Plus North Premier Sponsor Post - Curvissa

My next Plus North Premier Sponsor post is for the lovely Curvissa.

This is what Curvissa have to say about themselves.

Plus size fashion shouldn’t be about compromise, it should be about choice. Curvissa.co.uk offers a selection of over 3,000 quality fashion items in sizes 14 - 32, giving you a comprehensive collection of plus size clothing that includes everything from trousers and tops, to jackets and jeans.

Great Values Across a Range of Sizes

We’re also firm believers that plus size clothing shouldn’t come with a premium price, which is why every item at Curvissa.co.uk is available in sizes 14 - 32, with a single competitive price across all size options. Search the site for specific items, or browse by category, size, occasion or trend for inspiration across the latest looks and styles.

Be Inspired

There’s more to Curvissa than just fabulous fashion at competitive prices too. Through our regularly updated Inspire section our experts bring you the latest looks and industry trends, as well as seasonal style tips and interactive tools to help you build your look from the ground up. Check out our Shape Calculator to start shaping your individual style.

The Curvissa Community

We also love sharing in a good discussion too. Curvissa is home to a great customer community which we welcome everyone to join in - find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to talk trends and plus size fashion with like-minded ladies and fellow customers, as well as the Curvissa team, or follow our blog for behind the scenes secrets, clothing chat and much more.

I really like the vast range of clothing that Curvissa offer, and own a few of their pieces myself.

Myself and the rest of the team were all sent the Pinafore Dress, which is a really sweet little dress, it is a quite thin material with no stretch so pay close attention to the size guide, I have found I need to order at least 1-2 sizes bigger than my usual dress size with curvissa.

In this I went for a 24 and should possibly have gone for the 26 (I am usually a 20-22) but the numbers on labels have never bothered me, I wear the size that looks best on me.

So how did it look

I decided to try it with my current favourite tartan blouse and I love it, I need full length leggings with it I think but need to buy a new pair.

I think I would normally wear it with a simple long sleve top, leggings and converse. it is currently a little tight over my bust, but I am wearing it with a slightly padded bra so a non padded may work better.

Head over and check out the other gorgeous girls in their outfits.

Hanna

Toni

Rosie

Becky

Plus North Premier Sponsor Post - Excite Clothing

As a member of the Plus North team I have been lucky enough to be sent a fabulous skirt from Excite Clothing.

Here is what Excite have to say about themselves on there About Us page.

About Us

Welcome to exciteclothing.com.  Established in the fashion industry since 1983. Hailing from Leeds we are a new young, current and fashion forward website. Our website is designed to give you the ease of shopping without the hassle of the high street.

We aim to provide you with on trend fashion at affordable prices and keep you updated with information regarding current fashion and celebrity inspired looks.  We update our fashion blog regularly to keep you bang up to date on all the fashion news, gossip and what exciteclothing.com have been up to.  Alongside our inspire your look and celebrity trends we will provide you with all the inspiration you require to bring your flare for fashion to life. 

Our fashion caters for everyone and offers up to the minute looks from sizes 8-26 as well as our children's young fashion collection.

We always cherish our customers and make ourselves available for any advice or information you require regarding ourselves or our items.  We wish to offer you the highest customer service that we possibly can.

So please feel free to browse our store and remember to excite your wardrobe!

Happy shopping

Excite offer a range of plus size clothing from a 16-26 as well as a range from an 8-14 which is really good.

I love the mix of of items that Excite offer, I have two of there dresses and they are firm favourites in my wardrobe, I also want to try out the Jeggings that the gorgeous Rosie is raving about in her post.

The skort that we were all sent was the Dogtooth Midi Skirt, it comes in three colours, Blue, Black and Whit and Coral. I received it in the Black and white and it is quite fabulous, I rarely wear skirts as I am more of a dress or jeans type of girl but this actually surprised me.

I feel really good in the skirt and think I could fairly easily dress it down, I really want to buy the blue colour too as I love it.

Check out the other gorgeous girls spotlight posts

Rosie

Becky

Toni

Hanna

Mhairi.

xxx

Plus North Premier Sponsor Spotlight Post - Simply Be

Plus north is getting closer and closer and I am getting more and more excited!

The second Premier sponsor for the event is Simply Be, now for my regular readers you know my love affair with Simply Be is pretty epic! so I will try not to gush too much.

Simply Be are one of my favourite plus size brands mainly because they off us plus size ladies such amazing fashionable options as well as the staples that we all use.

I know when I go onto the website that I will find something I love and so will my mum and my sister as well as everyone else I can think of.

This is what Simply be have on the About us page

ABOUT US
Simply Be is a trading style of J D Williams & Company Limited, the UK's leading direct home shopping company, operating over 20 successful catalogue brands. Our catalogues offer a huge selection of clothing and other products for all ages and sizes. All our clothes are designed to provide the best fit at the best value, and we are specialists in the area of larger size womenswear.

The company was founded in 1875 by James David Williams, who in 1882, was the first to make use of the UK's parcel post service, to send his company's products direct to his customers. The formula of providing quality, fashionable, value for money clothing direct to customers proved increasingly popular towards the latter end of the 20th Century and J D Williams enjoyed significant growth. This continuing growth has ensured J D Williams is the most successful direct home shopping company in the UK today, with over 2 million customers and 4,000 employees.

Simply Be now have 7 Retail stores in the Midlands, I am still praying for a store further south in either Cambridge or London so I can visit them myself!

Myself and the rest of the fabulous Plus North Team have been sent a fabulous dress from simply be to style our way and I instantly loved it! 

We received the Western Chambray Shirt Dress and Belt

It is such a gorgeous style, I often avoid shirt dresses as I have huge boobs so buttons can be a nightmare, but this worked ok, I wore it with a vest under yesterday for comfort but I think it would be fine without.

I am wearing it with my moccasins that I won from Hanna, but I think it would be fab in the winter with tights and a pair of cute boots!

Head on over to the other ladies and check out how they have styled the fabulous little number!

Becky

Toni

Hanna

Rosie

Mhairi

xxx

Plus North Premier Sponsor Spotlight - Yours Clothing

Yours Clothing

Last years Plus North was fantastic! This year looks like it is going to be even better.

As part of the plus north team we will be letting you guys know about some of our premier sponsors, as well as putting together some fabulous outfit posts for you in a series of 5 Take posts where each of us will be sent the same item and will have to style it our way.

The first Premier Sponsor I would like to introduce you to is Yours Clothing, I regularly shop in Yours as they have plenty of retail shops and an extensive online collection of clothing.

Your have such a huge selection of clothing that I always find something I love.

Head over to the Yours Clothing website to see what they have to offer or check HERE to find you local high street store.

For the 5 Take we were each sent the Dandelion Star Dress.

When I opened the package and popped the dress on, I knew it would be a staple in my wardrobe, it is lovely and light, with plenty of space to accommodate my ample chest, which is many dresses can be an issue for me.

I styled the dress with a pair of heels for a nice simple outfit for a night out to dinner with my husband, I love that in the winter I could easily pop a pair of tights on and a cardigan and this peice will last me through the Autumn and winter season easily.

Teaming it with leggings and a long sleeve top will also easily transform it into a daytime look for the changing seasons.

The best thing about this dress though is that it has POCKETS!!!!!!

What is it about them that I love, I don't even put things in them that often, but I just love a good pocket!!

The print is beautiful!

Yours Clothing are a fantastic plus size brand, they offer so many choices to women from simple basics to fabulous print dresses for bolder options and I love them.

Head over and check out the rest of the team in there gorgeous outfits!

Becky

Toni

Hanna

Rosie

Mhairi. xx

Fatshion Faceoff - Bodycon Dress

This week has given me serious fear, I am coming along the road to accepting myself and being happy in the skin I am in but I still do not particularly like myself in a Bodycon dresses, I am a lover of circle skirts and dresses so this challenge was a little worrying!

The amazing Hanna has lent me a dress for this weeks challenge so I can try it without committing to it if I am not keen! this is a great way to try new fashions to be honest, trying them in the shop is great but i like to wear something and move about in it a while to see how I actually feel, so if you have good friends who can let you come over for a dress us session go for it, give it a whirl and you might be surprised and find something new to search out in the shops and wear with love!

So here I am in the dress.

Please excuse the quality of this weeks picture and the lovely location have been busy with first assignment for my course.

I love my dog Ron's face even he knows when I am not sure, I love the dress so so much but felt odd wearing it as I am just not at all used to it, but maybe with some better bridgett Jones' on I might feel better.

The dress is from Simply be and is the one Hanna wore on the simply be catwalk, I couldn't find the exact one online but THIS is a similar shape but in a gorgeous red

Don't forget to check out the other fabulous ladies in their outfits!

Dani: DIY Fatshion http://www.diyfatshion.com

Hanna: The Wardrobe Challenge http://thewardrobechallenge.co.uk/

Mouna: Brussels Fatshion http://www.brusselsfatshion.com

Olivia: Wait Until The Sunset http://www.waituntilthesunset.com 

Mhairi

xxx

Simply Be - Plus North Outfit Review

Most of you will have seen me in my Plus north outfit either at the event or in my write up HERE, it was gifted to me by the wonderful Charlotte and team at Simply Be as a thank you for helping out with the Plus North ticket sales.

I thought it might be nice to give a more comprehensive review of the three items from my outfit, especially now i have had a chance to wear and wash them.

This image was taken by the lovely Simply Be photographer and can be seen HERE on the Simply Be Blog.

The Sarong skirt from the latest runway collection is such a vibrant print and so far from my usual comfort zone that I just had to give it a go.
I stayed comfortable all day and it didn't crease at all really, not even in my suitcase on route to leeds.

The skirt has now been washed and line dried outside and I am pleased to report it is still just as vibrant and pretty now.

Sarong Skirt £38

The colours are still beautiful and make me smile!

The top I choose was the Bustier top also from the recent Runway collection, when it arrived I was worried the material was a bit stiff but after putting it on, I fell in love while the material is heavy and quite thick, it felt lovely and really held everything in place.

Bustier Top £25

For the final finishing touch I wore a little shrug with it, when at an indoor event I often take a cardi with me as I never know what the air con will be like and I am always cold.

Short Sleeved Shrug Cardigan £29

This little shrug was great it was light enough that even with the day being very warm I didn't feel uncomfortable in it.

All three items have washed brilliantly and I am happy with them all, i would recommend each item happily.

Mhairi

xxx

Plus North

Wow it has been just over a week since Plus North and I think I am now almost recovered!

It was amazing and exhausting all at once and this week has been about me getting back on track and figuring out whats next.

Do you ever get like that after a big event, I find that in all the excitement and craziness of the event afterwards I am totally shattered, in a good way mind you.

Sometimes my mind just likes me to take in and mull over all the fantastic experiences and make sense of them before I carry on.

So on to the event, Plus North was put together by the fabulous Becky of The Ramblings of Mrs BeBe and Toni of The Only Way is Toni, go take a look at both their blogs they are fabulous! 

Image courtesy of Janie visit her page HERE

I helped out with the ticket sales and printing the tickets for the event which is where some of the exhaustion came from I think, I finally finished all the printing and packing at about 2.30am on the saturday of the main event, and then had to get up at 5.30am to get myself ready to travel, luckily I was so excited that I didn't feel tired at all.

This is me almost ready to leave for the station I went for comfortable yet pretty clothing to help make me feel good.

I am wearing

Waterfall Cardigan - Que at Vida Moda

Glamourosa Tunic - SimplyBe

Leggings - Asda

WideFit Shoes - Newlook

I have to say this was the perfect outfit for travel it was comfy, cool and easy to move in, I had decided to travel to leeds first class as a busy train can seriously freak me out and I didn't want a bad start to my weekend.

I tweeted just as I left stevenage to say I was on route and after a bit of twitter chat figured out that the gorgeous Hanna of The Wardrobe Challenge was on the same train as me, so she popped along to first class for a visit, her visit ended up being the whole journey and we had a blast!

Picture courtesy of Hanna

On arriving in leeds we made our way to Aspire so I could drop off Hanna as she had dress rehearsals for the catwalk show and so I could pass on the Tickets to Becky and Toni so that their fabulous minions for the day MrBeBe and Ben could prepare for everyones arrival.

Now I had to race to find my hotel, get checked in and change ready for the fabulous afternoon ahead, I had luckily been offered a nights stay in the Hilton Doubletree hotel in leeds after a poor stay in another hotel in london, and I have to say the Double Tree more than made up for the previous hotel in every way!

The room was beautiful very simple and fairly modern it had a Mac in the room which was the TV, Radio and a Computer to use and a gorgeous bathroom, I like hotel bathrooms, if its a crap bathroom I wont want to stay again :) 

The view was really pretty, I was only on the 4th floor so no pretty views over the city but I loved the lock so I was happy, the walk to the hotel took me down this very creepy tunnel which is where the river flows under, It was incredibly loud but fabulous, I later found out that there is a much nicer well lit bridge a little further up but, I choose to take this route every time!

In all the mad dashes of the weekend I managed to forget to take a picture of my room but I can honestly say I would be more than happy to stay in the hotel again and likely will!

The aspire building is beautiful and on my return I really took the time to take a look around and I wasn't disappointed.

The view from the mezzanine floor - everyone beginning to arrive and settle in.

The internal architecture was simply stunning, if you like that sort of thing like me you would have enjoyed looking around!

The beautiful modern lighting looked amazing on the high ceilings and he massive arched windows, the Aspire building is the old Lloyds banking hall, how amazing would it be if our banks still looked like this!

Ok enough of my personal obsessions :) onto the amazing event itself and the fabulous clothing and guests!

I had the privilage to spend most of my day with Hanna and Caroline

How beautiful do they both look in their fabulous outfits!

Hanna's outfit is a New Look skirt with a Domino Dollhouse Petticoat, and Caroline is wearing a Wallis dress with a vest under. 

The catwalk show was fantastic, all the ladies who were brave enough to take part looked utterly stunning and I was so proud of them all, I decided not to take part this time as once in my life was enough for me!

You can take a look at all the photos on my Facebook page HERE The ladies all looked stunning! 

I did have an official photo taken by the fabulous SimplyBe Photographer so you can see my outfit, I will be doing a separate post about everything I wore to review the items for you, as the lovely Charlotte of SimplyBe offered to provide my outfit for the day as I had helped out with the ticket sales.

I am wearing

Sarong Skirt - Simplybe

Shrug - SimplyBe

Bustier Top - SimplyBe 

WideFit Shoes - New Look

I also want to say a huge thank you to the brands who attended making me feel the plus size market is not failing us, and events like this and plus London are needed to get our voices heard and to let them know we want fashion and fun!

Stella & Dot - F&F - Dea London - Trapped in a Skinny World - Chesca - Life's Big Canvas - Benefit - SimplyBe - Curvy and Stylish - State of Mind - Curvissa - Excite Clothing - Eve Activewear -
Eddi & Bri -  New Look - Style369 - Slink Magazine

All the above brands helped make the event what it was by being there, offering a prize for the draw or a discount code for us to use.

Plus North really was an amazing day and we had so much fun, I can not wait until next year!

Mhairi
xxx

Dea London Visit

Dea London is a designer office wear brand who will be coming to join us at Plus North, I recently had the pleasure of visiting there studio with Becky and Toni who are wearing an outfit designed by them and Dea during the day at Plus North.

The amazing Jelena, who is the designer behind Dea London, invited the girls and myself to the studio to do the fitting, it is based in a fabulous warren of a building which rents spaces to all sorts of creative types, I loved it in there!

I took lots of photos of her working with Becky and toni on there designs and measuring them up for the finished garments.

Enjoy.

Toni looking very serious during the initial measurements

Far more relaxed now :)

Discussing fit and shape

Measuring Becky

Gratuitous booby shot

making notes on Beckys design 

 The studio made me happy, I loved the sewing machines and the feel of the room, it makes me realise how much I want to learn to make clothes, I need to get myself booked onto some courses this september.

I loved this, I know thats silly, but when I manage to get my office sorted I am having a sewing desk, and I will be making myself one of these!

Also need to sort myself out an inspiration board

Trade press coverage

Sewing machines

Overlocker I think??? Just loved how it looked.

If you havent already seen the clothing Dea London offer head over to the website for the full range, below are a few of the items I loved!

If I am honest they are out of my current price range but I know some of my readers are in good well paid jobs and like to dress in fabulous clothing, I know i would definitely buy some items if I was working as I love how different and sexy they are!

This dress is amazing, the details are awesome, and I want it to be mine, you know when you find a dress/outfit, that you know you could rock would get you that job you really want, this dress is that for me, it feels beautiful and i just know i would feel amazing in it!

I love how it looks on the model.

I need this dress for my interviews!

This dress is also gorgeous in person, on the hanger it is easy to dismiss it, but on the model it looks fab again!

The next dress has a nifty little scarf feature which I love, you pop one around your neck and have an end peeking out of the pocket on the chest, I love the versatility of it, could change your scarf every week depending on mood! 

This is it on its own with out the scarf.

on the model.

I love the sexy sheep part of this dress, I would prefer the top to be more black than it is as the sheen isn't for me, but it love the shape and silhouette so much!

Thats just some of the items I love and the website has so much more to see, Jelena will be at Plus North asking for our opinions on her clothing and asking what we would like to see, so say hello while you are there.

A huge thank you again to Jelena for allowing me to gatecrash her fitting session and being so lovely! xx

I now need to find a fabulous job just to wear these gorgeous items, but first i need to save up for the first dress to guarantee I get the job!

Mhairi

xxx