slacking off with the fiancé - we hit up his favourite sandwich shop and bought ourselves a picnic, and then took all the food to the beach to enjoy the sunshine. I know I've already shown you this dress twice on the blog, but this week I'm really trying to give you a taste of how I dress from day to day, and I can't get enough of this dress - it's super comfy and I love the pockets and the print.

MORE PICS: (click for bigger versions)




I hope you've been enjoying my daily outfit posts. I've had a pretty fun week but I don't think I could keep this up forever. Anyway, last one tomorrow and then normal service will resume,
Thanks for reading xxx

Outfit week - day three

Today was a mellow uneventful kind of day - I had to do some uni work, since I've been slacking off since the weekend. I took a break after dinner to walk the family mutt around the neighborhood and that's when my photographer fiancé snapped these pics. My dog is called Chaz and he's a 7 year old border collie. He's kind of crazy and excitable but I love him to bits.


(As usual, you can click any pic to see a bigger version)

Shirt dress - Addition Elle
Jacket - Customized by me
Leggings & flats - Matalan
Belt - Evans
I wore my glasses too because I'm trying to get used to them a bit better. That shirt dress is probably my favourite purchase of the winter season, it doesn't seem to fit so well with the sunny weather though but I think the jacket helps it to fit in.


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I'm still not really used to seeing myself in glasses but I'm sure I'll get there. I also don't put my hair in a ponytail too often so it's weird to see my hair like that also.

Do you guys find it strange to see yourself wearing certain items/hairstyles?

Outfit week - day two

Day two of outfit week and the weather is still gorgeous! Today was wedding ring shopping in town, but before catching the bus I couldn't resist heading to my neighborhood playground (and hopping on the swing.)


(Click any picture to see a larger version)

Skirt - Joe Browns @ Simply Be
Top - Dorothy Perkins
Scarf - Peacocks
Boots - Evans

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I think this is the first day all year I've been out in a skirt without leggings or tights on underneath. My pins are lily white! The Joe Browns skirt I bought a few weeks back was so perfect to keep me cool, and was long enough that I didn't flash everyone my knickers when I was swinging.

How about you guys?
Are you enjoying nice weather?
Have your legs seen daylight yet this year?

I'll be back tomorrow xxx

Outfit week - day one

As I mentioned last week in my blogaversary post, I want to do something special this week, and so I am doing an outfit post every day! The outfits are nothing new, all stuff I've shown you guys before, but now that my photographer fiancé has arrived in the country I can show you much better pictures. I hate always being stuck in my bedroom instead of showing you guys the things I get up to in my outfits, so hopefully this week I can make up for that.

Here we go with day 1...

(Click any picture to see a bigger version)
Today was my fiancé's first day back in the country so we went for a picnic in a field near my house and climbed a couple of trees and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. I wanted to wear a dress that would be a little bit romantic for the occasion, but because I knew we'd be climbing trees and walking along a muddy path I had to go with my pink hiking boots (not particularly stylish, but kind of essential if you live in these parts)

More pics:





The dress and leggings are from Matalan,
the boots are from cotton traders,
the denim jacket was customized by me back in March.

Thanks for reading,
more tomorrow xxx

Ruby Belle Review

Hi guys, I'm on my hen weekend in Cardiff having a wonderful time. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a nice big Evans that carries the Ruby Belle collection, so I just had to go in and try stuff on!

It was kind of a rush job I'm afraid, I didn't want to keep everyone waiting, so I tried on my favourite three. (NOTE: Today in Cardiff it was HOTTER THAN IN BARCELONA so that's the reason my face and hair are a hot damn mess!)

Flamingo Dress
The Flamingo dress was probably my favourite of the collection, that print is just too cute. I'm not convinced the colours are the best on me, but I do really love it.




When Em at Oh, the places you'll go tried this on she said she felt that the waist didn't hit her in quite the right place, and I felt the same way. With a belt I think it would look better. The other issue I had was that it was a little loose around the bust, as you can see in the second picture...



Sailboat Dress
I was in love with the print on the skirt of this sailboat dress but I assumed that the black top of it would wash me out - I don't tend to rock black. But I was pleasantly surprised with how this looked, my friend Rachel liked this one best on me.



My one criticism of it is that there's no zip in the side or the back, and there's no give in the material around the waist. It's easy to get into but I had a hard time escaping! Jo at Embrace your curves also said that she struggled with this.



Red Floral Dress
I've heard mixed reviews about the Red Floral Dress. I've heard complaints that the armholes are a bit weird, the bust doesn't fit quite right, the fit doesn't quite work. I didn't have any problems with the fit, but I did find it still looked kind of awkward on me. I think it's a toughie to pull off, and I didn't really manage it.



I actually quite like it on me in the pictures, but in person my friend Rach and I both agreed that it wasn't the dress for me. It's really beautiful in person, though. I think it would be absolutely perfect on a girl with a more pronounced hourglass shape who is less thick in the arms and shoulders.


So that's my review!
I didn't have time to try them all but I did try each shape of dress within the range. The dresses were all stunning in person, flowy and made with nice soft cotton that is just perfect for a summer day. I highly recommend!

If you'd like to hear some more opinions about the range, Em did a very detailed review where she tried on every single dress. Jo has bought the sailboat dress, and she's done a really good review of that.

Nail Challenge: Week 5

It's the 5th week of my Nail challenge and it's still going well (I'm as shocked as you are.) I think knowing that I have to admit it to you guys if I fail at this is keeping me from nibbling. That and knowing they have to look good for a certain date coming up next month... I'm considering getting some bridal nail art, by the way!

I don't want to inundate you with nail pictures, but here's a couple:


I really love that blue colour, I put it on my toes too.
I still very much recommend Sally Hansen's Maximum Growth Strengthener, I've had no cracks or breakages whatsoever and they've ended up growing pretty fast. It's been weird getting used to them being long, but the drummer in me really likes the sound they make when I drum them against the side of my laptop (though it drives everyone else nuts!)

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive of my nail-growing efforts, and to everyone who's given me tips! I'll keep you posted on how they fare during the run up to the big day.

A special day

So today is a pretty special day, guys. It’s my…

BLOGAVERSARY!

Celebration caaaaake!
Yay! It might come as a shock because the majority my subscribers have only been following for a month or two, but I’ve been doing this for a whole year. It took me a while to really get going, it took me even longer to actually tell anyone to come visit… but you know me… baby steps!

Now I’m really happy with where I am with the blog and even happier with all of the friends I’ve made. I’m so grateful to everyone who visits – I could never be brave enough to do this blog if I didn’t have the most wonderful people in the world encouraging me.

This day marks a year of…
1. Shunning shame and insecurity.
2. Embracing my body and all its wonderful lumps and bumps.
3. Being happy in my skin.

Here’s to many more years of that!
I do have a celebration planned – but that’s not going to start until next Monday. I won’t divulge all the details now, but I will say that you can expect an outfit post every day next week!

I couldn't eat all of my celebration cake in the end because the icing was super sweet. My dad and my dog finished it off for me.

Lucky cat remix

The theme of today's outfit is remixing - finding a new look from the clothes you already own. I'm trying my best not to shop at the moment as I'm going away next weekend and I think I'll need my money for that. So instead I've been going through my wardrobe and trying to find a good summer look that I hadn't thought of before.


There's been a lot of floral-print skirts and culottes around this Spring - a look that totally reminds me of Georgina from Cupcake's clothes (though she's into far more stylish muted colours). So that's kind of what I was going for by wearing my polka-dot dress underneath the t-shirt. The two together are kinda obnoxious and clashy, but I like that. I really love to wear yellow, especially in summertime, just because it's a colour so many other people seem to shy away from.


I've been wanting to show you guys this t-shirt forever because it's my absolute favourite and I've had it for a few years now. My dad brought it back from his first business trip to China. I really wanted my own lucky cat at the time, but he couldn't find one, so he got me one on a t-shirt. And I cut a slash-neck into it - I really like to do that. (I got a real lucky cat as well in the end.)

Unique things like this t-shirt are always the things I end up holding onto the longest. When you mix them in with trendy stuff from the highstreet you can end up with a really unique look.

How about you, my lovelies?
Do you have any odd unique pieces that you love?
Do you like owning clothes that nobody else has?

PS: I wanted to mention that I now have a formspring.me account, so if you'd like to ask me any questions: feel free!

Help me choose!

Readers, you've been so great to me over the last few months and I know that each and every one of you has wonderful style. So I'm going to leave an important decision in your hands and entrust you with my birthday outfit! Make me fabulous guys!

Which dress should I get for my birthday?

Left: Ruby Belle Sailboat Dress - £55
Middle: Silk butterfly maxi dress - £59 (coming soon)
Right: Ruby Belle Flamingo Dress - £55
I'm honestly going to go with the one that gets the most comment-votes because I really can't choose between them myself! My birthday isn't until the end of June though so you'll have to wait a few weeks for the outfit post.

By the way, if you have a plus-size fashion blog too make sure you join the brand spanking new I love fatshion network - it's going to be a really great resource for us fatshionistas and I'm really excited that it's been created.

Love you guys xxx

New glasses

Just a quickie post because I wanted to show you guys my new glasses. You might not see me wearing these too often because I only need them for things like classes and going to the movies (and driving if I drove, but I don't).

These are my main pair:

Here's a link to them on the D&A website

And I got a free pair of prescription sunnies:

And here's the link for these ones
What do you think?

Don't forget that Pretty in plus is now on facebook, feel free to add me and don't be afraid to say hi! Big thanks to all the people who have added me already!

EDIT: I just realised that I look kind of naked in these pics - I promise I'm not. I'm wearing a strapless dress around the house today to test out a new strapless bra.

I'm an animal (a purple one)

Before I get to the OOTD I wanted to mention that I've set up a facebook account for the blog. I hope this doesn't upset anyone, but I was getting a few friend requests to my personal account, and I kind of want to keep that for my personal life. So I've made this account to try and keep the two a little bit separate. I heart my readers though. ♥

If you'd like to be friends with my blog account though, here's the link:

facebook.com/prettyinplus

Now on to the fatshion! My obsession with purple doesn't seem to be going anywhere just yet. This latest purchase is my first from Tesco's website (I live nowhere near a Tesco). I'm really kind of impressed with their stuff; their "straight size" stuff goes up to a 22 most of the time, and then they have a plus-size range called "True" which goes up to a 28, which is where I found this purple gem.

So typical that I was blinking in the best shot I got of this OOTD:

Leopard-print Jumper - Tesco True range
Denim mini - New Look
Leggings & Pumps - Matalan
My one criticism of it is that the product description for the jumper said, "team with leggings for a fashionable casual look," so I was really expecting it to be longer like my hugs and kisses dress. But as you can see, it's not really long enough to be a sweater-dress. And I'm 5'3" which is pretty short.

Time for some crazy eyes:

I'm not really into animal prints but there's just something so ridiculous and fun about coloured animal prints that they win me over. How about you guys? Are you animal print fans?

Spring cleaning: a lesson in ruthlessness

So summer is almost here and it’s a pretty good time to take stock of my wardrobe and ask myself honestly how much of it I really wear. I try and do this about once a year. We all know clothes are harder to find when you’re a size 22, and it can be hard to let go of pieces that were tricky to find in the first place. But I really believe that being ruthless will leave you with a more focused and well-thought out wardrobe where every piece is pulling its weight.


When it comes to determining whether it’s time to part ways with an item, I ask myself three questions…

• Does this fit me?
• Does this suit my style anymore?
• Have I worn this at all in the last year?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then I’ll consider ditching that item.

To ditch or not to ditch? Here’s my advice:

1) BE RUTHLESS
Be as ruthless as Gok Wan (click here for a video example of this). Throw stuff on the floor and yell “gone!” It's pretty fun.

2) TRY IT ON
If you’re not sure about something you really should try it on. Your size is never set in stone. This week I was going to throw away a black corset top that has never really fit me, but I tried it on before throwing it out and it fits now! I also have a pair of brown trousers I was going to keep, but I realized they give me awful camel-toe now (never a good look) so those are going.

3) BE PRACTICAL
Don’t hold onto clothes that are way to small in the hope that they’ll fit someday. In the words of the wonderful Joy Nash, “they’re just taking up space and pissing you off!” Just think; you could sell that cute dress that doesn’t fit and fill the cleared space with a cute dress that does!

4) THINK GREEN
If an item isn’t working for you as it is, could it be recycled into something better? Those old jeans that are frayed around the hem might make cute cut-offs. You could cut the cute motif off of that t-shirt and sew it onto a cushion. Last year I made an old pair of trousers into a cute tote bag. The possibilities are endless; all it takes is a little imagination.

5) DON’T FORGET YOUR KNICKERS
Sorting through your underwear and socks and binning everything with holes will make your life better, I promise. I’m terrible at holding on to bras with missing underwires, but I’m trying to stop doing that.

This is my pile of stuff that is about to get donated to charity:

I think of everything I get rid of as an opportunity for reinvention. Every piece I ditch from 2008 is an opportunity to fill its place with a piece that truly reflects who I am now in 2010.

How about you guys? Do you tend to hold onto things for a long time or do you have a lot of clear outs? Do you have a hard time getting rid of old clothes?

Leather jackets and classic rock

Yesterday I had an eye appointment which, frankly, I was being a total baby about. For some reason that peripheral vision test they make you do really freaks me out. Anyway, I needed my outfit to be comfy but also to help me feel a little tougher in the face of the optician.

Here's what I landed on:

Leather Jacket - New Look
Jeans - Yours
Scarf - Peacocks
Led Zeppelin t-shirt - Ebay
There really is nothing like a leather jacket to make you feel like a tough chick who can handle anything (even opticians). The eye test went fine and I have new glasses on the way (I only need glasses for certain things like going to the movies). My mum keeps making fun of me for mentioning to everyone that my new frames are Givenchy ones, but I've never had designer frames before so I'm excited - can't wait to show you guys!

The Led Zeppelin concert t-shirt that you can't really see under the jacket is new, I found it on ebay and I had to buy it because the concert date was my birthday! (June 22nd) I'm wearing it again today in fact. I have the house to myself this morning so I'm practicing my drumming skills while there's nobody to bother. I only wish I could drum as well as Led Zeppelin's drummer could, John Bonham was a true master!


Skirt - Joe Browns
I customised the shirt a little by cutting it to make a slash-neck so it falls off my shoulder like that. It's not very glamorous but for drumming it's perfect. I'll be changing into a pair of jeans soon to go and vote! They're calling this the closest election in a generation, so I'm planning to stay up late and watch the results as they happen.

If you're in the UK, make sure you go out and vote today!