dress
A Dressember giveaway! Win a Pepperberry party dress worth £89!
I promised special Dressember treats this year, and here’s one that I think you’re all going to really love! My good friends at Pepperberry are offering one Big Girls Browse reader in the UK the chance to win a gorgeous party dress worth £89. The competition will run over the weekend and a winner will be picked early next week so hopefully the winner will receive their prize with plenty of time for New Year, if not before Christmas (if you’re lucky)…
Top 5 dress picks: plus size styles Simply Be
Today as part of Dressember I’m looking at some of my favourite dresses from one of the brands that has supported Big Girls Browse since the very beginning, Simply Be. I wore a Simply Be dress for one of the very first days of my first Dressember, so I think there’s nice synergy in this post happening now!
I love the label for offering a great combination of classic styles and trend-led pieces in a really good range of sizes. I know that a lot of my plus size friends rate Simply Be as one of if not *the* best when it comes to UK plus size retailers, because they have such a big range and some great collaborations. I also love seeing the clothes on models with bodies like mine – Naomi Shimada and Laura Catterall can sell ANYTHING to me! Here are some of my top dress picks from the Simply Be Winter collection…
Three designer inspired items I’m crushing on…
I always feel a bit naughty buying cheaper high street versions of designer clothes, but the truth is I’m never going to shell out £500 for a jumper that’s a one-season wonder, or blow £500 on shoes that I’ll only wear twice. If I had the disposable income to buy designer clothes all the time, maybe I would (I suspect I’d still love trawling the rails of Topshop, though). But right now, my designer purchases tend to be the things I know won’t date so quickly – handbags, coats, retro style dresses and so on. When it comes to trends and seasonal styles, I have to budget, which means fast fashion. I think so long as the items are designer inspired, not fakes being sold as if they’re the real thing, they only strengthen the brand they’re emulating by drawing more attention to the specific look or style. Besides, a lot of the designer pieces don’t hang around for long, and I’m sure Victoria Beckham isn’t sweating the fact a few cut-price retailers are selling low cost alternatives to her sold out dresses.
So on that note, here are three designer-inspired looks I’ll be sporting this season…
I’ve been sewing: Simplicity 2444 dress with cape collar
The last thing I sewed and actually finished was my bridesmaid dress for Kat’s wedding. Given that she’s been married for two years now, I thought it was time to get some more use out of my sewing machine and dressmaker’s dummy! So spurred on by seeing how fab it looked on Roisin, I decided to raid my pattern stash for Simplicity 2444 (I have patterns, just never actually *make* them). I’d read nothing but great things about this pattern, which has four darts in the front to really shape the bodice for a good fit. It’s one of the Project Runway patterns, which means there are lots of elements you can add and remove to suit. I decided to go for the cape collar version (as seen on the model in blue floral print).
Ten more 1950s style dresses (you know you love ‘em)
Oh, you predictable bunch! It comes as no surprise to me that my posts on 1950s style dresses are, by far, the most popular pieces on Big Girls Browse. And who am I to complain that one of my favourite looks is also one of yours? As far as I’m concerned, any excuse to spend a few hours hunting down yet more fabulous frocks with those trademark nipped-in waists, full skirts and fabulous prints is good enough. Though I am going to bankrupt myself soon enough if I keep buying things as I do ‘research’. This round-up of another ten great Summer dresses includes a few old faithful brands, a couple of new ones, and hopefully some styles to suit all budgets and bodies. I hope you enjoy!
In My Wardrobe: Lady V London bird print green sundress
I’ve written about a lot of beautiful dresses in my time, but I don’t think any has received such a huge (and fast) response as the Lady V London dress that I put in my 50s sundresses feature earlier this week.
My twitter feed and blog comments were full of people telling me they were either buying it or thinking of buying it, and by Friday I even had twitpics of happy customers thanking me for introducing them to the label. In the end, I couldn’t resist ordering one myself, if only to report back on whether it really could be as good as it looks when it retails at only £30!
A date with Vivien of Holloway part 3: The ‘Peggy Lee’ day dress in green
I’m finishing up my Vivien of Holloway dress reviews today with the third and final dress. This is the Peggy Lee day dress in green (£69), a cotton number with an A-line skirt and contrasting white collar and pockets. Of the three I’ve tried, this is probably the most costumey. The other two can easily be modernised, but as far as I’m concerned, you may as well go the whole hog with this one! So I pulled out my retro glasses, put my hair in a mock-bob with some roller curls and hunted down some hair flowers so I could give this dress the 40s style look it deserves!
Tried & Tested: The Pepperberry Summer Clothing Challenge
Yep, I’ve been back to Pepperberry, purveyors of clothes for ladies with boobs. This time I was invited to take part in their Bloggers’ Summer Clothing Challenge. Basically, I got to choose an event and Pepperberry would dress me for it! I was sent down to the Oxford Circus store in June, where a set of frocks had been picked out for me to try on. I then picked my favourite and styled it up for the event in question. I chose a picnic with friends for my birthday, though I ended up swapping that for an afternoon in the pub (I didn’t trust the weather). I had planned to wear the dress on the day, but it ended up being a bit too restrictive. The moral of the story? Don’t pick a super-fitted dress with a synthetic lining, then put on 5lbs and expect it to still fit on one of the hottest days of the year…
Tried & Tested: Dee.V by Diana Vickers for Very.co.uk
Diana Vickers’ husky voice and propensity to yelp may be something of an aquired taste, but her new clothing range for Very.co.uk is a bit easier to fall in love with. A capsule range of vintage-inspired florals, fities skirts and 60s-inspired separates, it appealed instantly to me, so when Very got in touch to offer an item from their huge range for review, I knew I had to go with something from Diana’s collection.
I picked the Contrast Collar Printed Dress (£49) which I thought was very cute with its big pink buttons and collar. I’m getting to the point where I’m far too old to pull off anything this twee, so let’s call this my last hurrah. I can’t resist anything a bit childish!
Win the INES Collection Graphic Pop dress!
The response to my review of two pieces from INES Collection got some great feedback both through the comments and on twitter, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a few of you haven’t already taken advantage of that amazing 40% off code and bought some of their printastic items already. If not, you might fancy throwing your name in the hat for this giveaway, as I’ve decided rather than letting it loiter in the back of my wardrobe because it’s a tiny bit big, I will give away the Graphic Pop dress (worth $72) to someone who’ll really get some wear out of it…
About Me
I'm Gemma, I'm 29, and I'm a writer. Cosmo once called me a 'kick ass woman who's changing the world'. If reviewing mascara and wearing dresses changes the world, then I'd have to agree.
Click here for more about me.Wait, what happened to Big Girls Browse?
Email me: gemmalcartwright@gmail.com
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