Some of my favourite things...

Weirdly I have worn dresses TWICE this week. First was a maxi dress but the second was one I have had for ages and ages and hardly ever wore as it's knee length. Thanks to Primark's 3 pound leggings (size 20 fit my size 24-26 ass fine) I wore my dress to work with a wrap shrug thing that I have also had since I lived in New Zealand (both were Trademe buys - the NZ version of ebay).

Realised during the day that the dress sits a little lower than I remembered and there was a fair bit of boobyage going on.... apologies for demented expression!

After deciding I NEEDED a pair of loafers in the baddest sense possible I went and tried some on in Evans, but they were too big and wide. And then went to Dorothy Perkins and their size 8's were too small. New Look has a good selection and while I almost walked out the door with some yesterday I just wasn't that in love with them. Then I remembered that I had liked Cath Kidson trainers and maybe they would play the small role in my wardrobe - to be worn with linen trousers, jeans and beige cut off pants.

Then I went to Sainsbury's today and found these little beauties

8 pounds and 50 pence worth of cute shoe perfection!

Actually now want to wear the beige linen trousers that I usually can't think of anything to wear with. Thinking white top to complete the look. Will have to wear them to the village picnic at the Big House this weekend (how feudal is that???).

Now begins the long non-shopping July. Yicks.

Random work day

What is the weather doing at the moment? I try and not wear black in summer but hard to avoid when it varies between rain and hail one moment and grey middling temperatures the next. Today however it decided to be hot and humid, and then rainy and colder. So my outfit consisted of a cardi, a light blouse and cropped black trousers. And black ballet flats because there is nothing worse than soggy sandals.

Cardigan and Cropped pants - New Look. Blouse from Asos Curve, pearls from Monsoon on sale!!! 

Hair is on its way out as am getting it all cut off tommorrow! 

Apologies for crap photos but had a spare minute before I had a meeting..not the best time or place for a photo shoot!!!

A fat girl's guide to shoes...

Now the cliche that if you are having a fat day (or in my case a fat life) then shoes are the easy buy, the one purchase that isn't going lead to tears and recriminations at the end of the shopping trip.

Lots of fat clothing stores sell wide fit shoes. But is it that easy to find shoes that suit and fit the fat girl? And more importantly can we walk in them?

I see lots of lovely curvy lasses wearing heels, especially in blogs. And my first thought is they look nice, promptly followed by can they walk more than 10 metres in them without pain? Maybe I'm weird but I prefer to wear shoes that aren't like water boarding for my tootsies.

My biggest issue is that I get burning on the balls of my feet if I wear heels. It must be the weight impacting on one small area causing friction burns, but even inserts don't seem to help. Plus I always have a fear I look like a hippo in stilettos. Big legs, tiny feet.

As for wide shoes, does being fat mean having wide feet? The only time I struggle is to get sandals with straps across the front of the toes. The width from my little toe to my big toe just seems too wide, but all other wide shoes are like boats on me. Sigh :(

So I spend my time in trainers (see previous post re Asics), jandals, ballet flats and nice flat sandals for work. Although my new (well new to me as I got them from Oxfam brand new) wedge sandals could be a new turn for me. Photos one day soon!

Anyone else have any shoe misery stories to share or am I the only flat shoe wearing fatty out there!!!?!

Life and Fashion: why I just don't have time for stilettos

I am an avid fan of fashion shopping in my lunch hour and online fashion porn (ASOS and all those other delish online shopping sites) but the cold hard reality is that I have a life where high heels, going-out-for-cocktails dresses and beautiful sequined blazers just aren't going to get used that often!

To explain my fashion choices I need to explain my life I suppose. I work at a university. This should tell you something about the sort of clothes that I need to wear to work. It's not a high fashion environment. The only people who wear suits are the corporate manager men and the HR women. I'm neither so get away with nice jeans and top if no meetings and trousers and nice top if I do have to venture away from the safety of my computer.

Thing is though I only work 2 1/2 days a week and the rest of the time is divided between being a Yummy Mummy (or my personal take on the YM thing which is Mummy with a big Tummy cause I ate everything that was Yummy) and a dog walker. With a bit of occasional lunch or dinner out with the husband, DIY and gardening thrown in for extra fashion opportunities.

YM time is all coffees and playing on swings so is mostly jeans, nice knit wear and shirts. Ballet flats or converse like trainers. I just feel in love with some Cath Kidson trainers. That should tell you something. I live in a village and go shopping in a small market town which is all barbour, Hunter and boden territory. Or in my case last season's Monsoon, Gap and Evans jeans.

See why the stilettos don't get much of an outing?

I do try and dress a little bit on trend I must admit and my favourite items to spend serious money on are jewelry, bags and shoes. Clothes wise I don't really do ruffles or girly things or indeed dresses (I have been told my legs are better in trousers - e.g. massive). Colour I like in bits but in the main I tend to like white, black, beige with colour thrown in.

A limited budget also plays a part but let's face it - being a size 26 I'm never going to be tempted to fling all my salary on a couture dress as I CAN'T FIT INTO THEM. I have drooled over Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags but some how I'm conflicted. Firstly won't they look a bit over the top with my New Look trousers and H&M t-shirt? And secondly in the case of Chanel et al why should I give a company my money when they don't even bother to make clothes that fit me? Ok, so I'm poor anyway but it would be nice to dream! Perhaps one day when I finally stop paying for child care and have some extra cash I should buy two of their dresses and sew them together. Or maybe three. I'll have to check their sizings.

Here endth the rant. And here are some of the Labels I Do Love:

Havaianas. Wear them and your feet will love you all summer. Currently rocking the fit ones that have straps at the back so I don't trip over them while chasing the toddler.

Asics. Do brilliant trainers for walking/running in. Would never buy anything else.


Take Care x


Coming soon: posts on being fat fashion and exercise (probably titled why am I the only fat one walking my dog???) and photos. Really. I promise. I have a new flash phone so I can upload easily.