Fashion for Aliens

The cardi-connoisseur

2012-01-02T20:49:00.000Z

So its January and I've been looking at some of the bargains to be had out there that will help me fill out the holes in my wardrobe, which are largely jacket shaped. I have tons of coats and in summer I can throw on a denim jacket but otherwise I really have none that I like wearing. I hate workwear style suit jackets which just feel stiff and immovable on me and most plus size jackets seem designed to invoke a mixture of pity and scorn in the wearer and are best avoided. If anyone can suggest a shape that might work on a larger size or point me in the direction of a good sales source I'd be much obliged.

Instead I live in knitwear; I am a cardi-connoisseur and luckily in 2012 (Happy New Year!) there is plenty of choice out there for me to buy, to drool over and possibly even to make. (Have I mentioned here before that I do that too?)

So in the first category to buy there is plenty o' choice out there in this irony-aware season. My eye was caught by this handsome vintage number which looks hand-knit its available from Cow Vintage online for £48. Had I seen this in December it may have been on my back on Christmas Day

However instead of that I decided to bring sexy back by choosing this gorgeous printed sweater dress from Planet which was reduced from £99 to £79 before the holidays

When it comes to luxe knitwear to drool over I'm a serious cashmere fan. TSE cashmere in particular and for me one of the loveliest sweaters ever was shown on TV over Christmas by Cameron Diaz in top rom-com The Holiday

So that leads me to one of my possible projects for 2012. This beauty, Opposite Pole by Jojo Locatelli has an echo of Cameron's cardi but also plenty of structure and definiton

But…before I can tackle that I need to finish my current project, based on one of the models from the most iconic sweater wearer of our age. Previously an honour that was held by Val Doonican, Gyles Brandreth or Noel Edmonds…so thank heavens for Detective Sarah Lund and her Gudrun + Gudrun wardrobe which blends classic Faroese designs and craftsmanship with a modern design sensibility.

Footwear Buzz

2011-09-25T10:28:00.000+01:00

Like Carrie Bradshaw and her cohorts I find that few things bring more uncomplicated pleasure than the purchase of footwear. I particulary like a fine boot and so with some unspent John Lewis vouchers hanging over from my birthday I got these lovely items which I hold to be stylish, versatile and comfy.

The boots are by Fly London who describe themselves as providing "The footwear of universal youth culture" . Someone should have a word with them about this. Fly is wildly popular with Guardian reading middle-youth types, I could bank on the fact that every time I attended a parents day at my son's school last term I'd see either one of the teachers or another parent wearing a pair of their ubiquitous wedges. I bet you recognise these too

Fly have lots of interesting styles on their website with prices around the £100-£150 price range. I think their stuff is just as distinctive as the higher profile Camper and they are less ubiquitous than Clarks. There is a nod to Punky/New Wave influences in their distressed leather and buckle-heavy collection which makes them perfect to spice up sober daywear.

Just Cos

2011-08-28T17:21:00.001+01:00

Inevitably I have discovered Cos The cool, trendy cousin of H + M which is currently expanding throughout the UK with branches in Birmingham, Brighton, Manchester and Glasgow as well as the usual parts of London.

The layout of this shop is aspirational, lots of blonde wood and single items displayed on plinths without anything so vulgar as a mannequin on display. The clothes themselves are for the most part gorgeous with lots of greys, navys and cream tones enlightened by the occasional streak of vermillion or ochre.

Clothes for women, as far as I was concerned. fell into two distinct types: structured and non-structured. The structured were absolutely no use to me at all although some of the dresses I would describe as the end result of Mad Men's (obligatory fashion mention) Joan Holloway going into a convent run by Ann Demeulemeester; they were very pretty but severe.

The unstructured stuff however is very curve forgiving and there is a good range of choice here to put together a number of different looks by spending no more than a couple of hundred quid. I bought a green jersey dress for £55 which is very drapey and falls into forgiving folds to the knees. There is plenty of room for movement and I think this style would work on someone even a couple of dress sizes bigger than me, maybe up to a UK 24/26.

Unfortunately Cos's website maddeningly concentrates on the structured stuff which means I can't post images of the many knits and jersey pieces I thought would go well together. That's just one of the many irritiations of the brand. Sizing seems to be a big secret with nary a mention of what range they stock on the website or in store. There are a couple of notices dotted in the shop telling you to ask the staff if you need any help, however you'd have to find a member of staff first in order to do so and I failed to do so even after three circuits around.

Also bizarrely the H & M connection is echoed in the clothes being crammed too close together on the rails to browse through which seems especially odd given its minimalist vibe.

However Cos is a welcone addition to the range available on the high street especially if you are a fan of designers like Jil Sander, Comme des Garcons, or the aforementioned Ms Demeulemeester and her Belgian ilk.

Where I am and where I want to be

2011-07-29T22:04:00.002+01:00

It's summer and I have no clothes that I like in my wardrobe, so obviously I need to run out to the nearest shop and buy, buy, buy. Finding myself in Dublin last week on a wonderfully sunny weekend I ran enthusiatically in the direction of Forever 21, an American Store which has the novelty value of not being available anywhere near my hometown and also of offering a huge plus sized range and so I filled my basket with all manner of vest tops, printed tops and a grey bejewelled sweatshirt which you can see me wearing in the photograph below.

I do like this top and I'll wear it a lot but looking at this picture I do have to ask myself why is a 45 year old woman still channelling Madonna in her Desparately Seeking Susan phase? Also my wise and rational husband questioned why I was so keen to purchase from a store which puts biblical verses on their carrier bags.

So come the "fall", as we fashionistas like to dub it, I'm thinking that I really need to grow up a bit and start thinking about clothes more suitable for a lady of my advancing years. Turning to my favourite blogs for inspiration I read an interesting post from That's Not My Age which focused on colour, (in this case vivid golden tones) and prompted me to think about what colours could I wear comfortably and use as a sort of signature.

I've always liked navy, its neutral, not black and looks good in lots of different textures and combinations and to go with this a warm tone of green. Black Watch is after all easily the most wearable tartan. I found this absolutely stunning blouse from Stella McCartney which shows exactly why I love navy and green together.

I've never shopped for Stella before and was amazed to find that its available up to a UK size 18, which is just about do-able for me. I might need to start saving.

Also as no piece of fashion related writing can legally appear on the internet in 2011 without a mention of Mad Men style I felt I had to shoehorn a reference to my favourite character and current inspriation into this post. Watching the stunning series four earlier this year I was really struck by the clothes worn by marketing exec Faye Miller, played by Cara Buono. Faye is roughly the same age as Joan and Betty but she dresses in a more mature way, bravely channeling a style that is businesslike and feminine. Time and again she turns up wearing what looks like a Chanel type collarless jacket over a printed shell top and matching skirt. I was really struck by this as it is exactly what my mum was wearing in that period and indeed continued to wear into the seventies, at any formal function she'd draw out one of her four or five suits that were variations on this theme and she always looked the business.

Recent purchases

2011-05-11T21:57:00.003+01:00

I wish that I had the foresight to plan a seasonal wardrobe. Most of the time when I go shopping I don't even know if I want a dress/skirt/shoes and end of wandering the High Street looking for inspiration.

In this respect the web and some of my favourite blogs have helped me a fair bit so oftentimes I at least go shopping with some ideas of things to look out for that will transform me into a beautifully coordinated, on trend dresser.

Evans got me interested in their clothing again recently when they launched "The Collection" a capsule range of "Modern Classics" promising better quality and more directional clothing than their usual smocks and leggings lines. There is a stunning advertising campaign featuring US plus-sized supermodel Marquita Pring and the fashion blogging community were rightly all over it.

Inspired by this lovely photograph the first thing in the range that I went for was the dress. It is a really unusual design, grey jersey top and "nude" (beige) pleated skirt joined by way of a black satin ribbon waist. A true day to evening item from which I hope I get plenty of wear. But unfortunately there is no sign of the pretty biker jacket to go with it and my criticism of the range is that it is bitty, with few opportunities to put together finished outfits.

Also from the range I bought this minimalist top.£35 but a true wardrobe classic in fantastic fabric, well-cut which hangs (and washes) beautifully. It does however look a bit boring in this photo

So here's my third and last purchase from my Evans shopping trip, which I'd pitch as being both classic and fun. Its a black, spotty "prom" dress

I'm gratified to hear that this item has now sold out. i think of it as more WI summer fete than prom dress (well I am 44) but it is a cute, feminine swishy thing that makes dressing for work bit less of a chore. It also well with my H&M inclusive cardigan featured in this earlier post.

Guest Post : British Beauty Scientist-Are Magazines Making You Fat?

2011-04-23T19:53:00.000+01:00

After my last blog post which reviewed three new online fashion and lifestyle magazines aimed at the the plus sized market I was asked by the writer of Colin's Beauty Pages if I would like to feature a post orginally published by him in February this year.

As a long time admirer of his blog I had no hesistation in taking him up on this generous offer, the blog is always and entertaining and authoritative read which often makes me think about my relationship with cosmetics in a new way.

I would like to make clear that this post represents the writer's own viewpoint rather than that of Fashion for Aliens and I may not be able to answer any questions or queries that result from this.

Are Magazines Making you Fat?

I have been trying to write up a significant article from The Biologist for a while now.

As a piece of writing it commands respect but isn’t all that easy to read or to explain clearly. It was written by Dr Aric Sigman FSB a psychologist who has taken a great interest in how the media affects the people who consume it. He has gone to a great deal of trouble to provide all the necessary references to back up what he is saying and to go into the details of how it all works.

This pleases a scientist because you can see exactly how strong his case is and form your own judgment about the conclusions. The trouble is, it makes it hard to read. It took several attempts to get all the way through it. But he has some important stuff to say, and I’d love to see it reaching a wider audience. But it proved to be a hard article to summarise.

I was on the point of giving up but a couple of beauty blog posts inspired me to give it another go. The first one I don’t want to give a reference too, but was a young woman saying she felt like a fraud writing a beauty blog when she herself was not only not beautiful but also overweight. (I doubt she will ever read this, but if she does and recognises herself please don’t give up on your blogging, I really appreciate it and I am sure others do as well.) It seemed really tragic that someone would consider stopping doing something they enjoyed because they weren’t happy with the way they looked.

The other one was by Oxford Jasmine about a cookery book – I’ll come to that later. Thanks to the impetus these gave me I have gone back to have another go. I have decided I am going to do what I usually hate most in science journalism and engage in a bit of hand waving, by which I mean I am going to make assertions and expect you to trust me. My excuse is that I simply don’t have the skill to write an article that is both easy to follow and gives all the details. I have given the reference to the original article below if you want more background.

So what has Dr Sigman to say? His point is basically that the proliferation of images of slim women in the media is distorting women’s self image. We feel less attractive around attractive people. In particular, we feel fat when we see people who are thinner than us. I think we knew that already, but do we realise the power of the effect? Television arrived for the first time on an island in Fiji in 1995. Before, Fijian women were untroubled by their figures. Dieting and eating disorders were unknown. Within three years everything had changed. Faced with the images of slim American women two thirds of the girls had started dieting, and 11% of them were regularly inducing vomiting in an attempt to lose weight. This had never happened before. They said openly that they were trying to imitate the women they had seen on the television.

We have had television for quite a while now, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that things aren’t changing here. To quote Sigman

“Twenty-five years ago, the average fashion model was only 8% thinner than the average woman. Today that figure has risen to 23% (Derenne & Beresin, 2006). During this time dissatisfaction with body size and shape has become so prevalent among girls and women that it is being described as ‘a normative discontent’ (Grogan, 2007).”

So if these images are indeed having an effect, the effect is probably growing.

So what’s the effect of being surrounded by a media full of images that hardly any of us have any hope of achieving? Not a good one. In the UK there are currently 1.4 million women with some kind of eating disorder – an astonishing number. Of those 140,000 have anorexia according to a study by NICE. That is some pile of misery.

Huge numbers of us, and huge numbers of women in particular are not happy with our bodies. Even girls between the ages of three and six are worried about being overweight.

Actual anorexia is really only the large tip of a very big iceberg. In a sense continually trying and abandoning different diets is also an eating disorder. You may not think so, but your digestive system might beg to differ. It, after all, has to cope with the varying stuff you are eating, requiring it to radically change the kinds of enzymes it needs to cope with what you are feeding it.

A quarter of adults in the UK are trying to lose weight most of the time. Is it doing them any good? Not much, at best. In fact all the evidence is that diets have only a temporary effect, if that. Any weight lost is put straight back on again.

Dieting is probably positively harmful and one of the factors leading to our steadily increasing weight. It could well be that by restricting your food intake you are simply suggesting to your digestive system that you have fallen on hard times, and in response it becomes even more determined to hang on to every bit of fat it can. (The mechanism of this is interesting – I will do a blog post on it when I have time)

If obesity were simply a question of appearance you might be able to simply adopt a stoic approach that whatever others thought, you are not concerned. Brain scans indicating that reactions to body shape images are deep rooted and subconscious suggest that this would be a tough approach. But being overweight has some pretty serious downsides apart from not looking as good as you might. The extra weight on your joints sets you up for arthritis. The extra strain on your pancreas makes you more likely to succumb to diabetes. You are also at more risk of a heart attack or stroke, and a whole list of other undesirable conditions. You really want to be the size nature intended you to be – not as small as the media is suggesting you should be, but not as big as processed food and fad diets tends to make you.

The situation is bleak. The more images of thin people you see the more you feel dissatisfied. If you diet you will only get a temporary respite if anything. The chances are that you will end up fatter. If you have paid for special diet products you will probably be poorer too. The world has created an ideal of beauty that you cannot hope to achieve and that the harder you try to, the more miserable will be the results.

So what can be done about it? If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. Legislation would be difficult. I don’t think it is possible to dictate to the media what images they should or shouldn’t show. And any editor will point out that they are simply following what their readers want. If people didn’t want airbrushed pictures of size zero models in their magazines it wouldn’t take long before the publishers noticed and changed what they are serving up.

Are there any steps you can take as an individual? This is a tough one. It is nearly impossible to avoid the media and the images it contains. But maybe it is possible to reduce it to some extent. Forewarned with the knowledge of the potential harm, you can at least give some thought to avoiding the airbrushed photoshopped self esteem destroyers. Maybe switch to paperbacks instead of glossy magazines. And take care with what you let small children see. It may well be more important than what you let them eat.

Although going on a media diet might help you feel better about yourself, shouldn’t you be going on a food diet to improve your health?

Well I suppose if you have iron will power and are overweight that makes sense. Though if you have iron will power you won’t have become overweight in the first place. Most of us suffer from a chronic inability to keep to dietary rules, especially for a prolonged period of time. It simply doesn’t work.

That diets don’t work would be bad enough news, but we have sen that they are positively harmful. So what can be done? This brings me to the blog post by Oxford Jasmine. This is a review of a cook book. It isn’t a diet book, just one that explains about nutrition. I haven’t read the book, but I was intrigued by what she had to say. She doesn’t believe in prescriptive diets and instead concentrates on eating and enjoying good food. This is just such a sensible approach. (I have never met Oxford Jasmine and I have no idea what she looks like, but she at least is happy enough with how she looks.)

At first sight, this sounds like simply ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away. But I think it might be just the opposite. It could that if we take more interest in the food we eat as food that we will have less of a problem with it. Have a look at France. There are some overweight people in France, as a quick wander around Paris will show. And obesity is rising in France, as it is everywhere. But nonetheless the French are not as overweight as the English despite having pretty similar economies. Why is this? It certainly isn’t because the French generally have a Spartan diet low in fat or carbohydrates or whatever. On the contrary they enjoy their food immensely and linger long on it.

Could the leisurely approach the French take to their meals be what keeps them trim? I was visiting a supplier in Brittany once and had to get away to catch the ferry. As a result we had to finish our dinner after only an hour and three quarters. My host was most apologetic at having to rush me so.

The consequence of taking your time is that your pancreas has plenty of opportunity to produce the insulin needed to cope with the glucose entering your blood stream. It then sends messages to your brain telling you that you can stop eating now. Compare that with a sandwich and a packet of crisps that enable you to get about a third of your daily energy requirement into your stomach very quickly, about a quarter of an hour in my case.

The other thing that undermines our body’s hunger feedback mechanism is the availability of highly processed energy rich fast foods. A microwave curry can be prepared in less than ten minutes. And eaten in about the same time. The brain monitors the energy impact of what you eat and trains you to subconsciously seek out the things that have a big impact on your blood sugar. Ever wondered why all the things you like eating turn out to be unhealthy? That is the reason.

So I have come to the point where I have to make some suggestions. I don’t know the answers and I am not sure that I really know any more than anybody else. But these are my ideas – feel free to ignore or dismiss them if you like. I don’t issue them as commandments. See if they work for you. If they do, then great. If they don’t, then hopefully you will have learnt something from trying them that will be help you find something that does work. We are all different.

t is said that it takes about 30 days to build a habit, so why not see what trying one of these suggestions for a month and see what it does for you.

1. Stop reading glossy magazines and watching films that have lots of images of slim attractive women in them. Keep in mind that the average dress size in the UK at the moment is 16, so you are getting a really distorted view of the world from most of the media.

2. Decide that you are not going to go on any more diets. They do more harm than good. Simply making that decision might well reduce your stress level.

3. Don’t try to radically change your diet over a short period of time. Your enzymes won’t be able to cope. Make small changes and make them stick.

4. Have an appetiser before your meal, preferably about 20 minutes before. This sounds really counter intuitive, but it might mean that when you sit down to your main course you already have enough insulin in your blood to cope with what you are eating and you are less likely to overeat.

5. Don’t let yourself get too hungry. Hunger should be something that makes life more enjoyable. When you have been out for a long walk or done a lot of gardening, it is a real pleasure to sit down and really enjoy a good meal. But don’t deliberately starve yourself for hours on end. All that will happen is that you will get to the end of your will power and have a binge. Snacks throughout the day are a good idea so long as you make sure that they aren’t calorie rich.

6. Eat as much raw food as you can. Fruit and raw vegetables are the least processed and so the most natural components of our diet. Something like a carrot is going to take a lot longer to eat than a bar of chocolate and also takes a lot longer to get broken down into its component parts. This is a good way of keeping your blood sugar levels even.

If you simply can’t resist temptations like chocolate, try and get into the habit of say eating an apple at the same time.

I have tried eating a completely raw diet for a couple of weeks. I found I had a lot more energy and slept much better. I didn’t lose any weight, but several people commented that I had. It isn’t really practical to go this far, but I think the benefits of increasing the amount of raw food you do eat will be noticeable.

7. Eat breakfast. Going out into the world of readily available high calorie snacks first thing in the morning with an empty stomach is like going into a medieval battle wearing a dressing gown and fluffy slippers. Prepare your defence well by not starting the day hungry.

8. Buy a good cookbook and take an interest in what you are eating, and whenever you can cook your own meals. I haven’t read it myself yet, but the one Oxford Jasmine talks about sounds like a good one. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a health orientated one. The most conventional cookbook will not call for the high levels of salt, fat and sugar you get in processed food. So a home cooked meal will be both healthier and taste better.

9. Don’t judge others’ weight. Women in particular can be very judgmental of overweight women. If you are inclined to be so, try to stop. I am not sure exactly how this might help, I just have a feeling it will.

Concentrate on living a healthy life and enjoying healthy food, and above all enjoying life. The less stressed you are about your weight you are, the more fun you will have, and probably the more chance you have of losing weight.

References

Dr Aric Sigman A Source of Thinspiration The Biologist Vol 57 No 3 October 2010

http://oxfordjasmine.blogspot.com/2011/01/have-you-heard-good-news-food-bible.html

Read all about it-as long as you're online

2011-04-18T22:17:00.001+01:00

There are now three magazine titles published in the UK aimed at the plus-size market, all are available online which is probably the only feasible way to do so successfully nowadays. A few years ago there was a US magazine called MODE (This was in the days before Ugly Betty) which was a wonderful, properly glossy treat that was available on import and which was filled with wonderful empowering images of beautifully styled clothes that were completely unavailable in the UK.

These days the only time that you will see a larger sized model in one of the high fashion mags is in one of the increasingly popular novelty issues: Elle, V and Marie-Claire have all tokenistically featured "size" or "body" issues which might feature Beth Ditto on one page and Kate Moss on the next accompanined by copy asking befuddled readers to compare and contrast standards of beauty, rather than just pointing them in the direction of something nice to buy, which is supposed to be the whole point of these things.

So what I want from a magazine is just some ideas for something nice to buy, recommendations of retailers I don't yet know, styling ideas I might want to copy and a wee chance to loose myself in escapist consumerism for an hour or so.

So to the first and so far as I'm aware the oldest of the three contenders Just As Beautiful Magazine which is the only one that charges for download £2.50 or it can also be ordered in hard copy for £4.75 per issue. It describes itself as the "UK's No.1 Lifestyle Magazine for Curvy Women" and features cover interviews with celebs like Ruth Jones and celeb chef Paul Rankin.

This magazine is improving all the time and I do like its ambition to sell print copies in newsagents. However it suffers from a somewhat pedestrian layout and there is an ongoing obsession with plus-size beauty contests which can dominate the editorial copy.

The second choice is Evolve Magazine which for me has a slightly more modern, urban feel; however its very first fashion layout turns out to be a sexy lingerie special which is a bit disheartening- you get a lot of sexy lingerie in plus sized fashion which can border on the fetishistic and which perhaps more to the point would just not happen in the same way in Glamour or Marie-Claire, mags with which these should be competing for readers. Again the layout could do with a bit of glamming up but these are niggles and I would happily continue to download and read this every month as the editorial content is fairly strong.

The final magazine is the most exciting; it is called Slink and has just published its first online edition. I like it for the simple reason it is most like a fashion mag, a mixture of designer and high street stuff and with layouts that are at least in the same orbit as Grazia, see pic below

I was particularly drawn to the layouts on pages 19-22 which are colourful, beautifully composed shopping suggestions for summer trends. I'd simply never seen this done in a publication aimed at the plus size market before and it truly lifted my heart to see something so lovely. The editorial team may be interested to know this approach worked for me already as I've pursued a couple of items featured which I'm now intending to buy

I definitely recommend tracking down all three of these mags, esp the two which are free. Also they have Facebook pages and Twitter feeds which I think will mean they are responsive to their intended readership and hopefully they will feed off the incredible energy in the "fatshionista" community.

Debenhams new Edition range

2011-02-15T19:59:00.001Z

It's great when something comes along clothes wise that seems exciting and new. Just a week or two ago I was overcome with clothing blues, unsure that I'd ever get exercised enough about any range to blog about it again. But then abracadabra and Debenhams announce that they are producing a diffusion range called Edition featuring the work of some fairly edgy young British designers including Preen, Jonathan Kelsey and my favourite Jonathan Saunders whose gorgeous fluid colour-blocked columns I'd been ooh-ing over in the glossy mags since he emerged with his own line around 5 years ago.

I'll never be able to afford, nor fit into, mainline Saunders, so this is my big chance to sample the designer magic. I got a good look round the range which has just gone on retail and online sale this week and I think nearly everything in it is wonderful. My first purchase was this dip-dye cardi

Its maybe not the most outre thing in the world and dip dye knits have been done to death by the high street already but this one is in a lovely fine viscose and the colour graduation is really subtle. I will be perfect for workwear and summer evenings and will take place with other more statement-y pieces from the range as I add to them.

There is a good selection of superfine knits all based on the same graduations from light grey and there are sequined t-shirt dresses for those who like that sort of thing, but I'm thinking my next purchase will be this blazer, which will be getting cocktails spilled over it all summer long.

My biggest disappointment with Edition is that the sizing stops at a UK 18. Debenhams have always been faultlessly democratic offering even designer diffusion ranges like Betty Jackson Black or Rocha John Rocha up to a UK 22 with petite and tall options. They do seem to cut clothes "big" and although I'm normally a UK 20-22 I could fit into the Saunders clothes pretty well. However there is plenty of demand for larger sizes and I trust that as the popularity of ranges like this grow so too will its availability for all shapes.

I should mention that I also liked the Preen clothing I saw on sale today (alas there were no Kelsey shoes in the store I visited) there were some pretty edgy and I think quite funny pieces on sale including this grey cardigan which is similar to your standard grey cardigan as sold everywhere, apart from a row of satin cord fringing added to the back. A lot of the Preen stuff looked as though it would easily accommodate larger bodies with lots of drawstring waists and draping.

Primarkable

2011-01-31T17:10:00.003Z

I discovered by chance today that Primark are now selling woman's clothing up to a size 20. This takes me just inside their orbit and naturally I wanted to celebrate by purchasing something.

So I discovered-shopping in Primark is really hard. There is so much stuff and it's all budged together with none of the carefully edited lines that you might find in Jigsaw; and it is all so cheap: nothing I saw today after my first serious Primark browse was over £20, so it makes it difficult to choose what to go for. Also from a practical point of view the ladies size 20 was brand new in this week and not available in many stock lines as yet so I had to hunt for something wearable. In the end I went for the nautical look in this cotton/polyamide blend sweater, mine today for £8.

It's not bad, is it? Gold buttons on the shoulders and turn backs on the sleeves and,whilst the fabric is fine its not spit-through fine and the handling feel is not noticeably worse than other high street knitwear.

Now that's I'm a fully fledged Primark shopper I can join the clamour of customers asking them to carefully monitor their ethical trading policies and support the redoubtable Mary Portas in her campaign to improve customer service in the "fast fashion" end of the retail sector. Although I have to say that "Gail" who served me today in the Glasgow, Argyle Street branch was most friendly.

But perhaps the most relevant campaign should be for Primark to expand its size range way higher that 20. The blogosphere is way full of women looking for fashionable clothes in sizes above a UK 16 ( just look to your left for some links) and this is a market which a profit hungry seller like Primark should be going all guns to entice. So please support your local fast-turnover, multiple retailer and show them that selling in larger sizes makes good business sense.

Thinking about wearing less

2011-01-25T19:53:00.001Z

Its January. I've been wearing boots and opaque tights for about 90 straight days now and I'm getting sick of the sight and smell of them. And who wants to shop at this time of year when there's only the fag ends of the sale in the shops and everything is getting dearer?

So its fantasy shopping only this month. But I've been inspired enough to put finger to mousepad and report on some things coming up that will have a place in my wardrobe in the spring.

H&M have been the retailer with the most interesting wares to offer thus far. Two recent press releases from them have perked me up a bit. The first thing I'm excited about is their Inclusive range which will be sold online only from early March. The range is available in a much wider range than their normal sizes 32-54 (or 6-28 in UK sizing) and is a wee bit Mad Men-ish with feminine party dresses and floaty skirts. This outfit in particular is lovely and exactly what I would want to buy for wearing in Mar-Apr time

H&M have made things very easy for me this spring by also offering a collaboration with Swedish eco-friendly, clog makers HasBeens which will be available from 20th April in 150 stores. All the shoes in the range previewed on the website are gorgeous, easy to wear and still foot flattering but this style below would be the very dab to wear with my Inclusive cardi and skirt

Actually just typing that bit above about the range only being available in 150 stores has gotten me a bit worried, am I going to have to have to join a mad Lanvin-style queue in order to get these lovelies? How exciting!

Now I'm happy anticipating my H&M purchases I really am. However if I suddenly had access to a bigger bank account I might be thinking instead about picking up a couple of pieces from this Spring's marvellous Dior Couture collection. This is one of the loveliest and most wearable shows I've seen in a long time and is fantasy fashion at its best. Clothes that cover and swathe around the body but that still make sense in the real world and the colours are just sublime. There are more images at http://tomandlorenzo2.blogspot.com/2011/01/christian-dior-haute-couture-spring.html which I definitely commend to you

Bargainista

2010-12-31T20:33:00.001Z

I have had a good sales. More by luck than judgement I have managed to add a fair number of lovely items to my wardrobe and even better I got a good balance of things I really wanted and was delighted to find half price and things I'd never buy at full price but just took a punt on.

In the former category there was some practical black trousers and jeans from Monsoon, where I managed to save £97.50 by erm spending £97.50. In the second category I took a liking to this Jade coloured sweater which is unlike anything else I own and which should complement said plain black trews beautifully

I also good some good results shopping on the Boden website which has a great sale, though the big sizes tend to disappear quickly. I love the print on this wrap dress, and really you can never have too many decent wrap dresses in your life. Reduced from £85 to £55

I avoided the shopping emporia that were like hell on earth (I'm taking about you John Lewis) and my good fortune came I think by concentrating on just one or two shops and websites where I'd shop in non sale times rather than trawling around speculatively. I hope the sales were good to you too and that 2011 will be a happy year in dressing for all us fashion aliens

Thank you Mr McQueen

2010-11-18T19:50:00.001Z

I am all booted up for winter. Thankfully I still have a couple of pairs of full length zip up boots from the marvellous Duo which are fine for everyday wear. If you haven't shopped with Duo before then I highly recommend them for the best fitting footwear available.

To supplement these I was looking for something in an Ugg type stylee. I well remember stomping about with freezing feet all last January and very nearly succumbed then to the Mucluk look. And when I saw this Moray Sky style in Clarks last month I absolutely fell for them.

I can tell you that they are a dream to wear, warm and comfortable, plus the elasticated button at the side means they are most accomodating to the chunky calf. I know fashion editors groan at the sight of these type of boots but they really are a wonderful triumph of comfort over style. Even on the most miserable day you feel like you are walking about in your slippers and its a strain to put anything else on your feet.

However, I have also purchased something a little bit more aethestically pleasing in the shape of these shoeboots which are part of the Autograph range from Marks & Spencer

These come in a wide fit and are, considering the height and spindly heel, actually pretty comfortable to wear. Unlike most purchasers, I suspect, I also chose these boots as an ideal style to show off my hand knitted socks which I will wear proudly peeking out betwixt the cuff and the bottom of my jeans and or leggings (but never jeggings (shudder)).

I think that my new shoeboots are a distant, well-behaved cousin of this notorious Alexander McQueen design oft seen on the feet of Lady Gaga and other hobbling celebs

Obviously these are a lot more extreme, but the contrast between the chunky platform toe and the stiletto heel is still there and this helps to flatter the leg giving an illusion of lengthening and while walking about I can imangine myself as some sort of forest dwelling creature, daintly stepping about amongst the undergrowth. Or something equally daft. So you see practicality and fantasy in the same post.

H&M Hopeful & Maddening

2010-10-15T17:41:00.002+01:00

H+M are now selling clothes online, following in the footsteps of Gap and Zara, there must be some sort of critical mass thing going on here.

The range to buy includes their BiB line which was a very welcome presence when it pioneered plus size fashion on the high street about 20 years ago. But unfortunately they seem to have been selling EXACTLY the same clothes all that time. Thanks, but I have plenty of black and white vests and I'm just grand for voluminous kahki parkas. Occasionally though you find something pretty like this leopard print cardi which I think I'll buy

Visit hm.com

Of more interest to me is the completly unannounced information that h+m's mainline range is now available up to size 24, at least online and in some only some items. For example in this very celine-esque knitted dress which is just calling to me with its comfort-wear shawl-collar

Visit hm.com

Bloggers may also wish to note that h&m's web site has a friendly link by each garment allowing you to copy the HTML for the image direct to your own site. This is an excellent idea which I wish more retailers would use instead of having tricksy flash images which are a nightmare to copy.

So while that's all good and positive I need to have a moan about my local branch of h&m in Glasgow. I popped in last night to have a quick look at what was available in the BiB section only to find that it had disappeared. When I asked I was told that all the stock had been moved out to another branch further out of the city centre as it was selling better there. This is just maddening, I mean would h+m move all their leggings to another location if they were selling better elsewhere? Sometimes I think stores should just erect a sign at the door that reads "FAT CUSTOMERS NOT WELCOME HERE" it would save all the time and effort searching for something that we might just want to give them our cash for.

Joe Browns for Simply Be

2010-09-29T20:53:00.000+01:00

I've just had a look at the new autumn range that mail order company Joe Brown has produced for SimplyBe and I think its pretty fantastic.

For a start there is lots of it, not just one or two tops. This range includes some very covetable boots, accessories and lingerie and clothing ranges over six pages. The sizing goes from UK size 14-32 which is pretty unusual for such a fashion forward collection, the pricing is mid-range high street (£80 for a coat, £45 for jeans).

But mainly and most of all I like it because the clothes are gorgeous, there is so much in the range that I would wear that I cannot make up my mind what I should order.

I need some jeans just now and quite fancy these , just the right amount of slouch

This Coat is certainly an impact piece, imagine wearing it on bonfire night (I'm still not really getting this minimalist camel thing am I?)

And although its way, way out of season I love that this pin-up girl bikini is available to buy should I suddenly need to take a trip to Hawaii

My only gripe about this range is perhaps a political one. Joe Brown have a perfectly serviceable website which sells many of the same clothes, stopping off at size 20. Why don't they sell the plus sizes to everyone there?

Frilling stuff

2010-09-27T21:48:00.001+01:00

So, I've been reading everywhere that sleek, minimalism is the look of the season and camel is the only colour to be seen in. There is also a definite nip in the air which is good for me as I get to cover up all my extremities. Bearing all this in mind see below my latest purchase for Autumn.

I wanted to get something to mark this weekend's trip to London and alas I did not make it to Selfridges new Shoe Gallery, nor a chance to see the full Beth Ditto collection at Evans Marble Arch flagship. I also had a faint hope of visiting either Beige Plus or Wall London, but in the end my only shopping spree happened within the confines of Luton Airport.

Which brought me to this frilly, sleeveless top from Monsoon. I can't make up my mind whether it qualifies as suitable for workwear or purely weekend casual. But still I quite like the silliness of it and I'm looking forward to wearing it. Even if that happens only once.

Sweater Girl

2010-09-05T21:10:00.003+01:00

I loves me a sweater dress, they are like the dressing equivalent of comfort food; tactile, warm and comfortable to wear. I look forward to autumn coming around every year so that I get to try a new one and then I can pair it with my favourite pair of Duo boots, a good pair of black opaque tights and I'm sorted.
This year's model is a beauty. You can tell how much I love it because I'm prepared to post a picture of myself wearing it. Yes dear readers that's me in the pic below, not Elle Macpherson, do not adjust your screens.

This is called the Little Black Knit Dress and is from Planet who fearlessly sell online and instore in a generous range of sizes from 6-20. One of the things that prompted me to take a photo of me wearing the dress rather than just reproduce the image on the website is that it is difficult to pick up detail on black clothes. The dress has a "waterfall" detail at the front which is, well a bit sexy. You still can't really see it here though, maybe it shows better in this candid changing room shot.

I will of course be wearing this dress with appropriate underpinnings in order to maintain a smooth silhouette, in this case my favoured option is Scupltz tights, also available from Planet and a ladylike black slip underneath to stop static cling.

A dress like this will be ideal to show off some bold accessories and I'll be on the hunt for a good necklace to wear with it. Maybe a subject for a future post.

Spot the Difference

2010-08-27T21:57:00.002+01:00

See if you can spot the difference between these two rather elegant , workaday pairs of black trousers

Struggling? Well the pair on the left is an image from the new Gap.eu website which finally allows Gap lovers the chance to buy their full range online in the UK. The pair on the right is from the US site Gap.com These are exactly the same trousers but sizing on the UK site only goes up as far as (US size) 14, roughly a UK size 18, while on the US site sizing goes up to a 20, which is the equivalent of a UK size 24.

Can anyone explain the reason for this disparity to me? Is it madness, rudeness, negligence, ignorance or stupidity on the part of the retailer? These are exactly the same trousers people, made in the same factory. Pah!

I contacted Gap.eu's customer service about this issue and recieved the following response. Its hardly an explanation.

"We appreciate the time you've taken to contact us about our current size selections at gap.eu. Unfortunately, we do
not know when we will be offering additional sizes in the future. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment this may cause."

I would ask anyone who take the time to read this post and agrees that this policy is unfair leaves a quick message on their website. Things will only change if they can be persuaded that public opinion is against them,

Blog Recommendation: Clothes on Film

2010-08-19T19:37:00.001+01:00

As a bit of a departure from my usual posts I thought I'd draw your attention to a wonderful blog I've just discovered courtesy of The Guardian Guide. Clothes on Film is part reportage, part review of Screen Style and Identity. In recent posts it has provided an exclusive interview with Jeffrey Kurland on the clothes for Inception, a preview of George Clooney's new movie (which I was excited to find is directed by Anton Corbijn) and best of all some fantastic archive material reassessed, like considering Audrey Hepburn in Jeans. Just look at this marvellous shot taken from her 1966 rom com Two for the Road, wouldn't you just have loved to be her best friend?

Jolie Julie: Evans brave new departure and why all women deserve the right to wear beautiful clothes.

2010-07-13T23:59:00.002+01:00

Evans have embarked on an exciting and brave new step into high-end retailing by commissioning a range of dresses by Jolie Julie. These are all 100% silk with hand-finished details and they retail at £150 -£160; about four times what their usual price point might be.

There is a fascinating interview on Evans blog with their buyer who comissioned the range. She relates how she spotted the range in Fenwicks and persuaded the manufacturers to make the range for them up to a size 26. I'm a big fan of this tenacious approach and wonder if Nikki Adams-Rose might be persuaded to have a word with those nice Marni people next season. I also really appreciate this level of transparency from a retailer about how they go about comissioning stock.

To me these dresses are perfectly lovely and exactly represent what I want to buy (I'll definitely be ordering the mint green style above) so I was surprised to read some very hostile comments about the range on the Evans blog and Facebook page which said the dresses were overpriced with much use of terms like "frumpy" and "shapeless". I fear that the younger Evans customer who is happy to pull on a slogan t-shirt over a pair of "jeggings" and who looks great in that can't possibly understand why someone might get excited over a beaded sash or a sheer bracelet length sleeve.

There is only a tiny amount of choice of plus sized clothing available at the luxury end of the market that might appeal to women over 30 with cash to invest in interesting clothes, something that Janet Street Porter has been recently been lamenting in her rousing Daily Mail columns Similarly the battle cry of the great fashion journalist Caryn Franklin "All Women Deserve Great Fashion" could be the motto of this blog. So finding this range, tiny as it is, is just wonderful and I hope Evans is able to find sufficent quantities of their customers fall into the same neglected demographic as me.

I like Woman Like Us

2010-06-18T20:51:00.002+01:00

I'm very much in favour of a newish clothing website called Women Like Us. It features the designs of Tina Malhame who according to the site has designed for the likes of Monsoon and Marks & Spencer in the past and features a small selection of tunics and kaftans in sizes 10-22 which feature a wealth of unusual styling details that lift them into the realm of something a bit special. All their designs have sleeves (hurrah!) and necklines tend towards the modest. There is also a selection of casual jewellery designed to complement the tops. I would say that the clothes on the website are design rather than fashion led and would particularly suit those that love the sensual pleasure of natural fabrics and lots of textural effects such as ruffles, seaming and buttons.

I'd like to have reproduced a few images from their website but alas all are published in Flash and I can't grab stills from that format to show you, but I urge you to go and have a browse.

I can show you my new Medici Tunic which I ordered from the store at the beginning of the week and which arrived in the post within 2 days. Its a gorgeous turquoise linen with a really luxe looking bejewelled collar detail. Absolutely the perfect thing for wearing for a night out on a summer holiday.
The colour of the fabric is a bit brighter than the image shows here.

With your parcel you get a free brightly painted wooden bangle which is the kind of girly detail that further inspires my affection for this brand. I really hope that the collection takes off and starts to include a wider range of clothing.

And this is me

2010-06-14T20:30:00.001+01:00

Emboldened by some other bloggers who are far more widely read and better linked to than me I have decided to take the plunge and finally publish a photograph of me wearing some actual newly purchased clothes .

This outfit was bought, believe it or not, because I'm in a quandry about what to wear for a school trip to Alton Towers later this week. Obviously I want to be casual but still presentable at the end of a six hour bus trip to get there. I suspect that I won't wear this altogether and will probably give in to some jeans/tunic type combo but I still quite like the indivdual elements. All of which are from the Marks & Spencer Autograph range. I thought it might be interesting to compare how the items look on me with their model.

These are the Trousers which I really like though you might notice that they are coniderably less cropped on me. They have a cute peg-leg shape which is unlike anything else in my wardrobe and which does give a flattering silhouette.

I'm a bit less keen on this shrug but bought it in a fit of fear of British weather panic, in that I will always need an extra upper layer to ward off frostbite. It is a serviceable rather than a glamourous item but it does look good with the trousers. I'm also suspicious of viscose knits. i have one of those waterfall cardigans which I swear gains two inches every time I wear it out. Incidentally, I hate the way M&S have styled it over a leopard print top which to me just looks ill-matched and ugly.

Finally here is the shirt. Actually this looks better in the flesh than in either picture as it is a lovely silk/cotton mix and the shape is more like a dress with pin-tucks that puff out at the bottom.

Chafing

2010-05-30T20:49:00.001+01:00

This will be the least dignified blog post I am ever likely to write. Dressing can sometimes be a nasty business, especially in summer where the there is no option other than to wear fewer clothes and put more of your body on display. Some of this can be fun, in this category I would put self-tanning, body buffing, scrubbing and toenail painting; some are a bit of a chore, like constant depilation and some when you are my size at least, are just plain embarassing.

I speak of chafing, an inevitable consequence of summer temperatures coupled with the desire to wear a pretty dress. Most times in the past I have retreated into covering up areas which rub together. Evans still sell garments labelled "comfort shorts" which are really just knickers which cover your legs. They are functional but hardly exciting and you do live in fear of strong gusts of wind blowing what little cool you have away should you be caught wearing these in public.

A more modern solution is Spanx and its derivatives, of I which I have a drawer full. These are wonderful for smoothing bulges and pulling bits of you in but they are not something which I would want to wear everyday, especially in hot weather, save them for cocktail dresses and summer weddings.

So I am happy to be able to write that I have found a new option in the shape of Body Glide, a product imported from the US which comes packaged like a deodorant stick and which you simply apply to areas like your inner thighs where you are likely to rub and you can move about in comfort. So far I've used it with considerable sucess, while wearing my denim skirt today. Its not exactly been Saharan in Glasgow this weekend so I've not tested it to the limit of its abilities but I am confident that the product will work even if it needs re application.

The product is avaialble in the UK from Amazon, but I bought mine from a local independent running specialist Achilles Heel (also fine purveyors of FitFlops and Sports Bras) as the product was designed with highly toned athles in mind rather than fatties like me. Nonetheless it does the job.

So now that's out of the way here's a pic of just the kind of pretty skirt I should buy to celebrate my newly liberated legs

This Pretty Flippy Skirt is from Boden for £49.00

Clark's shoes-some summer styles that work

2010-05-02T09:32:00.001+01:00

My resistance to gladiator sandals hardens everytime I am in a mixed crowd in sunny conditions. I recently saw an extremely chic woman dressed in a breton top, navy blazer, coral scarf and good jeans all but undone by the ugly flapping straps around her feet. The Sartorialist has yet to feature anyone stylish wearing this item.
So what then to wear on your feet in summer? I have my beloved converse, but sometimes you want to dress up a bit more so I started browsing around and found a few lovely styles, surprisingly perhaps from Clarks, the high-street staple. All are available in UK sizes 4-8, including half-sizes in a standard width-fitting.

I have purchased this pair of gentle navy wedges already. I think they'll look perfect with a pair of cropped trousers from last year and I already have a navy bag to wear with them. The style is called "Pillion Race" which I'm not quite sure makes any sense as a name, can pillions race?

There are plenty of ugly shoes in Clarks so it can feel like finding a diamond in the rough when you see something acceptable on their shelves. I've shown another couple of desirable examples below from the summer collection, all retail for about £50.

This pair reminds me of the kind of thing Faye Dunaway would have worn in Network and to me has a whisper of Roger Vivier about it.

I love the funkiness of this style which is also comes in navy suede. I like it because its a wedge which gives plenty of height but which looks pretty easy to wear.

My Lovely Evans Bargain

2010-04-23T20:32:00.000+01:00

There is so much positive stuff on the blogging front about Evans that I have long wanted to join in the fun and write about all the desirable clothes I found in there. Trouble is I could never find anything much to buy there apart from the odd pair of cute shoes. The chain are ever improving though and in a recent visit to their Braehead branch I saw this perfect summer top hanging on the rails. Priced £29.99 I trooped happily off to the checkout to purchase said item; the lady behind the till scanned the label and asked me for £10. I questioned her mistake and so she checked another of the same item but no, still a bargainous tenner. I can only assume Philip Green is making so much money off Topshop and the other Arcadia stores that he gives away stuff to needy Evans shoppers for cost price. I'll be back. The top is also available in mid-blue. Can't locate on the Evans website, possibly because of the pricing anomaly.

A quick word on the hosiery front. I recently tried Scupltz tights and leggings which Planet are selling in their UK stores and found them pretty marvellous. Normally I'd pay what, £6 tops for a pair of M&S opaque tights. These babies cost £22 for a pair of their sheer shaper tights and are worth every penny and more. They fit beautifully have a great true black colour, hold me together nicely and have lasted a few machine washes. As a late adopter I'll be wearing their leggings (£33) under summer dresses and shifts safe in the knowledge that the knees will not have gone baggy, that's my idea of investment dressing.

Bodysuits

2010-03-21T11:53:00.000Z

The bodysuit seems to have returned to stores after a twenty+ year absence and I'm hailing this as a good thing. I remember these with great fondness from the late 80's when I had a drawer full of them from Oasis, Next and I think one by DKNY.
They are excellent for providing a nice smooth line around the waist and accentuating the torso. For the past few years we seem not to have been tucking things in but just letting tops kind of fall around that area (or shudder, creating a muffin top). Even if you are layering cardis or jackets on top to me it makes sense to have some neater proportion underneath. I always thought they looked particularly nice worn with a printed a-line skirt.
I first saw these on sale at my local Sainsbury's of all places. They had quite a few colours plus a leopard-print and a striped version all for £8-£10 including their plus sized True range. A net search located a few more sellers including Henry Holland for Debenhams and Oasis but not yet any of the high street sellers with extended size ranges. They will follow suit soon; just look at the current tragic situation with jeggings.
I think this time I'll be buying mine at American Apparel. Apologies for the cheesy photo but this is from their website

This version comes in four colours and has a high spandex content that will provide a nice bit of support and shaping. It goes up to size XL which should be OK for me as UK size 20. These things stretch trust me. I was also pleasantly surprised to find on the AA website that there are a fair number of styles in 2x and 3xl (not alas bodysuits as yet)

I cannot leave the subject without touching on the oft-commented on problems encountered in the ladies room whilst wearing these items. Again I take you back to the late 80's/early 90's which for me were my serious drinking days. Even through that haze I think I managed to avoid serious accidents and it was simply a matter of practice. Dungarees in my expeirence are far, far tricker to manage.

Yummy Tummy Mummy buys Mac

2010-03-07T09:19:00.003Z

Today I bring you the mildly exciting news that Boden now sells in sizes up to a UK 22. I found this out when I was searching for a new spring mac and was left in near despair by the unspiring choices available at my usual ports of call. I bought a Betty Jackson short Mac last year which looks fine on the hanger but once on my pudgy form the fabric belt twists and moves around and the shoulder flaps, well, flap. So I was looking for something streamlined but with distinctive styling. When I found this

Seems pretty perfect. Nice big buttons, good length, my favourite princess seaming; it should arrive in about three weeks so I look forward to reporting on its wearability.
I've used Boden a few times in the past, notably for their brushed cotton pyjama bottoms which kept me warm in bed over this last horrid winter. And their kidswear is very durable for those with an interest it that area.
I'm delighted that they are now expanding their range into a larger size; though I couldn't find a specific explanation why on their website, so I'm assuming its demand led. Boden have a niche market providing funky clothes to the middle-class, (approaching)middle-aged market. Their catalogues are always bursting with colour and are pretty things to flick through and their website is easy to use with excellent product descriptions and customer reviews. Its a sensible choice; you won't get the same hit shopping here as you might if you were grabbing a taffeta skirt in the Vivenne Westwood boutique but they do feature clothes that are classy and fun to wear like the silk dress and cardi combo below.

Colour?

2010-02-28T09:14:00.001Z

Presenting my new shoes, from Evans which I purchased yesterday. Pretty aren't they. But where the flippity am I actually going to wear them? And with what? Still its lovely to buy something that has a bit of colour to it, prancing about the house in them last night was spirit-lifting in itself.

I have to say sadly these were about the only thing in Evans that I wanted to buy. What with the relaunced blog and images from the spring catalogue that were light years ahead of the usual poly-jersey tat that the shop sells I was hopeful for better things. But I still found the selection very conservative and uninspiring and worst of all the quality of the materials used was pitiful. Print dresses that look pretty from a distance as you get closer show signs of limpness and lacklustre colour that would get considerably worse after a couple of washes (see how middle-aged I am).

I was unexpectedly in search of colour yesterday on a quick shopping trip into town which saw me purchase a green stripy cardigan from Betty Jackson Black (pic hopefully to follow) This makes it the third green cardigan in a row I've bought to celebrate spring. It must say something about me. Also whilst looking at depilators in Boots I was accosted by a young Benefit salesgirl who persuaded me to sample their lovely new Sugarbomb blush

Four colours in one-how could I resist?

Anna Scholz-In Black and White

2010-02-09T19:42:00.000Z

Anna Scholz has announced on her website today that she is splitting her collection in two. From now on there will be White Label using luxury fabrics and detail and selling at familiar designery prices (around £369 for a maxi dress) and more excitingly, for us mortals not posing for a magazine shoot, there is her new Black Label Collection which is priced a bit lower; this lovely poppy print dress is £195.

That's not as cheap as her diffusion collection for Simply Be, nor her erstwhile Debenhams line from the early 1990s which I loved, but its more accessible nonetheless. While I very much like the AS range and admire it as being one of a tiny number of high-end brands designed for plus-sized women I do feel that the shapes used are a bit repetitive. There is a sense that every collection retreads the wrap dress, maxi-dress and kaftan permutation in every new print that comes into her workshop. So while I might want to buy one dress for a summer wedding I'm not sure that I'd ever need a second one.

However there are some directional bits in the black label that seem fresh; like a cute nautical tunic which I think is a wise way to go towards developing a clientle. Also the website benefits hugely from having the clothes modelled on a human being rather than the old dress form. I'd still wish for more tailoring but still this is another reason to feel optimistic about the amount of choice there is out there for non-standard sizes. The range is available from UK size 18-28.

ASOS Curve

2010-02-03T17:23:00.001Z

It looks like it might be an excellent spring for plus-sized shopping. A few things have converged around just now to make me think things are rosier than they have been for ages. Firstly there was the publication in the Guardian last Saturday (30th January) of Young, Fat and Fabulous a glorious article by Kira Cochrane highlighting the vibrant world of plus sized fashion blogs which thrive despite an (until now) complete lack of media presence. I knew of some of the blogs mentioned such as Fatshionista and Fat Girls Like Nice Clothes Too but I had no idea of the scale and diversity of what's out there. I'll just mention The Pocket Rocket as one which is beautifully written and laid out for now. I guess the USP of this blog if it has one is that I'm a generation older that most others and I'm desperately trying to avoid the matron look. Not that Hattie Jacques couldn't rock a look, but still. My elusive search is for a middle ground where fashion concept meets quality. If Banana Republic made clothes in my size I'd have nothing else to write about.

From a scan of these blogs I've learned that Evans spring collection for 2010 looks to be a real leap forward in terms of style with delicate frilly dresses inspired by Chanel and Balmain shoulder-padded jackets. I'll look forward to browsing there for the first time in ages.

I'm also greatly inspired by the launch of a new collection in size 20-26 by ASOS called Curve which intelf is a genius name, how come noone did that before? Its a small collection of about 50 pieces including the boring basics like vests and leggings. (I guess we all need them for layering). However there are some fantastic things like a long line double breasted blazer and stone me: for the first time in my life i am considering the purchase of a jumpsuit as the range has a strangely alluring Chiffon cross -front number. It helps tremendously that all the range is shown on a real human model. I have already ordered the navy blue dress shown here to wear with skinny jeans and I'll need to find a chunky gold-chain necklace somewhere to go with this.

Nordstrom now ship to the UK

2010-01-30T17:51:00.002Z

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there is more choice in plus-sized fashion in the US compared to the UK. This is not something I've always found to be completely correct. Mainstream mall fashion like Lane Bryant is rubbish and nowhere does the comprehensive basics as well as our own Marks & Spencers do.

However American department stores do score highly in the middle market where there is a complete lack of choice in Britain. Stores like SAKS and and Neiman Marcus will routinely stock clothes from labels like Eileen Fisher and Anne Klein where the quality if not the style are way better than high street equivalents.

Now Nordstrom are providing a mail offer service in the UK . I should say this is across all their range not just plus-size clothing. But some of the clothes they offer are lovely like this dress by Adrianna Papell which is unlike anything I've seen on sale in this country. I need to find an excuse to order and wear it. There is also choice from some designer diffusion lables like Lauren by Ralph Lauren and the skinny-minnys favourite Calvin Klein is represented; check the lovely blue draped dress under this label that I am seriously coveting.

Bon'a parte

2010-01-28T17:41:00.003Z

Bon'a parte is a mail-order company originally from Denmark who are now selling in the Uk The styling in the catalogue is a bit odd; there are a lot of printed harem trousers and the like which look "interesting" on the models but I'm not sure if this would transfer well for a jaunt down Byres Road. That said there are some gorgeous things, put together in a wearable way and available up to a UK size 26. There is also an option to buy entire outfits as pictured, which maybe takes some of the creativity out of dressing but which might work well for the seriously time challenged trying to keep up with current trends
Overall the look is a prettier version of the casual layers you get in Fat Face or that Next misinterprets every season

Tanya Gold in today's Guardian

2010-01-22T11:32:00.005Z

I'm not sure I believe everything Tanya Gold has to say about why fashion is so hateful in today's Guardian but it sure is a great polemic

Click here to read

Happy Shopping News

2009-11-21T20:12:00.004Z

A couple of new developments on stores front this week that mean that against the prevailing tide there new places for non-standard sizes in the Glasgow area to find clothes.

Firstly there is a new mega-sized Sainsbury's near the Braehead Shopping Centre. Now mostly I turn my nose up at supermarket clothes, lousy styling and lousier trading policies leaving you wondering who is really paying for those £2 t-shirts. However Sainsbury's are very upfront about their sourcing and claim that their cotton t-shirts are fairly traded. The stuff is cheap, but not pile em high cheap. I bought a lovely tweed skirt for £25 and would have expected it to be priced about double that in Monsoon. The clothing range is also laid out in a spacious nicely-lit special area of the store so it avoids that jumble sale feel that you sometimes get from supermarket clothing. The Sainsburys TU range goes up to 22 in the mainstream range and includes a "Grace" range sized from 18-28.

Then in Glasgow today I visited the new H&M emporium that has taken over the ground floor of Buchanan Galleries. And Huzzah they have reinstated their BiB clothing which has not been available anywhere in the West of Scotland for a while now. This range tends towards the boxy and the word acrylic appears on labels at lot more often than I care for. However there are some very wearable things and its still its a major boost for fashion aliens to be able to walk into such a mainstream shop and just pick up a little number from their shelves.

I'd love to show a couple of pictures from these ranges but sadly neither Tu or BiB have a dedicated website that shows the range which just seems a bit odd really. You need to do actual shopping the old-fashioned way to source this stuff, and you can pick up your bread and milk at the same time.

My New Winter Coat

2009-11-02T19:14:00.003Z

I spend a lot of time surfing the web looking for new sources of distinctive clothes in larger sizes. I keep coming across the same 10-12 sites usually connected to the same mail-order group.
However it was my pleasure recently to find Curvety which I came across as one of those banner adds that skulk annoyingly at the side of your google search.
This site has a small but mostly well chosen selection of Clothes in sizes 16 up to 36 in some styles. As an example of how lovely their stock can be I direct you to the picture of my new winter coat.
Had I seen this in Monsoon or Planet I would be whooping for joy. Look at the lovely mismatched button detail and the flattering semi-princess shape with no annoying flappy belts or bits that just move around on larger bodies. I will watch this site with interest and hopefully purchase more from them

Tights of might

2009-10-15T20:32:00.003+01:00

So many things can wrong with tights that buying them can seem like an ordeal. Sagginess, chafing, rolling waistbands and holes that appear from nowhere can make these the most hated part of your lingerie wardrobe.
However if you find a pair that suits your shape then you will love them forever. Stocking up for winter now is a shopping ritual. First, check the fashion press for current trends (colour is still big as are patterns, texture not so much this year) and then you look for the best black opaques anyway.
So far this year I have gone as most everyone does to Marks & Spencer. There range is wonderful and this year is augmented by an extra-extra large size in some styles that gives some welcome choice to what is a very limited market for plus sizes. I particularly like the wide range of styles with a Bodyshaper top including those with zig-zag and diamond patterning.
However John Lewis has the edge on M&S this year with plain opaques that will fit up to a size 20 comfortably. The colours for these, including a good true black, are glowingly perfect and the fabric is durable but fits and holds it shape well.
For non-opaques I recommend Aristoc Body toner range which is like a nice pair of Spanx type thingies with tights attached which are reassuringly supportive and comfortable to wear and which come in a good selection of shaping styles High leg, low leg, tummy tuck,etc.
As an update I decided to broaden my search by trying a couple of continental pairs of black opaques bought from the UK Tights website. Classic Transparenze Sophie 70 and Cette Classic Dublin. Neither is as good as M&S or John Lewis's. The Transparenze in particular being a crotch-dangling nightmare to wear requiring frequent trips to the loo to hoist up. However the service from the website was quick and efficient if you want to try this mail-order option.

YES YES YES YES

2009-09-08T20:19:00.003+01:00

Every time I passed a bus stop for the last couple of weeks I've seen posters for New Look's Yes Yes jeans line. I happened to be shopping today and thought I'd have a look half expecting to come out with the usual scowls cause it would not be available in my size. I was happy to be proved most wrong. There was a full selection from the Yes Yes range in their Inspire section that goes up to size 26. And even better their core range of bootcut Jeans comes in 4 leg lengths; 28, 30, 32 and 34 inches.
The cost for these is £12. Amazing. I tried not to think about exhausted, overworked third world labourers as I handed over this small amount at the till. The fit of the jeans is good, a nice bit of stretch in the fabric and a good inky colour. I highly recommend these for anyone wanting a good basic pair of denims

The Secrets of Planet Fashion

2009-08-07T19:04:00.005+01:00

I've been writing this blog for a while now and through that time been searching magazines, websites and mail-order catalogues for the perfect place to shop for tailored clothes in natural fabrics that look distinctive and feel comfortable to wear.

How many times have I walked past Planet ? Either in one of its department store concessions or its high street store. I'd just discounted it as overpriced clothes for tall women with too much fussy detail.

I recently followed a link to their size guide where things are very generously proportioned. This led me into their Glasgow Store in Buchanan Street which feels pleasantly boutiquey and picked a selection of items to try: a wrap dress, jersey top and pair of boyfriend trousers as pictured left.

These have turned out to be just about the most comfortable pair of workwear trousers I have ever bought. The fabric has a slight pinstripe and is a soft wool with 4% elastane. It was reduced from £99 to £29 and I might never wear anything else. I did however need to get them taken up.

I loved the trousers so much that I asked the staff if there was a matching jacket, two people came to my aid. There was not a jacket but a waistcoat and were a bit apologetic that though it too was reduced in the sale it was not so much of a bargain having gone down only from £89 to £59 . I tried it on and again it looked and felt fantastic. Sold!

I didn't get the dress or top mostly because , as anyone keeping up with this blog will know. I have plenty of bloody clothes already and sometimes its good to show restraint.

However I think Planet is now my new favourite shop and I expect to be revisiting it plenty of times. I already am in love with this Jacket from their upcoming Autumn collection

One last lovely surprise was that when I went to pay at the cash desk I was offered a card that records my purchases over a year (including concessions) If I spend £500 (duh!) I get a £50 voucher back.

Also I was chatting to the woman serving, telling her how much I liked the stock. She said to me "Most of our customers buy their stuff in the sales" This is one of the most-honest and confidence-inspiring things anyone in retail has ever said to me. Its lovely to have a new store crush.

Shopping for Beth Ditto in Bluewater

2009-07-26T11:52:00.003+01:00

Just spent a week in Kent which is the opposite side of the country from where I live. Shopping was not something I really wanted to do but Friday was rainy and too miserable for sightseeing so en famille we trooped off to the famous Bluewater Shopping Centre just outside London, home of the banned hoodie. (I got Jackson to wear one there of course).
And although sad to say there was not much in the whole place available in plus sizes (A House of Fraser with nothing over a size 18 was a partiucular joy). However they did have a decent sized Evans wherin I had one of my oddest shopping experiences ever.
I'd not had a chance to look over the Beth Ditto at Evans range since its launch in early July and they had it displayed promiently at the front of the shop. There was also a very solicitous (though not plus-size) lady asking me what I thought of the range and recommending that I try on a couple of key pieces. This has never happended in Glasgow! I'm not sure if I liked it, she was friendly enough but the approach did seem a bit heavy-handed though it is a pleasant change from the outright hostility I've come across in other fashion emporia.
So I browsed through the clothes as discretely as possible. There are some cute things in the range for sure which the 20 year old me would have swooped up by the armful. I'd love this range to do well which would surely signal to fashion retailers that there is a market for directional clothes in larger sizes, but I'm just not confident that it will.
Anyway I picked up a pair of these lovely pumps which are possibly the most conservative items in the range. I'm wearing them write now and and love them, they are comfy, cute and distinctive. However again at the sales counter the assistant remarked "Oh, you are buying from the Beth Ditto range, isn't the stuff great?" and asked where I had heard about it. I mumbled something about the Evans website and tried to pay but she was up for a full dialogue about the merits of the clothing line. (There were others behind me waiting to be served too) Now I'm really puzzled by this and by my negative reaction to it. I want to be able to say that I enjoyed the attention of sales staff but I think I'm not quite up to it. I'd love to know if this sales pitch is normal for England, Bluewater or was it just a desparate Arcadia ploy to shift a difficult line in which they have over-invested? I may investigate farther...

Summer Dresses-Guardian Fashion pages in Public Service Surprise

2009-06-11T23:10:00.004+01:00

The Guardian yesterday carried a really rather terrific article about the joys of summer dresses.
This surprised me in a couple of ways. The piece was written by Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue which nowadays carries precious little advice for anyone who does not have a personal account at a select number of Notting Hill boutiques and it directly addressed (ahem) both the sensual joys of wearing a summer frock and some of the practicalities that you might want to consider when shopping for one, such as covering key body parts like upper arms and not remortgaging your house in order to afford one.
Even better accompanying it was a gallery of no fewer than 23 examples of desirable and wearable dresses including this fresh, linen wrap dress from my beloved Betty Jackson Black range.

In which I regain my shopping mojo

2009-05-30T18:04:00.004+01:00

For at least two or three months I've bought very little and had no chance to do any real shopping. I've looked at plenty of mail-order stuff and online catalogues but really these are not for me. Its nice getting something delivered to your door but nothing beats the thrill of actually coming across something in a shop and thinking how great it would be to wear that.
Also because of various orthopedic problems I'd not bought any pretty shoes for an age. I really don't like the multi strapped killer platform things that are in vogue at the moment and could not imagine where I could wear (never mind walk) in such a pair of things.
And yet it came to pass that last Saturday I was given just over two hours to myself at Braehead Shopping Centre, just on the outskirts of Glasgow. Not the most exclusive or inspiring place in the world but happily I was able to find plenty of things that I wanted to wear and even managed to make a few purchases.
In Dune I found a pair of elegant and wearable wedges for £50 then after happy browsing in Wallis and Monsoon and a mini make up blowout in Boots (my new vibrating Lancome mascara is quite something) I got into Marks and Spencer where they have a rather lovely selection of clothes to celebrate their 125th anniversary. Nothing there in my size though but I did get some new work clothes including this very sweet jacket which I am hoping will save me from death by boring black trouser suit at work.

Shopping in person for clothes is what I want to be able to do and happily in the mainstream part UK "high street" there is at the moment enough choice to make this an enjoyable experience. I wish that there was more choice and that some of the more exclusive retailers that I like were available more readily, butr really things aren't too bad.

Sizing Directory

2009-04-17T18:30:00.010+01:00

I thought it might be useful to record in one place the size range available in various UK stores. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this updated and expanded.
Should add the caveat that the actual sizes of garments will differ from one store's manufactuer to the next and also that not all sizes will be stocked in all places at all times.

Anne Harvey 16-30 limited petite range
Bravissimo 8-18 curvy, really curvy and super curvy
Debenhams:Betty Jackson Black 8-20
Debenhams: Rocha, John Rocha 8-22 (with short, regular and long trouser lengths to 22)
Dorothy Perkins 6-22
Evans 14-32
Jaeger 6-18
Marks & Spencer 6-24 (main range, short, medium and long trouser lengths)
Monsoon 8-22
New Look 6-18, Inspire range 18-26
Next 6-22, limited range up to 28, petite range up to 18
Planet 6-20
River Island 6-18 (x-short, short, medium and long trouser length)

Ethical Fashion

2009-04-15T19:42:00.004+01:00

Blogger: Fashion for Aliens - Create Post
Ethical fashion is not generally available over a size 14. Marks and Spencer is the big exception to this, you can have a whole wardrobe full of fair-trade cotton vests up to a size 28. However useful as these items undoubtedly are it is nice to find something a bit more distinctive made by a small scale producer.
So I was delighted to come across the mail-order label Quail by Mail
This is a Devon-based company promising ethical, fairtrade and organic fashion and a few of their designs go up to a size 20, including the pretty Amelie top pictured above. When I placed an order with them for this I was slightly disconcerted to find that the item would be made specially to order for me as is the case with all the items in my size. However having received it in the post I am very happy with the finished result. The sleeves in particular are well-cut and the top is very flattering. I'd love to see more producers getting involved in this sector of the market that were interested in designing for non standard body shapes, but I guess they need to know that there is a market out there that would be interested in purchasing from them.

Anne Harvey

2009-03-15T18:40:00.004Z

OK I'm scaring myself. Either I am finally turning into the frump-monger I'd always feared or the world is actually turning on its axis. Yesterday I found myself in Anne Harvey and actually coveting some of the clothes on offer there.
For the unfamiliar I can explain that AH have existed for the last 12 or so years and are prime High Street criminals as purveyors of elasticated polyester separates in sizes 12-28. They also had no internet presence until recently which meant that you would need to brave one of their ill considered store plans to look at their clothes.
The store layout and lighting is still from the seventies but the clothes themselves seemed to have improved in part. There was some particularly covetable outerwear. Including this jacket which is in slightly textured cotton blend (also in black). There were also a number of funnel necked formal coats in black, red and cream which were reduced from £90 to £70 and which I would certainly have bought for winter had I seen them earlier in the year.
Their size range also extends to a size 32 for some items and AH also do a petite range which I imagine must cater to a long neglected market, (especially in the West of Scotland, land of wee fat wummin). I'll certainly be keeping an eye on them and hope to post on future purchases soon.

Cast aside your Principles

2009-03-11T21:06:00.003Z

So farewell then Principles. The last remaining stores of this UK and Irish based chain are fast disappearing and so there is one less place that I can go to search for something that might just fit. I went into the Glasgow Braehead branch today and bought myself this cardi more for old times sake rather than anything else. My version is in a citrussy green and there is detail on the shoulders and sleeves which the pic does not capture. Shopping there was, as always, a maddening experience. Some of the stuff on sale was lovely including some really edgy deconstructed tailoring and some funky silk throwback 80's batwinged tops. However there was much arbitrariness in the sizing. Principles has never put sizes on hangers so you have to go through the swingtags painstakingly looking for what might be there in your size. Some stuff stops at 16 some at 18 and a tiny proportion at 20, but you could never rely on sales staff to help you with this and I certainly would not have pulled them up on this today. Similarly some starts at 8 and some at 10 so there is a lack of consistency at both ends of sizing.
This stuff just drives me crazy-where is the economic sense in making it a challenge for people to find what they want. Good layout of stock and knowleable staff should be nursery stuff for retailers nowadays but it is still ignored. Sorry about the rant I'm feeling very grumpy about this. I wish Principles were staying so I could post their head office with my complaints. Oh well

Bravissimo and Lingerie Shopping

2009-02-28T16:20:00.005Z

Bravissimo has grown in just a few years from a specialist retailer to a familiar high street presence. Their USP is "Lingerie, swimwear and clothing for D-K cup women" which is a rather inelegant way of saying that they are not a plus-size retailer as such but that their target market is big-boosomed women who may otherwise be slim waisted and snake-hipped. I know women like this and can empathise with the difficulty they have finding clothes that don't snag and gap simultaneously on different parts of their body.
The bonus for bigger women is that we can at least benefit from the lingerie. Bravissimo in common with other specialist retailers fit women for bras based on the size of their back and shoulders rather than measuring round the bust area. That means that they measure me as a size 36ff whereas in Marks & Spencers when I was last measured I was told to wear a 40c.
The big difference here is that if you fit yourself as advised by leaning down and scooping your boobies into a bra as you put it on (don't fret this becomes automatic after a week or two) then your chest sits higher and more flesh including the soft underarm tissue is supported. The first time you see this effect in a changing room mirror you'll be amazed as it can appear as if you've lost a fair bit of weight and your waist is emphasised as never before.
There is a downside to this which is that the fastening of the bra will emphasise all that lovely back fat and will dig in a bit more than is always comfortable. So while it should not be cutting off circulation you'll probably sigh with relief when you get your pyjamas on at the end of the day.
Bravissimo have also increasingly started to feature clothing in their stores and catalogue. With the majority of items going up to a size 18 in either curvy, really curvy or super curvy. But again as the naming suggests is only in the bust area that there is extra ease and so a size 20 tummy may not button into one of their shirts.
In terms of style there is not much here to set the heather alight. For me the pick from their recent collection is a safari-ish shirt dress shown above, but there are a lot of jersey wrap dresses to pick from which still make reasonable wardrobe staples.
Specialist independent lingerie shops still seem to exist in most Scottish towns where other types of shopping have been superceded entirely by chain stores. Some of my favourites are The Personal Touch in King Street Stirling and Upfront Lingerie in Dunfermline. I've found a better level of stock and service in these places than in any city centre store and would recommend them to all aliens.

Betty Jackson Black

2009-02-11T00:15:00.004Z

I've not really written much about the Betty Jackson Black range from Debenhams which is strange since it really provides the backbone of my Wardrobe. Over the last couple of years I've gotten a great black full-skirted shirtwaister dress (my own Mad Men office outfit) a couple of pairs of well cut trousers which are as kind as any garment can be to my size 20 proportions and this week I treated myself to a blush pink cardi with a lace placket, wearing it today for the first time I got a couple of complements and felt pretty and feminine wearing it.

On the Debenhams website there are some examples of why I think the range offers some of the best choice on the High Street at the moment. The Dress on the left is priced £50; I think it is about as flattering a garment as would be wearable for larger sizes while still being lovely in its own terms.
One of the ranges other great strengths is knitwear. Again I love to wear pretty cardigans and the embellishment and level of detail here are a step above the Marks & Spencer functional stuff.
Debenhams is not always the most pleasant place to shop, especially the crowded, strip lit department store in Glasgow, and some of the designers ranges they sell veer towards the tacky. But I'm pretty sure I would buy this stuff without the lure of the Jackson name. Almost all the range goes to a size 20 and prices are reasonable for the quality of the finish.

Jean Muir Exhibition

2009-01-25T20:47:00.003Z

I visited the Jean Muir Exhibition which is on at the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers St Edinburgh until March this year. The collection is stunning and well worth a visit for anyone with an interest in clothing. There are about 40 outfits on display, for me the most outstanding were the dark crepe dresses which unfortunately do not photograph well, but standing next to one the quality of the fabric and the drape and purity of line are breath-taking. My favourite pieces are a navy dress from 1972, with buttons at the front and pin-tucks which was just lovely. I was also very taken by a floor-length belted dress with contrast stiching at the neck.
It was poignant to see records of requisitions for fabric from mills in Scotland, long since gone and samples of the fabric dyes used in her clothes.
Miss Muir also was highly influential as knitwear designer and although some of the examples in the exhibition are 80's intarsia and thus on the far horizon of what is currently popular the quality of the workmanship is still admirable. I also loved the small selection of designs she produced for the Jane and Jane label in the 1960s including a Paisley Print dress trimmed with feather boa which is a design I've actually dreamed about before,pure B-52s glamour.
I'm happy to report that the exhibition also features something for us aliens too. A navy crepe cape tied with a pussy bow is captioned with the info that "Miss Muir designed for all shapes and sizes" I'd be very happy to wear this or just about anything else from the collection.

Alien Icons -part 2

2009-01-15T19:31:00.004Z

Adele is a young, pretty singer-songwriter whom I think dresses very well. Clearly she is larger than the norm for girly pop stars but it that does not seem to be such a big deal for her or most anyone who likes her. This a novelty in itself when Cheryl Cole and Amy Winehouse both seem ready to snap under the weight of their own hair. Adele tends to wear dark colours, a lot of layers and knitted items. A lot like the way I and a lot of fat girls dress, but also there is quality of playfulness in her clothes and grooming that I admire. I particularly like the way she upsweeps her hair in a sideways bun and wears a nice even line of black eyeliner which is a creates an uncluttered look which is just retro enough to suit her music.

Alien Icons

2009-01-14T22:50:00.004Z

I haven't bought much over Christmas and New Year. Mostly my splurging has been on yarn, most notably a Perl Gray kit to make this lovely bucket hat bought in the sale from Purlescence which has lots of gorgeous things, many currently on sale.

So in this spending lull I've been thinking about whose style I really admire and who actually influences the way that I dress.

One of my other Christmas Treats was a box set of the 4th series of Boston Legal. For the unintiated this is a marvellously anarchic and witty US prime time legal series starring two long-time heroes William Shatner and James Spader who spar beautifully in their leading roles. However as the series went on I realised that one of the things I looked forward to the most was to see what Candice Bergen, who plays Senior Partner Shirley Schmidt, was wearing in each scene. Bergen is a beautiful woman and as she eases into her sixties she has developed a distinctive style which is based around wearing dark suits with a high open neck and the most wonderful multi-stranded chunky necklaces. There is plenty of variation in this look which can look smart and business-like and still nod towards exoticism.
So this has inspired a style resolution for me to get chunky. Further fuel for this has come from a new Bead Company Shop which has opened in Glasgow's west end and has an exceptional range of the most gorgeous beads and stones imaginable.

Christmas Night out

2008-12-10T23:35:00.006Z

The Christmas night out column is a staple piece in the fashion journalist's repetoire, ususally focusing on the dilemma of whether to go for timeless verstile lbd which can be accessorised for the season (this also applies now to black trouser suits) or to go frothy, promy and lacey. I have never yet read a recommendation for a Christmas night out outfit that offers advice on how to keep warm while drinking on the move through the streets of Glasgow which is really what I need to know most.
There is also the other issue; gauging just how "dressed up" to be. Spending the night with colleagues you want to look as if you have definitely made a bit of an effort, but go overboard and they will treat you like the certifiably insane freak they think you look like.
So this year I'm working on a look that combines safe daywear in muted colours (a grey marl jersey cowl neck) with a skirt which is a bit more dressy (a midnight blue M&S a-line cutie with embroidery round the hem) and black patent shoe-boots which I love from Clarks. All a bit safe, but stuff in which I will feel comfortable and girly and be able to stagger towards the taxi-rank come closing time.
And I have my first ever bona-fide fashion tip to share. All big bosomed girls will no doubt be aware of the Gok-commandment that thou shall not strangle thy breasts in an unflattering polo-neck. All very true; but I have practiced draping sheer scarves and chunky long necklaces to create a kind of virtual v-neck which I think works very well and which adds weight to the top if you have a large undercarriage as I have. So I will be wearing plenty of interest around my neck in a kind of pile em high type

20% off day at M&S

2008-11-22T22:12:00.002Z

Well I was driving into work last Thursday and a news segment came on BBC Radio Scotland saying that there was a 20% sale off at Marks & Spencer, hmmm, there are inponderables there already, but I'll skip over them and say that I was mildy excited about the prospect of some retail therapy. Great, I thought I could skip over in my lunchbreak and stock up on opaque tights.

IF ONLY. When I got to the Braehead branch there was a line of cars stretching out the car park near enough to the M8. I managed to park several miles away from the branch and when I got there was faced by the prospect of queues in the clothing areas that would take at least an hour to work through. In front of me there were people with shopping trolleys piled high with jumpers, pyjamas and childrens games.

What does this tell me? That people are insane to put themselves through this sort of panic buying for nothing, that an incredibly simple sales ploy like this can work wonders for M&S who must have sold ten times their normal daily stock on Thursday and that there will be plenty of fluffy slippers under the tree in the Renfrewshire area come Christmas.

I did manage to grab some knickers and a few pairs of tights and paid for them with some sandwiches at one of the much less busy food area tills. I did also strike me that even with the overwhelming demand they still did have stock available in my size and with plenty of choice. Good old M&S

Ulla Popken

2008-11-09T21:02:00.003Z

Ulla Popken

is a German label who have a couple of High Street stores in the UK in Sailsbury and Walton on Thames. They also have an online presence and mail-order business. Sizes available are generally 16-34 and some trousers are available in a petite length. In terms of pricing and where they are targeting sales I'd say they are somewhere in that elusive gap between cheap and cheerful Evans and pricey and fusty Elvi. Some of the items in the catalogue are covetable with plenty of good jackets, trousers and sweatshirts. Knits are ususally in a cotton/acrylic blend. Not everything is great so you'd have to do a lot of editing, but you could find a good bit of kit from here if you were sick of trawling the high street for wearable clothes. The company also offers a monthly newsletter with special offers and online only collections.

Boden-my luxury sleepwear

2008-10-31T21:19:00.004Z

Whilst idling on the internet I bought these on impulse from Boden. £25 for a pair of pyjama bottoms! But I really am happy with them and thus can't begrudge the cost. Its also a good way to test Boden sizing,the 20 fits me well as they are comfy round the waist and hang well. I may try some clothes that I can wear outdoors. The fabric is gorgeous and cozy and the print is cute. They are like the wynciette pyjamas I remember from childhood, just a bit more stylish. Perfect to change into after a day in a business suit.

N'est ce pas une plus-size boutique

2008-10-18T11:20:00.002+01:00

Never again will I complain about the choice of clothes available on the British High Street. I'm just back from a week just outside Paris staying next to the enormous Val d'Europe shopping centre where I could barely find anything for wearing to buy.
The Shopping Centre itself is amazing. Over 200 shops including a huge Auchan hypermarket which had gorgeous food. Fantastic children's stores and great make-up places like the wonderful Sephora. There was also boutique after boutique including familiar names like H&M and Zara but the real draw for me was the plenty that I did not know. Here are a few: Bershka, Dorotennis, Un Jour Ailleurs. I was also excited to see a branch of Etam which was a great source of cheap clothes before it departed from UK stores about 10 years ago. However none of these places sold anything about what seemed to be a size 12. It was actually really noticeable that the shoppers there were overall smaller and slimmer than you see in comparision in the UK so I guess the demand is not there, but it was tres frustrating nonetheless to be stuck in fashion paradise without being able to buy anything. Such was the source of my frustration I for a moment seriously considered a cashmere sweater with a Minnie Mouse beaded front on sale in Disneyland Paris for only E138 up to size xxxl.
Not that I came home empty handed mind. I also visited the La Vallee Outlet Shopping Village connected to the Centre which has a truly mind-boggling range of discount stores including Missoni, Givenchy and Christian Lacroix. This is shopping as you actually dream about it. In the end I got a gorgeous Furla bag, though I also nearly splurged on a Marina Rinaldi dress from the MaxMara store.

Oh and Disneyland Paris was great too.

My New Winter Coat

2008-09-30T21:28:00.006+01:00

So in the end instead of buying the Jaeger Coat I loved at £450 I plumped on impulse for a Black Pea coat from Principles for £79. Its a bit of an odd construction as it looks like a classic double breasted design but with an inner zipped liner with a funnel neck. Being optimistic I imagine this will encourage good posture as I have to hold my neck up when wearing it to avoid looking like a turtle. Because of this all the weight of the coat is in the front and may need constant adjustment to stop it riding up.
The store I visited was in Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow. About 1/3 of the display is given over to a Petite range. They seem to have the same styles in this range as the mainstream stock and I wonder why the segregation. Is it to make things easier for shoppers?
Having checked out their website plenty of the styles were available in a 20. In fact a well-edited selection. In the store however I could find very little to try on. This was compounded by the fact that sizes are not on the hangers and the clothes were not hung in the usual size order (8 at the front working up to the biggest at the back) The store seemed pretty tidy otherwise but there was no logic to the displays and I was starting to feel a bit awkward checking every label. An assistant did approach me to ask if I needed help and with the Jaeger debacle still fresh in my mind I asked if she new if they carried anything in a size 20. She replied that there may be some things but thought that most of stuff in this size was sold online cause people "prefer it that way".
Reader, I bit my tongue. Well actually I just grunted and continued searching coming up after about 30 mins with the coat and a green cardigan.

Shopping at Jaeger-same old story

2008-09-20T20:04:00.002+01:00

Went into the Glasgow Branch of Jaeger today and truly they have some lovely stuff. The store is beautifully laid out and the staff were friendly but not pushy. I liked a gorgeous grey cocoon coat and a sheer snake print blouse but none of the stock on display went above a size 16. I plucked up the courage to ask if they carried anything in an 18 and when the assistant on the front desk checked and said that yes in fact the blouse I liked was available in the storeroom. What I assumed to be the manageress then chipped in with the usual "we only have space to display so much" excuse. If this is the case why is it always the biggest size left behind? I interpret this as purely another way to humiliate larger customers by making them asking for assistance. Plus if noone knows the stuff is there it dosen't get sold so Jaeger can say in future there is no point selling it. This makes me soooo angry. I didn't try the blouse but I may go back for it. I think with a pair of heels and my Marina Rinaldi jeans this would be an excellent winter going out outfit. Grazia have a 20% off coupon for Jaeger in this week's edition which would make a good dent in the price. I'll think on it for a couple of days.
As a follow up I emailed Jaeger's customer service to ask if it was their policy not to display larger sizes and I tried to tell them why this is so discouraging. Their response was to tell me that they phoned the Glasgow store and spoke to the manageress about it. Crivens-now they will hate me in there. How can I possibly go back?

Jaeger

2008-09-17T00:00:00.000+01:00

Its London Fashion Week and I've been following the excitement of most of the shows and the reception at No.10 hosted by Sarah Brown which seems to have been a success although I don't think Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood or Kate Moss were present and they are probably the three most influential people in British Fashion.
The show that has interested me most this week is that by Jaeger who have made a big impact in the fashion press over the last couple of seasons. There are some fantastic pieces most of which go up to a size 18 like a shaggy shearling coat or a techno dress that are on the very edge of my budget. Which is to say I could buy a coat or suit but then would have to just stay home and admire them for the next six months, still. But what really caught my eye was the designer Karen Boyd snapped on the catwalk at the end of the show. She looks a) fabulous and b) much the same shape as me. It shouldn't matter-only the clothes should matter, but my stars this gives me great comfort and hope. If a successful innovative designer can be a plus size then does that not mean that the high end of the fashion market can start making clothes for this market. Eh? Please.
I will fully investigate Jaeger in Glasgow and come back with a full wearability report.
Buying update-still no coat or boots for the winter as the red Wrap coat below is now out of stock and the Duo suede boots have not yet come into stock in black. However I have ordered the black and white ribbon tied duo shoes as I think they are reminscent of dancers shoes from 42nd street and it cheers me up to think of this.

2008-09-08T22:56:00.001+01:00

Next is a source of never ending frustration for me. It is one of the most ubiquitous shops on the British High Street, and one of the most inviting looking. Better yet it claims to offer mainstream sizing up to 22 and most stores now have a least a small petite section. I think it is a shop that attracts tremendous loyalty from devotees. In a hangover from their 80's origins it offers a co-ordinated "lifestyle" in a way which no other mass market store can compete with. In their adverts often you find a male and female model literally matched up clotheswise which is something no other store does. I know of one person -married, with a small son who rarely buys clothes or homewares anywhere else. Commendably their "Directory" has always prominently featured models from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, if not sizes.

However the designs it does sell are dreadfully pedestrian. Fashion led items are generally a season behind where everyone else has cottoned on to something. Witness this seasons emphasis on folky smocks. Next also has a touching devotion to cargo pants (they call them boarding trousers) which it features without fail year round. I think of these as their emblematic item these are essentially clothes made for wandering around shopping malls.

Where Next should score better is in office wear. They have the highest concentration of affordable business suits in the mass market. But for aliens like me there is a fundamental problem in their persistent failure to display any stock over a size 18. When you are an awkward size one of the last things you want to do is ask the (generally clueless) sales assistant for help checking the stock room and this has never gotten me anywhere in the past anyway and I'm told that I should just order from the catalogue. So much for impulse buying.

I do find this lip service to larger sizes really insulting. Next have recently introduced a small selection of clothes in a size 24-28 for sale only in their catalogue. But the items are not shown on a model and there is no business wear. Probably the best of the selection is a belted black jersey dress, but this is precisely the kind of thing that a buyer should try on before buying to get an idea of how it suits their body. (I tried on my first wrap dress in the wonderful Curvy Girl in Edinburgh after being persuaded by the assistant and immediately felt sexier)

Duo

2008-08-29T20:14:00.001+01:00

Far more influential blogs than this one have written about Duo The Somerset based firm that are the only place I know of selling calf-fitting boots in a range to fit between 30-50cm. Prices are typically £150-£200 but the quality is good and my first pair has lasted two Scottish winters. This year I'm thinking of purchasing their Navarra style a suede flat heeled boot that nods to this winter's principal boy trend. The company seems to be thriving and have gone from a mail-order only business to opening several "fitting rooms" where you can be measured by a trained assistant and try on any number of styles to get a sense of how they fit. After years of boot misery I was very sceptical about the service and the fitting was probably one of the most pleasurable shopping experiences I've ever had. Now that I'm familiar with the range I'm confident enough to order by mail.

Duo have also branched out to sell width fitting shoes. This is another neglected market in the UK and they should do well. Though the styles could do with being a bit more contemporary as there is an over-abundance of the kitten heel to a degree not seen since the mid-nineties heyday of LK Bennet. Some styles like the Daisy pictured here are much more sucessful

Suit Shopping

2008-08-23T17:32:00.001+01:00

As mentioned above I spent today shopping for a new trouser suit. Never a pleasant task when you are wide of hip and short of leg. Nonetheless I'm happy with my final purchase from the very reliable Betty Jackson Black range from Debenhams. I got a very plain black jacket with a Peter Pan collar and matching trousers in hallelujah! Shorter leg length. The range goes up to a generously cut size 20. The Quality and finish of this range for the price (£120 for the suit) is exceptional) Its a healthy sign that there is hardly ever anything from this range on sale. I think it fills a real gap in the market for women looking for a design led range that is not too flimsy and wearable for formal occassions.
Other places searched included Marks & Spencer where there were a few choices in somewhat garish looking stripes. There seemed to be a more promising Autograph Essentials range but not in any larger sizes in the branch I was in.
Then there is Next. I'll probably have a full rant in a future post on the size range there but suffice to say today there were plenty of good looking suits but not available on the racks in size 20-22.

Wrap

2008-08-20T23:23:00.001+01:00

After the bile in my last post I thought I should turn my attention to writing about a clothing range that I like and one of my favourites is Wrap a UK based mail order company who produce four seasonal catalogues throughout the year mostly of separates in natural fibres. Their size range goes from 8-22 and they have different length options available for trousers and skirts.

This spotted silk pleated blouse is a good example of why I like their stuff. Its quirky and distinctive looking,without being garish; it could pass for a Jaegar blouse. Furthermore it is made in pure silk; this does mean it costs £99 but my guess is that any purchaser would get good mileage from it as it could be teamed with jeans (as in the picture) or with a black wool skirt or trousers for work and be a signature piece for at least a season.

I also love this coat and am seriously considering purchasing it for this winter. Its £169 so I reason a coat is good value as it costs less than two blouses. Its 100% boiled wool and has a neat combination of both 50's and military styling. It comes in charcoal as well as the red but I think this colour works really well.

If I'm going to order it I guess I should act quickly as the larger sizes go fast. If Wrap had a high street presence where I could go in and touch the clothes I'd probably have a wardrobe of their stuff.

I'm hoping to go out shopping for a trouser suit for work this weekend. I'm determined to pick something wearable off the shelf. I'm pretty sure that I'll exhaust and depress myself in all the usual places before ending up in Marks & Spencer, but we'll see.

Why Fashion for Aliens

2008-08-11T23:16:00.000+01:00

This blog is my attempt to chronicle the difficulties that women who are non standard sizes have coping with the limited ranges that there are on the British High Street to dress themselves fashionably.
I'm a UK size 20-22 (US 18-20, Euro 48-50) and I have a reasonable amount of money to spend on clothes. I could drop about £250 on a Business Suit but I can find precious few places that will allow me to do so.
If things are difficult for me then I can't imagine how much of an effort it must be if I were less than 5ft tall, more than 6ft tall, or if I had a disability that affected the choices I made when I got dressed.
To the fashion industry we are fashion aliens; creatures as odd or exotic to designers as your average Latvian model might seem if she were parachuted behind the checkout at your local Morrisons. The fact that we are present in sizable numbers seems to count for very little because the industry likes templates that are easy to supply and stock in mass numbers so we are literally marginalised and "tokenised". Stores may claim to offer clothes in wide size ranges but in practice tiny numbers of the sizes at the top and bottom of the scale are produced and often they are not displayed or restocked after an initial sale.
In postings I'll try to find good sources of clothes and I'll name those I think are the worst offenders. I'll probably also use this as a forum for chronicling my own shopping habits.
I'd love any input from anyone that takes the time to read this stuff; mostly I'll just be grateful (and a little embarrased) if you do.

Ange.

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Shopping at Jaeger-same old story

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