Six Take - Happy Halloween! - Here is What I Dressed Up As!

Hello My Plus-Size Ghouls and Goblins!

Happy Hallowe'en!!! I just thought I would write a quick post to show you what I am dressed up as today. I wore this to class (I teach Children's Lit at a university), and there was practically no one on campus dressed up. :( I got a few disapproving stares from passers-by, but I don't really care. I am an individual, and today is one of the best days to show it off (because you get to be even more outrageous with your outfit choices than usual! LOVE!!!). So it was just me and one student in my class, who dressed up like a tuxedo-ed lego man. Pretty awesome costume. I hope he puts as much effort into his essay as he did making it! If he does, I know it will be fantastic. Anyways, without further ado, here it is, my Helena Bonham Carter inspired witch.

Jacket - Delirium Clothing (Waterloo, ON)/Skirt and Petticoat- Courtesy of Sofistafunk/Boots - Courtesy of Torrid/Top (not really visible underneath jacket) - Forever 21+/Fingerless Lace Gloves - Urban Behaviour/Sunglasses - Vintage/Hat - Dollarama/Nail Polish - Ski Teal We Drop by OPI

One thing I consistently hate about hallowe'en costumes is the flimsy fabric used. Like, if I wouldn't wear this outside under normal circumstances, why would I wear it now? O_o

That's why I love putting costumes together out of fashion pieces I already own.

All of the pieces here are a part of my normal, everyday-wear wardrobe, I just don't typically mix them together because it's a bit over-the-top for my style. I would normal wear one of these "statement" pieces on its own with some basics and it looks fashionable and not at all costume-y. But when Hallowe'en rolls around, I mix several statement pieces together, and voila! I have a very couture inspired costume! =D

What are you going as tonight?

Have a happy and safe hallowe'en, and send me pictures! I can't wait to see what you're all wearing!

Make sure you visit the other girls' blogs to see what they dressed up as!

Rikke from Sticky, Sweet Danish, Jessica from tooMANYsequins, Jessica from Chic in Every City, Yoli from Diva in Deep Thought, and Sarah from Queen Sized Flava made in Montreal

City Chic has a site-wide 60% off sale! Today only!

Need I say more? Go SHOP! They have some amazing dresses and outerwear right now. Love it!!!

Toronto LG Fashion Week - Thanks to L'oreal Paris Canada!

Hey Everyone,

I realize that this is coming a bit late - you've probably all seen a bazillion posts about LGFW, but not from the perspective of a curvy girl, so hopefully it was worth the wait!

I meant to buy the full week-long media pass for LGFW, but I put it off too long (waiting for my paycheck to come in) and by the time I actually got around to wanting to place my order, they were already all gone :( I was praying to the fashion gods all week long to let me go and see at least one show. You can imagine my surprise when they answered!

I had been tweeting people who were involved in LGFW all week to see if they had any spare tickets floating around. No such luck. Finally, I entered a twitter contest with L'oreal Paris Canada, and I WON! Honestly, this has been the winning-est two months of my life. I hardly won anything up until then, but now, I am on quite a streak!

I was totally excited about the shows (Caroline Neron, Bustle, and VAWK [if you watch Project Runway Canada, this is Sunny Fong's line and I was really excited about it]). I found out that I won the tickets like less than an hour before we had to leave to see the first show, so you can imagine what my bedroom and closet looked like after I had finished picking out my outfit! I didn't have as much time to style myself as I would have liked, so I just fell back on the dress I like to call "'ol faithful" because it's always an easy choice if I'm not sure what I want to wear and I have to look presentable in a hurry. I tried to jazz it up a bit with some seventies-inspired jewellery and accessories. Do you think I pulled it off?

Outside the tents at the step-and-repeat. I was so excited!





On the red carpet with my red vintage suede jacket...

And without the jacket... Brr...

Inside, near the box office






































In the "Fashion Environment." There were a few sponsors here: Special K, DHL, Woolite...




































When I saw this maple leaf, I was like OH MY GOD. It's the perfect backdrop for a blog picture! Especially since I'm "Curvy Canadian"!

I know that was a lot of shots of the same outfit, which I apologize for, but I was just having so much fun posing everywhere! Here are some close-ups of the pieces:

Dress - ASOS Curve/Belt, Breacelets, and Earrings - Forever 21+/Thrifted Vintage/Necklace - Laura/Purse - CBX/Shoes - Charlotte Russe

I guess I should also show you some pictures of the fantastic stuff I saw on the runway too, huh? Okay... Highlights from:

Caroline Neron

Image Courtesy of Fashion Magazine



Image Courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen



I was actually lucky enough to be able to take a short video of the finale of Caroline Neron's show. Check it out:

Such stunning jewellery! The show was really fantastic and actually had a theme. The women were different cultural interpretations of goddess figures. They definitely looked the part. They were ethereal and beautiful and were shining so brightly that you could actually almost believe they were from another world. I would give Caroline Neron five stars for this show. I was so impressed. I don't wear jewellery like this every day (obviously), but when I am looking for my wedding bling, I know where to go!

The next show was Bustle, a menswear line. There were a lot of nautical inspired looks and some pastels mixed in for good measure. It's a really preppy line. Peter was with me and he really liked a lot of the looks.



Image courtesy of fashionist.ca

Sonny Fong's collection for VAWK was amazing, and was insect-themed. There was one skirt in particular that I fell pretty hard for (sort of like the middle picture, but it also covered the front, lol). What I liked about this show was that they used both a fuller-figure (size 12) model, and a more mature (62 years old) model. I would like to see more of that, of course in the show (2 out of like 25 models were "diverse" beauties), but I know we have to start somewhere.



Image Courtesy of Toronto Life

Another thing I noticed was that there were A LOT of curvy girls attending the shows. If there are this many fashionable curvy women in Canada, where are the brands to cater to us? Canada has a long way to come in terms of serving the curvy market. It seemed like most of the clothes that the fashionable curvy women were wearing were from UK retailers. Another thing I would like to see is a plus size label (or a few of them) exhibiting at Toronto Fashion week. If you really want to impress the truly fashionable curvy women out there, you'll should be able to put your clothes on display in the international public eye! More plus size brands and designers need to step up to provide options for the young and vibrant curvy women who want fashion in their lives. Personally, I would love to do all my shopping in Canada, but if I want to achieve the aesthetic I'm going for, then that's just not a viable option for me. Anyway, enough ranting!

I owe big big thanks to L'oreal Paris Canada for holding the contest so that I could come and partake in the Toronto Fashion Week joy! Thank you so much! It was great to meet you and have you host me at the shows! I had such an amazing time! =D

A/W 2011 Wishlist

Hey Guys!

I've been wanting to do one of these for a while now, and I am only now getting around to it! These are my picks for A/W 2011. I wish I could have all of these items, but alas, it is not meant to be. Maybe you'll see something you like, though! Clicking the pictures will bring you straight to where I found the items. Happy Shopping!

DRESSES

Monsoon - A UK retailer that I've just discovered that has some items in up to a UK22. Sadly, there is no search by size feature on their website, but these are a few of my favourites that are in stock in sizes 16-22 at the moment. They currently have a free international shipping promo going on. It ends on October 31st.

Anna Scholz

Shop Translated Here's a coupon for 25% off orders of $100 or more

Eshakti - They'll make dresses to your sizing specifications (free for the first order, and an additional $7.50 thereafter... There are lots of coupons for these guys floating around). The custom sizing is so useful if you have unusual measurements (like me - 13" difference between my hips and my waist).

 Queen Grace Collection

SHOES AND BOOTS

Free shipping on this boot or the leopard print boot above with the code CLFREE323

I'm all about a sensible shoe - and this one does have a sort of 70s vibe to it that I'm liking.

Not so sensible... But OH SO FABULOUS! They also have it in a blue colour. *Drool*

OUTERWEAR

City Chic - They Offer Free Shipping to Canada!

Anna Scholz

 

PURSES AND ACCESSORIES

I <3 Dresses, and everything 70s! Can you tell? LOL. 

So my dears, what is it that you are craving this Fall?

Outfit of the Day - The Boho Chic Teacher

Yep, you guessed it! Another teaching outfit... Kmart sent me this beautiful dress as a part of my sample package and I absolutely adore it! As soon as I saw it, I knew it would pair well with the faux-fur coat that I got at a nearby Goodwill on a cold day for an autumnal bohemian look. I added my ever-present (but favourite) tassel bag and my over the knee torrid boots to complete the outfit, as well as some gold accessories. Peter said that I look like a Russian princess. Not sure if he meant it as a compliment or not, lol! My sister in law saw me in this and was petting me, lol! Well, it is nice and cozy and functions well as a warm blanket for when I am napping on the bus on the way in in the morning! What do you guys think?

Coat and belt- Thrifted/Dress - Courtesy of Kmart LYS/Boots - Courtesy of Torrid/Purse - CBX/Necklace - Courtesy of Penningtons/Earrings - Hand-me-downs from my mom

So what do you guys think? Are you partaking in the Faux-Fur trend this season? Do you like my outfit?