The Curvy Goddess

Simply Yours Lingerie

A little while back the lovely people at Simply Yours asked me if I would do a review of some of their lingerie for them, obviously I was very happy to oblige!  I got to choose what I wanted to review and I opted for the;

 

Gok wan sex kitten corset

A Caryn Franklin under-wired bra

A Simply yours bra

 

I have to say, the gok corset is lovely! I opted for the black one (called deep on the website) and its very silky to touch and comes a bright pink ribbon (with Goks name all-over it) and a thicker black ribbon for when you fancy a change.  And of course you could do a Gok and buy a completely different colour of ribbon to wear with this corset if you liked! It was incredibly comfortable to wear and was excellent at slimming the waist, additionally I tried wearing it under a dress and it was not visible.  My only complaint would be that the corset could not contain my bosom for long!  However as this corset was a tight fit I suspect that I got the next size up, the corset would be able to hold me in and up,  plus if my bosom could be controlled I'd also be happy to wear this corset out!  

...

I've always had big boobs and as a teenager one thing that saddened me was that I only seemed to able to find bras that were either boringly practical or lacy and sexy, I could never find any bras with cute or colourful prints...  So when looking through the Simply Yours website and I spotted the Caryn Franklin bra, I thought immediately of my teenage self and decided that I had to have the bra!  When the bra arrived I was not disappointed, it is comfortable and very smooth, so it works well under fitted clothing.  And whilst being cute and comfy, this bra is also supportive -I absolutely love this bra!  Please make more Ms Franklin!

...On a similar note I also chose this Simply Yours bra, which I also thought looked cute and fun.  The bra fitted comfortably and was supportive however I just didn't like how it looked on me (I think I am too pale, unlike the lovely tanned model), but don't let that deter you from Simply Yours!  I have bought some great bras from them in the past and they have a large selection of cute and colourful bras to keep my inner teenager happy.

...

Thank you very much Charlotte at Simply Yours for letting me try some of the goodies from your site!

The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl...

In January Dietgirl wrote in her blog about someone who called in after one of her radio interviews saying...

"It's all very well this girl writing about losing loads of weight, but we all know it's just calories in, calories out."

Oh really Mrs Fuckwitington from Smugshire?  Well how comes then we in the UK have such an obesity problem?  I'm sure doctors and scientists may agree with you on the science (which is a flimsy concept at the best of times if you ask me!), but they also agree that it is much more than that.  Diets don't work, but longterm changes to lifestyle do.  And as Dietgirl quite rightly pointed out for most people struggling with lots of weight to lose, this is a journey and a long process.

Process is a good word and thats exactly what you see in The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl.  Don't expect diet tips, rules or guidance, instead you will be given hope and reassurance, knowledge that someone who had so much weight to lose could do it and in a senisble manner.  Fad diet it certainly is not!

You'll realise that it is perfectly human to occasionally succumb to the vending machine or to a tub of ben and jerrys and that Marks and Spencer is evil for creating their goddamn delicious mini cakes which are purchased for the flimiest of reasons.

Fellow dieters will be able to relate very much to the secret chocolate binges, the fear of what people think of you exercising and the longing for it all to be over with.

What I love most of all about this book is that you realise, if you want to change, you can. And there is so much to learn along the way!  In the end the prize is not the goal weight, but finally learning to love yourself, not matter what the body mass index says.

The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl is a must have to anyone on a diet/weight loss process, you'll feel all the better for knowing that someone else felt all the fear, cravings and insanity that linger in your head.  I really wish I had this book in the summer of 2006, it would have been just what I needed then.

Shauna you are great!

Alternative Plus Size Clothing

Lately I have often bitched and moaned here about how much I hate some of the current fashion trends.  To be honest, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a tunic, smock top or a maxi dress (despite my recent write up on them) because the truth is I am an alternative girl at heart.

Today in another list-a-rama frenzy on ebay, I noticed that most of the clothes I was selling were black.  Most of the jeans going were flared or baggy/wide-legged.  I am currently thinking about planning a end of diet shopping trip to the USA, mainly so I can go shopping in Hot Topic.

As 'alternative' can mean a multitude of styles, I guess the kind of 'alterntative' clothes that I like are the more girly ones, black gypsy wench style tops and dresses appeal to me, retro style clothing with a sexy fit and cutesy gothic lolita skirts.  All of which tend to flatter my curvy figure and huge boobs.  Of course of a lot of the figure flattering depends though if you can get clothes you want in your size!

My first and foremost tip in finding a good variety of alternative plus size clothing is always, always check ebay first!  The place is awash with the stuff, there are loads of small independent sellers who make stunning clothing and of course there are people like me selling on my now too big clothes.  And until plus size clothing improves here in the UK, ebay is an excellent place to make some money.  Once I bought some Hot Topic baggies from Ebay in the US for £25 (which included the postage costs), only to discover that they were ridicolously too long for me.  So I decided to sell them on ebay.  I sold them for £70 - yes £70. 

My second piece of advice is, bulk buy.  In the oh-so fickle world of fashion, I am sure you have noticed that a lot of styles and fabrics tend to repeat themselves and occasionally alternative styles become mainstream and popular.  So for the brief time that fashion seems to be producing clothes that you like for change, stock up on them.  The clothes will be cheap and they will be worth hoarding in your wardrobe for times like now, when you want the stupid bastards who brought smock tops into fashion put in the stocks for crimes against curvy women.

Finally those of you in the UK, when you do want to spend some money, check out the list of shops mentioned below...

Alienskin - I discovered Alienskin shortly I after I set up this blog and I want to buy all of their clothes!  Most of the stuff they sell is also available in plus sizes (except the bares range) and they also have a few bits modelled by plus size models!  They have recently revamped their site and it is very user friendly.  And, and!!!!  They have a size chart for every item of clothing which is very helpful! 

So if you have ever wanted to dress up like a fairy princess grab one of their Hazey Hazel Mini Skirts and a leafy layer top, then run off to the woods to find your Oberon...

Getting back to all important me ;-) I'm going to buy this skirt, either really soon or once I hit the all imortant next size down...

Also very worthy of a mention are Drac-in-a-Box, who until the weekend I did not realise had a plus size section in their shop (and it is quite an extensive collection!), but they do!  Although a bit on the pricey side, their clothes are absoutely stunning  - they have loads of velvet, corsets and PVC stuff.  My particular favourites are...

...Their "She looked good in ribbons" top...  I want one in black!  Although not for me this PVC dress looks amazing and I am almost tempted to go the opera if I can get this coat...

Another wonderful online discovery I have found is Moonmaiden, who produce all the velvet & lace clothes you could ever want...  However they do occasionally branch out a bit into fishnet, pvc and good old fashioned cotton.  Every thing is hand made, they frequently update their styles and the majority of what they sell is offered in plus sizes.  But one of the most amazing things about Moonmaiden is that you have loads of choice in the colours and trimmings, so whatever you buy - it will be unique!  And even though everything is hand made, personally I feel that everything they sell is very reasonably priced.  Once at my target weight I am gonna have a little Moonmaiden shoping spree!  Here are my favourites from their lovely site (so user friendly!)...

Their Fairy Net Mini is adorable and would go well with their sexy Vampire Siren Top...  And one of their newer designs is this - their Shadow Maiden Top absoutely gorgeous!  I want one now!

Well above are all of my favourites but please also check out the links below...  And just one little thing I haven't forgotten about corsets!  I will be doing a little ditty on corsets soon enough - I just felt they deserved their own blog entry.

Anyway here is the list of other places well worth checking out for alternative plus size clothing, some are in the US so watch out for import charges!

BeaBea - lots of stuff here - have some beautiful gothy tops.

Crimson Empress - in the US, friendly & helpful & of course all the velvet & pvc you could wish for...

Dare - a cornish based shop - online of course too.

Fashionoverdose - where Beth Ditto really should buy her clothes from.  Funky colourful alternative clothes.

Get Cutie - Brighton based alternative/vintage clothing - does bespoke clothing!

Goodgoth - US based has a big range!

Gothic Haven - make plus size corsets and check out the Pimp Alternative Clothing section of their site.

Hot Topic - Loads of stuff!   Check out Torrid too as they often have Tripp clothing there too.

Inkubus - Has some very unusual clothing!

Lillijean - US company selling adorable retro vintage style dresses and skirts...

Pin Up Girl Clothing - another US company that sells sexy retro clothing.

 

IGIGI

A little while ago I was contacted by a lovely lady from IGIGI who wanted know if I was interested in doing a garment review for them.

Well of course I was!  Any plus size woman here in the UK would love to try out and wear some of their gorgeous plus size clothes, which are far superior to anything we can get over here in the UK.  Lushious flowing gowns, sexy black lace and vibrant colours are available en-masse at IGIGI!

Upon trying on the Fantasy Wrap Top my boyfriend proceeded to tell me that he really loved the top on me because it made me look like a Ninja!  Well there you have it - if you are aiming for a sexy and mysterious look I would most recomend the Fantasy Wrap Top - men are guranteed to believe that you are some kind of secret agent...  On a more serious note - this top is gorgeous - the lace is comfortable and soft.  The camisole top that comes with it is not attached so you can wear it with other clothes too!  Often wrap tops confuse me - I spend ages in front of the mirror trying to make them work and that is certainly not the case with this top - it is idiot friendly.  The Fantasy Wrap Top is excellent for comfort and sexiness - definitely something to consider for any upcoming Christmas parties and any evening event!  Could be dressed down with a pair of jeans too.

The Michelle Godet Skirt is equally as beautiful and versitile!  It looks great with knee high boots and you can create a stylish shabby chic look by wearing it with flared jeans.  My inner goth also loved this skirt as it has a light mesh top layer that lets is gently flare out.  This skirt is also available in other colours and most recently in red - which looks great!  That said I think what I love most about the black version of this skirt is that it can be used to create so many different looks and is at the same time incredibly figure flattering.

 

I would throughly recommend to anyone in the UK seeking a special outfit to use IGIGI - it has some of the most glamourous plus size clothes I have ever seen and sells the kind of stuff that will make you feel like a fairytale goddess.  And their prices are great - speaking of which - I can save you some money!  Click on the little icon below to see how - save yourself 10%.  Checkout their Sale Rack!

 

Best of British Plus Size Fashion

A little while ago I did a piece on American plus size fashion and it is now time for me to restore the balance and write about British plus size clothes...

In the past couple of years there has been a big development in the number of on line retailers are solely dedicated to plus size clothes here in the UK, some say that this is to keep overweight and obese people away from the high street, leading to further alienation...  I say to hell with that - we've got a better range of shops!  Sadly the high street has lost a couple of good plus size ranges in the last couple of years.  First Evans scrapped their Seven range, I personally think they should have sacked their designers and Etam removed itself from the UK.  Those of us lucky to live in cities still have a reasonable range of shops to pick from, where as those in small towns are probably lucky to get a tiny Evans...

The On line Stores

My personal favourites for on line plus size shopping heaven are Big Girls Wardrobe and Simply Be.  Big Girls Wardrobe is very reasonably priced and up to date with current fashion trends and has an excellent range of gorgeous tops!  And there is Simply Be which has some gorgeous and sumptuous items, but sadly is rather expensive.  It is also the only on line retailer to offer the sexy Anna Scholz collection, which once again is too expensive.  Definitely on to shop at for those special occasions...

Others worth checking out are Pinc Clothing, which has quite a wide range of clothing, however I am put off by the poor pictures and the some what messy look to the website.  Picky I know, but one redeeming quality is that they actually have a shop!  A rarity and probably worth checking out if you live in wales... 

I also highly recommend Bonprix which is actually a French company, that has a .co.uk address, but they post stuff from France...  Anyway wherever they are you don't get charged high postage and there are no import charges to pay.  Bonprix has a plus size collection and quite a lot of their regular collection is also available in larger sizes.  Most importantly the clothes they sell are gorgeous every day wear!  They seem to be lacking and evening collection and you have to email them to get a size chart...  But they are so cheap, you can't complain really...

If you are after a way around of getting some American plus size clothes without paying through the roof in postage and import costs then check out the following links:

Kianet

Curvety.Com

Fully Figured Out (also has a great range of lingerie)

They sell a lot of clothes from Igigi, Size Appeal and a limited amount of B&Lu clothes, full price some of their items may seem too expensive, but wait until Sale time and you could well get a sexy item at half the price!

The High Street

Well I guess I have to start with the Uk's most well known and perhaps biggest plus size retailer.  Evans.

I have a love/hate relationship with Evans.  Mainly because I think they aim too old and at 27 I am just not ready to become a frump.  The love/hate comes from that one season they will produce some excellent, young and sexy clothes, the next flowery tents are all the rage.  Now you could argue that it is the changing fashion trends that leads to this, but it is more likely that their designers are not equipped to supply a younger generation with clothes.  It seems to me that the plus size market is well geared to providing clothes for the older plus size woman and the range for younger women is very poor.  And as I have mentioned here a few times, I am still angry that Evans scrapped their Seven range - it needed a rethink, rather than binning it altogether.

All of that aside, Evans does have an extensive range in their bigger stores and it is the only retailer solely committed to plus size clothes in the high street, across the country and that is an achievement.

For the younger plus size woman New Look and Mark One both have plus size ranges aimed towards a younger market (however thats not exclusively, they do have items suitable for all ages whither that is conscious or not I am not sure...).  There is also Mackays, which has some lovely items and Marks and Spencers plus size range, which for me personally I am not impressed by, but it does have some smart and simple pieces, which would make excellent office wear.

Well that is my current plus size clothes review and rant over with.  I still need look at the big catalogues and I am intending to do a piece about alternative plus size sellers...

The Americans Do it Best...

Sadly it seems that America does plus size best.  Which means for those of us in the UK that we have to pay high postage costs, possibly import charges or trip to the states!  Whatever it isn't going to be cheap. 

However despite the high price of getting their clothes here - several of the American retailers sell clothes extremely cheaply - so cheap that I may have convinced my boyfriend to come America with me at some point in the future to buy a load of saleable items and sell them on Ebay UK! That aside - a lot of these companies are selling gorgeous, young and fashionable clothes - that are superior to what is offered here in the UK.  I can only hope that one day one of the bigger chains will realise the potential markets abroad.

Torrid started out as a plus size clothes shop offering gothic and alternative wear - but then realised there was more money to be made selling plus size clothes in line with fashion trends and so 'turned pink'.  Torrid still sells the odd goth/alternative item, however its sister company Hot Topic which specialises in alternative wear - now has a plus size range, which is only available on line.

I recently discovered Alloy which is aimed at the teenage market - but it is quite conservative teen wear so I am sure those of us that are older could get away with wearing it and more importantly its cheap!

Alight is a web based shop that sells from a whole variety of different designers - the prices vary, as do the styles.  I recommend checking out the designs from Blue Plate, Ruby Rox and Nancy K - they are all reasonably priced and have some of the best dresses and tops I have ever seen in plus size - definitely one to shop at if you like your clothes to be funky or original...

I can also recommend B&LU which is another web based seller very cheap and fashionable clothes, once again aimed at teens but will suit most ages.  I recently brought this dress from them and totally love it! 

For special occasions you might be willing to pay a bit more - if you can it's definitely worth checking out IGIGI who have some gorgeous clothes - most of which I personally think are a bit too glamorous for everyday wear, but then I am a bit of a tomboy at times...  A lot of the IGIGI clothes you can buy through Kianet and therefore save money on having to pay big import charges (they may not however have all the latest items - but they usually turn up there...).  Similar to IGIGI is Kiyonna which sells some gorgeous and posh dresses, tops and jeans.  However they are pricey so be prepared to fork out your hard earned pennies.

It's such a shame there isn't as many decent British sellers - but I fully intend to soon write a 'Best of British' post...

On the Up Here in the UK!

I have discovered this week two new (well newish) fabulous collections of plus size clothes here in the UK!  Yes thats the UK!

I checked out Simply Be's new autumn collection and they are certainly improving - their winter range is gorgeous - lots of corsets, funky tops and beautiful skirts - all embracing some of the current fashion trends!  And there is also the Anna Scholz collection which is great for those of who can't get to the Anna Scholz collections in major cities...  Simply be has progressed loads since it started and its really encouraging to see them filling the gaps in the market!  That said a lot of their clothes and the Anna Scholz collection is pricey.  But they are sooo beautiful, its probably worth it.  On the cheaper front though - they do have some very cheap and pretty corsets in the region of £40-50 pounds (which ain't bad considering corsets can cost £90+).

And the wonderful Big Girls Wardrobe shop from ebay has moved up in the world!  They now have their own on line shop!  So now everyone can buy their great clothes - not just those of us with an ebay account.  Good luck to them, I hope they have shops soon...

Shopping Hell

Shopping being a plus size is not fun here in the UK- especially if you are at the younger end of the scale.  During the last couple of years we have also lost Etam's plus size range (which was a strange mix of fashionable and frumpy!) and the Seven range from Evans (which was terrible towards the end but previously had been very good). So on the high street that leaves us with Evans, Ann Harvey (yuk if you are in you 20's!), Inspire at Newlook, Mark One and Marks & Spencers plus size range.  That’s five shops - you could do your sale shopping in less than an hour if you wanted!  Of course there are one or two other lesser found shops that have plus size collections and there are a couple of the bigger retailers that offer sizes 16-22, but with the exception of Evans and Ann Harvey there are no other high street shops that are dedicated to plus sizes… And it often seems that certain shops take no care with their plus size ranges – one season you’ll find plenty of gorgeous things, the next t-shirts and jeans are the limit.

Online though it’s a completely different story - there is so much more choice and several online shops are dedicated to providing funky plus size clothes to those of us and of course there is ebay… 

In my opinion the BEST place to buy plus size clothes is ebay.  Why?  I'll tell you!  As long as you are savvy enough to know how to search - you can find anything you want.  You can get Etam and Seven range clothes, which are no longer in the shops, not to mention the various ebay shops, which sell new and fashionable clothes, and there are also several specialist designers which make and sell unusual and gothic clothing.  As ebay is worldwide institution you also have access to plus size clothes from America who do plus size far better than we do! And of course because a lot of the clothes on ebay are second hand you can get them cheap...

Some recommendations to check out on ebay UK:

Big Girl’s Wardrobe

There are quite a few shops similar to Big Girl’s Wardrobe on ebay – however most of them are just pale imitations of each other offering the same stock. Big Girl’s Wardrobe seems to have the edge, as it looks incredibly professional and adapts to fashion trends – it always seems to have items you won’t find anywhere else!

Elviras Closet

Elviras Closet sells some of the most beautiful gothic plus size clothing you’ll ever see! Lots of velvet, lace and polka dots! Whilst some their items are definitely club wear – a lot of them would make excellent evening wear… They also make lots of one off pieces for those of you who like their clothes unique.

Some tips on searching ebay…

Keep your search simple – try to keep it to one word. You will find quite a lot of clothes by searching for well known plus size ranges. I recommend the following:

• · Chapter
• · Inspire
• · Etam
• · Seven
• · Evans
• · Torrid
• · Hot Topic
• · Kiyonna
• · IGIGI

If you are looking for something more specific try searching for a detail eg. lace up or crochet… Its really a case of knowing what you want. Of course you can also window shop through the categories and you may come across something special. Its also worth expanding your searches to find ‘items available to the UK’ as you will then be able to see items from abroad too – as said before America has a far superior range of plus size shops which I will get on to at a later date…