Oh look, it's another pencil dress/boots combo! Er, sorry, no points for originality right now. Anyway, I wanted to post this dress despite that as it's amazzzzzing! I got it from New Look for the grand sum of £15 about six weeks again, and find myself wearing it constantly right now. It's the perfect fitted dress for me, super fitted and yet still comfortable and easy to run about in.

Dress, New Look (available here)
Belt, Dorothy Perkins
Boots, Primark

This dress was kindly sent to me by the folks at Simply Be earlier this year. It's part of their collection with Anna Scholz - a range I've always wanted to try but which is also a little out of my price range normally. This is made out of a lovely jersey fabric, and I love the ruching down the front of the dress. The skirt isn't quite as tight fitting as I'd like, so I think it'll be altered before I wear it next.

This I wore it simply, with some heeled boots and a skinny belt - definitely one of my uniforms looks!

Dress, c/o Simply Be (available here)
Belt, Dorothy Perkins
Boots, Primark

 

So this Thursday I allowed myself a night off uni work so I could go see the wonderful Lauren  in Hamburger Queen at the RVT. It was an AMAZING night, full of laughing so hard my jaw ached and celebrating talented, unruly fat people. There's still two more heats to go and a final, and I'd recommend it to anyone who needs a burst of positivity or just some fun. 

Anyway, cycling shorts seemed appropriate attire for such an occasion. I got these custom made by Allihalla on etsy last year and they're marvelous. Good lazy spring attire (even though it's still bloody freezing). 

Denim waistcoat, altered jacket, New Look

Kitten t-shirt, eBay

Cycling shorts, Allihalla

Creepers, eBay

How to Wear: Spring (Bold Stripes)

The lovely folks at Voucher Codes approached me recently to take part in a series on how to wear Spring trends. I was given a few options, from which I chose bold stripes! I love stripey things, I'm sure long term readers will have realised this by now!

We were given £80 to go and find options from which we could make 3 outfits (using pieces from our own wardrobe where we wanted). I liked this challenge because it was budget friendly too - £80 is probably more than I'd spend otherwise for 3 items, but still a fairly reasonable amount. I found three items, and here's how I wore them:

Look 1: Casual

 Stripey jumper, Maine New England at Debenhams, £22.40 - available here
White button up shirt: Clothes swap
Jeans, ASOS, £16 - available here
Necklace, Topshop, £12.50 - available here
Dunlops, car boot sale, £2

This is a look I wear pretty frequently these days - it's comfortable, warm and still stylish (I think?!). The stripey jumper is a classic for me, though surprisingly I've not owned one in ages! I have lots of stripey tops though. The jumper is a generous sized 22, has lovely cable detailing and is thick. Definitely one I'll be wearing constantly until March gets nicer. The necklace is something I bought with a gift voucher over Christmas and have been wearing with lots of things. Feature necklaces are definitely something I'd like more of!

Look 2: Smart:

 

Chevron striped work dress, £32, Collection at Debenhams - available here

Cardigan, clothes swap

Chunky necklace, £2, Primark

Belt, £7, Dorothy Perkins

Tights, M&S

Shoes, ASOS, £30 - available here (for £16 now, gah)

I went for a more discretely striped item with my second choice - this chevron striped work dress from Debenhams (okay, there were other places selling striped things too....). You can't see but it has these cute red panels that I covered up with the cardigan and belt because I wanted to wear my pink flatforms! It's made out of ponte fabric which is my favourite fabric for workwear, though annoyingly it's also lined making it not stretchy at all! Thankfully it fits really well and the lining isn't constricting. The 22 is pretty generous so would fit size 24 too.

Look 3: smart casual. 

Jersey dress, Very, £16 - available here
Cardigan, c/o Curvissa - available here and customised with these patches
Tights, M&S
Boots, Primark
Necklace - Fable and Fury

My final look revolved around this cute long sleeved jersey skater dress I found on Very. £16! I got the tall version and it's about the right length for me. I thought it'd be cute clashed with my spotty cardigan from Curvissa, which I recently customised with some patches from eBay. A bit obnoxious but hopefully still nice.

Phew! Hope you enjoyed, and thanks to Voucher Codes for letting me take part!

This dress is one of my new favourite things! It's perfect to throw on with some flats when I'm feeling lazy. I've gotten more into separates over the past year that I've almost forgotten how effortless a good dress can be when you're in a rush to leave the house in the morning. I can see it looking fancified with a little more effort too! 

Dress, c/o Simply Be
Tights, M&S
Shoes, crocs, via eBay, £6
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7

Also, hey look it's been so long since I posted that I forgot I hadn't given you all a hair update! Yes, predictably enough it's all been chopped off again (I blame the inklings of Spring weather).

 Hey folks! I'm back with some particularly awkward faces, go me! I'm wearing a few new things in this post - particularly chuffed with this red spotty cardigan from Curvissa, which is the elusive warm and cute cardigan I've been searching for. Teamed with my eyeball collar clips from ASOS, which are grotesque and wonderful:

I also wore the cardigan later the same week with a more sedate outfit (and an even more special face):

 

 First outfit: 

Cardigan, c/o Curvissa (online here)

Gingham Shirt, New Look (online here)

 High waisted short, New Look (online here)

Collar clips: ASOS

Tights, We Love Colours

Docs, gifted

Second outfit: 

Cardigan, as above.

Dress, handmade

Tights, M&S

Shoes, charity shop, £6.50

Hey folks! Long time no speak (blame postgraduate education for that!). Here's a quickie, and oh, look, black hairzz. Sure you've seen most of this before, but I've gotten into layering shirts under dresses and t-shirts in the winter for warmth and a new look.

Dress, £20, Dorothy Perkins
Shirt, clothes swap
Collar necklace, ASOS, £8
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Boots, docs via eBay, £50
Tights, M&S

I made a new zine! Just a quick plug to say you can get it on etsy here - copies of Make It Work #2 have been restocked too (though there's not many of either!). xx

Hey strangers! Fancy seeing me around here again, eh? This week has been a mish mash of frantically working on coursework and adjusting back to post-Christmas break waking up hours. Luckily I had enough spare time to do some crafting this past week too! I've been working through my fabric stash as I have too much, and I also have no money to buy clothes right now. This skirt was made out of a £5.50 remnant from my local fabric shop (Rolls and Rems, Lewisham, highly recommended) by tracing around a pencil skirt I own and lengthening it so it was knee length. I added a super high waist which I love. The fabric is some magic spandex blend which feels like it should be a leotard or something. I actually had enough left to make leggings too, but made them too small by overestimating the stretch of the fabric. But £5.50 still seems pretty good for a skirt!

Teamed with:
Bateau neck top, clothes swap
Necklace, Primark, £2
Tights, M&S
Creepers, eBay, £25

A cheapass guide to sales shopping

L-R

Slim leg check trousers (via Very) £17.50

Painted neon pink necklace £3.99 via F21 (or £2 with the code HOLIDAY50)

Animal print skinnies (via F21) £9.99 (half off with HOLIDAY50)

Superga/H by Holland crochet trainers via ASOS £21.00

So Fabulous stretch satin dress via Very £10.50

Leopard print bodycon skirt via F21 £6.99 (or £3.50 with the discount code)

Cosmic print leggings via New Look £10

Black velvet skater skirt via New Look £5

Hamble brogues via Clarks £25

Thought I'd share a few of my sales favourites this year, some of which I've bought, some which I just fancy the look of.

I am never very certain whether to do posts li/ke this, because I don't know whether I'm just promoting brands, BUT sales shopping is something I am pretty good at, and in the interests of helping other bargain hunting folk out, I thought it'd be good to do a round up of cheap things I like in the sale this year (all of these go up to at least a size 24 I think, though only certain sizes are available), and also share how I find things and save money further on them. I try not to spend much over £10 on something, and definitely not more than £30 (those brogues are £25, but I figured clarks shoes are good and they're 50% off, and black brogues are as practical as you can get, right?) ever.

Here's how I do sales shopping:
- I think a few weeks before about things it would be useful to get in the sales. This time I wanted sensible shoes, some new trousers and a black skater skirt. I try to keep this list in mind so I don't go nuts and find endless things I want.
- Plan a budget, and a point you DEFINITELY DEFINITELY won't spend over. This helps making decisions tricky, but overspending just kicks you in the arse ultimately. 
- Painful as this is, I look a bunch of places for bargains. I tend to sit over the holidays and survey sites I normally shop at, to find which has the cheapest options. I also check to see whether stuff I've ogled before is reduced.
- When I've found what I want to buy, I also google for voucher codes for the same sites. This year I discovered that Forever 21 has 50% off it's sale items (with the code HOLIDAY50), so those blue jeans, the pink necklace and the leopard mini are mine for a grand total of £10.50! I'm currently a student and use that discount where I can too. You'll be surprised how many sites allow you to use existing discount codes on sale items.
- Not that us fatties have much choice in this matter, but NEVER SHOP IN PERSON. Sales fever is stressful and often makes you choose stuff on impulse. Shopping online gives you chances to exploit aforementioned discount codes, and also time to walk away from purchases and have a think about whether you really want them.
- When searching online ALWAYS ORDER LOW-HIGH. That way once things get beyond your limit, you can easily stop looking (in theory).
- Finally, I use cashback site Quidco to get some extra cashback - it's doesn't cost anything to join and gives you a small percent of your purchases back. It takes a while to get paid, but every little helps! If you shop online a fair bit, it can add up reasonably well. 

Sticking by these rules, I don't overspend, and I generally buy stuff I need (or have wanted for ages) that I haven't been able to afford full price.

Happy holidays x

p.s. in the interest of transparency, the links in this post take you to the items via a referral site, which earns me a few pennies if you buy something. However, I'm only linking to stuff I'd like to buy myself or have bought too, and if you don't want to go through those links you can open the sites and search for the items yourself <3 font="font">

 

 Two outfits in one today! Teaming these two together because they are equally obnoxious and over co-ordinated, and feature a tank top I am pretty smitten with, which Curvissa kindly sent over to me. I've been looking for a new tank top for a while, and this one is cute and kind of festive. I went for the 22-24 (which I am as a size) but could have definitely sized down, as it's very large fitting. The trousers in the first picture are from Simply Be, and are a shape I wouldn't normally try, but given that they are HEART PRINT TROUSERS, I decided to give them a shot!

Apparently this colour scheme is a favourite at this time of year?! Funny given how monochrome my outfits have been getting lately.

Top outfit:

Tank top, gifted by Curvissa - on sale here

Blouse, tesco via eBay, £3.50

Trousers, gifted by Simply Be - on sale here

Dunlops, car boot sale, £2

Bottom outfit:

Tank top, gifted by Curvissa - on sale here

Shirt, vintage, £5

Skirt, handmade

 Belt, old vintage stock

Leg warmers, clothes swap

Docs, gifted

Slightly ridiculous outfit today, featuring my latest horrible cat t-shirt and some new jeans. I slashed the neckline on my t-shirt to make the neckline more to my liking.

T-shirt, eBay, £12
 Jeans, ASOS (still on sale), £15
Dunlops, £2, car boot sale

Just a quick post to plug a clothes swap that the Yorkshire Rad Fat Collective are organising in January in Leeds! It'll be the fourth that the collective have run, and it is always a really awesome space for community and support (and er, free clothes, d'uh). Go along if you can - the facebook event is here.

Yesterday I took a day off uni work (ARGH DEADLINES) to go for a potter with my partner. We spent the day going to see "Death" at the Wellcome Collection (which I recommend wholeheartedly!) then going record shopping in Soho. As it was miserable, the day called for layers, comfort and maximum warmth potential!

Leather jacket, Dorothy Perkins via eBay, £35
Peplum top, £4, Primark
Skirt, Forever 21, £7
Tights, M&S Outlet, £3
Boots, £18.00, Primark

Hey one and all! The lovely folks at Simply Be were kind enough to send me this floral dress, so I took today as an excuse to get a bit excessively glam for university! It's made of a lovely thick jersey, and comes comfortably to my knees (which, at 5'10", doesn't happen often!), with a lovely fitted shape. It will definitely be making repeat appearances soon! 

Floral pencil dress, c/o Simply Be - up for sale here. 

Teamed with:

Leather jacket, Dorothy Perkins via eBay, £35

Feather cape, £7, eBay

Belt, £7, Dorothy Perkins

Necklace, £4, Primark

Tights, M&S

Boots: Primark, £18 (in store now)

Close up of the boots: 

(Remarkably, they're the first pair of medium heels I've gotten on with, EVER, who knows why?)

And just yesterday I had some locks chopped off, so I'm now sporting a messy graduated bob. I'm missing not being able to pin my hair up, but liking how easy it is to style. 

Hello strangers! Sorry I've been out of touch for so long. It's been part lack of internet (still waiting to be connected!) and part business. I moved to London about a month and a half ago now, and I've started my postgrad course which is BUSY (but fun luckily, though I am mourning not having a student lifestyle!), so between that and illness and the passing away of one pet rat, I've not been about as much.

ANYWAY, I made this dress recently (with good old vintage vogue V8615, which apparently I love way too much given the amount of times I've made it!). It was a practical make, in a nice thick black ponte knit, which is a bastard to sew with but thankfully worth the trouble.

Teamed with a brooch my lovely boyfriend got me for my birthday from etsy:

It can be bought here (along with other seriously beautiful wooden delights!).

Outfit details:

Dress, handmade with vogue V8615

Shirt, actually another dress, Primark, passed on by a friend

Brooch, £7, etsy

Shoes, George, £4

Tights, M&S

Other stuff that's happened since I last posted: I had my tattoo finished! Hurray! Here it is in it's final glory. I love it!

I'm off to Leeds this weekend to sell some zines at Leeds Zine Fair, which is happening at Wharf Chambers on Sunday 4th November. It's going to be exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing Yorkshire friends again. If you want to come, check out the facebook event here. I'm debuting a new zine which will appear online sometime next week! It's all about hard femme politics and embodiment.

xx

This ASOS playsuit was on my wishlist for MONTHS, I tell you, until it got reduced far enough for me to take the plunge at last. I'm sceptical about playsuits because they're pretty impractical and the onesie never seems to work for me as I'm a fair bit taller than most people. I went for the 24 in this, and it fits perfectly! I've worn it a few times now, and it's held it's shape well. The construction on this is pretty good overall, it's a nice material, well tailored and comfortable to wear - a bit of a rarity for a high street buy nowadays. The black is sadly now out of stock but the green version is still on super duper sale here. 

Playsuit, ASOS, £14

Cardigan, M&S, gifted

Shoes, ASDA, £6

You've probably also noticed I've headed up the pink scale a bit on the hair front! I decided to take my pink up a notch to a bubblegum pink, with the help of some home bleaching and mixing some pink dye with white conditioner. Here's a better picture: 

Obnoxious to the max.

Yesterday was BOILING, and I spent pretty much all of it running errands, packing and not sitting in the sunshine drinking cider as I would have vastly preferred. This time next week, I'll be a London resident! Right now, I'd like to say I'm excited, but I'm mainly stressed and exhausted and wishing this week was over already. 

Top, £3, Topshop sale (size 16 and very oversized)

Shorts, thrifted, $10

Flats, £6, ASDA

I'm fairly certain that this dress might have been the stuff of my teenage self's wildest dreams (polka dots, PINK and TULLE), so when I saw it at the last clothes swap I ran with the Yorkshire Rad Fat Collective I decided to try it out. I like swapping for that, it often makes me pick up things I wouldn't in a shop, and try them out. Both the dress and the cardigan are from the swap actually - I normally hate cropped cardigans but after finding this realised that they make a lot of sense because they don't overpower a dress like a full length one. Opinion = firmly changed. 

Anyway, I got a bit fancy to go eat Thai food with my partner - the first of a few food stops we're making around Leeds before heading down to London, spending a last evening eating some of my favourite things. 

Dress and cardigan, £free from the clothes swap!

Bag, 99p, charity shop

Shoes, flatforms via ASOS, £28

Also editing to add a picture of my rats being the cutest things ever, because lots of you wanted to see more of them, and also because they are total babes! 

Time for another somewhat haphazard Polyvore post! There are loads of seriously amazing and fierce pieces floating around online at the minute, so I thought I'd share my favourites with you! You can probably tell, but this season I'm really into looking a bit tougher but still with a femme edge. I already own a couple of these pieces (the bandeau, docs, a similar leather jacket and the blue skirt), so you'll be seeing them in outfit posts soon enough, and the others are on my wishlist for the time being. 

Dr Martens 1460 8 holes in patent black - found online here

ASOS Curve leather jacket - found online here

Velvet bandeau top by Chubby Cartwheels - found online here

Metallic silver dress by Lovedrobe - found online here

Inspire galaxy print leggings - found online here

ASOS curve flippy flower skirt - found online here

ASOS curve obi belt - found online here

Domino Dollhouse Pin Up Perfection pencil skirt - found online here