More Online Shopping Woes and Recent Purchases

<huge sigh>

If there are any more incoming and outgoing transactions from my bank account to Evans we're going to get investigated for money laundering.

I treated myself to one of the reduced Scarlett & Jo prom dresses last week (and threw in a bra too, I'm in desperate need of a black bra) and they arrived yesterday. Up I skipped to the bedroom with my bag of loveliness and started flinging my clothes off with the enthusiasm of a stripper. Sadly though, so very sadly <weep>, it wasn't right on me. The shoulders were oddly too loose, the lining inside was tight across the tummy (not the outer layer strangely, just the lining) and again, as happened last week, the length just didn't work on me. It just made me look a frump. I don't know what sort of weird talent I have - I appear to be able to take a beautiful dress and give it the sex appeal of a nun's habit just by trying it on.

And DON'T even get me started on the bra. Not only did it give me a bizarre 6 boob affair (the regular 2, the overspill 2 and the side boob 2), the back strap was hideously tight. D cup my arse.

So I flung both bra and dress out of the window in rage, much to the amusement of my window cleaner.

No, I didn't really. I wrapped them back up like the good little internet shopper that I am and consoled myself with the only logical choice. MORE internet shopping.

So, en route we have:

Black Heart Creatives

Simply Be Bird Printed Dress

Simply Be Tartan Print Dress

F&F True Maxi Dress

(Not quite sure about this to be honest but thought it was worth a punt for £7.00)

I also won a rather fabulous denim jacket on Ebay (brand new, originally from Asos Curve) which I think would look superb with any of the above frocks. Fingers crossed the bloody thing fits okay and isn't too long on the arms or some other bizarre issue. 

Hopefully (assuming dresses are okay!) there should be some OOTD posts coming soon. Haven't managed any in the last week as I've been full of a horrible cold and, frankly, looking like utter shite. Aside - where DOES all the snot come from when one has a cold? 

xxx

Ps. Code for 15% off at Simply Be, no minimum spend: UJQU3

Beauty Boxes - Where Have I Been?

Monthly beauty boxes seem to be springing up all over the place lately but I've always been put off due to the monthly commitment. I have enough monthly payments going out thank you very much and I didn't need any more. However...thanks to Steph at Seeing Spots it would appear there's some you can just buy as and when... how marvellous! Why did I not know this? Why did no-one tell me?!

Anyway, I have treated myself to this lovely collection of pretties:

Linky

Which I'll do a full and detailed review of when it arrives :-) 

Do you get Beauty Boxes? Do you subscribe? Are those ones better value? Are they worth it? xxx

The Frustrations of On-Line Shopping.

Warning - grumbling moaning coming up.

Now don't get me wrong, on-line shopping is high on my list of Favourite Things To Do. It's up there with sleeping, eating cake, watching Prison Break and cuddling my dog. But it does frustrate me a lot on occasion. Some things are no-one's fault in particular - like the beautiful Scarlett & Jo dress I bought a couple of weeks ago and which was too long, so looked weirdly frumpy on me. But the thing that really vexes me, that REALLY annoys me is the lack of consistency with sizes. I'm not talking about the "size up if you like it baggy" or "size down if you like it snug", it's when things should fit and they bloody don't. It's so frustrating. I don't know about you but I don't always have the funds available to order 2 of what I want to order, with the view of returning one. It's particularly annoying when it's from somewhere you shop from regularly and know the size you usually are (yes New Look Inspire, I'm talking to you)... I bought a lovely Inspire dress the other day, yes okay it was from ASOS but that shouldn't make any difference should it? It arrived yesterday and it looked shit. It was too tight around the middle but weirdly massively too big across the chest and shoulders. So no point in ordering the next size up as the girls would literally be hanging out for all the world to see.

Why IS this? And while I'm on the subject what's the crack with the difference in sizes from shop to shop? I'm a pretty standard size 24 so surely a 24 should fit me everywhere I buy? No. I can be anything from an 18 to a 26 depending on where I'm buying from. We don't have this problem with shoes do we? Generally (I know there will always be the odd exception) shoes fit, no matter where they're from. I'm a size 4 and I've never, ever, not once, had to deviate from that. Sometimes I'll choose to size up (winter dog walking boots for example, so I can get massive chunky socks on) but in "normal" circumstances I never have to. Why can't clothes be the same? I've been Googling for a while now and while I can find plenty of examples of people (all women funnily enough, there doesn't seem to be this massive variation in men's clothing) complaining about how they vary in size from shop to shop, I can't actually find anything to explain why.

Pah. I know there's more important shit going on in the world and when all's said and done it's not quite the end of the world... but it's annoying me today and it's my blog so my right to moan ;-)

Scarlett and Jo's Dresses of Fabulousness.

Heads up kids - Evans have reduced most of the Scarlett & Jo dresses online, some of them by more than 50%. There is also a 20% off code than works on the reduced items too, making them practically free* really. Code is: 2014AUTUMN plus if you spend over £50.00 you can also get free delivery, using the code: FREE50 Linky to the pretty frocks

(* ever so tiny exaggeration)

I've always loved the prom dresses, as I'm sure everyone reading this now does too (apart from my husband if he's reading - I'm pretty sure he doesn't covet a Scarlett & Jo prom dress but you never know...) but have never previously bought one as either I couldn't afford it (when they're full price) or had an occasion to wear one when they're (frequently) reduced.

So, anyway I've just ordered this beauty for a late birthday trip next weekend to Blackpool:

Yes, I am absolutely aware that I will be hugely overdressed for a trip to Blackpool but hey, guess what? 

I do hope it looks okay or I will sob and scream like a hysterical teenager at a 1 Direction concert be ever so disappointed. The last S&J dress I bought had to be returned as the length was weird on me, it was this one which I loved after seeing it on the lovely Frivolous Mrs D but it just looked frumpy on me, which was very sad. 

Go forth and shop completely guilt free lovely readers... reduced AND a 20% off code... what more could you ask for?

xxx

Necklace of Beauty.

As I mentioned the other day, I ordered a handmade necklace from this lovely lady: Emiko  Highly recommend her... despite the time difference (she's in the US) she replied to all my questions promptly and she made and dispatched it on the same day I ordered! Took only 5 days to come from the date of ordering. From the states! I was massively impressed! Even more so when I opened it:

I am absolutely thrilled with it. It's exactly what I wanted... the size, the length, everything is spot on. I can see me becoming a regular customer. The only tiny minus point I would say (and it really is a tiny thing and wouldn't matter if buying it for yourself) is that it didn't come in any sort of gift box. Was just in a little zip-closed bag with a business card*. So, if you wanted to buy something to give as a gift then do bear that in mind. 

(* was then well wrapped in bubble wrap, in a cardboard box in case anyone was concerned about safety in transit.)

Ha ha, I've just noticed the dog hair on my top in the last photo. Sorry about that, it's pretty much a given in our house that everything comes with a free sample of white dog hairs...

Thanks for reading xxx

OOTD - So Fabulous Floral Swing Dress.

I have sat here for about 15 minutes since writing this trying (and failing miserably) to come up with a catchy title for this post... with inspiration refusing point blank to strike I've gone with boring but factual - sorry about that!

It's not going to win any high fashion awards, it's probably a a little dull by some standards but it's me, it's my very first OOTD on here and I'm a little bit proud. Excuse the slight awkwardness (Tess Munster has very little to worry about) but this is the first time I've posed (sober) for a photo for a long time. As I mentioned before, I'm usually the one taking the photos, not being in them. My lovely husband was drafted in to be the David Bailey and we were both trying to keep on eye on the loony dog who was tearing around the garden at top speed so a relaxing photo shoot it was not.

Dress from Littlewoods: here Comes up pretty generous. I'm in a 22 and I probably could have got away with a 20 and trust me, I am NOT a size 20 or 22!

Leggings old F&F at Tesco - I do love their leggings, they're cheap at £5.00 a pair and they're nice and snug at the ankle. They come up big, I'm in an 18 here.

Bangles old Primark.

Necklace old Next.

Birkenstocks here from Schuh, reduced to £34.99 but only size 4 left on that site.

Hair flower Asos, sold out but this one is very similar.

Sunglasses are my precious Prada and make me feel like a film star every time I wear them (dahling), old now, had them about 3 years.

I love this dress, it's super comfortable and boasts the Fat Woman Favourite - pockets. There's no zips or buttons, just slips on over the head. As said above, runs large to size so definitely size down 1 or 2 if you prefer a snugger fit. It looks black at first glance but it's actually a very dark navy blue. For reference I'm a midget sized 5'4" and it sits just below my knees. I'd actually rather it were a bit shorter but that's a problem I have with a lot of dresses.

I recently bought this jacket and would wear this over the dress in winter, maybe adding a chunky scarf and some biker style ankle boots. 

Oh, almost forgot ;-) toe nails re-done in a much more appropriate-for-me shade:

This is OPI "You Only Live Twice", a lovely, sparkly pinky-red. I do love OPI polishes, they're slightly expensive but unlike some other high end brands (<cough> Nails Inc <cough>) they're worth every penny. 

Thanks for reading. P xxx

One Small Step...

As many of us have experienced, the Plus Size section in mainstream shops is often the dirty secret of the shop, the black sheep of the clothing family, tucked away at the back, as small as they can get away with, surrounded by a curtain saying "Unclean Section - Proceed At Your Own Risk" (okay maybe I made the last bit up). Yesterday I was in my local New Look... it's a BIG store with a massive amount of choice. Apart from the Inspire section which is in one tiny corner, at the bottom of the stairs. I've always found it a bit blah. Very little choice... usually about 8-10 items if you're lucky and at least half of those being the slightly dull safe choices, like black trousers and plain t-shirts/tops/

WELL... bugger me. They've only had a move around of the store and the Inspire section is now huge, by previous standard. There were at least 20 rails with loads of lovely choice. And get this... it's moved right to the middle of the shop. Next to the tills. Where the <gasp> normal people shop! Alas, lack of funds prevented any purchases but I did fondle <snigger> these 2 items of delight and will be purchasing forthwith:

New Look Inspire Dress

Floral Trousers

(I know these say "joggers" in the description but there's nothing jogger like about them in my opinion, they're a soft cotton-y material and really lovely in the flesh).

Sorry, photos are a bit minute, click on them for a larger view or the links underneath take you direct to the website :-)

The trousers are hugely out of my comfort zone but I really loved them and WILL be buying asap. I'd love some suggestions on what to wear them with though... I did think a black t-shirt/top but that's a bit boring isn't it? 

My first OOTD post is coming up soon <wibble>. I genuinely thought it would be weeks before I'd feel ready to post proper photos of myself but the encouragement and lovely comments I've received in just the last few days have given me the confidence <beams> xxx