OOTD: 80s Tribute

This little beauty arrived on Saturday. I tweeted about it. I slightly blogged about it here. But I do think that this dress deserves their own post!

On me though, it looks like this:

I've added my own belt - the one in the product picture didn't come with the dress! It did though work with the black thin belt I think!

There is a lot going one with this dress - from the panel at the neckline, the buttons down the length of the dress and the PRINT! Boy, the PRINT! I've already induced at least one headache at work with this!

Oh yes, you heard me, I wore this TO WORK!! On a business dress 'normal' day. No bigwigs, just a normal day. On the other hand, it is an overcast day in the North East, and I feel like I'm bringing sunshine (and sun stroke?!) into the office!

The pockets are deep and roomy, and don't alter the lay of the dress. The material is 100% Viscose, and feels okay against my skin.

I think everyone needs a splash of 80s Neon Aztec print in their life!

Much love my lovelies, 

K xx

I've got 99 problems, but a dress ain't one!

Readers, I have a confession. 

I really think I have some sort of mental block when it comes to dresses. I forget what I have, what I need, and just buy buy buy them!

I get paid on the 21st of the month. It is spent usually within about 4 days on dresses. 

I then sell on eBay what I'm bored of (yes, BORED), or what doesn't quite fit (Hellooooooo new bra size!). 

But recently, I don't know what has come over me!

 

New Look Inspire dress (£12.99) - will be worn with black jeans. But it is purple, so that is all that matters on that one! I'd like to a try a belt and some shapewear to see if it adds anything to the dress!

Lady Vintage London Plus Size dress - it came with a belt, but I fancied something a little more flowing and 'cooler' in terms of temperature! It was perfect for the office. I wore it with my trusty Sainsburys leggings and my new Excite Clothing shrug from eBay. 

I bought this wiggle dress from a friend for £30, and thought that as it was a US 18, it would fit me.

I've deleted the photos I took of it as it was just not a look I was comfortable with! I'm now selling this for the same price. 

This dress has my heart-a-flutter! It is the ASOS Curve dress, which I took a chance on and bought a 20 to try. 

It is a bright bright orange as the background colour, and the neckline is see through threaded lace effect. 

The buttons don't seem to gape, and I've worn it with a brown leather belt as a test to cinch the waist a little. I'm thinking my trusty black nurses belt as there are too many colours in the dress to try to pick out one with the belt.

This I would wear bare legged as it sits below my knee. If this temperature keeps up I'll be wearing it tomorrow at this rate!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Power dressing

So, this was was my first full week back, and it was already tipped to be a jam packed week!

Monday was a bit of writing, and a bit of delivering, so I went for something a little safe in style, but different in fit:

I say the fit of this top as it was on a 22 hanger in ASDA, and I didn't realise it was actually a 20 until I got it home. It was £5, reduced from £10 in their sale, and other than being a little bit see through (read a LOT), it was a perfect start to my week. The sleeves are see through, and therefore breatheable, making it the perfect 'start of the heatwave' combination. 

It is teamed with my trusty Domino Dollhouse plain skirt and nurses belt. 

Tuesday was a day of pure writing (and reviewing,and phone calls, and what not), but I still wanted a power dressing outfit that would hopefully spur me on with the writing. 

 I even got my legs out look!

When I first wore this dress, I wore it with my skinny jeans, but after managing a day in the office without feeling self conscious in the dress, I think it is now officially a 'tights' dress!

I also wore my ASDA blazer (a smarter alternative to the cardigan - I just need it in colours other than grey), and my Viva La Diva shoes.

Wednesday was a full business dress day as we had the client visiting. I was also delivering back to back sessions, so needed smarter than smart!

After I tried the 20 in this dress, I knew it just didn't feel 'right' and that it was not sitting on my T&A very well. Marisota contacted me to see if there was anything they could do for me to rectify the issue. I joked in response that they could send me a 22 to try. And they were kind enough to do just that!

Look, a perfect fit on the ample rear!

Due to my health issues at the moment, I am rather bloated and distended, so the extra space I gained in the waist came to good use! Although once this has gone (hoping to does go), I'll be taking a look at making some amendments to the dress to make it durable! 

One thing I will say about this dress, is the material - not conducive to the heat we've been having, but perfect for the colder months!

Today though, even bigger client came in, so I needed something a little different:

Another outing for the ASDA blazer, and the nurses belt was brought out (even though it kept moving from my waist to my underbust! I blame the shiny lining!)

I even colour coordinated my tights and shoes to keep the navy and red theme going!

Tomorrow is a dress down day - and I'm undecided what to pull out the bag for that, but I've enjoyed my 'smart' dressing this week, and felt the benefits in my productivity as well.

Much love my lovelies,

K x

Diamond Crowns

On Monday night the Brownie Pack I'm helping out with at the moment was sparkly and regal!

We had an idea involving a sheet of black card, and some buttons. We were thinking something along the lines of this, but on black card:

One of our leaders said she had some ideas, and we left her to it - Brown Owl (my Mam) was keen to make it sparkly, so set on an eBay search for sparkly, sticky jewels. There was a moment of panic on my behalf when she nearly bought some very different sticky jewels!

Our Moonlight Owl gave the Brownies a crown, metallic pens, and those sticky jewels. This is the end result:

Our girls did us proud! 

We will be sending this to the Queen to celebrate her Jubilee!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Vintage vintage vintage

I have always had a soft spot for the past. At school I was a history buff, when out with friends, we dance to soul, and when dressing, I love the aesthetic of full skirts and fitted tops. 

Even when I was younger, I was left wondering amongst hand bags and jewellery, rather than the pretty vintage clothes in charity shops, or vintage clothing stores. 

It is only now that I have come to realise that there are 3 different types of vintage. There is genuine vintage:

 This is a size 26 dress, made of a shiny brown lace, with a beaded neckline. It was lovely! I was wearing it over the top of a dress with a full skirt and petticoat, so that is why there are no better photos of the dress!

These dresses were purchased for Dotty for Vintage, a partnership that scours for vintage plus size clothing, so we don't have to!

There is then home made vintage:

This dress was made by my Grandma for my Mam when she was in a show about 12 years ago? 

And then there was reproduction vintage:

The blue and white dress as from http://queenofholloway.com/, and was a perfect fit in the 24, other than the buttons gaping. The pink polka dot dress was a Lady Vintage dress, with the square neckline showing off a little more bra than I'd like! 

But why do I stick with it? Because I love the shape, the cut and the feel of the dress. The way that it hangs, the way the blue dress sits below my knee:

Now, my challenge is to wear this dress to work, and make it less 'costume' like. I was called a nurse and a midwife when I last wore this dress, so I'd like to think of a way to wear it, where it is more versatile. 

So ladies, Vintage is ours, we just need to reclaim it!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Plus North

I am rather excited about this wonderful event! 

In February I went to London to meet some fantastic women, and to take part in a catwalk show. 

There were issues with it. Lots of them. But I'm going to share with you some of the photos of me in that show:

Now, I didn't show them in February as, honestly, I wasn't happy with them. I noticed this, or that, but now, after 4 months, I don't see that, I see the glint in my eye and the FUN I was having! Because it was fun. To be at an event ran by girls, for girls, with brands that know girls. 

And when I heard about another event, PlusNorth, being ran by two women, one of whom was at PlusLondon2, and so learn by some of the errors, but more importantly, build on what as so great about PlusLondon2. 

It is sponsored by a number of wonderful and amazing brands, the tickets are only £5, and there is promised to be canapes, wine and goody bags. 

For more information:

http://plusnorth.weebly.com/

Will I be seeing you there?

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Busty Girl Problems

There are times when you see a dress and you just hope that it fits. You pray that it will work. I usually have to worry about the length of dresses, and do not really think about much else. 

Recently I have noticed I've had a new issue. My bust. My recent dresses from Marisota has proven that my bust almost needs a dress of it's own!!

I had recently ordered this dress to try:

Bespoke Wrap Dress

But, a key point to know - it's an actual wrap dress. Like a rectangle of material that you wrap around you and tie. Not a 'mock' wrap, which I find rather forgiving on a busty figure. 

It is not my finest hour. I love the colour, and actually love that it is a 'proper' wrap. Unfortunately it is just not the dress for me, which is why I didn't take better photos, either of me or the dress. 

I was not planning on writing this post until I saw this:

And I fully identified with them!

So I'll leave you with this:

http://bustygirlproblems.tumblr.com/

to see what other 'problems' we face!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Weird Fish

Marisota recently had a 'Buy a dress, get a handbag free' offer on, and I was quick off the mark to order it. 

I have also seen it more recently here:

I had high hopes for it, I'll be honest. But it was not meant to be. 

On first glance, the dress is a good fit, but on closer inspection:

My top finger indicates where the underbust seem sits, and the bottom finger shows where my bra band sits. 

If the dress was to sit where it is meant to, it would look like this:

If not even worse - I've opted to save my modesty! - it's as if there is not enough material for my chest to sit in! This is again the 20, and I don't think that it is too small elsewhere, just the bust department. I could try the 22, but I think the fit of the dress would suffer. 

HOWEVER:

The dress is a lovely heavy, yet soft, viscose. The detailing on the dress is impressive: the 'mock wrap'; the extra flap of material; and the sleeve detail.

So for those less endowed in the bust than myself, I would highly recommend this dress! Just a shame that my bust got in my way!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x