Fivetake: Neutrals.... oops

Well, I rather shot myself in the foot with this one by wearing lots of neutrals last week thereby cleaning out my neutral stash (although I have some others coming...naughty Gina).

I also wasn't really that organised or in the mood yesterday so apologies for the photos this time. They were taken in Next changing rooms today, where I had another wee trying on session (more later in the week).

Anyway here is me wearing some neutral-ish clothes. I bought the dress from the Monsoon sale and while it is clingy and I have Visible Belly, I like it. Like the pattern and like that I think it works with a white long sleeved t under it (sleeveless for summer I think).

The Mac is from H&M Bib, and fits well. Almost warm enough to wear it! The scarf is primark, as are the leggings. Boots from Evans and necklace a 70% off Monsoon special.

In summer would like to be brave enough to wear no leggings and gold sandals and denim jacket. We shall see!

Final item is my bag, bought in Barcelona on a birthday trip with OH where we spent lots of it either walking and sightseeing or drinking. Mostly drinking. It's leather and is getting more and more beaten up and I love it.

There is some weird green thing going on for some reason in the pics, further apologies!

So, how do you do neutrals?

Primark Haul

Every so often I like to take a little walk to Primark, only in the interests of a nice walk of course ;) And this is what I found...

Two belts, £2 each, made into one. See Tribal post.

Something a bit nautical. £8. 

Scarf. LOVE the colour, and skulls.

Love Primark scarves!

Made any good Primari purchases yourself lately?

Tribal Fivetake

Five take is where Nicole, Rebecca, Claire ,Becky and I all take a theme or item of clothing and wear it in our own way and this week it's Tribal.


I like fashion, don't get me wrong, but it isn't that often that I am very trend-led. It just so happens though that I spotted a scarf in New Look a few weeks ago that was 'tribal' but was also drop-dead fab I thought. So when I discovered the theme for this week I knew this would be the key item.


So...what else? I picked this dress up from H&M and I love the colour but it is slightly too short so I'm wearing it with Beth Ditto jeans. It should be ironed I know, but I really don't iron if possible.


Belt, well this is my project from Primark. Bought two belts and with the help of pliers and superglue made them into one. Very pleased for £4. Not sure it goes with this dress, but it's got a bit of snake skin vibe so it got included. And shoes are also snake skin-ish from Sainsbury's (very comfy!).


Lastly, nothing says tribal like a bit of turquoise ;)


Background's not the most scenic I'm afraid, we really really need to buy new fencing!

 

Hello back fat!

Don't forget to see how the other Fivetake girls have interpreted this look :)

Zig Zig Dress - review

Simply Be was kind enough to send me this dress to review. I wanted a dress for work that I could wear for presentations and other worky things, but that still reflected my personality.

I fell in love with this at first sight and wore it to the Anna Scholz event at Plus London Two. It is so comfortable to wear and the belt fits (another win for Simply Be!).

The colours really pop, and while the style is very plain it works. It is dressy enough for work while not being boring workwear.

Boots from Evans, leggings from Primark and necklace ancient from New Zealand :)

My only issue with this is that it has shrunk in the wash and is now shorter than it was when I first wore it after it arrived. It wasn't hugely long in the first place, but it is now more verging on a tunic than a dress, which is a shame. It's made out of viscose and maybe the way it was cut meant that any shrinkage went upwards rather than sideways. I don't know, but it may be something to think about when you order.

Overall though, it's lovely and I feel like a star in it!!! Footnote - I mentioned the shrinking issue to Simply Be and they offered a replacement and will alert their buying team. An example of excellent customer service!

Valentine's Day - #fivetake

Five take is where Nicole, Rebecca, Claire ,Becky and I all take a theme or item of clothing and wear it in our own way. 

In my past life Valentine's Day would mean a lovely dinner out at a fine restaurant with a few glasses of wine gazing lovingly at my partner....


However life has changed. Valentine's Day now means eating something I've whipped up in the kitchen (perhaps eaten with a plastic fork if my child nicks off with mine again) with a chicken pox-infested toddler while bickering with my husband over whose turn it is to take her to the potty. Oh yes the romance may not have died, but it has taken a severe beating.


So, what to wear. Well, just because I won't be going out, doesn't mean I can't dress up so here is me in my pretty Simply Be maxi dress that I bought a couple of years ago for dressing up (glam nights), and down (denim jacket and gold flat sandals in summer).

Given I'm not going to be leaving the house, I didn't bother with shoes, but a necklace is always a must and I like the girlyness of this one from Primark.

So what do you do to celebrate Valentine's day? Either single or coupled, how do you treat yourself?

Workwear Review - Simply Be makes incredible trousers!

I have been looking for some good work trousers for a LONG TIME.

This isn't to say I haven't owned work trousers before, I have. I've had black ones mainly as I could never find them in another colour.

And they have fitted badly. Or were made from awful polyster or weird stretchy fabric. Too baggy on the hips, but tight on the waist, or just too loose all over. Too short as they only came in one length when legs come in all different lengths... you get the problem.

But when I saw these I thought perhaps at last I could have what I have always wanted: well fitting, well made taupe trousers for work.

Simply Be were kind enough to allow me to review them, and another item that I will post about soon.

These trousers come in different lengths (listen up other plus size retailers!) and they come with a belt. This isn't completely unheard of, but the shocking thing is IT FITS. Sorry for shouting, but how many times have we bought plus sized items with belts that would only fit a size 12???

They have an elastic waist, which to be honest I've never been that keen on as I don't want it to be obvious that I'm wearing elastic, but on these it looks fine when being worn.

And the colour? It's brilliant, it looks good with black, and I'll wear it with pastels in summer. Sorry to gush, but these fit well, have lovely soft material and are the perfect length. Delighted and off to buy them in black.

Plus London Two : Five take!

Five take is where Nicole, Rebecca, Claire ,Becky and I all take a theme or item of clothing and wear it in our own way. This week is a little different as the UK contingent went to Plus London Two, the brilliant bloggers event that Claire organised.

Firstly please let me apologise for the lack of any actual good photos of what I was wearing (a slight issue I know)...but on the night I didn't think to get any good pictures and so have had to use Claire and Lauren's images for the night to give you some idea of what I wore. The next day I spent on the couch snuffling and only venturing off to eat scones...

I was also knackered from the day by the event itself. All that ripping my clothes off and running around London. But that is another story...which you can read here.

On the plus side, it wasn't a very exciting dress anyway. I had struggled to find something I liked to buy, so wore this black Evans dress that I had found during last year's Fat Clothes Swap. It is a lovely dress and fits me perfectly. The material falls well and although I hate to use the term, it is indeed 'flattering'. But it doesn't have a wow factor. It has more a 'ooh that looks nice' factor.

On the left, Kathryn looking hot, in the middle looking saucy is Becky, and me looking knackered on right.

Which is why I went for blingy shoes and statement necklace. Oh yes, I'm all about the statement necklace. This is from Asos on sale for £10. It's actually enamelled metal so heavy but I love it. Love the big stone and the clasp.

Pretty shiny thing

The shoes are from New Look. Loving the glitter but they were too big! So I walked up some stairs, almost fell out of them, stood around for a bit and then walked carefully down the stairs and put on my nice cosy flat boots.

The battle of the glittery shoes! Debbie's on the left, my wedges on the right.