Evans - From The Changing Room

Last week I visited Bluewater with my mum and we spent a crazy long time in Evans.

The staff were absolutely tremendous, picking up on cues of what we like to wear and filling our changing room with goodies until the clothes pegs we're fit to burst with an array of styles and colours.

I wanted to push myself a little outside my comfort zone on this trip, not just going for my usual skater style dress with leggings so I bit the bullet and grabbed the Scarlett & Jo trousers and a tshirt. Its the first time I've worn trousers in about a year and a half so it felt pretty good! Unfortunately the proper photo of this ensemble is too blurry to share so instead here's a rather attractive outtake!

Sticking to the Scarlett & Jo theme (because I'm ever so in love with the current line), I next tried on this mesh insert dress. I've always been a huge fan of the 2-in-1 style dresses with the thick elastic waist defining bands so this one was a definite win for me! The mesh providing a bit of modesty and the jersey top giving enough stretch to accommodate any chest size. Perfect!

The above dress came home with me instead of the following one for two reasons. The first being because I somehow managed to get makeup on it (oops) and the second being the sizing.
I am 100% blown away by how gorgeous this rose print prom dress is. From the length to the sleeves and the sweetheart neckline. There is nothing about this dress that I don't like. As I said, my only issue was the sizing. I tried my usual size but it was a strangely tight (there was some misplaced stitching which could explain away some but not all of the squeeze) and the size up (pictured below) was a little too loose around the waist for my liking.

I won't lie to you, I have been pondering over a lifestyle change following some health issues and I'm tempted to buy the smaller size as it's currently in the sale at only £35 and it's Just. So. Gorgeous! We'll see.

Back to the very first outfit, the #stylehasnosize tshirt is only £16 and ALL profits go to the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity. What's not to love about that?!

From The Changing Room - Scarlett & Jo

Yesterday I returned to my former people-watching haunt, Bluewater shopping centre. Over the past year they've improved their Evans store and relocated it to right in front of the food court which pleases this fatty greatly.

Although the new store is bigger than it's predecessor, it's still not exactly huge but it does have a rail for Scarlett & Jo stock. To my joy I found two of the latest S&J offerings from their recent blogger campaign.

First up was this fan print 40s inspired dress designed for Hollie at Pretty Big Butterflies.

Normally I don't like this kind of fabric. It clings to my lumps, shows off my bumps and gives me a VBO that I am not entirely comfortable with. But this dress lays to rest those issues. The cut is wonderful; I love the wrap top with the tie-up neckline (although as with all wrap front dresses I appear to have my bra on show, whoops!) and it hangs in such a fabulous way that it skims over my belly with relative ease.

I should point out that I was wearing fat pants that even Bridget Jones herself might be horrified by. That would be fairly standard for me in a dress like this though.

The second of the new blogger inspired dresses was this gorgeous 2-in-1 lace prom dress.

This is the first time I've tried on one of Scarlett & Jo's infamous prom dresses, for no other reason than they're generally a little over my Stay At Home Mum budget. But oh my goodness I need to get me one of these!

It's beautiful, it's flowy, it's fully lined and it feels amazing. It feels glamorous and comfortable all at the same time and LOOK!

A WAIST! The elasticated band is a thing of miracles. I'm blessed with an hourglass-ish (ish!) figure anyway but the way the waist is defined by this dress is glorious.

And the lace! Oh the lace just gives the entire dress that extra oomph. I adore the black overlay on the vibrant blue dress and it's perfect for those who might want to cover their arms a little without wanting to take away from the outfit with a shrug or a cardi. I'm in love.

So far the new Scarlett & Jo collection is far exceeding my expectations and I simply cannot wait to try more. Big cheers for all at Scarlett & Jo and even bigger cheers for the bloggers who took part. Hurrah!

Skater Girl: Dress Wishlist

I'm still not entirely brave enough to venture away from skater dresses just yet. I've found a style that I like and that likes me back. Because of my ample boobage and high natural waist, this style of dress suits my shape perfectly. It nips in at the right place and skims my hips nicely. Love em!

These are my current top three skater dresses on my wishlist... I just need a few paydays to hurry up:

1. Yours Clothing Wine And Black Sleeveless Flock Skater Dress With Patent Belt £35

 I absolutely adore this dress. Burgundy feels a bit like my safe colour now that I'm trying to avoid too much black but I feel so comfortable in it. This dress has a lovely stretch to it (yay elastane!) and is true to size. I am usually a 22 and tried sizing down to a 20 but it hugged a little bit too much above the waistline. I really love the large print, it's not something I would've gone for before but I keep going back to this dress. It will be my Christmas dress, somehow.


2. Evans Black Lace Skater Dress £45

This is a beautiful lace skater dress from Evans. It's very lightweight and I think it'd look lovely either dressed up with gold jewellery and heels or a bit more casual with a biker jacket and ankle boots. This was my original Christmas choice but it got bumped down to 2nd simply because a) it's more expensive than the dress from Yours and b) I caught my ring while trying it on and I would worry about snagging the lace maybe a bit too much. It felt so natural and comfortable to wear though, especially as it has the added bonus of covering the upper arms so it's still in my wishlist top 3!
Also worth noting I had to size down to a 20 for the best fit.

3. Topsy Curvy Navy Velvet Heart Printed Skater Dress £30

I've never tried on anything from Topsy Curvy so I can't comment on the sizing or feel of this dress but I do know it's gorgeous! It only went up on the website this week but it's got my attention already. It's 95% polyester 5% elastane, which is the same as the Yours dress so I expect it'll fit in a similar way- hugging all the right places and skimming over the rest. 

So. That is my current Wishlist Top 3.
Just for fun, here is a changing room photo of me in the Top 2 dresses.

Is anyone else as hooked on skater dresses as I am?

Lazy Sunday

I went for a safe bet with todays outfit. A sunday lunch with family followed by sitting on the floor entertaining children meant I had to think sensible. 

I love the drop pocket longline hoodies from Yours Clothing. I actually bought a second one in black and purple stripe. They're soft, so comfortable and have a good amount of stretch. They don't hug under my boobs as much as I'd like but adding a belt would solve that issue.

I paired the top with a pair of Evans high waisted jeans I've had for a while. They're a touch on the loose side for me but that prevents them cutting in when I bend over which was practical for today.

I very nearly reached for my usual Converse on the way out this afternoon but wore a pair of New Look ankle boots instead. I adore New Look boots. They fit me perfectly. Snug but not uncomfortable and need no breaking in. 

So although I played it safe today I felt good. I added a pop of colour with red accessories and found another style of top that suits me. Things are looking up!