Velvet Dream.

Dress: Evans (c/o House of Fraser) Shoes: Next. Clutch: Evans.

This is a long awaited party outfit post I meant to get up over Christmas but due to lots of last minute drastic changes in the pantomime I do costumes for and unfortunately a neighbour I was very close to (Patches owner) passing away. This is the first time I've been able to sit down to write. The lovely team over at House of Fraser gave me the option to choose an item from there Evans selection on the site and I just couldn't stop going back to this beautiful velvet number! The camera doesn't pick up how beautiful it is, you can wear it on or off the shoulder and has an utterly lovely almost peplum like frill on the chest which is also part of the sleeves and back. This means it gives you a little coverage on your arms if you feel a little insecure about them, which I do with my own sometimes! 

I'm wearing a UK size 20 which is my usual go to, I always find Evans clothing is pretty true to size meaning I don't have to worry so much about what size I would need. Another thing I love about Evans is the wide fit options in footwear and you can also buy these from House of Fraser as well. The perfect one stop shop! If I'm looking for occasion wear in plus sizes HOF is my go to as they also stock the fabulous Studio 8 which have the MOST beautiful dresses! I decided to keep this pretty simple but perfect for the part season with a sequin clutch and my sparkly flatforms. I did something a little different with my hair and curled it away off my face, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it but I love my hair like this! 

House of Fraser currently have some fab pieces from Evans Clothing in their sale at the moment! As well as a whole host of other plus size pieces! The dress above is now sold out on HOF but is still available at Evans in limited sizes.

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Summer Scenarios with Chi Chi London.

Dress: c/o Chi Chi London. Blazer: Simply Be (old). Clutch: Primark (bought when I was 14!). Necklace: c/o Taking Shape. Shoes: Evans (old)

 
The fab ladies over at Chi Chi London were sweet enough to let me know that this Summer they've launched some of their favourite dresses in sizes 18 -24 and asked if I'd like to ask if I'd like to review one and of course I'm never one to say no to a pretty dress! Along with this as part of their Summer Scenarios campaign they asked if I'd style it up with a summer event in mind with anything from Prom, Birthdays or Wedding Guest to Graduation and A day at the races! As I won't be graduating for another year yet (even though this outfit would be great for that!) I decided to style the lovely Dolly Dress as how I'd choose to dress for my prom now, if you'd like a giggle I did a post last year showing old photographs from my year 11 and 6th form proms here. 

This skirt gives the perfect amount of volume that I love so dearly in dresses and tend to add my petticoat to almost everything but with this dress there is no need there is 4 layers including the lace overlay and how the hem is done gives this fabulous frothy finish which I LOVE! For me standing at 5'2 it's a good length on me but for those who are a little more gifted in the height department may find it on the shorter side. Another thing I ADORE about this dress is the back, the fact it's an elasticated back is a complete dream for me as I generally find anything with a back zip hard to get into, though I have seen on the site that it says it's a back zip so just double check before hand! The dress also has padded and moulded cups so you could potentially go braless with this. ultimately if you still prefer to wear a bra to keep everything in check you can do as I have done above! Plunging v-neck is another lovely feature but I decided to bring even more colour into the mix by pairing it with this amazing necklace! I added a jacket but with how these straps are I feel completely comfortable having my arms out, which is still quite a rarity! 

Overall I couldn't give Chi Chi London much more of a glowing review! I did choose to size up with this when I was originally worried about zips but I could easily have worn my usual size no problem. I just hope that Chi Chi decide to expand there sizes above a UK 24 so even more of us can have such fabulous dresses. I really wish they'd been doing garments in my size when I was having my prom!

 What would be your dream prom dress?

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A Costume For Any Occasion?

Me on Halloween almost 2 years ago can you tell? Just look at that hair!

Everyone loves a good excuse to break out the fancy dress and go out on mass but in the past I've found it pretty difficult to find good costumes in plus size that aren't A. Something completely shapeless like a present costume or something that barely covers your bum which is similar to my costume above, I had to wear the black dress under it to cover my modesty on many different levels!

I recently found Elliotts Fancy Dress and even though now isn't the perfect season who needs an excuse such as Christmas or Halloween for a fancy dress party? Not me! and what's even better they have a brillaint range for plus size people like myself. Though of course I still love making my own costumes and being imaginative when it comes to my creations but sometimes you just can't beat a cute ready made costume to throw on and be out in an hour instead of spending weeks sewing a million sequins to metres of fabric! 

A personal favourite of mine from the site is the adorable cowgirl fancy dress online complete with cow print skirt, which lets be honest I'd probably wear out as normal day wear anyway!

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Highcross Simply Be My Two Favourite Looks.

I won't ramble on to much in this post about the store itself as I already said pretty much everything in my earlier one but one thing I will say is I adore the Simply Be fitting rooms they're just so pretty and feminine you feel good trying clothes on in them unlike other stores where the curtain doesn't go all the way across and there's chewing gum stuck to them (yes that has happened to me in changing rooms). I always feel comfortable in the rooms as well as there's no banging elbows on walls and with plenty of room around you and nice lighting everything just looks that much better!

These two dresses were what I decided as my favourite party style outfits because primarily they are colourful a little different and comfortable! To start with I thought the golden baroque style printed dress would be to long and look awful on me but once I got it on I decided I loved it and it was so comfortable and fabric was soft and draped beautifully once on my body I also realised that it didn't feel as long on me as it looked. So was clearly a winner all round. The second dress I had seen on the odd blogger or two so I thought I'd give it ago after having the same style with the floral print. This dress is pretty generous with its sizing either that or I've dropped a dress size (which is a remote possibility, due to being ill)  but the size 18 fitted me perfectly and I just love the colours on it without it being too colourful, if that makes any sense at all! I paired both of these with the adorable glittery box clutch bag to add just a little bit of sparkle.

These pictures were taken in the Magic Mirror which is so so cool, you really need to get down to a Simply Be store and try them out for yourself if you haven't already!

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Highcross Simply Be - Playing Dress Up!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely people at the Highcross Shopping Centre in my University town of  Leicester to go and play dress up in Simply Be and of course I couldn't say no to that! I took all these images in store and decided to centre my search around the perfect and more importantly comfortable party wear! Regardless the occasion I will generally wear leggings under everything, they keep you warm in the cold weather and also mean I don't end up flashing anyone when I've got a little merry on the mulled wine! Simply be had some super cute ones with studs and diamante's on the bottom to match pretty peplum top with shoulders also adorned in this way, you can see all these above. I also decided to try the disco pants as party wear and surprisingly I loved them! They actually make quite a simple look something special and different to the usual party dress.

I love lace sleeves for winter as you need a little more than just a strappy dress but often it can be warm inside the party and generally I think they show a little flesh so its still sexy. I'm also massively into the peplum trend at the moment, if you didn't notice with my choices here. They are perfect for helping cover your stomach slightly if like me that's your main problem area, I just feel more comfortable and confident if its covered and I know I won't be tugging at my top all night to make sure there isn't a VBL (visible belly line). The bag I chose to finish all these outfits off with was a gorgeous glittered box clutch as it ads just enough bling to the outfit and just works with everything so beautifully.

Everyone in the store was so lovely especially the manager and a few other ladies I spoke to more. They made me feel welcome and that they genuinely loved working in the store. It is also a total pleasure to go into a store and feel like you belong there also the fact none of the women that work there are size 6s makes me happier too as they are able to actually wear clothes from the store and I personally think that if the people who work there don't want to/can't wear the clothes then surely why should I want to shop there (I'm actually planning to you a video about all this, that's how strongly I think about it) I'm doing this in two posts the next will have my final favourite outfits which I took with the Magic Mirror!

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Simply Lovely.

                                Dress: c/o Simply Be. Belt: Asos Curve. Leggings: Matalan.

The lovely ladies at Simply Be were nice enough to let me choose one of my favourite dresses from the selection of beautiful party wear on the site and it's utterly lush! I have to admit when it comes to dresses especially Christmas dresses I'm always that girl who goes straight to black ones for some reason I always do, I feel safe in black because if you're clumsy like me and spill "ribena" all down yourself after your third glass of it black is always safer! This dress has definitely brought me out of my party dress comfort zone I didn't know I had until recently. The colours on this are to die for and look even more beautiful in person, I reflected the deep burgundy colour of the flowers with my lip colour which is Rouge Volupte by YSL.

I also find the cut of this dress really flattering and more importantly comfortable, it doesn't dig into my arms or waist in anyway or cling to my main problem area which is primarily is my tummy. I'm really impressed that the waistline on the dress isn't to long for me either as I'm only 5'2 so I'm pretty short! I love the capped sleeve as it means I have a little coverage on my arms and don't need to ruin the silhouette of the dress by having a unfitted cardigan. You can also see the lovely detail of the cut out on the back of the dress which makes it a bit more different though don't worry it doesn't reveal bra straps or anything like that! I just finished it with my belt to pull the look all together I like the harder edge it gives to the floral dress too!

I think it's pretty obviously that I love this dress and I'm sure it'll get lots of wear over this christmas!

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Feeling Festive? Trendy Tops for Christmas Parties.

Glitter Tunic with Chiffon Sleeves £22.50 . Blue 2 in 1 Blouse £22.50 . Velour Animal Top £18.00 .

Now I'll be the first to say I always thought Bonmarche was somewhere I'd never find anything that would work for me but I'd have to say looking through the site tonight I've found these 3 tops that I really like! They are also at a very reasonable price compared to how much some retailers who charge for plus size ladies tops, All the items are available in sizes 12 through to 24.

The glitter tunic is something I know would be glitzy enough for a whole range of parties or occasions over the festive period! From work's Christmas do to a family meal this would look lovely for all. I'd wear with  either very thick tights or a pair of plain leggings so not to take focus away from the twinkling fabric and adorned cuffs. Second is another top I'd pair with leggings, I know that if you've been reading my blog for awhile that I basically live in the things! I'd also add a quirky belt and some cute heels and a clutch bag to finish this look it could also be dressed down with denim leggings and a cute satchel. Finally the adorable velour animal printed top, I love the colours and the print is interesting enough to catch the eye without be really OTT. I would wear this tucked into a pencil skirt or a pair of high waisted jeans and with either cute pumps, flatforms or wedges (I'm not a heel kind of girl!) This would look great for a casual night out or just to make everyday a little more interesting.

As always all of these lovely pieces would be finished off with a slick of red lipstick! Which top is your favourite and have you shopped in Bonmarche before?

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Casual Partywear?

The lovely ladies at Matalan asked If I'd like to go a guest post on the Matalan blog about party wear and this is it! Now I'm really good at lusting over sparkly dresses in store and online but I just never feel comfortable when it comes to wearing them, if I'm going to be at a party all night I want to look good but also feel comfortable in what I'm wearing, there is nothing worse than the girl you see tugging at the hem of her dress all night to make sure her bum isn't on show believe me this has been me far to many times!

For this look I decided on something I know I'd be comfortable in which is of course leggings! These ones  are supposed to have a dip dye effect on them but its extremely subtle and is only slightly picked up on the camera. I think some glitzy patterned leggings would also look amazing with this look! I saw this top online and thought the way it drapes makes it very original without any over the top detailing keeping the front very minimal, now what I will say is it's very short I didn't realise it was a crop top until it arrived in the post so I just popped a dress slip underneath  so it would work for me. I felt a little plain one top so I popped this studded necklace on I got from Matalan in the sale a while ago.

NOW THIS BAG IS THE BAG OF DREAMS or actually this is what I called it when I saw it online. I always think a quirky bag can make an otherwise plain outfit something different. And this bag I LOVE IT, big enough to fit everything you could need in but still easy to hold as a clutch the colour also pops perfectly against a pretty black outfit making a lovely contrast, also how cute are the horses!?  Finally I finished with very dark lips which I'm really getting into at the moment and make a nice change from my normal red colour and rosey cheeks, I'm really getting into blushers and just bought a cream blush from MUA which I'm loving!

What do you wear for parties? Do you go all out with the sequins and glitter or keep it unstated with simple shades and quirky clutches?

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