Contextualising Ugly Days...

You know the days. The bad days. The days you wake up and just don't feel yourself, don't feel pretty... As a woman, I think this can happen to any of us at any moment (plus-sized or not). It might be that time of the month, we may not have slept well, we might not be enjoying our body or we might just feel down in life.

Ugly days are the worst. In fact any day that you wake up and feel crap about the way you look, the way your mind is working or the way the world is, is a day to try and re-invigorate yourself.

These photos... these photos were taken on one of my ugly days.

I decided to try something different on my Ugly day. Instead of wearing a true and trusted dress, or indeed, pulling out my Ruby Woo lipstick by Mac and going for a makeup confidence boost... I decided to try shorts for the first time in years. YES. I decided that if I feel awkward ANYWAY - why shouldn't I just embrace it, try a new style and see how it fits. Why not risk feeling awkward on a day where I ALREADY feel awkward. Technically - that's not really a risk at all.

I liked this outfit when I put it on, but that didn't mean I felt confident or good about myself. I spent the day with Mr. Darcy (who was very complimentary of me through the day) and just tried to focus on having a day... midway through, I asked him to take photos of me... I wanted context. I didn't FEEL good about myself, but was the image in my head, the same image I was projecting to the world?

The answer is NO. I did not feel great or anything like my usual "confident self" when taking these shots. BUT - looking at them now, outside of my Ugly day issues I can see I actually look great. YES. Even in the photo on the left... I am sprucing up my hair. I look great. I did not feel great. I felt just awful really, but looking at myself now, I can see that I did look pretty and despite my "UGLY" day woes (which included me berating myself about my "ugly face", "wrinkly hands" and "weird knees"), I looked good.

On an Ugly day...

Remarkable.

I am so pleased that I wore my new shorts, put on my Macrame top (another first-time wear) and decided to ante up and try a new style on an Ugly Day. I am so pleased I got Mr. Darcy to take photos because they give me context and show me the facts.

The next time you have an UGLY day - whether it be body image woes, age woes, clothes woes or indeed - any kind of woe that wakes you up to negative self-image assessment - I hope you remember this post. We all need a little context sometimes. And I bet, on those days - you are looking good.

Really. Really. Really.


xxx.

Shorts, Macrame Top and Cami by City Chic.
Leggings and Boots by Evans.
Sunglasses by Accessorize.
Bra by Gok Wan for SimplyYours.
Necklace by Hot Diamonds.

And the winners are...

As you all know, this last week I have run a competition on my blog to say a THANK YOU to the people who have been regular readers and followers of my blog.

This blog, which I update only ever once a week, really has a strong set of supporters and I really appreciate it. I love blogging. I love getting emails saying how much you appreciate my ideas and writing... I ask you for advice, I trust your opinions and I love our supportive world... To win my competition you needed to follow my blog (especially since this was a competition for my 200 followers) but also had to pop your email address in the comments section of the post.

My two winners were found using the Random.org device and are...

LumpsAndBumps and Anika.

I am really happy for both of you and will send you through your £50 ASOS vouchers at the start of this coming week.

For everyone else who entered - rest assured that when I hit 300 followers, I will sponsor another competition for you all.

Thank you so much, beautiful people. xxx.

Thanks For The Love! Give-away! xxx.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall - I love my followers, I love them all!

My blog just hit it's 200th "friend" on Google Connect. You can connect to my blog using google, twitter, openID... all by clicking the "follow" button below.

200 of you have done that.

To say thank you, I am giving away two £50 vouchers from Asos. I know that some of my followers have curves and some do not - so this way, I am choosing a fashionable, on-trend store that caters to people who are beautifully slim, beautifully medium and beautifully curved. If you aren't into Asos clothes or indeed, aren't in their size bracket - you can spend the winning voucher on accessories or shoes.

For the record, I pretty much think everyone is beautiful.

Awesome.

xxx.

How To Enter: You simply have to be a follower of my blog and leave a comment below with your email address (you must include this), so I know that you're interested. I will use the Random Number Generator to find my winners on May 20th. Please note, if you leave more than one comment - I will only count the FIRST one you post. Multiple comments do not constitute multiple entries!

Thank you for all your lovely support.


Vouchers can be used from anywhere in the world, but MUST be spent in UK currency. This give-away is entirely funded by myself, Em... ASOS has not donated these vouchers... They are my thank you, to you. x.

Simply Be TO OPEN STORES.

I was just on facebook and saw a message from the fabulous Anna Scholz Fashion...

It simply reads:

It is official : N Brown, the home shopping giant, is to open standalone stores for its plus size Simply Be brand this year. Watch this space x

OMG!!!

Gorgeous Tribal Dress from Simply Be

This is BEYOND exciting news. Simply Be provides amazing plus-size fashion online right now and supplies labels like Anna Scholz, Joe Browns, Adidas Sports Wear and Gok Wan's underwear range. You have heard me rave about them a lot since I started blogging!

Simply Be's facebook mention THREE stores opening in Autumn and this has also made UK press today!

Imagine the change room posts I can do!

One of my favourites from Simply Be.

I am so happy and can not wait to get more info. I have contacted Simply Be, so watch this space!

xxx.

A little piece of Prada.

I wanted to share my latest love. My new Prada sunglasses. These were a GIFT. My closest girlfriend here in London, Bex, gave these to me.

They are clear, only lightly tinted... and honestly - ONLY suit me in particular situations. If I wear TOO much colour with them, I go a little Dame Edna. But I love them...

I wanted to talk a little about some gorgeous strides happening in our lovely Plus-size fashion world...

Australia is lucky to see some great things happening down there. Embody Denim, the brainchild of model Natalie Wakeling has just released a limited clothing range. Embody Denim covers a size range from a 12 to 26 and the new clothing range runs from a size 12 to 26 (depending on the piece - some stop as a 20). The pieces look quite simple, but the silhouettes are looking devine - the Osmosis Cape Silk Dress is particularly exquisite.

Embody Clothing's Osmosis Cape Silk Dress

Also doing great, is Damn You Alexis... I don't have a blog post for you quite yet - but I ordered The Bandage Dress and the label's shipping from AUSTRALIA to LONDON took FOUR days. That is amazing. The item is just gorgeous and I am so pleased I bought it.

Love, love, love!

To be honest, I bought the dress in the sale Damn You Alexis had recently and I feel like I got a bargain. Blog Post soon, Promise!

I plan to buy more items too - it is literally a lovely garment and if you feel like trying something exquisitely tailored, I suggest you try Damn You Alexis.

In London, as ever, I am loving UK based street wear with ASOS Curve. I am so impressed with the range recently and think the prints and cuts are looking gorgeous. In fact, I am not really a person who is ever going to buy a playsuit, but heck, ASOS Curve make them well. The Exclusive Apple Playsuit just looks wonderful and fun.

Carmakoma. Whoa... have you seen the dress below? The LA: 2 in 1 Dress is just exquisite. I liked this garment as soon as I saw it come online. Carmakoma's latest collection is on-trend, while still being interesting and innovative. The designers, Heidie Lykke and Angelica Weiss are just going from strength to strength... next time I am off work, I actually want to head to Denmark to visit them - that would be amazing.

In fact, next time I am off work, I am going to see my Designer LOVE - Anna Scholz Fashions AND I have been invited to go see the crew at Yours Clothing as well. I predict some WONDERFUL blog posts out of those trips!

One thing I will say... Last week in London, I had the amazing fortune to meet up with a couple of my fellow (and indeed two of my favourite) bloggers... Gaëlle-Vanessa and Val and we went into Monsoon... I just want to remind everyone what beautiful clothes there are at Monsoon... take a look!

In any case - this blog post was about my little piece of Prada, as well as some of the things EXCITING me in fashion at the moment.

What are you feeling excited by? I bet you love GORGEOUS things! My next round-up of fashion and love will look at North America. xxx.

xxx.