Yours Clothing, Bluewater

Have you ever had one of those experiences that leaves you beaming with confidence and feeling better than ever?

When visiting the new Yours Clothing store at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent last month, that's exactly what happened to me.

Yours has such a wide range that this shop is bursting at the seams with a variety of basic and on-trend styles, colours and patterns. The sheer amount of clothing can be a little hard to navigate when you first walk in. I didn't quite know where to start, but once I found my rhythm there was no stopping me as I scurried from rack to rack picking up all manner of things to try on.

The gorgeous Abi (staff member and fantastic blogger over at aisforabi) treated me to the Worlds Biggest Changing Room. Plenty of room for groups, wheelchair users, mums with buggies or a cat swinging convention. Or, as was the case for me, enough space to go crazy trying on too many clothes.

But the size of the changing room isn't what impressed me the most. The greatest thing about my trip to Yours Clothing that day was the people. I've already mentioned the fabulous Abi (expect a blogger meet up in the future, I need to hang out with that girl!) but the experience doesn't even stop with staff. No, it was everyone. The staff made customers happy and in turn the happiness bounced off every single shopper in the changing room.

I felt so good I even put on a maxi dress!
Sadly it didnt fit my 5ft 3in, big boobied frame.

I've never experienced such community in a fitting room before. Everybody was chatting, comparing sizes, giving opinions and tips and swapping clothes. I tried on things I wouldn't normally dare to because I felt secure in knowing that there would be no fat-shaming or body snarking. Everybody was just themselves. (Or a happier version thereof.) I was stripped to my bra and leggings and comfortable enough to let the other women in the adjacent rooms wander in and see how I was getting on. With the exception of my husband and children, it's the most naked I've been in front of anyone for years!

I don't know what happened to this picture- it's so fuzzy-
but I neeeed this blazer.

Thanks to the amazing people at Yours Clothing,  Bluewater, I tried some new things, met some great people and had the best shopping experience possibly ever. Excellent! Bring on the new Ashford and Maidstone stores!

You've Got My Back

When the lovely Leah over at Just Me, Leah asked if anyone would brave the subject of this blog post, I instantly put my name down. Almost everyone has this little extra padding yet it is never talked about in a positive or even neutral light. I'm talking about the dreaded back fat.

We all have issues with parts of ourselves. Some of these problem areas are so seldom discussed that we suffer in silence thinking that we're the odd ones out with back fat, cellulite, an overhanging tummy. But we are not alone. These things are normal. WE are normal.

So everyone, please say hello to my completely normal back.

It has fat. Rolls. In some unflattering bras, I'd go so far as to say it looks like a second set of slightly too high up jiggly buttocks. But it's mine and it's here for the foreseeable future.
Do I love it? No. Do I even like it? Not really. But I accept that it is part of me. I am learning to accept myself for who I am and looking at my back, learning about a part of me that I never actually see, is quite liberating. A revelation of sorts. In fact, even now as I look at the photos, I hate them less and less. I'm sat here thinking y'know what? Shar Pei puppies are cute and they have rolls. Maybe I can look at my back rolls like a shar pei. Huggable, squeezable... maybe one day I could learn to love the folds of my back. Maybe.

That's not to say that I enjoy showing off this back fat or that I will be buying backless dresses any time soon. In fact, the reason I jumped at the chance to write about my back folds is because I tried on a dress a few days before I volunteered to do this post. The dress looked lovely from the front. It made my boobs look fab and my waist nipped in nicely. But then I turned around and looked in the mirror over my shoulder. Oh, hello, unexpected bulges!

I bought the next size up in the dress, making the waist slightly less nipped in and my boobs a little less fabulous, just to attempt to cover up something that is just a part of me. But now, looking at the pictures, I regret that decision. Why did I try hiding something which isn't all that offensive in the grand scheme of things? And that's the thing. It's NOT offensive. I'm not offensive. I'm completely normal.

So here's to having back fat, being normal and still feeling fabulous.


A massive massive THANK YOU to Leah for encouraging me to look at a part of myself in more detail than I would normally find comfortable. It's been a real eye opener and it feels fantastic!

*Please visit Leah's original post where she gives two perspectives on back fat and body positivity.