Black Friday Plus Size Fashion Highlights

Love it or hate it, Black Friday has taken the UK by storm. Over the past few years, it's been adopted by us non-Americans as a giant countrywide flash sale for anyone mad enough to queue in the cold at midnight.

I have to say I'm far too sensible/lazy/broke to be partaking in such shenanigans so instead I sit indoors, watching the madness from my laptop, whilst checking out what Black Friday bargains are to be had in the online plus size fashion world. It'd be rude not to share the wealth, wouldn't it? So here are my tips for Black Friday shopping this afternoon.

Actual tip: Avoid Currys and Tesco unless you are invincible, invisible, superfast and completely bonkers.

So where can we find good deals in size fat? Search no more! Here is a list of bargains I have sniffed out just for you:

Yours Clothing are offering 25% off everything in store and online for a limited time only. Which makes me rather pleased that I held off on buying anything earlier in the week!

Lady Vintage are offering up to a whopping 60% (whaaaaaat!) off their clothing today. This one had me so excited that I stayed up til midnight to bag a bargain.

ASOS have 20% off everything with code CYBERWKND20

Pink Clove are offering 20% off all new arrivals including some pieces perfect for the Christmas party!

Boohoo have up to 30% off and are also offering free delivery with code FREEDEL

Missguided have 20% off everything with code CYBER20

Topsy Curvy have 15% off with code BLACKFRIDAY14

Taking Shape are offering 25% off sitewide

Simply Be have up to 50% off selected lines here

Evans have a selection of Black Friday offers here and use code BLKFRIDAY for free nominated delivery

Lindy Bop have 15% off selected items

Collectif have 20% off everything with code BF20

Modcloth, oh Modcloth. They've got 50% off hundreds of new items in their Beyond Black Friday offer.


Hurry! Some of these end TONIGHT. I may have a little splurge (I may have already started), so keep em peeled to see what I've bought over the coming weeks.

Enjoy!

Early Christmas Discount From Yours Clothing!

Sorry folks, talking about "that time of year" is 100% unavoidable now. X Factor and the Coca Cola advert. John Lewis and their pengiun. Cadbury and their (lack of) chocolate coins. Everyone's talking about it and with less than 6 weeks to go until Christmas, you may want to think about sorting out your outfit for the day and (if you're anything like me) maybe another outfit for Boxing Day too. Not to mention the stretchy pants for when you're as stuffed as the turkey.

To help you along, the lovelies at Yours Clothing are offering a festive £5 discount on all full-priced purchases throughout today and tomorrow both online and in store with the use of the voucher below. Enjoy!

I've taken a look at the party dresses on the Yours website and picked a few of my favourites that are currently eligible for the discount. I've been sensible and chosen mostly darker colours. Let's face it, nobody wants to witness the horror of a gravy covered sprout rolling down a baby pink dress!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Head over to Yours Clothing now to get kitted out for Christmas!

Tess Munster & Yours Clothing: A Perfect Pairing

Exciting news guys! Today it was announced that Tess Munster is going to be working with Yours Clothing for some up and coming campaigns. This is amazing for all involved and something of a breakthrough for a UK plus size high street store.

Most models hired for plus size campaigns on the high street are a size 14 or 16, which I believe is the UK average. To me it makes little sense to hire an average sized model to showcase plus size clothing. It's far more realistic to have someone larger than the national average to show us what plus size clothes may look like on a plus size target market. Why this isn't done more often is beyond me so hats off to Yours Clothing for taking this step. Let's hope more brands follow suit.

This pairing of Yours and Tess is a little more significant than just the coming together of a brand and a model for me and quite possibly many others.

As recently as 14 months ago I was a completely different Cupcake. I had no confidence and  no self esteem. I had a very negative body image and couldn't handle even the slightest suggestion that I put on a dress. And then someone shared a post on Facebook.

It was the first time I had ever heard of or seen Tess Munster and I instantly admired her attitude, her confidence and the way she was completely unashamed to stand up to everyone and say "This is me. I am beautiful. If you don't like it... That's not my problem,"

I decided I had to feel like that.
I had to turn my life around and try new things. To not feel ashamed of who I am and to accept and learn to love what I then perceived to be flaws. That weekend I went shopping in Yours Clothing and bought my first two dresses since I don't know when (my wedding dress absolutely does not count) and almost instantly became a happier, more confident version of myself.

So thank you Tess. Thank you Yours.
You got me out of a rut.

I can't wait to see the results of this campaign.


**To celebrate the announcement, Yours  Clothing are offering a 20% discount to new customers with the promotional code "TESS"

Perfect Prints With Silly Old Sea Dog

That's it folks, I'm moving on to pastures new. Foral prints are done for!

Okay, that's obviously not entirely true. But while I love my big daisies and sparkly rose prints, recently my attention has been directed towards bigger, bolder and dare I say more exciting prints?

After a short love affair with Modcloth (which might have been a lifelong relationship if it weren't for postage costs and customs fees), during which I received three dresses with gorgeous prints and not a flower in sight, my eyes have wandered to find more of these petal-free pretties. I wasn't quite sure how I might trump a woodland print, scottie dogs and a tropical fruitgasm but I think I've done it.

You may have already heard of Silly Old Sea Dog, a wonderful company producing 50s style clothing in not-so-50s style prints, possibly due to their fantastically popular Cartoon Dress (available up to a size UK28) which is so high on my Wishlist Of Awesome Things right now. I have to get me one of these.

I've been an admirer of Silly Old Sea Dog for a while now, so I was rather excited when they contacted me showcasing some new and upcoming products. The first dress to catch my eye was this awesome quirky fox print. How cool is this little guy with his hats and neckties!

This foxy dress will be available up to a size 20 which, while great news for some, is unfortunate for a lot of us fat babes who are far too flabulous to squeeze into such sizes. My chest would be bustin seams all over the place!

Not one to be deterred however, I kept a keen eye on the Silly Old Sea Dog new arrivals and found the gorge turquoise Forest Friends dress which is available now up to a size UK28.

What a beaut! I absolutely adore the colour of this dress and it makes such a refreshing change from the butterflies or owls that seem to have overpopulated plus size fashion of late. There are wolves and eagles and bears, oh my! A fantastic take on a wildlife theme.

And now they're producing a Christmas collection which I cannot wait to see, so keep an eye out for that!

Have you bought anything from Silly Old Sea Dog? What's your favourite print?

All You Need Is Lush; Part Deux (Pic Heavy)

Back in September Lush in Bluewater closed for a refit and earlier this month I was invited back to their relaunch party to take a look at the new layout and some fantastic seasonal products.

It's a very impressive store with a fantastic Bar-style layout which allows for much more floor space.
Lush know how to treat their guests, with bubbly and cake, product demos, live music, and of course a first glance at this years Christmas range. Snow Fairy is back, ladies!

I'm in love with the Snowman Fun Kit. How cute is that lil guy!

Giftboxes Galore & Cutie Pie Penguins

I was really excited by a product called Northern Lights, which I'd not heard of before. It's a bath bomb/fizzer and reminds me of a colourful firework, spinning and swirling around, turning the water into a rainbow of gorgeous colours. I definitely need this in my life!

One of the main attractions of the night was the brand new make up bar. This is one of only a few in the UK and has such a gorgeous, bright and extensive range of eyeliners, lipsticks, eye shadows, foundation and brushes. We were also treated to the talents of a make up artist. She recommended a lipstick to me so I tried Passionate and fell in love. It's a gorgeous pink with blue undertones that make the lips shimmer. Of course I had to test to see how easily it washed off so I grabbed a glass of bubbly. For research purposes of course!
To say the Passionate Lipstick has staying power is an understatement. The next morning my lips still had a large amount of colour and would have only needed a thin layer of touchup colour. Definitely worth the £14.50 price tag. I'll be revisiting the Lush make up bar again for sure.

Towards the end of the evening, we were treated to an acoustic session by a couple of the gorgeous Lush girls, and given our giftbags containing a couple of Lush products and the mini Comforter bubble bars we made earlier that day. I was also given a mango and a melon on my way out. Lush use fruits and natural products in their range and the fruit (just like the aloe vera orange juice from my previous visit) served as a great reminder of that.

Thanks to Lush for your warm welcome and hospitality. It's cemented my love affair with the brand and I urge you all to pop into your local store next time you're passing and see what takes your fancy.

Wearing the fabulous Passionate lipstick from Lush

Style XL 2015

The keen eyed among you may have noticed a shiny new button on the sidebar of this very website. It's something that I am very excited about so I thought I'd tell you a little more about Style XL.

I was unfortunate enough to miss all the big plus size events this year so I vowed to make more of an effort for 2015. Enter Style XL, a plus size event showcasing all the upcoming trends from some of the best plus size retailers in the UK. There will be a chance to talk to your favourite brands, buy from market stalls, preview the latest trends on the catwalk and enjoy some fabulous entertainment over the two day event.

Next years event (organised by the awesome Leah) is being held in Birmingham over the weekend of 18th - 19th July.
Early bird tickets are available here and are £15 for the weekend, £7.50 for Saturday day, £7.50 for Saturday evening and just £5 for the Sunday day event. I am super excited to be attending next year and hopefully seeing some of you there!

Make sure to keep an eye on the Style XL website, Twitter and Facebook page for updates on brands, events and more.

Can't wait!

Scottie Saturday: An OOTD Attempt

I often feel like I'm letting myself down with my lack of outfit posts. I love seeing other people's outfit of the day and there are times when I'm rockin a new dress or my make up is top notch and I want to take a mirror selfie and proclaim to the world that I FEEL GOOOOOOD.

But every time I try, something like this happens.

Kudos to other mummy bloggers out there (human, fuzzy or otherwise). It's tricky business!

Kiddos and smeary mirror aside I had to show off this dress from Modcloth. It's adorable scottie dog print in black and grey, tartan and houndstooth is so cute it's hard to resist.

The waist is a bit big on me and floofs out making my hips look somewhat bulging (I think its the gathering at the seam) but I'll soldier on for the sake of the itty bitty scottie dogs.