A Sailor's Sweetheart - A Collectif Review

*This dress was a gifted item

One of the best things for me is to get dressed up. When you're a bigger girl living in London the way you view yourself and fashion may be slightly different to the view of the average person. For years we have been limited with our options and it's only been the past few years that has brought new changes and opportunities to the forefront. The fashion industry as a whole has started to embrace the bigger girls and with it we have been awarded the chance to freely express ourselves. 

What I love about Collectif is that they create their dresses in sizes 6-22. I have to say I love that the brand has the same set of clothes available for standard and plus size women. So many brands have a separate range of clothing for us bigger girls and, more often than not the choices aren't as edgy or experimental. The good news is that the options that are coming from brands all over the place are becoming more stylish, edgy and generally more fun to wear.

Collectif recently contacted me and gave me the chance to review a dress. When I saw the Ginger Sailor Wing Bust Dress, I knew I instantly wanted to try it. My Sindy Doll sailor dress is one of my favourites and I absolutely love wearing it. As the shape of this dress is very similar, I knew it was one I could have fun with. I've selected this dress in a size 22. 

I love nothing more than slipping on a fun vintage dress, putting on a petticoat and really going all in with my look. When I was styling this dress I imagined being back in the 1950s. I pictured myself as the wife of a sailor in the Navy on my way to meet my husband whilst he came back from his tour. Funny I know but it's fun to play a character sometimes lol. 

I say it all the time, I love blue, any shade of blue and so this dress was one I was determined to have fun with. A great feature is the adjustable straps. These can be worn in a criss-cross fashion, in a halter style or the dress can be worn as a strapless number. In these pictures you'll see that I have taken pictures in both the criss-cross and halter-neck style. 

I should note that the belt of the dress has no loop holes for you to have a fixed closure. I found that from time to time when walking or moving the clasp would slip open. This to me was the only flaw in the dress but can easily be resolved by using another belt if you really want to wear the added accessory.

Hanna and I were taking full advantage of the hot London sun and so we decided to spend the day taking a ton of outfit pictures this previous Saturday. Whilst I was getting my dress together the lovely Diana was really sweet and borrowed me a few things to try with the dress. This gorgeous fascinator by Pearls And Swine was something I fell in love with at first sight. I love the gorgeous collection of white roses and the net detail attached. At first we weren't sure how this would look but I thought it completed the outfit beautifully. A simple white bolero was added and in some of my pictures a necklace of a ship was worn. Definitely in keeping with my sailor theme!

I of course selected my Michelle shoes from Hotter as my given footwear! It's no secret how much I love to spin and swirl in my pinup dresses and so I needed shoes that were perfect vintage styling and pain free. If you love to swing or jive dance I cannot stress enough how incredible these heels are! 

In keeping with usual style I wore my small hoop earrings for added jewellery. Applied some deep red lipstick to my usual vintage style makeup and I was ready and set to go! I always say it, have fun with your clothes. If something makes you feel amazing, wear it! Don't apologise for expressing yourself through fashion, that's exactly what fashion is all about! 

Good news ladies this amazing dress is currently on sale! The price has been slashed in half so if you want to try this one out for yourself be sure to pick one up now! Also any of you who do get this one I'd love to see your pics and how you styled it!

Remember whatever you wear, feel fabulous in it and wear it with a smile!

The Perfect Polkadot Classic - Collectif Dolores Doll!

So the start of the season has been an interesting one we have seen all kinds of weather but we were lucky to have a couple of weeks of nice warm sunshine. It was Hanna's birthday a couple of weeks ago and us girls decided we'd have dinner and drinks in a little pub in Hampstead. As the weather was so nice I was in a really cheerful mood and I just had to wear my favourite vintage dress, my while polka Dolores Doll! I have been to a few celebrations in this one and I always feel amazing wearing it.

It's no secret that I have a real love affair with classic prints and patterns, houndstooth, polka dots and paisley prints are must haves for me and I try to find clothes and accessories that are splashed in these patterns. What I love about this dress is firstly the vintage swing cut. This is one of those items that can be sexy, classic and understated all at the same time! The black and white colour makes this one easy to accesorise and play around with also. 

I love vintage inspired fashion and I always feel amazing in it! Many plus size women don't like to draw attention to themselves and I can understand that, the thing is vintage clothing always attracts attention but for all the right reasons! For one thing not that many people know where to buy clothes in the style and usually people go all in with victory rolls in their hair, cupcake accessories etc. others tend to adapt the clothes to suit more of a rockabilly style. In my case I simply love the dresses and like to find ways to incorporate them into my own personal style. I always wear my signature hoop earrings with my vintage dresses for example and I like to add my own personal touches in places. 

I usually wear this dress with a petticoat but this time I thought it would go without. I tend to wear this one with a bright and bold bolero or cardigan. I usually go for red as I love wearing my red petticoat, cinch belt and bolero. This time around I was feeling pretty girly and so I opted for a hot pink cardigan and matching paisley print bandana. I should note that this dress is extremely giving and most women tend to downsize 1-2 dress sizes. I wear a Dolores dress in a size 20 to give myself enough boob room. The skirt is a full size circle skirt and so you could wear this with multiple petticoats if you wanted that really poofy look in the skirt. 

I don't tend to show much skin so the length of this dress is perfect for me as it stops just below the knee. Even though my confidence has soared over the past couple of years there are certain areas of my body I have always liked the look of and I have always liked the look of my cleavage. This dress moulds and shapes my bust in a way that makes them look really full and shapely and I really enjoy that element of wearing vintage fashion. Dresses in this shape tend to flatter women of all shapes and sizes with varying sizes of bust too.

For footwear I thought I would keep it simple and go for a pair of balerina pumps. These pink and purple floral ones were a complete steal! I picked these up in Primark for just £4! When it comes to my makeup you may have noticed I don't switch things up that much. True to my personal style and a signature feature in vintage beauty is winged eyeliner. I always wear mine winged as I like to enhance the shape of my eyes. I managed to find a deep pink lipstick to tie in everything and I was ready to have a fun evening. 

For full review of this dress check out my post here. Also in the Dolores Doll style I reviewed the gorgeous summer bouquet print also. Check it out here. 

Also check out how the gorgeous Georgina and Caroline have styled this dress on their blogs x

Remember whatever you wear, feel fabulous in it and wear it with a smile!

Collectif Dolores Doll Summer Bouquet Review

I have officially fallen in love with the most gorgeous dress, the Dolores Doll Summer Bouquet!

It's no secret how much I love vintage swing dresses. The style is classic, sexy and amazingly fun to wear! When I picked up a Dolores Doll dress last year I absolutely loved the fit, length and cut of the dress. The Summer Bouquet dress was one I really wanted to get my hands on last year but it was often out of stock in my size. The original print of the dress comes in a gorgeous yellow and green floral design. I will be honest when I ordered the dress I expected to get the original print delivered to me in one of those hot pink Collectif packages. So when I pulled out this gorgeous pink and navy print I was even happier than expected, the colours are really nice and I love how they sit against my skin tone. 

The beautiful Georgina Horne from Fuller Figure Fuller Bust modelling the Summer Bouquet dress.

Image Courtesy Of Collectif

 I like for my dresses to cling to all the right spots and hang loose on all the other parts. When I select a dress to wear, comfort is usually my first port of call and then I consider what might work for the given weather or what might best suit the events taking place that day. As I have been creating quite a collection of dresses from Collectif I knew that this one would fit perfectly, and accompany many other items in my wardrobe.

To be totally honest with you every single person I have seen wear these dresses looks amazing in them and I'm not surprised that every time I have wanted one I have had to act fast to grab my size! Luckily for me when I picked this one up a couple of weeks ago the dress was on sale and I got it for almost half of the price, so I guess you could say I was pleasantly surprised twice over!

The stretch fabric is very generous and most women have to downsize in this style by 1 sometimes 2 dress sizes. I wear this style in a size 20 and I tend to pair mine with a petticoat. Available in sizes 6-22 this style is open to many ladies out there. 98% cotton and 2% elastane, the fabric feels great on and is washing machine friendly, never have the colours on any of my Collectif dresses ran or faded so for me I find these an amazing investment. 

I think for me I enjoy the Dolores Doll style so much because the cut suits women of all shapes and sizes. I have found in the past that buying a dress that leaves enough boob room can be a challenge. This style of dress not only is very roomy in that area, I actually don't mind having a heavy cleavage on show when I wear this cut of dress. I feel incredibly womanly when I wear my vintage dresses and I look forward to picking up even more Dolores Doll dresses in the future.

I am pictured here wearing my white petticoat from Vivien Of Holloway. I actually prefer wearing petticoats when I wear my vintage dresses. I like the way that the fabric drapes over the underskirt and showcases the print that little bit more. I decided to wear a simple black bolero with this one and bring out my black platform heels to match. As this dress is all about the followers I thought it would be wrong for me not to wear any in my hair so my trusty white hair roses from Black rose were a must!

Check out my previous post about the Dolores Doll In Polka Dot print here:

For more reviews and styles in this cut check out the reviews by Curvy Wordy and Fuller Figure Fuller Bust.

Faye Floral Doll Dress - A Collectif Clothing Review

One of the things I absolutely love to do is get myself all dolled up for a night on the town! When I first laid eyes on the gorgeous Faye Floral Doll Dress by Collectif I knew instantly that it had to be mine! When you have that amazing night out or date with that special someone circled in the diary; you want more than anything to look your absolute best. The ritual of getting ready is one that many women enjoy; for me I like to spend as little time as possible and have a simple but show stopping outfit that can do all the talking for me...

Hair and MUA and photography by Aprea Chiara

Styling by Chiara and myself.
Please do not copy or edit any images without permission from model and photographer.

When I think of the fashion from the 1940s and 1950s one word springs to mind, glamour. 

Beautiful stars like Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Davis, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich and many more had one thing in common. These women were some of the best dressed ladies out there! It is through their fashions and many others before them that we now have new variations of the style that was common place to them back in the day!

The Faye Dress by Collectif to me is a special piece. With the sweetheart detail that is surrounded by a cluster of flowers, tulle shoulders with dress overlay, and built in petticoats you simply cannot go wrong! There are so many black dresses out there that are beautiful, many of which need some added help in making them stand out amongst the rest. With many of my other dresses I find myself searching for Boleros, petticoats and belts to give them that extra something. When it came to wearing this dress the only addition I wanted to add to the look was a serious vintage hair style and so as you can see when I did my photoshoot with Chiara Aprea I opted for a major victory roll! 

Hair and MUA and photography by Aprea Chiara

Styling by Chiara and myself.
Please do not copy or edit any images without permission from model and photographer.

 Now when it comes to the fit of the dress I will be honest, I had to size up twice in this dress and pick up a 3xl. The reason for this is that the tulle over the bust and shoulders has absolutely no stretch so if you do have a sizeable bust as I do, bare that in mind. I usually wear a 20 or 22 in Collectif clothing which in this dress would be a 1xl or 2xl. If you do have a smaller size bust then you may be able to wear your regular size. The skirt of the dress fit me perfectly in the 1xl but I simply needed the extra wiggle room in the bust area. In these pictures I am wearing an over bust corset but the dress does fit me perfectly without it, I simply wanted to enhance the curvature in my waist for the photographs. The body of the dress has plenty of room and the built in petticoat gives it that extra something that would be perfect for a dinner date or a night of swing dancing! 

Stock Images Courtesy Of Collectif

I can't wait to actually wear this one out and about as I feel so beautiful wearing it and I know I'm not the only one! The great news is that this dress is available in a range of sizes and is one of the first dresses that Collectif has introduced with a plus size range going all the way up to 4xl. The £115 dress may not be a cheap purchase but it really is worth the cost as the quality is amazing and the style is timeless! I was able to pick this one up in sale and in even better news, the plus sizes 1xl - 4xl are still on sale and reduced to an amazing £65!

Check out these reviews by the beautiful Georgina A.K.A Fuller Figure Fuller Bust and the lovely Sarah A.K.A Plus Size Proud 

My Collectif Spring And Summer Wish List!

One thing about Collectif that I have to warn you all about............

BUYING THEIR CLOTHES BECOMES ADDICTIVE!

It's no secret how much I love their clothes and I can't wait for you all to see some of the new pictures I took wearing my latest Collectif purchase (post is coming for that one real soon). The new spring and summer collection is just amazing! I love the different looks and prints available and I already have my eye on a few bits! Here are the items in my wish list!

Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a few of them before they all sell out. I can already think of when and where I might want to wear some of these gorgeous items and with a holiday hopefully on the horizon I hope to try some of these out overseas too.

Here's my spring and summer wish list:

Marina Jumper £29.50

Carmen Lace Skirt - Was £65 Now £49.50

There are so many more amazing items to come and many of them aren't even on the site yet! Here are some of the others catching my eye:

Kathryn Polka Dot Dress

Jemima Stripped Doll Dress

Dorothy Tulle Floral Swing Dress

Viviene Lace Pencil Dress

Bernadette Sailor Blazer, Wendy Sailor Blouse & Bernadette Sailor Trousers

There are so many amazing looks to pick from, casual, dressy, sexy and sassy and of course they all come with the vintage flair! No doubt I'm not the only one who will be filling their wardrobe with some of the new collection this summer. If you've checked out the collection yourself please drop me a message and let me know what you have your eye on.

For more details on other items and prices check out the website www.collectif.co.uk

My Top Looks From 2013

2013 was a really jam packed and eventful year for me! I was thrust into the plus size community and went from being a reader of blogs to starting up this one of my own. One of my new years resolutions for last year was to work on my self confidence and to branch out a lot more with my sense of style and I am so happy to say that I achieved these goals! Now I have a long way to go with where I want to be but I have to say it feels good to be in a place where I can say I have embraced myself.

I started last year with the outlook that I was going to make the most of what I have and do my utmost to step out try some new things with my sense of style. My mission was to take my all black wardrobe and I throw some heavy bursts of colour in there. My choice of style went from vintage pinup to bodycon chic in a matter of weeks!

I scoured internet pages everywhere to see how girls with a similar size and shape were dressing and I soon found some things that I wanted to try out and I have to say I am so proud that I did! 

Here are some of my favourite looks from 2013 and why they topped my list!

I fell in love with the Collectif Clothing range this year and I cannot wait to get more items from them! The clothes are fun, sassy and gorgeous and best of all, vintage! I absolutely love vintage fashion and I always have back from watching shows like happy days and movies like grease when I was younger.  I always wanted a dress that twirled so wide it was a show stopper. And anyone who knows me personally will know that i'm more than happy to shake what I have on the dance floor too!

The Dolores Doll, Sindy Doll, Gretal Gingham dresses and Blue Dietrich coat were my favourites! I have to admit I have several pieces from Collectif and I aim to double or even triple that amount in 2014! 

Some other items I bought but have yet to review are these lovely beauties: 

Stock Image Courtesy of Collectif

The Betty Lou skirt

I just love the little bow on this one and I love how it looks on!

Doesn't Georgina A.K.A Fuller Figure Fuller Bust look amazing in this outfit!?!

 

Stock Images Courtesy of Collectif

After I fell in love with the Dolores Doll Dress I had to pick up these hot Dolores tops!

I'll be sure to write reviews for these items very soon!

It's no secret how much I loved the Powerfit dress by Scarlet & Jo exclusively for Evans. This dress had something so cool about it and the fact that it was such a versatile number with so many different colour ways available was reason enough for any woman to get excited! These are my top 3 out of the 5 I bought! Of all the bodycon dresses I picked up this year I loved the Powerfit range the best as they had a sophistication that the others didn't. I have worn these dresses in many different situations and I feel like a million dollars each and every time! 

I loved playing around with different forms of clothing this year and some of the freshest looks for me were these! I bought my first swimdress and cover up from Evans this year but I have yet to try them out in a hot holiday destination, so when I do I'll let you know how I get on with them! 

The bodycon dresses you see below are from Asos. The Geo print and the XOXO dresses were the two styles I selected. I wanted to go daring and try something totally new and I think these dresses seriously tested my usual sense of style!

Overall 2013 was a fun year and I did and saw so much, made some fantastic friends and really pushed my own personal limits with what I previously would have been way to scared to even try on let alone walk down the street in! I look forward to seeing what fun and interesting looks 2014 has to offer and I'll be sure to keep you guys posted! 

Have a fantastic 2014! Let's make this year ours!!

Links:

www.collectif.co.uk

www.evans.co.uk

www.asos.com

www.fullerfigurefullerbust.com

Collectif Gretel Gingham Swing Dress Review

When it comes to Vintage dresses there are various styles and prints that will ALWAYS be in style! Polka dots, cherries, swallows and gingham fabrics. 

As you all know when I see something I like the look of I will push and push and push to get hold of it! I first saw this dress modelled by the beautiful Georgina Horne AKA Fuller Figure Fuller Bust. Not only did she give the dress a fantastic review, she was used as the model on the Collectif website. After reading her post on this gorgeous number I knew I had to try and get hold of my own dress. 

I ran down to the Camden store to see what vintage treats I might find and of course scope out the dress! Unfortunately the dress that was in store was a size too small for me as I needed something to accommodate my large bust. I wasn't put off however, my main purpose for this shopping trip was to see if the dress suited me and felt comfortable on. 

To my luck when I was ready to order the dress, Collectif were having a fantastic online sale which I took full advantage of! I ordered this dress in a size 22 Which for me fits really comfortably with plenty of space across my curves and just enough boob room for the cute heart shape buttons not to gape. I already knew that I would wear this dress the same way I wear my others with a bolero and cinch belt. I like to colour coordinate my clothes and so depending on my mood I work from the colours in the dress. White or red accessories and boleros would work with this dress or if you want something a little more striking you could of course add some black hints. 

This is one that I have worn both with and without a petticoat. The photo above was taken as soon as I got the dress out of the packet and tried it on! I love the light weight feel of the fabric and the cute trim. I'll be honest with you; depending on the look you want to achieve and on your body shape you may need to go up a size. This dress is available in UK sizes 6-22 but the fabric doesn't allow for much stretch. If you hold a curvier frame or slightly larger bust I would recommend trying this in a larger size. 

I have to say every time I have worn this dress I have gotten the most amazing compliments from people. It really is a show stopper and you can't help but feel dainty and feminine in this number!

I personally would only wear this dress on warmer days as the fabric is so light but I think there is a lot you could do with this one. If you are trying to get more of a pin-up look then heels or patent flats would be a great addition with maybe a hair flower, and jewellery. You could take this one in another direction and wear it with a denim jacket and brown boots, this would give you more of a country or cowgirl look and would take the style to another dimension. 

As you know I love the clothes from Collectif for their style, versatility and quality so it really is worth giving them a try. Trust me you won't regret it! This dress is still available on their website and in stores.

www.collectif.co.uk

Stock Image Courtesy Of Collectif