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.

Early mornings are never the best time to show off outfits! This is what I wore to head off to London last Saturday, to partake in the lovely Plus London event, organised by Claire of A Monkey Fatshionista. I made the pinafore (having had vintage pinafore lust for several years now) by upsizing a simple 60s pattern I found on eBay for 99p. It was a bit of a hit and miss - thinking it'd work out shorter than it did, I lengthened the bodice and had to do some major adjustments! However, apart from that it was relatively easy to size up, as the pattern had no darts, pleats or additional fanciness. I made it up in a cute purple floral corduroy that I found on sale at my local market, and added the white buttons from my sewing stash.

Blouse, £12, Dorothy Perkins sale
Pinafore, handmade
Tights, M&S
Socks, Primark
Docs, gifted

We spent the morning at Anna Scholz's studio in North West London, having nibbles, chatting and looking over their upcoming collection.


Anna was really welcoming, and I really liked the mix of bold prints in the collection. As an amateur seamstress, it was also really interesting to hear how she designed her prints, and she even explained some fit issues to us that helped me better understand why high street options are often so badly fitting. I also liked the way that Anna designs several different designs using the same pattern, which gives options for a wider variety of body shapes than by using just one design per print. Her clothes are way out of my price range right now, however I found the experience refreshing and totally different to the way other brands have treated the plus size blogging community. It's also nice to hear from a plus size designer who is actually plus size! The discussions we had highlighted the complexities of the industry to me in ways I hadn't often considered - we're a hard bunch to cater to, given that there is little room for variety and so many different ways to be fat!

Evening post to come soon!

Winter Uniforms

This past week, I've been thinking about staple winter outfits. This outfit is probably all of my favourite staples in one outfits - button up blouses, high waisted skirt, round neck jumper and my trusty docs. It really helps with dark mornings to be able to rely on a formula like this, instead of trying to be super stylish every day of the week.

Jumper, clothes swap, free
Scalloped blouse, Dorothy Perkins, £12
High waisted skirt, clothes swap, free
Tights, M&S
Socks, Primark
Docs, gifted

Oh dorky grins. I had a nice weekend, though has not been helped by having to wake up an hour earlier this morning! Here's what I wore to have a pleasant potter yesterday, eat gorgeous dumplings and ice cream by the sea.

Jumper, Dorothy Perkins
Blouse, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Tie, my old school uniform!
Belt, old vintage stock
Shorts, clothes swap, £free
Tights, M&S
Socks, Primark
Docs, gifted

Some more info about Big Beach Bums approaches! Right now, I'm off to finish making a dalmatian print detachable Peter Pan collar. Ohhhh yes.

This was worn for a day of charity shop rummaging in Otley. Sadly not much in the way of actual scores, but a pleasant way to spend a sunny day nonetheless. This brown velvet skirt was another sale score from Primark. I swear I think I've bought everything on that velvet range since I discovered it's all generously fitted! This is super short, though thankfully I saved my dignity with some cut offs beneath it!

Brown jumper, £7, Dorothy Perkins
Blouse, ASOS, £8.50 via fatshionexchange
Skirt, £3, Primark
Socks, £1, Primark
Boots, gifted (d0cs)
Belt, old vintage stock, £free