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

I had a job interview last week, for a pretty exciting editorial job (I don't know if I have it yet, but fingers crossed!). Since I was interviewing at a media company, I dressed smart but not corporately, though the last minute addition of my snow boots was not ideal, but necessary given that we had an unexpected sprinkling of snow the night before! This dress is from the clothes swap, and has a beautiful blue and grey leopard print patterned overlay - perfect office to evening wear.

Blazer, via Fatshion Exchange, £10
Dress, clothes swap
Necklace, Primark, £2
Boots, Deichmann, £25

I figure everyone needs a MASSIVE fluffy jacket in their life, right. At least that's what I told myself when I bought this. I sold some clothes online recently, and kept the money to update my wardrobe a bit, as my size has changed a bit and some staple pieces needed rebuying. To counteract the buying of useful stuff (like this skinny black trousers, for instance), I allowed myself to splurge on the big fluffy jacket of joy. It's pretty cosy, and makes me feel a little bit like I'm back in my glam teenager days (especially teamed with these black studded flatforms I found at the back of my wardrobe). Dorothy Perkins were having a 25% off everything deal last week too, so I got these pieces at a good discount.

There's something really exciting for me to wear clothes that make me look bigger than I am. I figure it's the most cardinal of sins for fat girls, in the doctrine of flattery that dictates that fitted clothing is pretty much a must to be accepted. More thoughts on that later.

Massive fluffy jacket, Dorothy Perkins, still online here, £26 (with discount code)
Top, Forever 21+, £8
Treggings, Dorothy Perkins, still online here, £13 (with discount code)
Shoes, traded online, free

This was worn to go to another interview last week. The dress is pretty much my go-to tailoring - it's a ponte knit with enough stretch to wear comfortably for hours on end. I don't find that I'm as confident in traditional tailoring - it's something that isn't made well in larger sizes (too many variables I guess - itchy lining, tight arms, no breathing room). However, this season has been great for finding alternatives in ponte knits, which remain smart enough without being uncomfortable.

Dress, Tesco via eBay for £1.70
Black necklace, £2, Primark
Wide belt, £7, Dorothy Perkins
Tights, M&S
Boots, Rocketdogs, £50

Top picture courtesy of Sarah Price.

Of course, I pretty much had to take the evening event at Plus London Two as an opportunity to wear all of my fanciest clothing at once! I'm quite a quiet person, and I don't go out in the evenings all that often, so blogger events are always a great chance to dress up and swan around shedding feathers everywhere.

The dress was from Torrid via Re/Dress at this year's NOLOSE conference (my first!), and has pretty much been lounging about waiting for an occasion like this. The hat I got at the clothes swap I co-organised last year (news on a second will be revealed soon! Local types might want to keep the end of March free!), and is pretty much the best hat ever. The shoes were an extravagant purchase, from the Doc Martens final sale recently - I've loved them since I first set eyes on them last year, but couldn't justify the price tag for heels which, it must be said, I'm not the best in. However, I'm quite impressed, as I managed to walk around in them for the entire evening without feeling much aching (until the last few minutes) - very unusual for me. As they are docs, they also have good quality sales with grip that makes me feel significantly more confident too, so they will definitely be making an outing again.

Details:
Dress, Torrid via Re/Dress, $30
Feather cape, eBay, £9.00
Hat, clothes swap, £free
Necklace, Primark, £2
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Bag, market, £5
Tights, M&S
Shoes, Docs, £60

The event was fantastic, and it was great to see so many amazing fat women in one space. I never fail to come away from these events feeling empowered in my body and my fashion. There were also some great brands there, including Elomi Lingerie offering bra fittings (and I was very surprised to discover that I am in fact an E cup!), Red Bows Vintage (whose rails I have been wanting to rummage in for a while!), ASOS, and Simply Be. You can see lots of photos from the event at the Plus London 2 tumblr here, and also check out all of our best blogger poses in the Pop Up Studio here. Thanks again to Claire for organising it, and I hope that there will be many chances to see everyone again in the future.

I think I might be breaking some blogger rules by going barefoot in this, but it'd be silly to put on shoes when I don't plan to leave the house. I'm partaking in Fatshion February on tumblr this year, so you can expect a lot more outfits from me during this month. I'm going to try and commit a little more to showing how I dress up and down, so be sure to follow me on tumblr to catch everything I wear. Also, follow the fatshionfebruary tag to catch all of the other entries, because they are ACE, and it is genuinely exciting to see a project which focuses more on everyday embodiment of fat bodies, rather than just showcasing the days when we feel super fancy.

Cardigan, M&S, gifted
Top, Dorothy Perkins via clothes swap, free
Necklace, £2, Primark
Skirt, Forever 21+, £8

Here's another belated work outfit for you. The waistcoat and shorts were sale buys this year. I tried to focus my sale purchases more around versatile separates to replace long suffering favourites of mine, instead of cooing over all the pretty and ridiculous dresses as per usual!

Peacock waistcoat, Forever 21, £8 (their sale stuff was on buy one get one free over the festive period. HAPPY FACE)
Black tee, clothes swap
Necklace, Primark, £2
Tweed shorts of dreams, £17, very.co.uk
Boots, Rocketdogs, £50

Still wayyyy behind with all of my outfit posts - I still haven't posted about my sales purchases! Here's an outfit I remixed for work before Christmas - the dress is a summer sale purchase, and one of my staple work dresses. I'm not great with tailoring (you might have noticed), mainly because my body completely changes shape when I'm sat down (this move turns most knee length shift dresses into minis! Not good!), so I try and go for smart jersey pieces instead.

Dress, £15, Dorothy Perkins
Cardigan was one I picked up from Rebecca when we met over the summer (summer?! What's that?!), free
Boots, Rocketdog, £50
Necklace, Primark, £2

In other news, I'm super excited about Plus London 2! Claire of Monkey Fatshionista is organising it this year, and it looks great. Brands involved include Domino Dollhouse, One Stop Plus, Simply Be and Anna Scholz, and there's going to be a fashion show, pop up photography studio and a clothes swap (so you know I'm there). Hopefully I'll get my arse into gear and finish my zine in time for it too! It's open to bloggers and friends of bloggers, and you can see the facebook event here and the tumblr here. If you want to attend, drop Claire a line at supermonkey79atgmaildotcom to RSVP. Hope to meet some of you there!

I was window shopping recently on H&M's website, and was pleasantly surprised to notice that a few pieces of the Inclusive range had some pretty hefty reductions. I wasn't keen on the range on it's release, but I did like a few pieces - this skirt and this bodysuit - both still reduced to £7.99 online. I ordered both (though sadly the body didn't work - not surprising, as I've yet to find one made for my 5'9" frame). I ended up having to size up to a size 26 for the skirt (this range runs so small! Size up at least one, probably two sizes, from your average). The ordering and exchanging process was pretty frustrating - to my knowledge, there is no sizing information online for this range, and it took about six weeks and several angry emails to get my exchange sorted! The skirt itself is fantastic, and I'm impressed with the length and fullness of it, but I'm not sure I'd go through such hassle to get an item of clothing again.

Anyway, it's here now, and I debuted it to go gaming with some friends. I teamed it with some basic pieces to make it a feature of the outfit.

Skirt, £7.99, H&M inclusive
Top, £3, Dorothy Perkins
Blazer, £10, Fatshionista sales post
Tights, M&S
Necklace, £2, Primark
Boots, Rocketdog, £50

So today I finally had my home connected to the internet again! Yay! After many a month without regular access, and with only weeks left at my current job this is a relief for many reasons!

I spent yesterday going through some holiday photographs from my month in the US in July. I was really happy to come back home (though I had an awesome time) to the grey/green landscapes that make me happy to be a Yorkshire resident again, but after a week of solid rain, winter-y temperatures and dark days, I am definitely missing summer (and the two weeks I spent in Southern California with my partner's family). I'll post a few outfits from the trip over the next week or so - here's the first. The dress was an impulse buy in Forever 21, not my usual style but the ruffles swayed me. The t-shirt was something I picked up from Rebecca in Portland, who helpfully let me rummage through some clothes she was giving away!

Dress, Forever 21+, $27 (ish?)
T-shirt, from Rebecca!
Necklace, Primark £2

Here's another remixed work outfit for you all. I wore this last Friday, switching the skirt for my disco pants for the evening. I have to say this pencil skirt is definitely continuing to give and give. It has to be the most versatile and comfortable work item I own, and I love how form fitting it is on me. A good pencil skirt is hard to find!

T-shirt, Topshop, £3
Cami, Primark, £3
Necklace, Primark, £2
Tuxedo jacket, Dorothy Perkins via Fatshion Exchange, £10
Skirt, ASOS, £8
Shoes, Deichmann, £15

Disco pants!

Okay, so I've been packing all my stuff up (I type this at my parent's house in Surrey, surrounded by boxes) and well, having that realisation that I have every time I move, that I clearly have wayyyyy to many clothes. However, despite four suitcases and several shopper bags of clothes, somehow I found myself in River Island trying these on anyway. They're a super generous size 16, and I'm certain they're not supposed to be quite so skin tight, but they're the garish skinnies of my dreams and I'm a happy bunny as a result.

This was worn for a dinner and leaving drinks at my flat! Boo! Bye bye Brighton.

Top, Topshop, £3
Black cami, £4, Primark
Black necklace, £2, Primark
Belts, £6 for both, Marks and Spencer
Trousers, £22, River Island

Another casual outfit for you today, with bonus fat girl in horizontal stripes points! Life is a bit hard at the minute - I'm dealing with a bully landlord, job applications and trying to finish all my craft projects too (the last one involved a jumper skirt, a quilt, a knitted cushion cover, a pleated skirt, a shirt for my boyfriend and some alterations - why did I start them all again?!) - so I've been mainly acting like a hermit in my room in particularly unglamourous outfits. Today, however, I'm pushing on and actually making progress! I've also just finished the itinerary for the Big Beach Bums meet up in Brighton, so once I can turn it into a PDF at work tomorrow, expect a slightly more exciting and upbeat post!

Blazer, Dorothy Perkins via Fatshion Exchange on Livejournal, £10
Stripey tee - Primark, £1
Necklace - Primark, £2
Jeans - Beth Ditto for Evans, £8
Dunlops - car boot sale, £2