Outfit of the Day - Neon Colour Blocking

Hey Guys!

So I've been seeing a lot of neon around lately, and I've been a little bit reluctant to wear it (mainly since I am old enough that I was a part of the trend when we did this the last time, in the 90s, and I wasn't so sure it needed revisiting) but I finally decided I would give in an give it a go. I decided to try mixing last Spring's hot trend of colour blocking with the neon. I also added some polka dots in for good measure. All I'm missing now is the side ponytail!

Top and Skirt - Forever 21+/Jacket - Tahari Woman (sent to me by the fabulous Jessica from Chic in Every City)/Tights - Exhiliration brand from Target/Shoes - Lane Bryant/

Peter and I (with Peter a little embarrassed about how wild my outfit was) went to our usual Saturday morning coffee shop (except this was a Sunday) and then we went to go check out Gussied Up Plus on Bathurst and Dupont in Toronto. If you're an avid reader, you'll know that I've already been there and posted about them a couple of times, but I entered an online contest and I won $100 gift card to use there, which made me SO excited, because I can honestly and unreservedly say that Gussied Up Plus is my favourite plus size store in Toronto. I just love to shop there so much! Everything they carry is so fashionable, the prices are reasonable, the owner, Victoria, is so helpful, and the atmosphere of the boutique is so wonderful. Here are some of the pieces I tried on. Please excuse the pink tights. I was too lazy to take them off!

I really liked everything that I tried on, but I ended up picking out the Monaco Ruched Swimsuit by Monif C. in fuschia! I will do a post about it, but later, when the weather is warm enough to actually wear it! It is so stunning on... I saw it on the Monif C. website last Summer, and I was in love with it, but I just couldn't afford to shell out so much on a swimsuit (since I'm still a student), and I was also a little nervous about ordering it without having tried it on. But honestly, it is SUCH a nice suit. Worth every penny. I don't think I've ever seen such a nice swimsuit on me before. I am going to have such crazy beach confidence!!! Can't wait to show you guys! Now I want the Espana too, in red! That ruffle is so awesome. What are you guys wearing to the beach this summer? Have you rocked the neon trend yet?

Full Figured Fashion Week Announces Its Schedule!!! EXCITED!!!

Hey Guys,

Just thought I'd share some news with you from Full Figured Fashion Week! I am getting SO excited and planning all my outfits to every event!!! Peter and I are going down about 4 days before all of the fashion week events get started to hang out and act like cheesy tourists. Last time I went down for Full Figured Fashion Week, I had all these amazing adventures planned around the city, but my days just got filled so quickly with fabulous fashion events (and shopping) that I didn't get to any of them! So I figured I would make a trip out of this with Peter and make sure that we got to see a whole bunch of cool stuff. Peter and I have been together for just less than 14 years now, and we've NEVER been on vacation together. Can you believe that? We've done single-night trips to Niagara Falls and such, but never a full vacation. This will be the first one. I've been in school FOREVER and we just couldn't afford it... So that makes me even more excited for this trip!

I've been thinking about what I should pack and what outfits to wear for which events, and I just got great news today that a major formal wear designer will be dressing me for the runway shows, and I am going for a fitting in NYC once I get down there. Eeep! So excited! I'm not going to tell you who it is, though... You'll have to wait to find that one out. All I can say is that I am sure the looks are going to be fantastic! I'm not sure exactly what they'll be yet (which freaks me out a little because I am a total type-A personality and I like to plan everything) but everything on their website is totally killer, and they've assured me they'll have lots available in my size, so I'm going to stop worrying now. I might have to pick up some accessories to style the looks when I'm in NYC, but who's complaining about that? ;)

Check out the schedule for Full Figured Fashion Week!

Day 1 - Wednesday, June 13, 2012

• Press Reception - 1-3:30pm, Location TBA, by invite only
• All-White Sunset Cruise - 6:45-11pm, Harbor Lights Yacht, Skyport Marina @ 23rd Street and FDR Drive 

Day 2 - Thursday, June 14, 2012

• "My Curves, My Style" - A Curvy Girl's Guide To Personal Style Workshop - 9:30-11:30am, Affinia Manhattan Hotel - Grand Ballroom (Mezzanine Level)  371 Seventh Avenue, (corner of 31st and 7th) New York, NY 
• "Curves In The City" - The Official FFFWEEK™ Shopping Event (Day 1) - 10am-2pm, 29 W. 36th Street (bet. 5th and 6th Aves.), 3rd Floor New York, NY 
• "Building Your Brand Through Social Media: Blogging 101 Workshop" - 12:30-2:30pm, Affinia Manhattan Hotel - Grand Ballroom (Mezzanine Level) 371 Seventh Avenue, (corner of 31st and 7th) New York, NY 
• "Full Figured Fashion Week™ @Bloomingdales" - 5-7pm, Bloomingdales New York City (5th floor, near the Women's Dept.) 1000 Third Avenue @59th Street New York, NY 
• "Curves, Connections & Cocktails" - A Small Business Networking Event - 6-10pm, District 36 (nightclub) 29 W. 36th Street (bet. 5th and 6th Aves.) New York, NY 

Day 3 - Friday, June 15, 2012

• The Sonsi Blogger "Be-You-Tiful" Pop-Up Party - 9:30am - noon, Location TBA, by invite only
• "Curves In The City" - The Official FFFWEEK™ Shopping Event (Day 2) - 12am-4pm, 29 W. 36th Street (bet. 5th and 6th Aves.), 3rd Floor New York, NY 
• "Fashion And Entertainment Arts Legal Panel" - 1-3pm, 320 West 37th Street (bet. 8th and 9th Aves), 14th Floor New York, NY 
• Indie Designers Showcase (Semi-Formal Attire) - 6-9pm, Broad Street Ballroom, 41 Broad Street New York, NY 

Day 4 - Saturday, June 16, 2012

• Full Figured Fashion Week Fitness Event - 11am-1pm, Location TBA
• Retailers/Boutiques Runway Showcase And Industry Awards Ceremony (Semi-Formal) - 6-9pm, Broad Street Ballroom, 41 Broad Street New York, NY 

More details about each of the events (and ticket sales) are available here.

For the All White Sunset Cruise, all guests are asked to wear mostly white (but you can add little pops of colour with your accessories). I already have something in mind that I'm thinking of wearing, and it will actually be added to my own webstore (www.yourBIGsisterscloset.com) once I get the sample in. I think it's going to be really beautiful, and I can't wait for it to arrive *eagerly checks mailbox*. I am planning on adding little sea-faring touches with my accessories, and I think it's going to be a really beautiful beachy look, with maybe some coral and seafoam added in for good measure. Ah, now I'm giving too much away! But I am actually having a much harder time styling Peter. As many of you know, he is not really a fashion-oriented sort of lad, he actually sometimes thinks I'm sort of ridiculous and makes fun of me when we take pictures, haha:

He's told me that for the purposes of this week, I am allowed to dress him in whatever I like, a rare opportunity... but I am really having trouble finding stuff for him to wear to the white cruise. He is also of the slightly chubby variety, but it's super frustrating because he's an "in-betweenie" - meaning he's a bit too big for the straight size stuff, and a bit too small for the "Big and Tall" stuff. He's also only 5'7.5", so the "Tall" part doesn't really apply to him. I am pretty resourceful at finding things though, so I think I'll be okay, but I just don't know what to dress him in. With girls, it's easy, pretty white dresses are rather easy to come by (it's just hard to avoid looking bridal sometimes), but with men... hmmm... Anything I put Peter in that's white makes him look like a member of the Boca Raton Senior Citizen's Club, a waiter at a fancy restaurant, or like Jim Carrey in his tuxedo in the movie "Dumb and Dumber." I was thinking something like what Ashton wore to P.Diddy's White Party in 2009 would be good:

But Ashton has a slightly different body type than Peter. Not sure what this look would be like on him. This is what Jonah Hill wore... I like the sunglasses, but but everything else is kinda boring. I guess men have less options for uniqueness than women. That sucks. I'm glad I'm a girl! 

Are those white jeans, or dress pants? I don't even know. I guess I could just go with something simple like this, and make sure he's wearing a nice watch and some cool shades (and that he's not wrinkly like JH is here). Peter gets hot really easily, so I'm not sure a jacket would be a good idea, especially since we'll be outside on the boat deck for most of the trip. Suggestions highly welcome!!!

I just have to figure out Peter's outfit for the white cruise, and my outfits for the daytime events and for the "Curves, Connections & Cocktails" networking event. I have SO many options for the daytime events (I think I might wear a few things from my own store) and I have many LBDs in my closet that would work really well for the cocktail event. Super excited, as if you can't already tell! 

So who else is coming? I can't wait to meet you all and see all of your fabulous outfits! 

Outfit of the Day: Chantilly Lace on a Pretty Face

Hey Guys!

I am so sorry, it's been forever since I've done an outfit of the day post! Peter was like, "Hon, shouldn't you be taking some pictures for your blog? We haven't done that in a while..." Hahaha, so when I went out for Easter with my family yesterday, I made sure to take some time before leaving to snap some shots. I promise I won't let it be so long the next time. It was the end of term with school, and it was a really busy time (all my students had their essays due, and had a million questions, and then I had to grade all of them). They've got their exam on Saturday, so I just have to go in for that, grade those, and then I have the whole summer to relax work on my dissertation.

So without further ado, here is my outfit... The lace is certainly not from Chantilly. The dress is from F21, so it's more likely to be from Guangdong, haha. But I like to make my titles creative, so... yeah. I really like how this outfit turned out. I bought this dress a couple of months ago at the F21 in the Eaton Centre because I fell in love with it, but then when I got it home, I was like, where on earth am I going to wear this? I'm sure many of you have experienced similar conundrums. I just decided I'd break it out for Easter. Why not, right?

Jacket - Attitude Jay Manuel for Sears Canada/Dress - Forever 21+/Shoes - Rainbow/Hat - Vintage/Purse - Thrifted/Necklace - House of Harlow

And just a quick reminder, if you haven't purchased tickets for the Curvy Girls' Cross Border shopping Tour that I'm organising and leading from Toronto to Buffalo on April 21st, then make sure you get yours soon! You can read more about it here.

YogaZonePLUS offers Yoga Classes for Bigger Bodies in Toronto

A short while ago, I was invited, by owner/creator Suzanne Gracan, to attend a complimentary yoga class at YogaZonePLUS, a yoga class designed specifically for those with bigger bodies. It was a fantastic experience.

The studio was bright, open, and clean. It was a lovely night out, and so the windows were open and a lovely breeze came into the studio. Suzanne lit candles and placed them at each of the windows and dimmed the lights so that the atmosphere was very relaxing. All the equipment was laid out for us before we entered the studio, and the uses of each piece was explained to us in case we were unfamiliar with it.

It was very comforting to be in a body positive space while practising yoga. Often times, I have been to yoga studios and I feel as though some of the slimmer students are looking at me (even though they're probably not) and just knowing that I am in a non-judgemental space helps me to focus on my practice instead of what other people might or might-not be thinking about me and my body.

Both Suzanne and Mary (the instructor) were very welcoming and made me feel totally at ease. They both demonstrated each of the asanas (yoga poses) so that you could see what the posture should look like from the front and the side.

We started the class with shavasana, a pose where the student lies on their back with their eyes closed and meditates on their upcoming practice.

Mary came along and gave us each a couple of drops of peppermint essential oil to help invigorate us and our practices. It was lovely!

Then we began some of the more active poses.

Owner/Creator - Suzanne Gracan (left), Instructor - Mary (right)

Warrior Pose

And for our final shavasana, Mary came around, gave us some lavender essential oil to ease us in to a very relaxed state, put a bolster underneath our knees to ensure our backs were making perfect contact with the floor, and tucked us in under a blanket to make sure we were nice and warm. I could have fallen asleep right there! It was like mixing a yoga class with a spa session. I can't remember the last time I was so relaxed!

All in all it was a really great yoga session, and I think that uniting plus size women for exercise in a body positive space is a wonderful idea. If you are interested in taking yoga or other fitness classes with Suzanne, check out her page here. Many thanks to Suzanne and Mary for a wonderful class!