Casual Sundays with BHS

It's funny how we all have items of clothes that we shy away from, we feel uncomfortable wearing or we simply have no idea of how to style them.

For years I have had a love hate relationship with jeans. I LOVE them on other people; but HATE them on me! I have struggled to find the perfect fit, the perfect wash and don't get me started on the perfect length. I am quite short at 5 '3 and even the 'regular' length swamps me.

When Fashionchick offered me the chance to collaborate with BHS - I knew I wanted to tackle the great denim debacle! I'm not sure if you all know this but BHS stock Evans and other brands such a Dorothy Perkins as well as their own ranges.

Faced with the challenge of finding an outfit for £50 I started off with a pair of *Evans Mid Wash Super Stretch Skinny Regular Length Jeans - now, honestly the fit is great and I love how tight they are but as per usual they are far too long for me. I don't mind the rolled up look but I'm hoping in the future that I'll be able to get some jeans that don't swamp my legs. This *2-in-1 jumper is my fave item in this whole outfit. It has the illusion of a denim shirt underneath but actually it's just a collar attached to the neck of the jumper! I can see me wearing this with jeans, denim skirts or even under a pair of dungarees.

I love the colour combination of tan and denim so my new Chunky Tan Sandals seemed like a perfect fit for this outfit, as did my beautiful new mini Suede Fringe Backpack and gold sunglasses. I've also been wearing these Gold Chain Earrings constantly - my love for gold jewellery will never fade!

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This post was written in collaboration with Fashionchick and BHS. *Denotes a gifted item for review. 

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Medusa Dress | Lady Voluptuous

I am very happy to say that my love for fashion has returned and I am back to being excited about outfit planning and have lots of fun things in store for the blog - keep your eyes peeled!

The great thing about fashion is the fact you can experiment and mix up your look on a regular basis and that is exactly what makes me tick. I love being a fashion chameleon! My darling pal, Miss Georgina Horne launched a range of Plus Size Vintage Dresses in collaboration with Lady Vintage, called Lady Voluptuous and I was lucky enough to be sent a dress of my choice. Being a fan of animal print and body con dresses; I chose the beautiful *Leopard Print Medusa Dress. (They have plenty of other prints, if leopard print ain't yo thangggg)

This dress is so sexy guys. I ordered my usual size (20) and although I was worried it might be a bit too tight (because it's cotton sateen which doesn't have much stretch) it is a great fit on me. The one thing I wish it did do was nip in a little more at the hem but I love the sweetheart neckline and how the dress shows off my figure.

If tight wiggle dresses aren't your style - I recommend you taking a look at the new Phoebe dresses...the prints are soon good! My fave is the Kingfisher print! Lady Voluptuous has such a good size range as well (16-32) which is such a positive thing because every plus size lady deserves to wear pretty dresses if they want to!

Winged eyeliner, a slick of red lippy, loose curls and some strappy sandals were the only things I needed to wear with this dress but to add a casual element I added my trusty faux-leather moto jacket (old Boohoo+). Underneath the dress I am wearing my very light control Maidenform Singlet which is my favourite shape wear piece because of the shorts and the fact it smooths me out but isn't too tight and it doesn't make me feel restricted. A special shout out to my 'Best Friend' necklace - I bought it for Callie and she has the other side :)

Photographs by Gemma Bellfield 

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Pink Paisley

If you follow my blog on a regular basis you'll know I've been struggling with inspiration recently and I've not been excited about fashion or putting outfits together. Coping with my Fibromyalgia is a constant battle and keeping my head above water during what I call a "flare up" is hard work. I'm eager to post lots of outfit posts but that's hard when you're at home in your pj's because you're in too much pain to face wearing 'real' clothes. I always try to stay positive though because I know if I just take it easy and focus on getting through the rough patch; I'll come out the other side. It's a daily struggle because my pain never, ever goes away but life goes on right? I can't just sit, mope around and wear pjs for the rest of my life. It's all a balancing act and I'm learning to pace myself.

A few weeks back the lovely ladies at Simply Be sent me a few bits to review and I chose this *Paisley Dress as I've been loving the 70s trend recently (as I'm sure you've noticed) and what better way to channel that era than wear paisley. It was a short dress to start with so bare that in mind if you are tall but sadly I think I must have washed it a bit too hot as it is now mega short! I can still wear it but I tend to wear it with thicker bottoms like leggings now.

When I put this dress on I knew instantly how I wanted to style it and that like a really positive step towards me getting my fashion mojo back! I found this murky pink jacket in H&M (main range) and I thought that attaching one of my faux fur collars (old boohoo) would work really well. I wore old maroon coloured tights from M&S and an old clutch bag that my Mum gave me years ago. My silver metallic shoes are fabulous don't you think? They are from Vagabond and I now basically live in these and my other white chunky boots! The two chunky rings I have on are from Topshop, the heart earrings are old ones from Jonny Loves Rosie at ASOS and I'm a bad blogger because I've forgotten where my long necklace is from...oops!

Photographs by David C Photography

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Spring Undies | Simply Be

During the winter months, I'm not sure if I'm the only one here but I tend to live in the same big 'granny' pants, thick black tights and I rotate a black and a nude bra - very unadventurous! I mean, there's nothing wrong in wearing what you're comfortable in but sometimes a change of season/ the weather can give you that extra umph to try something new.

During the spring and summer months I tend to wear a lot of dresses and strappy tops and this means there's more chance of people peeping my bra! I was having a think the other day and realised I needed to update my underwear draw as it's all looking rather frumpy at the moment!

Here are some of my fave sets available at the moment; these are all from Simply Be as I think they have a lovely variety at the moment and it's nice to know you can buy your dresses there as well as your lingerie. These sets come in a variety of sizes/ band widths so hopefully there is something for everyone here! Click on the item you like and it'll take you directly to the correct website! Happy shopping!

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A golden oldie

I recently blogged about my lack of inspiration for fashion and when I arranged to meet up with my friend Gemma (who takes outfit pictures for me) I went into panic mode. "What am I going to wearrrr?... Why does nothing look nice on me?... I hate all my clothes."

My room currently looks like a bomb site. No word of a lie; I pulled out every item of clothing I own from my wardrobe and started sifting through it all. I have a pile which I will be selling, a pile for the charity shop, a pile of clothes I totally forgot I owned and a pile of clothes that at some point should probably be re-folded and put back into the wardrobe... I am currently in denial and I am not sure how long these piles will be in my room; it could be weeks and I hate mess but I can also be very lazy about these sorts of things.

Well after all the sifting, I came across this mega old ASOS sunflower dress and an even older vintage denim jacket that I have had for years. I wore this outfit a lot last summer and the summer before and although I blogged this dress, I never blogged this outfit so I thought I'd give it an update with some chunky black platform boots, some sunglasses that look like they are straight out of the 90s (similar here) and my fave orange lipstick called 'Gay Geranium' by No7. I really like how these pictures have come out and it just goes to show that re-inventing old looks can be just as exciting and inspiring as wearing new outfits every week.

Photographs by Gemma Bellfield 

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New bits and bobs

In a previous post I talked about my love of fun accessories and I have recently treated myself to some new things. You know when you spot things online and you aren't sure when you'll actually wear them, but you know that you NEED to own them; well this is the case with two of my new purchases!

These beautiful Pom Pom Earrings are so extravagant aren't they!? They are a bit OTT and I know that when I wear them it'll either be for a mega glam event or to add a quirky touch to a fun, frivolous outfit. They come in black and pink; the pink are equally as cute, must...not...buy...them.

Next up is this rather ridiculous Banana Clutch Bag. You all know I have a thing for novelty bags and this bright yellow beauty is going to add a fun touch to my summertime outfits. I am going away on holiday in July and I will definitely be packing it.

Finally I thought I'd show you my current nail varnish obsession - this shade is called 'Paprika' by Barry M. It is no secret that I love Barry M varnishes and this particular colour is so different. I love the burnt orange/tobacco colour and it goes so well with the types of things I am currently wearing. It goes so well with denim, blues and all of the 70s style outfits that are popular at the moment. Give it a try - so many people stop and ask me which varnish it is!

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- 8 Wide Fit Shoes You Need -

The great thing about the increasing number of plus size shops is that this means there is an increasing amount of wide fit shoes available. Previously people who had wide feet only had a very limited amount of styles available to them and they were far from stylish!

Nowadays with the likes of New Look and ASOS there are an abundance of cute heels and flats available and I have put together 8 styles I think every fashionista should have in their collection. If you like a particular shoe, click on it and it'll take you directly to the correct website.

 Happy Feet.

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Stuck in a rut

Sometimes in the world of blogging you hit a bit of a brick wall. Fashion is something that is very important to me and expressing myself through the clothes I wear is something that excites me. I normally love nothing more than outfit planning, scouring the internet or the shops for my latest purchase or raiding my wardrobe and piecing outfits together. This is all very well and good when you feel inspired but what happens when your fashion boner droops as it were!

I'm a fashion blogger, I'm meant to constantly churn out outfit after outfit and it's my 'job' to help inspire others and to help build body confidence by showing you guys that no matter your size or shape; there are fabulous clothes out there dying to be worn.

Now, even though I have a wardrobe/three and cupboards over flowing with clothes and accessories; I've lost my mojo a little recently. I keep going to my wardrobe and suddenly my ability to put garments together has disappeared and I keep wearing the same dresses, rotating them one after the other. Where has my outfit mojo gone?!

One piece of advice I always give to people is that when they have a drop in self confidence or they need reminding of how good they looked previously or they are feeling uninspired by fashion; they should turn to old photos/ their Instagram or their Facebook and have a scroll through their feeds. If you're anything like me, you will have a few heaps of selfies stashed away or ootd pics and to remind myself that I can actually dress myself; I decided to have a look back at the outfits I have worn so far this year.

This was actually quite a therapeutic post to do and has shown me that I love to experiment and that I am sure my mojo will come back soon enough... fingers crossed ey, I'm getting a little bored of wearing the same dress, styled the same way.

Anybody else get stuck in a fashion rut sometimes? How do you get yourself out of it?

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