YES YES YES YES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.