Plus North!!

 How excited was I when tickets went on sale for Plus North? VERY is the answer. I've purchased two tickets, one for myself and one for my sister. We'll be booking our hotel room and travel asap and I CANNOT wait to meet some of the people who I've 'met' on Twitter and blogging. I've even offered to help on the catwalk should they need more people - who am I?! The new and improved, more confident Sozage, THAT'S WHO!

Grab your tickets soon as I'm sure it will be the hottest ticket in town.

See you there I hope!
Sozage x

Info from the website:

So what's it all about?

Open to members of the public and bloggers alike, Plus North is a celebration of all things Plus!! A chance for you to meet the brands, meet fellow bloggers and plus size ladies and spend an afternoon with like-minded folk, talking about the thing we love the most.....Fashion!!!


The afternoon will take the form of a "fair" with stalls from your favourite plus size brands and independent retailers, the event will also feature a catwalk show modelled by you! (Well, maybe not you! but members of the blogging and plus size community) they'll also be a prize giveaway which you will be automatically entered into when you purchase your ticket, and much, much more to be announced over the course of the next few months....

The event is a great opportunity to meet with brands, bloggers and friends, in the beautiful surroundings of Aspire Leeds, we're excited to be hosting and we look forward to meeting with old friends and new!!

Toni & Becky
xxx

All aboard the bird print wagon ...

I've never been a girly girl or interested in overly  feminine prints and would never of tried a dress like this before, but having read so many wonderful blogs about prints like this ('the' New Look dress for example) I couldn't resist trying on this dress from Evans. I whole heartedly entered the changing rooms thinking 'I'm going to try this dress on, take pictures of how awful it looks on me and blog about how I KNEW it wouldn't suit me'. *hangs head in shame* I BLOODY LOVE IT.

I think it's a little overpriced but because the dress sits so well and feels so flattering I couldn't resist it. And I think Evans probably know that too. How I wish they would drop their prices to match the likes of other high street retailers and also bring in more 'designed by' ranges like Beth's.

Anyway, for all of the faults I cannot help but adore this dress and have already worn it to death:

This outfit looks really cute with a colourful spring scarf and a denim jacket. The necklace is just junk shop finest ...

Now all I need is some daffodils in my hair and a spring lamb under my arm. Hoorahh for spring!!!

Sozage Love xxx

Black at Heart

It's no good. There's nothing I can do about it. I just LOVE wearing black. I do stray into the world of colour from time to time but there is nothing better, for me, than a great simple black number that can then be dressed up with accessories/hair/make up etc. I work in the arts and so black clothing is an easy win at work too.

I picked up this little number from the H&M+ plus size range. I think it was £15 - BARGAIN!!

I like the simplicity of this dress and the external zip detail at the neckline on the back of the dress. I think I could of sized down easily as the dress does come up a little baggy. I might get one in the size below so that I have the options available. H&M items get snapped up so quickly. The necklace was a gift from my lovely friend Rebecca and the nails are mac (Festive Finery). I'm SO impressed by mac nail polish. I applied two coats and it lasts and lasts. Slight scuffing at the top of the nail due to housework etc but by far the longest lasting polish I've found in many a moon. It comes off really easily too. Win!

Loving shopping and enjoying my shape. Words I never thought I would ever string together  ...

Big Love x

Lazy shapes ...

HELLO WORLD!!

I've been very bad on the ol' blogging front. The wedding preperations, on top of a busy job, are consuming every spare waking hour. I've been snapping things along the way, just never getting around to actually putting finger to keyboard. So here we go, the first of 3 new posts.

I'm still a baby blogger, but the effects of appreciating my appearance through blogging and connecting with other people on the same wave length has already affected the way that I shop. Friends and family have commented on the way that my confidence has grown. I'm trying new things and enjoying the journey ...

I've always liked the crazy legging trend and was gutted that I missed out on the Anna Scholz leggings of last season. The below purchases helped to ease the grief somewhat ...

Leggings & long hoody - Yours

Boots - Evans (I have to have my shoes amended as I have a wonky leg so these boots feature in most entries - there's a whole other blog post worth of chat about that style issue!)

Necklace - the amazing Kate Moross

Nails - OPI (I'll check the shade)

This is a great lounging outfit and makes me feel quite, dare I say it, 'trendy'. In a kewl kids kind of way, not in a 'mom, stop borrowing my clothes' kinda way.

That's all from me for now. More on the way!!!

Sozage Love xx

On the rails ...

A very quick one! We had an aweosme day trip to the Seven Valley Railway yesterday and this is what I wore:

All older items so not in stock: Denim jacket H&M and everything else from evans except for the scarf

I'd of never like a full length picture of me being posted anywhere before but for some reason this silly little blog has made me appreciate more what I am wearing and today I really felt good. I think you can tell:

A good day. I think I looked comfortable and happy - all I could ever wish for! And what better setting to write up a wee Sunday blog post (glass of wine joined me after this picture was taken!):

Happy Sozage love x

Who'd want to be a plus size bride? Me ... (part 3)

And this is how they looked on me – I actually cannot believe I am showing you these!

This dress is lacking a cummerbund which I think would make the dress more flattering. Both dresses are sleeveless and so I have worn a simple old Tesco cardigan. The neck is a little gapey but could be easily tweaked. The biggest let down with this dress is the fabric. Really very synthetic and not very pleasureable to wear. I added the belt from a bag full of old belts!

The polka dot dress is far better and just needs alterations. The whole neckline area doesn’t sit well on me so I need to get rid of that and make a tighter fit around the bust. Not a wedding dress but a potential nice frock for some other time. There is a cute bow the left of the waist that you can't quite make out here and the farbic is a lovely rich cotton.

So this left me again with no solution to my plus size wedding day frock horror.

Various people had told me to look into having a bespoke gown made. For some reason I was always against this option. I just don’t like the idea of having to spend all of that money and not knowing EXACTLY what it is going to look like until it’s too late to do anything about it. I know that the whole point is that it fits you exactly and is made to your preferences but still, I’m a fussy bugger and what if I change my mind at the last minute?! But I didn’t really have any other options. So off I nervously went to a local dressmaker/pattern designer.

When we arrived the small shop was filled with full-on white meringues. I was not hopeful. But, when I showed them my ‘mood boards’ and talked through what it is I had in mind they weren’t phased at all! We all sat on the floor and went through fabric samples, sketches and so on until we came up with pretty much the dress I have been thinking of. It’s all sketched up and ready to go. The fabric is ordered and I have my first measurements being taken on 7 April.

I’m still nervous, but as long as I stay true to what I want & what I feel comfortable in I think it will all be OK.

To keep my mother happy and to reassure myself that I really didn’t want a classic white gown I did try on something they had in stock:

It isn’t as terrible as I thought it would be but it isn’t me. I felt restricted and frumpy. I did quite like the veil though. I can rock a veil!

Next on my panic list is headwear, underwear and shoes.

I’ll keep you posted.

Big Bridezilla Lovin,

Sozage x

Who'd want to be a plus size bride? Me ... (Part 2)

Sorry this has taken me so long to get back to. Not a very good start to my foray into the world of blogging but I’ve not been too well.

Ok, so the last part of this story was left just after the awful boutique experience and in search of other alternative plus size bridal options.

I was at the end of my tether. Frustrated and annoyed by how limited I was because of my dress size. I was angry with myself for not having put more effort into losing weight because I knew this process would be easier if I were smaller. And feeling that way just made me feel worse! I don’t want to dislike my figure, I know I can look good in the right clothes and more places should offer interesting, sexy, alternative options for curvier girls. They should do this for all kinds of occasions, not just day-to-day work/social attire. I was even looking at just buying the type of clothes I wear now, but better made and more exclusive versions so that at least I would like nice and feel ‘a bit special’. But damn it, I don’t want to feel ‘a bit special’ I want to feel ‘ON TOP OF THE BLOODY WORLD’.

Nice outfits that I considered to be wedding outfit potential:

http://www.annascholz.com/sale-2/ponte-jersey-frill-60s-coat.html

http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/shop/autumnwinter-2011-sale/sale-womenswear-aw-11-12/pillow-box-dress-11804/

It was at about this point of complete and utter panic that I turned to Twitter/Google and searched for people who were curvy but love it! And who dress well and know far more about what is available out there. I tweeted the very lovely Emma of http://boombands.blogspot.com/ or @boombands on Twitter. Emma put a shout out on Twitter about plus size bridal wear and created an amazing blog entry with all of feedback – check it out: http://boombands.blogspot.com/2012/01/plus-size-wedding-dresses-options-for.html

I think if I was looking for a classic wedding gown then I’d of found the answer in that blog post. So many options and some really lovely dresses – not tooooo pricey either. But I’m not. I’m far more in that 1950’s vein, and not white. I never, ever wear white so why would I on my wedding day?! I was actually leaning more towards black! Not pining for my teenage gothier years but more because black does look good on me and I throw in colour in other ways. I prefer an amazing, well cut simple black contemporary dress that I can work with crazy bright accessories.

I panic bought two dresses from Ebay http://stores.ebay.co.uk/marniescurvygirlsclothes

This is how they looked online (I know – it’s a joke using an image of a teeny weeny lady in a dress that I’m buying in a size 24!):

 

To be continued ….

Who’d want to be a plus size bride? Me … (part 1)

Very nearly two years ago I became engaged to a truly lovely chappy. The big day has been set for May 2012.

All of my life I have dreamt about my wedding day. I love a good party and viewed this at the ultimate opportunity for a bloody good shin dig (as well as celebrating our louurrrvvvee of course!). That’s partly the reason why I was so distraught at not being able to find gorgeous special dresses in my size and in the style that I wanted. I knew I wanted something vintage inspired – and not white. Various recommendations were given to me including a few boutiques in London and one in my nearest city, Birmingham. 

In Summer 2011 my sister and I visited the Birmingham boutique – whose website and reputation is very pro-plus-size. (I won’t name and shame here)(not this time anyway). When we arrived at the boutique the entire place stank of the food the designer had been eating. She made us feel quite unworthy of being there. I was told that I had to wear a corset to achieve a good shape for any dress and I was promptly forced into one. One thing I did learn from this experience is that corsets are not for me – they give me a smaller waist for sure, but they simply move any bulge from that area up and down so that my body shape was utterly contorted and I couldn’t move. Then, with bulging shoulders and something god-awful going on at the bottom of the corset, she tried to squeeze me into a too-small fishtail number. How I didn’t cry I do not know (I’m such a cry baby …).

We left.  They had said ‘get in touch to book in for measurements’. We didn’t.

I think in retrospect it was this experience – being made to feel like my size was something that needed to be concealed or improved upon (in a smelly, rude environment) – that stopped me in my dress hunting tracks. It wasn’t until this January (2012) that the sheer panic of the BIG DAY approaching at some speed forced me to start looking again.

Hours, days and weeks were spent trawling the internet looking for something 50s inspired that I could get in my size. The below dresses are the kind of thing I was after:

 To be continued .....

What a big old empty space ...

OK. So I don’t know exactly what I’m going to fill this up with. The blogging seed was planted a few weeks ago when I desperately needed some chub fashion advice (re: weddings). Having had no luck on the high street (yes, there were tears) and getting bewildered by online suppliers (I really don’t like mail order – I need to know how it will fit) I turned to Twitter for advice and came upon the likes of Emma aka Boombands http://boombands.blogspot.com/ , Claire of http://amonkeyfatshionista.wordpress.com/  and http://theramblingsofmrsbebe.blogspot.com/. It’s like someone has turned the lights on.

To any well established blogging addicts it will sound so naïve and foolish, but it really never did cross my mind that chub fashion would be something that people were blogging about. The biggest revelation to me is that these blogs have not a hint of negativity regarding the options available or poor body image – they simply rave about what is out there, trying new styles, being comfortable and confident with *ahem* ‘what your momma gave you’!

These ladies are sexy, stylish, vibrant, confident, inspiring, kind, helpful, witty, enthusiastic, beautiful and curvy. This weight has lifted from my shoulders and is something that I should work to my advantage. 

I doubt that there will be hoards of followers for this blog. I see it as somewhere I can collect my thoughts and observations, share in the odd killer outfit and other bits and bobs. I’d love to compile a list of all of the places where curvier girls can find new threads whether that be on the high street or via mail order, in the UK or further a field. 

Please excuse any grammatical flaws (I typed ‘floors’ initially – oi oi oi my brain) - not by strong point!

I’ll post again soon, and I’ll start taking pictures of what I wear. I’m so used to only taking pictures of my head and shoulders, from a high and forgiving angle, that this may take some getting used to.

Finally, for now, a big THANK YOU to all the Twitter folks who I’ve been following lately and all of the amazing blogs that I’m still trying to latch on to. Please feel free to recommend more people to me.

Sozage x

Here are two pictures of me from recent times to get the ball rolling: