Happy Wednesday readers! After the snow which came out of nowhere early this week, here at F&F HQ we’re trying to distract ourselves with thoughts of what we will wear once the summer sun rolls round… And saying hello to this Tribal Print Maxi Dress (£20) from our True collection, which comes in sizes 16 through 28. With a clean, streamlined design which is perfectly in-line with the current catwalk minimalist trends, this pull-on jersey dress has a monochrome tribal print which will go with pretty much everything.
I’m seeing this dress with a cardi or jacket and heeled sandals for summer in the city, or with flipflops and bold beads on the beach.
What are you dreaming of this Wednesday?
Love,
Gemma
Archive for the ‘Plus Size’ Category
Wednesday Wants…
By Gemma Conley-Smith in Get the look, Plus Size, Top Picks, Trends on Wednesday 13th March, 2013
Feeling Fabulous at British Plus Size Fashion Weekend
By Hannah Thomas in Behind the scenes, Blogspot, Plus Size, SS13 on Thursday 21st February, 2013Wow… what a great week it has been celebrating the first British Plus Size Fashion Weekend! We were super excited to have our three roving reporters at the event filling us in on all the gossip from the day. Sit back and relax whilst they bring you their experiences from the day…
When F&F Clothing invited me to cover the British Plus Size Fashion Weekend I was excited to head to London and experience it for myself. There has been so much press coverage and hype about the weekend, and as the organiser of a plus size fashion event myself I was intrigued to see how this would compare. Of course the lure of London is very appealing and lots of amazing fashionable plus size women had travelled from far and wide to experience the event, and I think for me that’s what I’ll take from the day, it was great to be in the company of so many wonderful confident women who embrace fashion in a world that doesn’t always embrace them and make it work.
The day itself, unfortunately suffered from some teething problems, the venue wasn’t the best if I’m completely honest, it lacked the facilities needed for such a big event and the staff seemed a little overwhelmed by the task. I did however enjoy seeing some great, fashion forward exciting designers on the catwalk, modelled by some stunning plus size models, and the plus size discussion panel (that I live tweeted) brought up some interesting topics. I look forward to seeing how the team will improve on next year’s event.
On Saturday 16th February 2013 I was fortunate enough to attend the inaugural Official British Plus Size Fashion Week (BPSFW) on behalf of F&F Clothing. The event was held at Shoreditch Town Hall in east London and was attended by a number of bloggers and the general public, all anticipating a great day full of inspirational activities.
We took part in a styling master class, a model 101 session, a plus size panel discussion and a clothes swap. The day was rounded off with a fashion show, which lasted over an hour as there were so many brands on show! It was inspirational to see the clothes being modelled by plus-sized models and I love all the gorgeous new prints that are coming out this season.
My highlights of the day have to be meeting up with so many of my blogger friends (and making new ones!) and being able to network with the brands at the event.
Overall, there was a positive feeling about the event as it brought together brands, designers, bloggers, the press and retail customers, all with the same aim – to get more fashion choices available for plus-sized women. However, there were several problems during the day and the organisation and venue left a lot to be desired. I know the team are keen to learn lessons from the event and I am sure that if it takes place next year BPSFW will be bigger and better!
Thanks so much to F&F Clothing for giving me the opportunity to attend the event.
I was very excited and really honored to be asked to represent F&F clothing at the first London Plus size Fashion Weekend on Saturday. As a proud plus size lady I was really pleased to be given the opportunity to meet lots of lovely bloggers, browse a market place containing hot new labels on the plus size fashion scene, and enjoy a rather exciting fashion show featuring new and established plus size brands.
I had a really fantastic time, there were just so many highlights that it is hard to keep to a word limit in describing my day. Caroline from Curvy Wordy and Becky from The Ramblings of Mrs BeBe were just fantastic, and it was also great to catch up with Bethany from My Arched Eyebrow who was also covering the day. I got to meet and chat with one of my fashion idols, the wonderful designer Anna Scholz, who just delighted me when she complimented me on my dress, which was an F&F purchase, of course!
The fashion show was a great indicator of just how far plus-size fashion is progressing, with 11 great brands that encompassed High Street to High Fashion, modelled by a diverse range of beautiful woman who were embracing their body shapes, and proving that the adage that fashion looks better on skinny frames is just wrong. Some clothes do suit a slim frame better, but some designs need curves to show them to their best advantage, and this was shown in a range of figure hugging designs, with not a shapeless smock in sight.
The event wasn’t perfect, a refreshment area where you could sit down and get a cold drink was sorely needed, LPSFW was very ‘dry’ in this respect, and with gaps between events there was also a need for a general area where guests and bloggers could sit, wait and chat between events. The discussion panel was so interesting it could probably have been longer in duration, whilst the Colour workshop was a little chaotic. But this was the first time this event had taken place, and so it was a learning curve. Hopefully LPSFW will go from strength to strength, growing bigger and better each year.
With huge thanks to F&F for the invitation.
Wednesday Wants – Feel Fabulous with F&F
By laurahenshaw in Plus Size, Trends on Wednesday 13th February, 2013You may have heard about a little event called London Fashion Week going ahead this week but did you know about The Official British Plus Size Weekend? The first ever event of its kind in London is being held on 15th and 16th February to celebrate your curves and the fabulous fashion for real women.
So, for this week’s Wednesday Wants, we thought it was only fitting to pick a piece from our very own Plus Size collection, F&F True. The F&F True Dip Hem Animal Dress has an amazing abstract animal print and is finished in soft and floaty chiffon making it a glam dress with a touch of attitude. The elasticated drawstring waistline nips you in at the waist while the dipped hem completes the fashionable look that’s a guaranteed stunner with heels and a biker jacket.
Let us know what you think of our F&F True collection and how you’d wear our F&F True Dip Hem Animal Dress in the comment bow below!
Also, be sure to keep an eye on our Facebook, Twitter and right here on the blog for more news about British Plus Size Fashion Weekend.
The Perfect Match – New Season Lingerie from Clothing at Tesco
By Zarah Harrison in Brands, Competitions, Plus Size, Womenswear on Wednesday 22nd August, 2012** This competition is now closed – thanks to everyone who entered and stay tuned to find out who was the lucky winner! **
You may have noticed that last week we asked our lovely Facebook fans to tell us about their underwear dilemmas, and judging by the huge response we received it appears you ladies face a whole range of problems when shopping for your bust support! It’s not easy finding your ideal bra and if you’re anything like me, when you do find it, you cling on to it and wear it far too often, until you finally come to your senses (years later) and realise it is time to throw it out. There might be other bras in your drawer, but they will never be ‘the chosen one’ and so, the quest for a new favourite bra begins…
To help you through this (often painful) search, we thought we would respond to the more common issues mentioned by you all on Facebook – think of us as your bosom agony aunts!
The main grumble that came up time and time again was finding beautiful bras for the bigger bust at a decent price. Trust me, I also know this is by no means an easy task and I would urge you all to take a look at the new F&F fuller bust lingerie range on our website. I have to say, I think this is F&F’s best lingerie range yet. The collection boasts silky textures, lace and amorous shades, whilst still delivering on practicality and support for the larger sizes. The majority of the styles go up to a G cup and are simply worlds away from the uninspiring fuller bust bras we know from the past!
Here are some of my favourites from the new range…
F&F Fuller Bust Helena Bra £8 | F&F Fuller Bust Greta Bra £8 | F&F Fuller Bust Samantha Bra £8
Another response that stood out, and one that I can certainly empathise with, is the difficulty of finding sports bras that provide enough support for a fuller bosom. Although we like to find excuses to skip the gym session, our bras no longer need to be one of them! At just £6, the F&F Sports Bra goes up to an F cup and provides more than enough support for that early morning run (if you’re that way inclined – no need to feel guilty, I’m not either…!).
Finally, some of you mentioned that you struggle to find the right bra for the right situation – strapless, backless, t-shirt, plunge, push-up… it’s a complicated process! To help you out, we’ve created a new online bra guide to help you in your pursuit for the perfect bra match, whatever the occasion. We’ve put all of our bras into 11 straightforward categories to help narrow your search. From strapless to maternity, there is something for every shape, size, outfit and purpose. There is even a bra fitting guide if you need to measure yourself at home!
As for the larger sizes – I hope we are heading in a direction where big boobs no longer means boring bras. After all, women are versatile; therefore our bras should be too!
We say ‘bravo’ to both the online guide and the beautiful new range, and hope you feel the same.
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Win a set of Trinny & Susannah Shape Wear Solutions worth over £100!
To celebrate the launch of our new lingerie range we have two Trinny & Susannah shape wear sets worth over £100 to give away! To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below and answer this simple question…
What bra style could you not live without and why?
Make sure you enter your email address so we can contact you if you’re a winner (don’t worry, it won’t be displayed to anyone but us). Don’t worry if your comment doesn’t display right away, as it might get delayed by our moderation system. You have until 30th August to enter – Good luck!
Plus North – What a Swell Party it Was!
By Zarah Harrison in Plus Size, Womenswear on Tuesday 17th July, 2012We recently attended the Plus North event in Leeds, organized by bloggers Becky and Toni. Becky was kind enough to write a post and give us the lowdown on what went on – read on to find out more about this fabulous celebration of Plus Size fashion!
When I started my blog last year I never thought I’d be lucky enough to be visiting London, attending events and meeting the likes of Gok Wan and viewing exclusive collections before they hit the shops, but here I am and how fabulous is that?! The one thing I noticed when the invites for events started coming in was that everything was in London, and as someone based in the North it can be quite costly to travel to these events, so I thought it might be fun to organise an event in the North. To cut a long story short what began as a small bloggers event snowballed in to a huge afternoon of fashion, shopping and fun!
With the help of fellow blogger Toni from The Only Way is Toni, we managed to pull off a huge event which were really proud of, and I think more than anything is the complete and utter positivity of the day that we’re most proud of, the feedback we’ve received from everybody who attended about how they felt welcomed, and it made them feel more positive about their bodies has been amazing!
Hosted in the beautiful Aspire venue in Leeds city centre, over 150 plus size women gathered together to enjoy an afternoon of pampering, shopping, catwalk shows, and photo booth frolics!
Sponsors included Simply Be, Evans, Benefit Cosmetics, Curvissa, Excite Clothing and of course Clothing at Tesco who showcased the beautiful Ann Harvey collection and talked about some very exciting developments within their plus size ranges! It’s always really great to hear from retailers who are putting in the effort to make their plus size ranges more thought out, fashionable and well fitted and that’s just what Clothing at Tesco are doing, and along with Metail they are taking the online shopping experience to a new level with their virtual fitting room.
Along with a catwalk show guests were welcome to have a manicure, indulge in cupcakes and macaroons and meet lots of exciting companies changing the face of plus size fashion.
Check out more photos of the event here!
We really had a fantastic day and loved hearing from everyone one who was there, best get planning next years now then!
Plus North Plus Size Fashion Event – Win Tickets!
By Zarah Harrison in Competitions, Plus Size on Wednesday 20th June, 2012Calling all Plus Size fashionistas!
If you love fashion, then we have a fabulous opportunity for you! We have a pair of tickets for the inaugural Plus North event up for grabs – a Plus Size fashion event showcasing the hottest looks and trends in Plus Size style. It’s taking place on the 7th July in the gorgeous Aspire building at the heart of Leeds city centre.
If you’d like to attend the event, all you need to do is follow @ClothingatTesco on Twitter and tweet us the name of your favourite Plus Size fashion blog with the hashtag #PlusNorth.
You have until midnight on Tuesday 26th June to enter and we’ll be picking one lucky winner to receive a pair of tickets. Use the buttons below to enter or click here to visit us on Twitter – good luck!
