Hi everyone!

I started a job last week (yayyyy!) and this is what I wore for one of my office days. It’s a casual office, which is good news after so long corporate temping. I still kind of dress formally, but it’s nice to know that I can dress down when I want, and that my daywear isn’t so intensely policed. All of these pieces are favourites of mine – most of my workwear is interchangeable, it’s perhaps the only part of my wardrobe that I could be capable of making into a capsule wardrobe.

Blouse, F&F via eBay, £4

Pinafore, old vintage stock

Belt, old vintage stock

Tights, We Love Colours, £6 (bought via a friend)

Brogues, Primark, £6

Also, as a PS: don’t forget that submissions for Make It Work close soon - and there are spaces for more submissions.

Hello! Just a quick outfit today. I wore this to have a potter, some lovely lunch and some book shopping fun with one of my best friends Caroline. You've probably seen it all before, but the dress deserves a repeat outing as it's one of my favourites. I wish all vintage dresses fit me as perfectly as it did!

Dress, vintage via the big bum jumble
Tights, M&S
Brogues, Primark, £6

A denim jacket has been on my list of items to acquire for a while now, after I realised it is pretty effortless to team with summer dresses in the Spring. Sadly Spring temperatures are still a way away (oh, England) but I wore it out anyway, to go see a screening of The Beggars of Life at the National Media Museum, though admittedly with many other layers to bump up the warmth factor.

Dress, George via eBay, £7.50
Scarf, Primark, £4
Jacket, New Look Inspire, £20 (and still online)
Belt, old vintage stock
Tights, We Love Colours (bought online via a friend's sale post)
Brogues, Primark, £6

This is my latest craft project. I've been meaning to tackle a shift dress for a good while (given that it's pretty much my favourite dress shape), and when I found the pattern for this in The Colette Sewing Handbook (FYI, the book's patterns are for US sizes 0-18), I thought it would be a good project. I made it in a lightweight cotton lawn, and lined the bodice with a sturdy cotton blend lining fabric. It's the first time I've fitted a lining and I'm chuffed with the outcome. Here's a close up of the main material:  

 

I bought it from a fabric stall in Leeds market for £5 pm. The total cost of the dress was about £20 - more than I'd normally spend, mainly because I shopped specifically for the materials for the dress (normally I just hover around the bargain bins/rails picking up what I can here and there for future projects). 

Here's how I dressed it for a day temping:

Cardigan, clothes swap

Dress, handmade

Belt, old vintage stock

Tights, M&S

Brogues, Primark, £6

Here's an obnoxiously bright outfit best suited for the start of Spring (someone should tell Leeds that it is Spring soon though, it's been miserably dark of late). I bought these green tights off a friend who was selling them on because, well, who doesn't need green tights in their life?! They're we love colours, size E, and whilst they fit well there's lots of room to spare, so next time I buy a pair I'll probably size down. They're probably the tallest fitting tights I've ever owned, however, I can actually pull them over my bra! So definitely a good option for other tall fats!

Dress, vintage, $20
Tights, We Love Colours via an online sale, £6
Belt, old vintage stock
Brogues, Primark, £6

It's been a good while since I first bought this dress, but it still remains one of my favourite daywear items. I wore this on Saturday to go to Bradford with a friend, buy some zines from a fair and eat curry (a pretty good combination in my opinion!). I dug this necklace out of my jewellery box the other day when I was having a sort out - it was pretty much my favourite accessory all through my final year of university and I'm not sure how or why it got buried. It's a nice tough to add to an otherwise quite simply outfit.

Also, yes, apparently it is necessary to shoot the close up in front of my favourite creepy child painting (bad art is a kitsch love of mine, and this was a £3 charity shop buy).

Dress, Dorothy Perkins, £20
Belt, old vintage stock
Necklace, £7, vintage
Brogues, Primark, £6
Tights, M&S

Also, thank you all for your entries into my giveaway with B.A.I.T Footwear! Entries are now CLOSED! I'll be drawing the winner over the weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for emails and announcements. xx

After taking a whole bunch of pictures today, I came to the conclusion that I pretty much always look awkward posing with a satchel. Here's my typical errand attire of late, now that Spring has arrived in Yorkshire. I went out in three layers today and ended up sweltering! Here's hoping the sun stays and I can stop wearing tights constantly.

I'm wearing one of my finds from the Plus Sized Clothes Swap I co-hosted on Sunday - a sheer Edwardian-esque top! I had a great day, and completely failed to document it (of course), so if you're interested in pictures from the day I'll direct you to this post on Lolly Likes (who has great style!). We had an increase in turn out from last time, which was fantastic, and it was great to see lots of returning faces also. We're wanting to continue doing swaps and start a fat positive collective in Yorkshire - if you're interested in participating you can now join our facebook group here. Anyone is welcome to join and suggest activities, share resources or admin on the community. We also run an email list for the clothes swap, so if you'd like to be added to that you can email me at fattyunbound [at] gmail [dot] com. If anyone has any feedback on the swap, you can contact me via the same email.
I'll be showing off some more swap items as the week goes on!

Jacket, clothes swap
Top, clothes swap
Shorts, Dorothy Perkins, £20
Brogues, Primark, £6
Socks, Primark, £1
Satchel, Cambridge Satchel Company, gifted

p.s. My giveaway with the lovely B.A.I.T footwear closes tomorrow evening, so get your entries in ASAP! Find full details on this post.

I spent this past weekend at All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, enjoying the cold weather (with occasional bursts of sunshine!), the beach and seeing lots of bands that I love dearly. As per usual I got carried away and forgot to document my outfits, but I did have a chance to have a hunt around Taunton's (MANY) charity shops on my way home. I was lucky enough to pick up these high waisted polka dot shorts in one of them, which is pretty exciting as I've been after a pair for ages. These are really wide with a semi elasticated waist, and just the right length - I had a pair before, but they were pretty indecent even with tights on (curse long legs), so I swapped them a while back.

Cardigan, M&S, gifted
Heart badge, traded online
T-shirt, swapped
Shorts, charity shop, £2.99
Tights, M&S
Brogues, Primark, £6
Scarf, old vintage stock

p.s. I'm going to be hosting my first giveaway soon, keep an eye out for more information this evening!

Here's my latest craft project for you all. I found this medium brown stretch cotton on sale at the market for £1.50 a metre, and thought it'd make a nice understated circle dress. I used my old faithful vogue pattern (V8615) to make it, this time adding 3/4 length sleeves (a step I've always skipped before). I find the sleeves a bit tight on me, so some upsizing will be needed if I make this again with sleeves. For £4.50 total cost though, it's a perfectly functional dress for work and play.

Dress, handmade
Belt, £6, Dorothy Perkins
Brooch, £2, Primark
Brogues, £12, Primark

Apparently I'm now becoming entirely unwilling to embrace the summery weather? In any case, I realised I hadn't had a chance to wear this dress properly this winter, despite working to fix it up over the summer. Oh dear. I think I felt it required heels, but instead I chose my brogues for a proper school marm-esque look.

Dress, old vintage stock, DIY-ed around the skirt
Belt, old vintage stock
Brogues, Primark, £13

Another largely remixed outfit, incorporating a nice neutral blue cardigan I got for Christmas. It's not a colour I have lots of in my wardrobe, but it suited my cream/brown/grey palette of the moment.

Cardigan, M&S, gifted at Christmas
Blouse, ASOS curve via Fatshion Exchange, £8.50
Shorts, ASOS curve, £9
Tights, M&S
Brogues, Primark, £13
Belt,
Brooch, Primark, £2
Skinny brown belt, old vintage stock

My latest vintage score! Bought last weekend at a shop on Sydney Street in Brighton. I only realised when I put it on today just how well it fits - it's almost as if it was made for me (a feeling I only seem to get with vintage dresses). It's a lovely thick winter shirt dress, perfect for the last dregs of the cold weather (I hope!).

Dress, £8, vintage
Belt, old vintage stock
Tights, M&S
Brogues, £12, Primark

Slightly lazy outfit today. I dragged this jersey pencil skirt out of a "to sell" pile, and decided the colour is actually pretty versatile so it's staying with me for now! And the pile of sales stuff sat right next to me will just have to wait another night.

Jumper, £free, clothes swap
Blouse, ASOS curve via Fatshion Exchange, £8.50
Skirt, £1, chairty shop
Tights, M&S
Brogues, £13, Primark
Belt, old vintage stock