Impressed By Tesco

For the last few years Tesco has been getting better and better as an on-line store but in store has been another story, clothing sections have been getting smaller and smaller and plus size ranges have mostly disappeared.

I am very luck to live very close to some very large Tesco stores and used to live 10 minutes from their head office store which to be honest has a shockingly small clothing section for the size of the store.

On Monday my fabulous friend Andrew visited me and we went for a drive to Bar Hill Tesco, which is a huge store just off the A14 in Cambridgeshire. When I say the store is huge think French Supermarche, I hate doing my food shop there as instead of 30-40 minutes I am in there for 3 hours and come out spending way more than I meant. It has always had a large mezzanine floor which used to be split between electrical's and clothing but it has been a couple of years since I last visited.

The whole store has had an uplift and the change is fantastic! the mezzanine floor now has a Cafe which is lovely and the the entire rest of the floor is taken up by clothing, I was in heaven! it is huge, it felt modern, and could have easily been a high street fashion retailer, with excellent posters and mannequins well displayed stands no over crowding and fantastic bright lighting.

This style of store could easily work in a shopping centre as a stand alone clothing shop not just in the supermarkets. The selection was immense.

I snapped a few photos which are a bit rubbish as I only had my phone with you but you can get the idea.

Beautiful Displays of Party Wear

A Nice large section for Lingerie and Nightwear.

They even have a Sports Wear section which is beautifully set out and has a really good selection of trainers.

Just me trying to run out of Andrews photo.

I loved this skirt and Crop top 

Great online order system if you cant find our size in store.

Plenty of brands

I liked the advertising points

Excellent Childrenswear section

To give you an idea of the size, women's wear is all behind me and that is the length down towards menswear.

I think my only dissapointment is that yet again no plus sizes that I could see, I may be wrong as we were not being very methodical so could have missed it but I doubt it. 

Please Tesco sort this out and the store will be perfect!!

Mhairi 

xxx

Hi-Tec Luca Revisited and Reviewed

Hi guys, this post is so so far behind schedule, life in Lilybobomb Towers has been crazily manic recently, we have had illnesses, life changing events, Kitchens being fitted and all sorts of other frustrations; including not being able to actually reach my computer for the last two weeks due to the contents of our kitchen needing to be stored around the house until the work is finished.

We are here for now though so thought I best grab Marc and get this written, You can see the unboxing of the trainers HERE and see Marc's Initial thoughts on them.

Marc has thoroughly tested these trainers, he has been walking, running, the gym, and around town in them a number of times and they have held up fantastically.

I asked him to give me a brief review of them and he told me to let you all know that, they are incredibly light weight and very comfortable, they handled his long walk to work, much better than he had expected them to as he usually ends up with blisters and sore spots on his feet, and running was a breeze.

Marc suffers from bad back pain and hard soled shoes aren't always an option for him, although we both prefer to keep our trainers for exercise, sometimes trainers are the best option for him to manage his pain.

As you can see from the photo's below, although the blue is very bright, because the rest of the shoe is black they do not look too garish when wearing them with his casual clothing out and about.

Don't you just love the unpainted half removed floor! a kitchen refit is incredibly stressful, I do not recommend it!

I do have some other pictures but they are currently stuck on my mac surrounded by boxes, if I ever make it back in there I will try to add them on here for you.

Hi-Tec really have come on leaps and bounds since I was a teenager refusing to wear them for PE because they weren't what everyone else was wearing, heat over to the website and take a look for yourself HERE.

Marc has decided to set up his own blog focusing on his interests, he is a gamer, loves reading and films and also will talk about his life being a plus size man! I will keep you updated in case it is of interest to any of you.

Mhairi and Marc

Menswear - Hi-Tec Luca Trainers Unboxing

Good afternoon ladies and gents,

Every now and then I like to mix it up a bit and do a little post for the men in our lives or for my male readers.

A while ago I was given the opportunity to review a pair of mens Hi-Tec trainers for my husband, he was given the opportunity to select a pair he liked and they kindly sent them out to us.

Now this post should have gone live ages ago but unfortunately, with all the huge changes happening around here recently with the homeschooling and preparing for a new kitchen as well as various illnesses! I have fallen behind schedule with so many of my posts so first of all so so sorry to the wonderful James at Blogger opps and to HiTec as well.

It isn't all doom and gloom though, the trainers arrived and we were very impressed, even our resident teenager said they looked pretty good!

This post will just be a bit of an unboxing and then I have a full review scheduled to go live on Sunday with Marc's overall impression of the trainers, and how they have held up to his uses for them.

So on with the unboxing photos of the Hi-Tec Luca

I like the packaging it is clean and simple, I cant stand crazy brightly coloured in your face packaging (Nike take note) I just feel like well how much of what I am paying goes into producing this OTT packaging.

Nicely Boxed.

My husband loves bright colours on his trainers, so these really stood out to him, the blue is a really nice colour and although it is bright it isn't too in your face.

They are a nice shape and incredibly light, the upper is material with a slightly rubberised feel around the toe area at only £39.99 I think these are a brilliant option for the gym or training.

Marc has been putting them through there paces with various activities over the last few weeks so I will give you the full review on Sunday. 

Head on over to the Hi-Tec website for a look around they have some lovely Womens options too.

Mhairi

xxx

Jacamo SS13 Flintoff Range - A Little look

I wanted to have a look at the Flintoff by Jacamo range, as you know my husband has reviewed a couple of items from Jacamo. 

The Flintoff range especially is one of his favourites as well as one of mine, he always looks smart and he feels good in the clothing which is fantastic.

I am persuading him to pop up on the blog a bit more often, he is a huge part of me and you should all get to know him.

I have put together a couple of outfits from the range.

I love Marc in a shirt and Tshirt I am not sure why :) 

Shirt 

Long Sleeve Tee

Cargo Pants

Boots

I am not normally a fan of Leather Jackets and usually get Marc to avoid them like the plague as some end up with him looking like del boy.

But not with this on, I love the almost waxed effect, and it just looks supple and soft, I want to get my hands on it and snuggle with it myself! that's worrying I know but I really like this jacket!

Leather Jacket

Military Shirt

Long Sleeve Tee

Jeans

Barratts Menswear - Boots Review

I was recently sent a fabulous pair of boots for my husband to review by Barratts Shoes, Marc is not only quite tall and a plus male, he has big feet too, he is a 12, and while there are a few places that stock them the options are often limited.

When we headed over to Barratts we were really pleased to see a great selection which even goes up to a size 13 in some styles!

Marc choose the Red Tape Lace Up Buckle Ankle Boots 

They are a fantastic Rich Brown Colour and have a slightly worn effect to the colour which look really good, the thing likes about them the most is the look equally good with his jeans as they do with his navy suit so a really good purchase!

Marc can be quite fussy about his shoes as he does not cope well with sore feet, he liked the fact these boots have padding around the top of the ankle and the sole while not very think is comfortable and sturdy and the boots are not heavy.

Marc made me wait to put the review up as he wanted some time to wear them about and to work to give a better review of them.

Comfort wise Marc said these are an 8/10, he would like slightly more thickness in the sole but otherwise fantastic!

Style he would give a 9/10 he loves the colour and the buckle detail.

Durability he said he would give them 7/10 as they scuff fairly easily but it isn't a huge deal as they have a worn look to them in the first place and it is easily fixed with a bit of polish.

To be honest Marc and the boots seem to be having a little love affair so I think it is safe to say he likes them and highly recommends them.

Head on over to Barrats and take a look at the selection of MENS boots and shoes, and while your there have a look at the WOMENS, we need a treat too!

Until Wednesday 19th December you can take 30% off everything with the code CRACKER.

Today is the last day for delivery before christmas if you are in NI, Eire and UK offshore location s and tomorrow if you are in the UK mainland.

Mhairi

xxx

Jacamo - Mens Suit Review

After hearing about my bridging the generations review for Simply Be the wonderful Sarah from the Jacamo team offered to send out a suit for my husband and my Dad.

My husband Marc has featured on the blog once before for Jacamo, in a menswear review which can be found HERE, but as we discovered finding a suit for a man who is 6'2" with a 50" chest on the high street is nearly impossible, a few places offer them but never have them in stock, or carry a jacket but no matching trousers, which really isn't that helpful, so after talking with Sarah, she suggested picking from the Jacamo and Freddie Flintoff ranges to see if something would be suitable.

Jacamo do a fantastically priced 3 piece suits as a set but Marc being the awkward man I married doesnt fit in them as his waist doest match the size linked to the jacket, so he took a look at the Freddie Flintoff range and loved the 3 piece suit that was on offer, He decided to go with the navy as he isn't a fan of Grey and black suits can be a bit dark on him as he is blonde.

Here is a little picture of Freddie in the suit.

Flintoff By Jacamo Suit - Trousers - Waistcoat - Jacket

Jacket and Trousers are available in Short, Regular and Long lengths.

For Marc we went for the Long length in the trousers and Jacket, He has a long body and arms and the jacket was perfect, but the trousers were a tiny bit long on him, but he didn't mind, its another awkward part of him, his legs are not that long for such a tall man they are around 32" so a 31" length in trousers is always a touch too short and the long a little too long, but its nothing a tailor cant fix if he decides to in the future.

Here are some pictures of Marc looking Handsome in his fancy suit.

The suit is made from a gorgeous heavy polyester wool, but it isn't restrictive or stiff, it sits beautifully and any creases from travelling dropped out easily with a little steam from the iron.

Marc said, it feels great, and the cost for the full suit of £210 is more than worth it, he felt good all day, its a fantastic suit, that he fully recommends. 

My dad is kind of Marcs opposite he is shorter than Marc and only has a 42" chest, the Jacamo three piece suit in a 42"chest comes with a 36" waist trouser which is spot on for my dad so he decided to give the Black suit a try.

Jacamo 3 Piece Suit

The cost of this suit is lower than the Flintoff range at £125 but don't let that put you off, the quality is amazing, again it is a lovely heavy weight material, that has an almost stripped effect up close in the weave of the treads, it is a polyester/viscose blend.

My dad suffers from hypersensitivity of his skin and materials which are scratchy can really affect him, but he said this felt brilliant all day, it is smooth and comfortable against the skin.

Dad went for the short length as his inside leg is small, we were a little worried about the jacket not having enough length in the arms for him, but it turned out to be spot on.

Very Handsome!

Very cheerful and happy all day!

Dad was so impressed when we took the suit out, he actually said wow, He asked me to say, he was very impressed with the Suit and would certainly be heading back to Jacamo for a look at what else they have to offer.

My two handsome men, both looking very happy and relaxed.

We also decided to buy there shirts from the Jacamo website as Marc needs extra length in the body and sleeves, we found a fantastic offer, of 3 for 2 on them and it vas brilliant as it allowed us to mix and match the sizes so Marc got two and dad the other, so happy all round. 

Make sure you take a look at the Jacamo website, they have waist sizes from 34" and above and loads of length options, and a brilliant range of mens shoes in large sizes.

Mhairi, Marc and Dad (Ron)

xxx

Disclaimer: These items were gifted to me, but all opinions are my own and my husbands and my dads.

Mens Clothing - Jacamo Review

Jacamo

Flintoff Jeans and Ben Sherman longer length shirt review

My husband has been watching me blog for these past 6 months and began to think, it isn't just women who struggle with plus clothing and he has the added hassle of being tall, so he asked if I would show some of the clothing he buys to show what there is to offer. 

After chatting with the lovely charlotte of Simply Be she suggested I talk to Jacamo about reviewing some menswear for them, we knew the name, but hadn't really looked at the before, but Marc was very happily surprised by the clothing on offer, he is my monkey man with a long body and arms and not so long legs for a 6'2" man.

Jacamo have jeans starting  from a 34inch waist and go up to a 56inch waist in lengths 29 to 36inches, the also do tops up to 5XL.

One of his biggest problems is jeans, he finds on the high street if the do stock his size he cant get them up his legs and if he gets the size for his legs then the waist is far too big, the other issue is length, most shops stock 3o, 32 and 34 inch lengths, but Marc has a 33 inch leg length so a 32 means ankle swingers and a 34 means ripped jeans.

His other big issue is shirts, a standard length shirt means he has to roll the sleeves up as down they are usually too short, we can get longer lengths in some dress shirts from the high street, but not often a more casual shirt for a day out of just for general wear.

Above is an example of a casual high street shirt, he loves the colour but this is his arm raised about 12inches from his side, if he goes any higher the cuff strains so much it pops the button, so not a good length for him.

Jacamo asked him to select a pair of jeans and a shirt from the site, whilst looking he saw that they had a new range becoming available from Freddie Flintoff, and whilst he isn't a huge sports fan he loved the look of the clothing on offer. 

He originally chose a pair of Jeans and a longer length shirt from the range but the shirt was not yet available so he went for a pair of jeans from the Flintoff Range and a longer length shirt from Ben Sherman.

The Jeans.

The Jeans he chose were the Flintoff by Jacamo Jean  33" length, the fact the did a 33 inch leg was a huge selling point for him, he also loved the Colour which is called Denim Blue but it isn't your usual blue for a pair of jeans it is a bit darker.

When they arrived the fit was lovely, and a great length, but he decided he wanted to wear and wash them a couple of times to give as good a review as possible, and this is what Marc had to say - 

They are very comfortable even after they have just been washed, and after a couple of wears, and the rarely need ironing, even straight from the clothes horse, the colour has also stayed nice and dark, the pockets are great nice and deep wallet feels secure in them.

They have a button fly but they aren't too stiff as I have found with some jeans, and they don't go saggy after a couple of wears, I plan on trying some of the Flintoff cargo trousers to see if the quality of them is as good as my other pairs.

So as you can see he likes them, here are some photos of them on.

For the Shirt he went for the Ben Sherman Long Sleeve Check Shirt Long in Olive it arrived and the colour was really nice, it fitted well and looked really nice on, it also looks great tucked into jeans and with a jumper on top to smarten it up.

Marc said - It makes a nice change to find a casual looking shirt in a longer length, its nice to lift up my arms without having to unbutton the sleeves or have them rolled up all the time so I don't look like I am wearing my sons shirt. Just need to persuade Mhairi to order me the red one now too!

My Iron decided to stop working so the shirt was really rather creased in the pictures from today as you can see below

But I do have a dodgy phone picture from tonight when it was ironed :) 

And as you see it has great length in the arms, even when he holds his arms out straight.

He looks pretty good to me, I dont mind being seen in public with him :) 

Go take a look at Jacamo, we were very impressed! x

Marc and Mhairi