(I Love) We Love Colors

Hey Guys,

I was recently invited to try out a few pairs of tights from We Love Colors, and I jumped at the chance since I've been wanting to order a pair for a while now. I remember going shopping for hosiery about a year ago and being SO frustrated. I wanted some awesome colourful tights, and I couldn't find ANY. I went to The Bay (sort of like Macy's for you US readers), and checked out their hosiery section (which is actually pretty huge). I expected I would find lots of options since they seem to have so many, but I was really, really, terribly disappointed. They carry Hue brand tights, which I was excited about because they come in lots of colors. I started looking through the rack for my size, but guess what? Nothing in my size. I asked an associate where the plus size hosiery was, and she directed me back to the Hue section. I told her I hadn't found anything there, and she showed me my size. In black and brown only. URGH! Big women want to wear color too!!! HELLO? Plus size women want more options than black and brown. There wasn't even any gray. :S

I left and went to a Legs Beautiful in the same mall. Same problem. Hue brand tights had plus sizes, but only in black and brown. The lady there showed me some other options in different brands, some with cool patterns and even a pair of plus size fishnets, but I wanted color. I left disappointed.

When I got home, I googled, and found this amazing website called We Love Colors that carries an extensive range of plus size hosiery. They have plus size tights in 51 different colors! It's like Baskin-Robbins, but for your legs! They also have 51 shades of fishnet pantyhose, striped pantyhose (either black or white stripes) and some really funky patterns.

Needless to say I was really stoked to hear they wanted to send me some to review. I chose three colors: Rust, Spruce Green, and Olive Green (I have no idea why I am so obsessed with green all of a sudden).

The rust colored pair are a little bit too orange for my taste, as I had expected them to be a bit more reddish brown with a hint of orange. When I put my untanned legs in them, they look downright pumpkin-colored! Not for the faint of heart. People WILL look at your legs all day - not that that's a bad thing ;).I love the other two colors, though, and the tights seem really durable (and I've heard from others that they last a looong time. Here is me wearing my pair of Olive Green tights from We Love Colors:

Tights - Courtesy of We Love Colors/Top - Courtesy of Kmart LYS/Skirt - Giant Tiger/Shoes - Lane Bryant/Cape - ASOS Curve/Purse -CBX

You should definitely check out both their Facebook and Twitter pages, because they often run contests where you can win some tights for yourself. This Facebook Fan Page is devoted solely to their curvy customers, and there are some awesome ladies on there! They are very helpful if you have any questions about sizing as well. So check 'em out. These tights definitely add a great (and necessary!) pop of color to any wardrobe while helping keep you warm during the winter months! Happy shopping!

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?

Outfit of the Day - The Cool Teacher

Hey Everyone,

Here is another outfit of the day post, again for teaching. Seems like that's all I do! I really wanted to be at Toronto Fashion Week and I am so sad I didn't get tickets, but my life is just so busy at the moment and I couldn't make it happen :(

I titled this post as "The Cool Teacher" because I feel a little rocker girl-ish in this outfit, but in an understated, teacherly, professional way... What do you guys think?

Dress - Courtesy of Kmart LYS/Jacket and Bracelets - Forever 21+/Belt - Dots/Boots - Courtesy of Torrid/Necklace - Courtesy of Penningtons/Earrings - Hand me downs from my mom/Mini-Briefcase - Thrifted

I also want to congratulate my friend and fellow blogger, Alison Little from 'Round Raglan Road for winning the Addition Elle blogger styling challenge with this look!

Awesome work, lady! Your looks were fantastic, and I am so happy for you! Congrats!

Another Teaching Outfit of the Day and Kmart Love Your Size, Love Your Style

Hey Everyone!

This is yet another teaching outfit... Sorry I'm not doing things that are a bit more interesting that I can tell you about! I do have a couple of really awesome things coming up at the beginning of next month, so make sure you stay tuned for that! I am really excited about it, and can't wait to tell you all what the surprise is! 

I wore this outfit to school, and I noticed a couple of the uber-fashionable international students from Hong Kong checking out my outfit in appreciation, and that's always a good sign! The cape sweater was sent to me by the very fabulous Nicole, designer of Kmart's wonderful Love Your Style, Love Your Size brand. Recently, I found out that Kmart has begun to ship to Canada through Sears (since they are owned by the same company), and I was SO excited because I wanted my LYS stuff - I got introduced to Kmart LYS (and Nicole) at Full Figured Fashion Week and I have been so sad that I haven't been able to get pieces from their collection ever since. I was so disappointed when I saw that, for some reason, the LYS brand was not included as something that Kmart ships here. I contacted Nicole to ask her what was up right away! She's still looking into it, and hopefully we'll hear something back soon and LYS will be available here! I love their stuff. Nicole sent me several samples from the collection to curb my cravings for LYS in the meantime, and you'll be seeing a lot of those on here over the next little while. I am all set for Fall now because of the lovely stuff she sent. Thanks Nicole and LYS! Hopefully we'll be able to shop with you soon!

Cape Sweater - Courtesy of Kmart LYS/Bodysuit - ASOS Curve/Skirt - Thrifted/Shoes and Purse - CBX/Tights - Addition Elle/Necklace - Laura/Bracelets and Earrings - Forever 21

OOTDs: Showing a Friend Around Town

Everyone,

My friend Jen came over from Ireland (a couple of weeks ago, now, actually), and I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures of what I wore while I was showing her around town. On day one of her trip, we went to the Toronto Islands and visited Kensington Market and Chinatown. On day two, we took a bus tour of Toronto and went to Casa Loma, and on day three we headed down to Niagara Falls. I hope she had fun! I know I had fun showing her all of the sights!

I got this shot of the Toronto skyline as we made our way back into town on the ferry from the Toronto Islands. It was such a perfect day to go to the islands. The dreamiest sort of weather - warm, but with a lovely cool breeze coming in from the lake.

The next day, we went to Casa Loma, a castle located in Toronto that was built at the turn of the century by Sir Henry Pellatt, a very wealthy Torontonian with a monopoly on electricity. The provincial government decided that it was not fair to let one man have this sort of a monopoly, so they fixed that and started offering Hydro power to Toronto. This development, as well as a number of other poor investments on Pellatt's part, lead to his rapid financial demise, and he had to sell everything he owned for a fraction of its worth in order to avoid bankruptcy so that he could keep his royal title (I'm not sure if the British monarchy will still strip you of your title if you file for Chapter 11, but it's definitely interesting). He ended up living in a small apartment above the garage in his former chauffeur's home. 

It's just as beautiful inside, with stunning furnishings and an amazing ballroom and library. The opulence is astounding, especially considering Pellatt's modest accommodations after his financial ruination. Jen wore this dress that I'd been eyeing for awhile on Dorothy Perkins' website and I recognized it right away. I think I have an internet window shopping addiction problem! Still absolutely love the dress. It has a lovely bow in the back as well.

I also really liked what my sister Gill (right) had on, and it was sort of weird that we ended up in the same colours! So I decided to force her to allow me to put her picture up here too ;D She told me where she got the dress, but I can't, for the life of me, remember... Was it H&M? If you're reading Gill, can you comment with where you got it from? 

Top - ASOS Curve/Shorts - Dots/Bracelets - Forever 21/Belt - Thrifted/Purse - Costa Blanca/Necklace - Charming Charlie/Shoes - Target/Sunglasses - Gifted from Kmart

Casa Loma is a really beautiful sight, and the picture doesn't even do it justice. If you're ever in Toronto, make sure to check it out. My eldest sister got married there. So beautiful. 

The next day, we went to Niagara Falls. We did a walk along the falls, got some Linner (that's a combination of lunch and dinner) and decided to get on the Maid of the Mist. Hilarious! We all got absolutely soaked, so it was a good thing that we brought sturdier ponchos than the ones we were given by the Maid of the Mist people. My mascara was running like nobody's business. It was amazing how close to the falls you get though. Pretty incredible. We also got on the Niagara Skywheel, which is like a very high tech ferris wheel. You get your own completely enclosed pod, sort of like the London Eye, but with much smaller pods. The view is awesome. This is the (comfy) outfit I wore for our day (including a lot of walking) at Niagara Falls:

Sorry for all the nublies in this shot. I have to go over this top with my nubly shaver!

That's the Falls in the background. Top and Necklace- Forever 21/Tights - Torrid/Shoes - Target via Redress NYC/Belt - Redress NYC/Purse - Thrifted/Sunglasses - Courtesy of Kmart

And just to show you guys how seriously I take myself, and also that I can rock anything, even a translucent blue poncho layered on top of a bright yellow rubber poncho while soaking wet, I've decided to share this picture that my sister took just after I got off the Maid of the Mist. Enjoy! Rockin' a poncho.

The Back-Up Outfit...

Hey Everyone,

I've been crazy busy as of late since I have an oral exam for my PhD coming up on Wednesday. Basically I already wrote and passed the written component of the exam, and now I have to defend my answers to a panel of experts in my field. Anxiety inducing, much? I only found out about the date of the exam on Thursday, so having less than a week to prepare has made things pretty hectic this past week. I have been studying non-stop. So tired. That being said, I must confess that this is a back-up outfit. If you're also a blogger, you probably know what I'm talking about. It's photos of an outfit that you keep for occasions like this, when you don't really have time to put together a nice look and photograph it... I usually have a couple of these in my back pocket in case things get unpredictably busy - like now. That being said, I cannot, for the life of me, remember where I wore this outfit. I think it might have been to the library or to a cafe to study (I know, I am a big nerd for getting dressed up for the library - and for always being studying...). At least wearing something nice makes me feel better about spending my weekends at the library, lol. Anyways, here's a few pictures I've been saving for a while...

Dress - Target/Cardigan - Swapped at Big, Fat Toronto/Tights and Necklace - Forever 21/Purse and Earrings - Thrifted/Shoes - Redress NYC by way of Target/Sunglasses - Gifted from Kmart

OOTD: Come Fly With Me... Let's Fly, Let's Fly Away...

Hey Guys,

I thought I'd post a new OOTD post since I went to an art show on Wednesday night in Toronto and I thought I would dress nicely and take a few photos. When I was putting this outfit together I started with the dress (I always start with one piece that I want to wear and build my outfit from there, adding and subtracting pieces as I go - how do you guys do it?) and wanted to do a sort of nautical theme inspired outfit since the dress lends itself to that with the combination of navy blue and white piping around the sleeves and neckline. The outfit quickly morphed itself into something I hadn't expected as I began to add the pieces I wanted to wear. I just picked up the scarf at a favourite thrift store, so I started by adding that. I wanted to put some gold in because there's always gold involved in nautical theme stuff, so I put on the earrings. Then I wanted to add a red purse because that's also a colour frequently used in nautical imagery, so I tried that, but for some reason, it just wasn't working well with the other pieces. When I looked in the mirror, I realized that the scarf and the earrings were sort of making it look more like a 1950s-60s stewardess/flight attendant inspired outfit, and honestly, at that point we were running late, and so I just decided to run with it! I think it may have been some sort of subconscious manifestation of excitement for the new ABC series starting in the Fall called Pan-Am. Have you guys seen the preview for it? I will be watching, if only for the fashion. I loved the film Catch Me If You Can, and I think I'll also love this. Here's a link to the preview if you haven't seen it yet. I picked out a purse I also got on a recent thrifting outing that looks sort of like vintage luggage/a hat box, and a pair of aviator sunglasses that were a gift from Kmart, and I ended up with a bit of a happy accident of an outfit. What do you guys think? Has this ever happened to you before?

Like I said, I decided to just GO WITH IT... And I embraced it fully, as you can see... "The emergency exits are located at the front, middle and rear of the plane on both sides." 

Here are some more pictures of the outfit and the pieces:

Dress - Forever 21+ (US)/Shoes - Redress NYC (originally from Target)/Belt -  Taken off a blouse from Dots/Purse, Scarf, and Earrings - Thrifted/ Sunglasses - Gifted from Kmart

When we got to the art show opening, which was being held at the Steam Whistle Brewery (and the display will be in their gallery for the entire month of July), there was a huge tent outside for a show called "The Railway Children." All around the tent were antique Canadian trains on loan from the Canadian National Railway museum, displayed to promote the play as well as interest in the history of the CNR. The oldest train on display, named Vicky, is a steam engine from the late 1800s and is actually used in the play (it goes through the tent during the play). If that's not enough to get people interested in theatre, I don't know what will. I really want to see this play now! There were CN operators on site to answer any logistical or historical questions for people as well. It was a really interesting display, and of course I couldn't resist taking some pictures with the trains for the blog... LOL. People must have thought that we were cheesy tourists or something. Oh well!

I made these photos look kind of vintage-y. What do you guys think? Do you like it?

Full Figured Fashion Week - Day Three, Part I (Kmart Blogger's Brunch)

Hey Everyone!

I thought I'd continue my coverage of all the fabulous events at Full Figured Fashion Week. Day three was quite hectic, but good hectic! I thought it would be good to break it up into two posts so it's not so overwhelming! In the morning there was the Kmart/LYS (Love Your Style/Size) Blogger's Brunch, in the evening there was the grand finale runway event (which I'll tell you all about tomorrow), which we all got really dolled up for, and you know we also fit in some shopping in-between!


So Kmart, who are totally fabulous, hosted a brunch for all of the bloggers where we got together, had a bite to eat, got to see their current collection, as well as a sneak peak of their upcoming Fall collection. This brunch was just such a great time. We really got a chance to relax, socialize, and get a great sense of the Kmart/LYS brand. You may have read my post recently about body positivity. This is a brand that adheres to that philosophy completely, and their designs and the marketing which advertises them, reflect this. They chose models who we, as customers, were more likely to relate to than the more typically-used size 12s or 14s. As a result, we actually got a sense of what the clothes might look like on our own bodies. I don't often have the opportunity to say this, but the philosophy behind the brand and its design and marketing is something I feel that I can fully support, as a consumer, blogger, and even as a body positivity activist. The designers and the company have really hit the nail on the head. One of the other awesome things about the brand is that it's accessible. This is very important to me since I am a student and value is an important factor of my decision to make any purchase. Their items are all economically priced, from around $14.99 (for, let's say, a tank top) to $39.99 (for something like outerwear). I really felt like the people at Kmart were listening to what we had to say and absorbing it, considering all of our feedback and giving great responses. The one thing I brought up (which I'm sure you'll have guessed by now) is that they don't currently have any Canadian stores or ship to Canada. While the issue of store expansions into Canada seemed like it might have been too big an issue to broach with the LYS brand executives (out of their control), I did voice my desire to have Kmart begin shipping to Canada, and they said that it was definitely something that they would bring up to discuss in their head office. I also explained that a lot of Canadians cross-border shop, and asked them to make sure there was a good assortment of LYS stuff in the stores near border crossings, so if you're going across the border, make sure you pop into Kmart to check out their LYS brand (you should find it in the women's plus size section).

So now to the pictures, so you can see what a great time we had and all of LYS's beautiful designs.

This is what I wore to the brunch. Thanks to my roomie Diva in Deep Thought for loaning me the hair flower!

My roomies Queen Sized Flava and Diva in Deep Thought at the brunch

From left to right, awesome blogger Kimberly from Fab Finds Under $50, Celebrity Stylist and fabulous event emcee Jorge Ramon (you might remember him from the TLC show Ten Years Younger), me, and my fantastic room-mate Jessica from Chic in Every City. Jorge was so nice! He paid me so many compliments and I really couldn't stop blushing. He said something like "all of this is great" and I was thinking, "wow, he just gestured to all of me!" But I just said "thank you." I <3 compliments, especially when they come from celebrity stylists!!! =D

Me with the Kmart/LYS design team, Sarah Morgan and Nicole Magnani. Fabulous and inspiring women.

This is my head from the back so you can see how I did my hair. Jessica snapped this without me even knowing!

So I took a few pictures of some of Kmart/LYS's fantastic spring looks so you can have a taste of what they offer:

I also went around and took loads of pictures of everyone so you could see a) how much fun we were all having, and b) how awesome everyone looked.

The lovely Tina from T Minus, T Plus, checking out the terracotta jumpsuit

Okay, I am not normally one for a romper, since they usually look kind of weird on me and don't fit right, but I tried this one on (in blue, with grey accents) at the Kmart in Manhattan and I loved it. It fit beautifully. I had to put it back because I was running dangerously low on funds, though. Oh, the life of a student! :(

Allison from Curvy Girl Chic and Monique from Curves and Chaos

Stiletto Siren and Vanoue 

Kmart very generously gave us a lovely gift bag with some flip flops (very considerate since some of us had very high heels on and needed comfy shoes to change into), a scarf, a pair of sunnies, a bottle of OPI and Essie nailpolish, and a $25 Kmart gift card. Once the brunch was over, the race was on to get to the nearest Kmart to pick up some LYS pieces! Pretty much all the bloggers headed over there straight afterwards. 

Since the Marriot Marquis Manhattan (where the brunch was held) was near Times Square and I'd never been before, we stopped by. It's pretty amazing in Times Square. You sort of feel like you're at the centre of the world. Sort of unrelated, but medieval Christians had this idea that the earth was the centre of the universe and that Jerusalem was the centre of the world, and that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was the centre of  Jerusalem. So they would go on pilgrimages to Jerusalem and lay their heart (which they viewed as the centre of their body) on the centre point of the church, and they deemed this the most powerful way to commune emotively with God. Visiting Times Square was sort of a similar experience for me, but instead of being spiritual, it seemed like I was standing in the very centre of western capitalism and communing with that. Not necessarily a bad thing, I just thought that it was interesting how similar the experience was to this old medieval practice. Okay, I'll stop talking about that now. I study medieval stuff. Can you tell? Long story short, we ended up wandering into the massive (four storeys, I think) Forever 21. I will do a haul post about what I bought at some point... I left with a heavier bag and a lighter wallet! 

Here's a picture of what I got from the LYS line with my Kmart gift card. I love it! The colour is so pretty.