I want it all and I want it now!!!

I am really feeling the effects of moving house and the forth coming Christmas festivities, so have been doing lots of online window shopping of late. I thought i'd show what I am currently lusting afterwards.

Evans 

 Fan Print Top £32

Live Unlimited Ponte Biker Jacket £65

Black Swing Tunic £23

Live Unlimited Purple Top £45

Monochrome Jumper £35

Yours Clothing

Skater Dress with PU Sleeves £30

Floral tunic £30

Cowboy Boots £75

Black PU Waterfall Jacket £49.99

Start Print Jumper £26

Simply Be
Rose and Lace Print Dress £35

Chloe Skinny Jeans £40

Floral Print Doll Dress £45
Regatta Jacket £90
Animal Jacquard Dress £35

These items would be part of my perfect winter capsule wardrobe. Add leggings, tights, a couple of cardigans and a few pairs of boots et voila!

OOTD

Afternoon campers! 

What a lovely autumn days we have had of late..

I am itching to get all my winter clothes out and I'm a bit stuck in the transitional period at the moment. Its chilly enough for long sleeves, but too warm to go all out 'winter'.

Yesterday I had a dig though my wardrobe and found this beaut that I had forgotten about. I think I bought it in the summer sale from ASOS. I remember it was a firm favourite when it came out.

Once the wether turns I think this will be a dress I wear a lot with thick tight and boots, but for now I wore it with a pair of leggings and what seems like the only shoes I own at the moment!

What I wore - 

Dress - ASOS Curve

Cardigan - George £12

Leggings - H&M £6.99

Shoes - Evans

Toni x

OOTD - I've got the Power.....

As a few of you may know, Scarlett and Jo recently launched their new power fit dresses and I was lucky enough to be asked if I would like to try the Black Yoke Powerfit dress.

Available from Evans, the dress now comes in a multitude of colours and prints and is a staple item for every wardrobe. Some of the dresses, including this one, also feature the new mesh lining.

For some reason I get total bitch face when I wear these kind of dress...

I did find the dress was true to size, but I think for comfort I would have preferred a size bigger.

Toni x

Plus North pt2

I apologise now for how picture heavy this post will be but I can't seems to find the words to say how much it means to Becky and myself that you all travelled, stayed came and enjoyed!

We need you guys just as much as we need the sponsors!

For me, they day went buy in a such a blur and I didnt get to say hello to loads of people that I would have liked to.

As always we welcome all feedback, good and bad! We are not perfect or professional event organisers  and as such there is going to be things we learn from each year!!


Heres to Plus North 2014!!!

All photography is credited to Kitty Jackson Photography

Toni x

Evans - Plus North Spotlight Blog

Eeeeeeek!!!!! With just 10 days to go until Plus North, the next spotlight blog we have for your is Evans.

Evans are once again one of our Premier sponsors and this year will be appearing on our catwalk.

As part of the Arcadia Group, Evans was founded in 1971 and now have over 300 stores across the UK and Ireland.

As well as stocking own brand, Evans also stock Scarlett and Jo, Live Unlimited and many more including Capsule collection from Clements Ribeiro.

In the last few year I personally feel that Evans have upped their game massively in terms of been fashionable, and with the collections that they stock I can only hope that this continues.

For this spotlight post I though I would pull together an outfit for the new range.

Leather Biker boots - £79.50
Navy Butterfly top -£27
Black high Waisted Jeans - £29.50
Twill waterfall Jacket - £49.50

For me this would be the perfect winter shopping outfit...

I cant believe I am saying this, but I cant actually wait for winter!!!

Toni x

Scarlett and Jo Review

A few weeks ago the lovely girls at Scarlett and Jo contacted me to see if I would like to review on the the new range that has just launched on Evans.

The dress I was sent was the Grey Jacquard Side Panel Dress, can can be found here on the Evans site.

To be honest, I was unsure whether It was 'me' when I first saw on, but I feels and looks so much better when its actually on.

For some reason I feel like a totally different person when I have this dress on.. Its very much a grown up, power women, business dress and if I worked in an office of that type I would have this dress is every colour available.

I even posed differently!!!

One only negative I have about this dress is the cross over bust... I don't know if it is because of the bra's I own or the dress, but I couldn't find one bra that didn't play peek a boo...

What do you think? Can I be business woman of the year 2013??

Toni x

OOTD and 30 Day Challenge.

HIIIIIIIIIIIIII, I’m back!! I decided to have a blogging holiday! What with things getting a bit mental with Plus North (9 weeks on Saturday!!!) and trying to find a new house, I could feel myself falling in to the deep dark abyss, so took a step back!

I know that I am exceeding bad at completing challenges, but when Vicky suggested a monthly challenge with themes during the #psbloggers chat I thought I’d give it another bash.

Vicky has come up with a list of fab ideas.  So, starting tomorrow, along with my normal posts you will have something a bit different to read and maybe get to know ME a little better!

For today though, I have for you an OOTD.

I purchased this top a few weeks ago from Evans and couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. And I wasn’t sure of it when I had it on. But I got quite a few complements on it, especially the colour of it and that it was ‘my colour’.

Yet again, I teamed it with my trust Chloe skinnies from Simply Be (best jeans ever!) and a pair of flats.

I really like how unusual the top is at the back.

I really like how unusual the top is at the back.

This is a size 22/24 and as much as I hate dual sizing, It was a really good fit. I often find the size variance in Evans can leave a lot to be desired.

What do you think? Should I wear Blue more?

Toni x

OOTD - Sunny Days

Although the weather has been quite warm, its been very muggy and humid up in the North of England.

Don't get me wrong I'm glad its not cold. But I do like a bit of sunshine with the warmth...

I've had this dress sat in my wardrobe for awhile (I bought it when it was baltic!), and it as been my go to beer garden, BBQ and summer stroll outfit whilst it been nice.

I never blogged it the first time I wore it (to the fat swap a few weeks ago), but wore it one day last week when I visited my sister.

What I wore -
Dress - New Look Inspire
Sandals - Evans
Denim Jacket - New Look Inspire

What's your go to sunny day outfit?

OOTD - A new arrival

Hello lovelies..... hope you are all well?

How amazing was the weather over the bank holiday weekend?

I have been a bad blogger..... I very kindly got sent a beautiful dress By Live Unlimited at the beginning of May and I am only just reviewing it....

I honestly have no idea why I have only just worn it as I love it. I first saw this tunic on Becky and started lusting after it, but with a £65 price tag, there was no way I could afford it! The tunic is still available from Evans and currently has 10% off.

This is what I call my summer gothic look. It was warm and sunny but I still wanted to wear black....

I actually wore it with a clinched waist belt, but looking at the photos I prefer it with out.

The cut of print it very pretty, but extremely delicate. After having a 2 year old clinging on me all day I had to check that all the flowers where still intact... and that brings me to my title...

We have a new arrival to the family.. My sister gave birth to my second nephew on Monday.... Zachary Andrew. Weighing 7lbs 12 and nearly 3 weeks early he is beyond perfect.

I will hopefully be able to show you some pictures soon!

Swimwear edit

Although my holiday isn't until Septemeber I have already started the hunt for some good swimwear.

I only travelled abroad for the first less than 10 years ago, and during that time I have varied between a size 18-22, but in the last few years I have noticed a considerable improvement in plus size swimwear.

Here are my favourite items of swimwear available at the moment.

I'm not a huge fan of swimdresses as I think they lack shape, but I love the Evans variation of a swimdress. It still has shape to the hips but then a cute little skirty thing attached to it!

I've always know Elomi for lingerie, but happened to look on their website ans found this!!!! I adore it! I love tankini tops that are a bit looser, and this nautical style one is my favourite, however, it is quite pricy!

As you will have more than likely seen Clements Riberio has recently launched a new holiday range with Evans. This swimsuit is from that collection and is a bit more 'trendier' that some swimwear that is available for the plus size market.

Simply Be have always had a decent range of swimwear and, to be honest, I normally end up purchasing from them. They have a range of brands, Beach to Beach, they stock the likes of Freya, Cleo, Panache, Zoggs, Figleaves and magisculpt, and more importantly a good range of size. Some by actual size and others by bust size. I love this MAGISCULPT bandeau swimsuit!

Panache, Panache,  Panache! You really are spoiling us with the New Cleo range. I love tilly. I love the tankini dress (which comes with matching pants!!!!) I actaully have this swimdress, its a bit snugg and the size 18 pants, were laughable, but its so nice I can forgive Panache! The only down side to panache is sizing. The biggest cup size available with the tankini dress is a 38G. I would guess that if you are bigger than a size 20/22 this tankini dress wouldn't fit :-(

What do you think?

Have I missed any that you would recommend? Where do you normally buy your swimwear from?

Toni x

Scarlett and Jo Review

A few weeks the lovely Lucy from Scarlett and Jo contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in reviewing a item from the their range. As I missed out on the Style Session I was invited to, I jumped at the change too try something.

A few days later I received this little beaut.

In all honesty, it isn't something that I would pick myself. However, saying that, I love it.

I have styled it with black tights and some black heels, which is perfect for the cold night at the moment. I think the next time I wear it though, I will wear it as per the model, with the tie at the front. I chose a size 24, but would have definitely got away with my normal size 22.

I can't wait for the summer to arrive when I can wear this with out tights. I am now on the look out for some blue sandals to wear with it, so if you see any, let me know!!

The Scarlett and Jo range is available from here from Evans.

toni x

Fatshionologie - Work Meeting

Fatshionologie is a blogger style challenge born out of a discussion on twitter in the hope that it would help us create exciting new content for our blogs as well as show that each new style 'theme' can be rocked by a variety of different body shapes!

This months theme was dressing for a work meeting or interview. 

This one should have been a walk in the park for me as I work in an office and attend meeting almost weekly. However, that said, my office is fairly relaxed as we only deal with internal clients.

Whilst looking through my wardrobe one item instantly popped out.  My lovely Swan dress....

I think its perfect for the office/meeting/interviews as its smart but fun at the same time!

what I wore :-

Blazer - Next

Dress - Clement Riberio at Evans

Tights - Marks and Spencers

Shoes - George at Asda

Dont forget to check out the other amazing ladies!!

Mel - Glad rags and handbags

Rachel - A dress is for life

Becky  - Does my blog make me look fat

Lisa - Looking for Lisa

Joanna - Just Joanna

Charmaine - My twenty1

Steph - Seeing Spots

Kim - Call Me Kim

Leah - Just Me Leah

Watch the Dancers, Win the Prizes!

Tomorrow myself and Becky are taking part in the #FlashMobFashion event at the Arndale Shopping Center in Manchester.

Featuring a bevvy of High St delights, Including Simply Be and Evans, we will be live blogging, tweeting and instragram-ing (?) though out the day!

During the day there will be prizes a plenty, by following, or dancing the walking catwalk to selected shops and various discounts for a limited period in selected retailers.

If all thats not enough there is also a revolving catwalk and hair and beauty advice during the day!!!

If you in manchester tomorrow, why not pop down and see us!!!!

Toni x

Day Five - A sad OOTD

So its day 5 and my first outfit post.

During the week I generally wear boring outfits as I work in a bored office. Occasionally I like to dress a bit different and wear something that's still smart but more me.

I bought this dress as part of my birthday order from Evans. On the website it looked fab and it was reduced to £20!

Evans Sienna dress - £20 (sale. No longer)

Simply Be belt - passed season

Tights - Yours Clothing
Boots - Evans - shown on previous blog
Cardigan - ASA (old)

I would like to leave this outfit post here. I loved the outfit and it  could have quite easily be a go to outfit, but this happened. If I'd ordered my normal size and it was tight, I could maybe understand it, but I'd actually sized up to a 24!

Alllll down the seam. I am so thankful I wore a cardigan with it.

I tweeted Evans but am yet to get a reply. I am so disappointed. When I got home, I swiftly got changed and took the dress to Evans in the White Rose Centre. They refused to exchange it as I bought it online. I explain that I didn't have the receipt as I bought it on line, and they flatly refused to do anything as they don't stock Sienna in store. 

I can't believe I wasted £20 on this dress! Thanks Evans!

Toni

Day Two - Birthday boots

Tuesday saw me officially entering my late 20ies. 27 to be exact.

I was a little bummed all day as I had envised my life too be so different when I was younger. I thought I'd be married with kids and a cute little house somewhere. But instead I have no kids, and no cute little house. I have my boy, we been together seven years, and on the whole my life is pretty good, but not the one I wanted.

Any how, I'm digressing. My mum and mum in law very kindly gave me some money for my birthday.

Originally I was looking for a pair of biker boots, but stumbled across these beauties in Evans.

I loved the zip and buckle on the outside of the boots. They also have a super comfy insole.

I am not going to post any more pics I plan join wearing them as part of an outfit in the next week.

The boots are super cute, and are a very good width around the bottom of the calf. I even wore them with my skinny jeans this afternoon.

are you a fan of ankle boots?

Toni x

OOTD - dress down Fridays

This was my Friday dress down outfit.

My normal office attire is pretty boring and I tend to stick to black trousers and a top during the week. One day I am going to go in my baggy joggers and Uggs just so I can see everyone's face!

This pretty grey thing is from Simply Be. For some reason I never saw this online. I actually picked it up from the Simply Be store in Doncaster.

It also has cute plether heart patches on the elbows! Yet again I teamed it with my trusty Tesco black skinnys and flats.

Toni x

Going out????

I have a problem.

I literally have no going out clothes! 

Since I don't go out very often and generally only wear work clothes (yes, I'm a slave to my horrible job!)  I am at a dead end of what I should buy. I love dresses, but equally love skinny jeans and statement tops. 

In the next six weeks I have my boyfriends 30th, my birthday, a christening and a few other dates.

So steel me what you think about this outfit! 

Dress - Excite Clothing

Biker Jacket - Simply Be

Black shoes - Evans

I would also wear a pair of thick black tights with it.

What do you think?

Toni x

Winter coat wish list

As the weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse and the cold nights have started drawing in, all my attention has turn towards coats. 

I hate coat shopping. I dread this time of year when I literally want to buy every coat in every colour and have to whittle it down to just one. I tend to stay away from expensive coats as I generally buy a new one every year. 

I am yet to find my coat for this year, but have found the perfect transitional coat to keep me covered for now!

Once again it comes from Tesco, and is part of their True range.

I love parka style coats and for £30 this one is a complete steal. I sized up to a 24 so I could fit countless layers under and still feel comfortable 

Here a few of my favourite coats so far....

Evans Hooded Coat

Joe Browns Cape - Simply Be Be

George at Asda 

What would your perfect winter coat be?

Toni  x

Pick of the Sales - Evans

As you may have noticed there is a few sales around at the moment. I cant wait until payday on Friday so I can go and see if my fave items from Evans are in my local store.

Here is my sale wish list from Evans

Curvy Kate Princess Bra WAS £26, NOW £12

Clements Ribeiro 'Sarah' Jersey Tunic WAS £45 NOW £15

Skinny Jeans WAS £29.50 NOW £15

Light weight Jacket WAS £49.50 NOW £25

Clements Ribeiro 'Joan' Dress WAS £75 NOW £25

Espadrille Wedges WAS £39.50 NOW £10!!! NEEEEEED

What will you be buying from the sales?

Toni x