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.

Outfit of the Day: Feathers and Flowers

Hey Guys!

I wore this outfit to teach a couple of days back. I really love this hat, which I found at a thrift store, after it had inexplicably been relinquished by its original owner... Why someone would get rid of this I have no idea - it's absolutely amazing. It's in perfect condition and looks as though it's never been worn. I have the most luck at thrift stores!

The lace top is something I picked up from Wal-Mart's G21 section. They actually go up to a 2X now, which is fantastic. I find most of the George stuff to be a bit too old-fashioned/not cute, but I am always seeing stuff I like in the G21 section. I wandered in there when Peter was browsing in the electronics section one day and I noticed that they had bumped up their sizes to the 2X, which made me happy. When they used to have 725 Originals, they had a full range of inclusive plus sizes, which I loved. Then, when they changed their private label brand to George (for middle-ish aged women) and G21 (an unmistakeable reference to another brand with 21 in its name, geared toward the younger generation), they did away with the plus sizes on their "younger" brand, and only offered plus sizes for George. I used to like George + more, but I find that the quality has really gone down lately, and the selection of items offered in the plus range are getting more and more matronly, which is why I am really glad to see Wal-Mart extend the sizing of their more youthful line. I would love to see Wal-Mart offer up to a 3 or even 4X, much like they did when 725 Originals was around. But I really love this lace top, which was rather economically priced at $9. The XXLs sell out pretty quickly, so make sure you buy as soon as you see something you like, or you are bound to be disappointed. One other quibble I have is that the G21 bikinis only go up to an XL. But the tankinis and the one-pieces go up to an XXL. I want some bikini love too! Not just Tankinis. BIKINIS. My stomach, too, would like to see the light of day. I hope Wal-Mart will begin to sell bikinis in at least an XXL. I went to Old Navy this past weekend to try some on as well, but the only bikinis in XXL were the drab gray ones. :( I guess I am going to have to buy online for that... I also got a skirt from G21 with an awesome bird print on it that I will share with you in my next Outfit of the Day post. The really nice people behind the @WalmartCanada twitter helped locate it for me and reroute it to a nearby store. I saw it in Lou Lou Magazine and I absolutely had to have it, but like 3 of the stores that were the closest to me were all sold out. So I was really pleased they were able to help.

Anyway, without further ado, my outfit:

Shoes and Lace Top - Wal-Mart/Tights - Courtesy of We Love Colors/Skirt, Necklace and Bolero - Forever 21+/Belt - Dots/Hat - Vintage from the thrift store

Outfit of the Day: My Blog's Birthday!

Hey Guys!

I was looking through some old posts last night, and I realised that it is my one-year blogo-versary! I started the blog in May of 2010, but I didn't really start focusing on it (and consistently posting Outfit of the Day posts) until the post from March 2, 2011. This is also when I "came out" to my friends and family as a blogger (and as a proud, confident fat woman), which is why I consider it my blog's "true" birthday. I hadn't told anyone about my blog or even participated at all in the amazing community that I am now a part of until then. I think a part of me was still ashamed of being fat, and incapable of loving myself or appreciating my own beauty.

I am so glad I did went public with my blog, and I am so glad I have kept it up, even though there were days when I didn't feel like posting or putting together an outfit. It has changed my life and my outlook immensely, and I have all of you to thank for keeping me motivated by commenting and visiting so often. I never knew that my voice could reach so many of you. I thank you for the opportunity, and promise I will always be trying to inspire each and every one of you as much as you inspire me!

I thought it would be fun to do a collage of my favourite outfits from the past year, kind of like musicians do "best of" albums, to celebrate this milestone. They are all in chronological order, so you can kind of see the evolution of my style over the past year (and the change in seasons!). It's kinda cool to see all of the outfits I loved wearing and sharing over the past year (and how long my hair has grown, and the fact that I have eyebrows now!). What do you think? Which outfit is your own personal fav?

I know I personally hate it when tv shows do recap or clip episodes, and the collage post is sort of like a blogs version of that, so here's a NEW outfit of the day post for ya! I think this might be one of my favourite outfits ever. I wore this to celebrate my friend Gen's birthday with her. Hi Gen!

Skirt, Cropped Jacket, Earrings, and Clutch - Vintage/Shoes - Torrid/Camisole and Bracelets - Forever 21+/Belt - Dots

Oh, and if you haven't entered the giveaway with Your BIG Sister's Closet yet, there's still time! Enter here!

Outfit of the Day: Valentine's Day

Hey Everyone!

Did you have a nice Valentine's Day? I did! Peter brought me to Medieval Times, which I'd been wanting to do for a really long time, and he brought me home some flowers and chocolates too. :D

I wanted to wear something in the pink or red family, and it was totally perfect, because I ordered a sample pack for my new web store, Your Big Sister's Closet, and one of the dresses was pink. I made sure that I got some good pictures of me in the dress because I'm including them with the product description on my store (who would have ever thought it, me as a model! Pfft!). I really like the fabric used to make the dress. It's a ponte (or a heavy jersey, for those who don't know what ponte is like), and the construction is really good. This is the 3X, which fits me at an 18/20, but would probably also fit a 22 or maybe even a 24, albeit more snugly, because it's a stretchy fabric. I got lots of compliments on it ("You look lovely, milady", lol), and our Knight, who WON, even threw a flower to me!!! *Blushes*

Anyways, without further ado, here is my Valentine's Day outfit. You can purchase the dress if you like, right here. It comes in sizes L-3X, and in pink with black piping (shown), or black with pink piping. It retails for $55 CDN, and I'm offering free shipping worldwide at the moment. What do you guys think? Do you like the dress? What other sorts of things would you like to see me add to the store?

Hat, Purse, Earrings - Vintage/Dress - Your BIG Sister's Closet/Tights - Secret Brand/Shoes - Rainbow (US)

Outfit of the Day: At the Cafe Again...

Hey Everyone,

So you already know that I tend to spend a lot of time in cafes. It might be less clear why. Well, I am working on my PhD at the moment, and I honestly find cafes among the easiest places in which to do research and write.

I get a lot of quizzical looks when I tell people this, but it really works for me. It gives me a reason to wake up, eat breakfast, shower, and get ready for the day, when if I planned to spend my whole day at home, I'd probably have none of that stuff done by noon. I also see others in a similar situation at the cafe, and I feel a quiet but discernable sense of camraderie with these fellow writers and readers. There's a certain appeal about working amongst others. I know I am not alone, and if I let my eyes wander from my screen or page for too long, I can be sure that one of these kindred spirits will shame me back into focus with their own prying and distracted eyes.

There is also an endless supply of caffeinated beverages just waiting for me to order them, giving me that 3pm boost that I always so desperately need. There is no tv, couch - or worse yet - bed, to draw me into hours of procrastination that will ultimately lead to an all-nighter or a missed deadline. So the cafe is a warm place of solace for readers and writers to gather and work, drink coffee and think. And for that reason it will always be one of my favourite places - either to study, write, or pass a Sunday morning with The New York Times style section. Baristas - you have no idea how appreciated you are!

I tried a new cafe in Toronto, and I absolutely love it, despite the fact that it's almost always absolutely full of patrons (and there are many good reasons why). Peter took these pictures of me at Crema (the Junction location) in Toronto. Such excellent coffee, atmosphere, and the best chocolate almond croissant you've ever had.

I got this amazing (yes - shoulder-padded, deal with it!) dress at Goodwill for $4. The boots are c/o Torrid, the leggings and bracelets are F21+, and the scrabble piece necklace (which spells out LOVE) is from ASOS.

Another couple of fun new things to show you: my "new" (another $4 Goodwill score) bright blue coat, and my closet jewelry organizer. Peter was tired of untangling all my necklaces all the time (I do NOT have the patience for that kind of thing!), so I've been looking for something like this for ages. I found one by Umbra, which was featured in January's Vogue, that was shaped like a little black dress, but it was $25, and didn't have as many pockets as this one that I ended up with. I found it at Wal-Mart in the jewelry section amongst the 50% off stocking stuffers and I was ecstatic. Each one was $7, so I bought two, because I have quite a bit of jewelry! I am so pleased with them. No more tangles, and now I can find everything so easily - no more burrowing through my jewelry box for that matching earring that can't be located anywhere when I'm already running 15 minutes late. It makes it easier to co-ordinate jewelry choices with clothing as well. Big time saver! If you can't tell, I'm really excited about organization, lol. Anyway, just thought I'd share that fun stuff with you!

Outfit of the Day: Suede, Leather, and Silk

Hey Guys,

It's been a long time since my last post - sorry! The holidays have been so hectic (but GREAT) and my 5 year old laptop finally decided to give up the ghost, and would no longer hold or accept a charge, so I've been without a computer for a while (gah!). I've got it all figured out now, as I picked up a new one for a great bargain on Boxing Day. I couldn't really afford it, but I had no choice since I need a computer for school... At least the timing (near Boxing Day) was fortuitous. So blogging will be a bit easier for me now as well, which is great. It used to take me a couple of hours or more to do a post, but I am breezing through photo-editing and text composition on this new machine, so I'm pretty happy. =D

Now besides my technical troubles, I had a really lovely holiday and I will have many outfits to show you in the coming week (look out for dresses from Lucie Lu and Eshakti that I wore to recent functions soon). Before Christmas, I saw the most lux leather skirt on Fran from Frantic Dreams, and I just had to have one. I immediately put it on my Christmas wish list, and Santa was very good and put it under my tree!
I chose a different style and colour than Fran, and I truly adore both her skirt and mine. Being plus size, it's sometimes really hard to find anything other than "leatherette" (which is just a fancy word for pleather, people! Retailers be warned - you're not fooling anyone!). Leatherette is fine most of the time, I suppose, and more animal-friendly, but sometimes I would like the option of being able to buy real leather if I want it, just like my more-slender counter-parts, and not be charged a premium price simply because I am being offered the privilege of a non-synthetic in a plus size item. It's the same with polyester. You all know what I'm talking about!

The company that my skirt comes from is called Leather Cult, and they do custom leather work. You send them your measurements, and they make the item to your specifications. They have jackets, skirts, pants, shorts, etc. I have a 13" difference between my waist and my hips, so this is amazing for me. It sounds expensive though, right? Nope. Even with the customizations, and all the leather used to make my skirt, it cost less than $100! I am really in love with this skirt, if you can't already tell. There are a few other items on the website that I am coveting. Including, but not limited to, leather skinny pants. *drool*

So without further ado, here are my outfit of the day pictures. I can't wait to play around with this skirt some more and put it in a few more different outfits!

Red Suede Jacket, Purse, Scarf - Thrifted/Camisole - Forever 21+/Necklace - Laura/Boots - Dots/Skirt - Leather Cult

A Relaxed Birthday Outfit of the Day...

So my birthday was a few days ago, and I celebrated by having my family over for a potluck on the weekend, and relaxed the day after and got a mani-pedi. I love getting mani-pedis. So relaxing. But since I'm still in school, I can't afford to get it done as often as I would like, and I usually do my own nail-care. This was a special birthday treat. My feet look so pretty! This is just what I wore to the nail salon I go to... I had to pick bottoms that would allow me to put my feet in the tub, so I wore this skirt with leggings that I could roll up easily. I wore flip flops out of the salon. People were staring at me like I was crazy, LOL. It was a really nice birthday and I felt really special and loved all weekend. As I write, I am actually just about to meet up with a few friends to celebrate some more! Can't wait...!

Top and Necklace - Dots/Skirt - ASOS Curve/Leggings - Forever 21+/Shoes - Lane Bryant/Purse - Vintage

Outfit of the Day - Rust, Teal, and (Faux) Fur! New Hairdo!

Hey Guys!

I have some outfits left in my "archives," but I am just so excited about today's outfit that I couldn't help but post it before my earlier outfits! I got my hair done about a week ago, and I took a big risk and decided I wanted to do something a bit fun and funky with colour. It's just my bangs, so I figure I can dye them back to black later if I fall out of love with this look. But I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. I love it!

I am loving the 70s luxe trend that's happening right now, and I am wearing the style as much as I can before it goes out of style. Feathers, fur (faux for me),sequins, leather, flowy dresses, rich colours, and just general opulence... How can I not love this?!

Check it out!

Your first look at my new do! What do you think? It fades from green into blue at the top, but you can really see it all that well in this shot. Maybe I'll ask Peter to take some shots of just my hair and I'll post them on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. I was inspired by peacock feathers. Peacocks are very proud animals, and I want to reflect that a bit, and just show the world that I am proud of the way I look and that I refuse to be body shamed. I also just think it makes me look like I'm cool and awesome and trendy and adventurous... All elements of my personality that I want my look to reflect. So I'm pretty happy with it if you can't tell. =D

Dress, Hat, Earrings, and Necklace - Thrifted/Coat - ATTITUDE Jay Manuel for Sears Canada/Belt - Forever 21+/Boots - Courtesy of Torrid/Tights - Addition Elle/Purse - CBX

So what do you all think of everything? I am especially curious to see if you guys like my new hair as much as I do, lol!

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