Plus North

PLUS NORTH!

On July 7th Many of us bloggers will be coming together to show each other some love in the city of leeds, I had such a fabulous time at Plus London Two I was very excited that toni and Becky decided to put together Plus North, as bloggers we spend so much time attending events in the south I think this is a fab chance to head north and show the wonderful women up their our support.

The event will be held at the aspire building in leeds it is a converted banking hall and a fabulous place for an event, it is open to plus fashion and beauty bloggers and our readers.

The venue looks amazing!

Simply be are the main sponsors and will be providing us with a catwalk show all the models are non professional made up of bloggers and readers, so it will be fantastic to see the clothing on a great mix of body shapes and sizes.

They will also have a stand upstairs on the mezzanine floor for us to have a good look at the clothing and feel them in person, which is fabulous for women like me who are nowhere near one of the fabulous new Simply Be stores.

There will also be a number of other plus fashion, beauty and jewellery brands coming to the event who will have stands upstairs for us to enjoy as well.

Sponsors

We also have contributions from....

Tickets for the event cost £5 but this gets you entry into the prize draw, a goody bag, drinks and canapes.

The prizes in the prize draw are pretty excellent!!

Some of the prizes on offer include, A photo shoot from Excite Clothing and you get to keep the clothing from the shoot 

Dea London are offering the opportunity to win an item of there clothing from the current range, this excites me so much!

Benefit cosmetics are offering a huge £250 voucher for the prize draw, WOW!

Stella and Dot and Life's Big Canvas are each offering a Piece of Jewellery. 

There will be more to add but this is just to wet your appetites.

Stella and dot are planning on offering hand and arm massages using organic products on the day.

Two of our fellow plus north Attendees Rebecca and stacy will be offering free files and polishes for everyone.

It is shaping up to be a fabulous day and I have offered my services to help the girls out on the day, I have 2 blog posts scheduled for the next couple of days on was a visit to the lovely Dea London who are making Becky and Toni an item of clothing for the day, I tagged along to watch the process of design and measuring for the item, it was brilliant to watch.

We also visited Chesca and had a look around there current collection they were such a fabulous team, and I have a blog all about that visit too. 

So come on ladies, book a ticket and come along, remember it isn't just for Bloggers it is open to the public, bring your mums and sisters make it a weekend away and have some fun!

Kelsey Arif

A couple of days ago I read a blog post over at Fullerfigurefullerbust about the fabulous Kelsey Arif and her entry into the Miss British Beauty Curve Pageant, some of you may remember Kelsey who won the Plus Size Tall Model Search, to help her in her pagent endeavours I offered a posst on my blog, as I love to see a gorgeous plus woman making a name for herself.


Could you please introduce yourself for the readers who do not know you?

Well I'm Kelsey Arif and I am in my second year at Hertfordshire University studying Marketing with Advertising. I've been on / off modeling for around a year now but due to work and study constraints I have been finding it hard to dedicate enough time to building my portfolio.

When is the pageant and why did you want to enter?
It all started last January when I entered the Plus Size Tall Model Search and won! I entered believing I wouldn’t get very far and certainly didn’t think a trip to Vegas would be on the cards! I decided to go for the competition in a bid to help boost my self and body confidence and it most definitely worked! Modeling will always be a part of my life now I have had a taste of it; it's something I can only dream of doing full time!

Its  another way to get myself out into the plus size industry, last October I entered the Miss British Beauty Curve. I have made it to the finals as ‘Miss Hertfordshire Curve’ which is being held this Saturday the 25^th February so my nerves are riding high! Another reason I entered was to see if pageantry was for me and if there was anything I could learn and use when modelling. It is also a great way to celebrate the fuller lady and a fun opportunity to be a part of!

What is involved?

The pageant consists of rounds just like a standard pageant and Miss British Beauty Curve has an opening round, fashion wear, swimwear and eveningwear. There will also be a personal interview before the pageant begins.

I am really excited for all of it! It’s something I have never done before so I’m obviously nervous for things like poses and the walks but I’m sure with all my practicing I will be just fine! All I can do is try my best and I feel amazing in all of my outfits so that always helps and I’m happy to just have got to the finals so as long as I do my best I can hold my head high no matter the outcome!

Has being involved helped your confidence in yourself or are you naturally confident?

I have always been quite a naturally confident person really. I did get to a stage when I was at my heaviest where I felt myself becoming more self-conscious but I also felt so un-healthy which didn’t help. That was one of my reasons for losing a lot of weight last year and since I’ve lost the weight and started modeling my confidence has been boosted again. There is a big difference in being confident and being arrogant and I make sure I don’t come across as a big head as I find it extremely distasteful.

What a your plans for the future? (more pageants, competitions, modelling)

Modeling isn’t just a past time for me. Next year once I have finished my university degree I am going to spend the time hitting agencies with my portfolio, attending more castings, following up on all that essential networking and doing whatever I can to boost my presence in the plus size industry. I have also got a big interest in Marketing and Advertising so that will hopefully play a part in my life as well.  As for the pageants…. I will have to let you know once the shows over and done with on Saturday!

As you can see kelsey is stunning, and deserves all the support in her modelling and pageant venture we can offer. 


I will have everything crossed for the 25th. 


For more info go to Miss British Beauty Curve


Mhairi.


xxx