Fashion Icons Through the Ages: 1920's Coco Chanel

When you think of Chanel as a brand, you're immediately drawn to the simple and classic style that Coco Chanel herself was a pioneer for. She blew the corseted silhouette for women out of the water, and wore trousers when they were still thought to be just for men.

The epitome of style, Coco made a staple of simple black tops with strings of pearls and the signature Chanel boxy jacket. 

Google an image of Coco Chanel and you'll find pictures of her in wide leg trousers with her hands in her pockets; she was a woman well beyond her time, undoubtedly the coolest woman of the 20's.

Famous for advising 'before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off', Coco Chanel's monochromatic style never seems to date. Celebrities are constantly imitating her style and Karl Lagerfeld continues to promote her legacy through his own similar sleek style.

Nothing about Coco Chanel is fussy or taken for granted. Every piece on her body, including perfume, is meticulously thought about, creating the faultless fashion icon of the 1920's that we love.

Within these posts I am going to challenge myself to create an outfit inspired by each of these style icons. I'm not going to try to imitate them because I want my own style to be complimented by my influences rather than covered by them.

The main influence I've taken from Chanel is the monochromatic theme so I've got a simple black dress which is actually a midi dress that I hoiked up with a belt to be a bit shorter. The dress is from H&M for £7.99 and is the perfect basic. I might even do a series of posts on how to use this dress in different outfits.

I just paired this with a black and white striped top from newlook ages ago. I thought that a whole string of pearls was a bit much for me personally so I went with a short string with small pearls instead.

For shoes I just went with smart brogues from Primark years ago but it's always a good idea to have brogues in your wardrobe as they're a classic staple that will never go out of style.

I really like this outfit and will be wearing again because I love the simplicity and it's a bit different to what I normally go for. It's good to go outside of your style comfort zone!

The next installment in this series will be an icon from the 1920's and 30's.

Tune in for that!

Sam x

Fashion Icons Throughout the Ages

Coming this week will be the start of a new series of weekly posts about fashion throughout different decades. The posts will be centred around different fashion icon of a certain era.

If you have any fashion icons you would like to see a post on please let me know in the comments section, or on Instagram.

Until then!

Sam x

Plus Size Fashion: Celebrity Makeover Photoshoot

I recently got asked in my Student's Union to fill out a survey. It was just about online shopping and the guy said that you could win prizes for completing it. I wasn't holding out much hope for that, but I ended up winning a celebrity makeover photoshoot with one free photo to take home.

Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos inside the building but I have included some of the final photos.

The day was great, and I could take a friend who would also have a makeover and her photos taken, so I took my friend Harriet (whose blog you can find here: http://styluscouncil.blogspot.co.uk ).

We were both a little out of our comfort zone, we'd never had someone else do our make up and hair and I for one am very particular about that. I'll admit I am anal about my hair and make up but the girls did a great job on both of our make up looks. My hair was a little more bouffant than I like it to be but once it had flattened a little throughout the shoot I was much happier with it.

Our photographer was lovely and helped to put us more at ease and we ended up with some absolutely great photos. I got 11 photos for a very discounted price partly because I was a prize winner.

For those of you living in Bath or surrounding areas, this service is from Art Team Makeovers which is located in Bath city centre. I highly recommend it!

Sam x

Plus Size Fashion: OOTD I won an award!

On Tuesday of last week I attended an awards ceremony and showcase of work for my creative writing course. Everyone's work was absolutely brilliant and I'm so proud to have been on a course with such talented people.

I had been told that I had won the leadership award for my work with second year performance poets and on poetry events that I ran with my friend Jp. However, when I got there I'd actually won two awards, the Leadership award and Rising Star in Performance Poetry award.

I don't usually win things like this, even though I always strive to be the best, so I was so happy to have received two! I'm so proud of my friends Katie and Nadia who also won prizes for writing for young people and the Picador prize, respectively. It was brilliant for third years to get together and share their work and be rewarded.

Anyway, enough gushing, onto the outfit. I knew it would just be a casual thing, and that day I also had an interview exam for one of my modules and was staying in uni all day so I wanted to be comfortable as it was hot that day.

The top I'm wearing is an off the shoulder crop top from New look and I'm also wearing just a strapless bandeau bra. As a lady with a larger bust, my shoulders can sometimes get sore from bra straps and the weight of my boobs so I like to wear this comfy bra every so often. Sorry if that's TMI but a lot of girls struggle with this!

My denim skirt is originally from Tesco but I got it on eBay years ago for about 2 quid. Underneath this, to keep some of my dignity, I'm wearing cycling shorts from H&M with lace around the bottom. I'm not very good at being lady like and more random people have seen my arse than I care to remember, so these are perfect.

My cardigan is just a really lightweight one from New Look about 3 years ago. It's almost falling apart which I'm very sad about because I wear it all the time.

The shoes I'm wearing are just some cheap converse style pumps from Primark about a year ago.

I love this look, it's so comfortable and I also think it's very flattering on me. The white of the top, when I have the cardigan off, also flatters my tan which is a bonus for me.

Again, well done to everyone who won prizes on Tuesday and have a brilliant graduation!

Sam x

Plus Size Fashion: OOTD Neon in the sun

The sun finally came out! Admittedly not for long; it's fairly overcast today. But the main thing is, it was here. For some amount of time.

I think I've probably said this before but coming from South Devon means that whenever the weather gets even slightly mild, we all start wearing shorts and dresses and you'd be pushed to find a man with his top on. As there are a lot of marines and young farmers around Torquay, I'm not wholly opposed to this!

So naturally, I sought out the shortest shorts I could find. I know some people think that because I am a lady of a larger variety, I shouldn't be wearing short shorts, but I'm pretty proud of my legs and I had a fresh (fake) tan, so God dammit I was going to get them out. And why should I let other people dictate my fashion choices? If they ain't Gok Wan, I don't give a damn!

So these shorts are just some cheapies from H&M that I usually wear for pyjamas, but they were freshly washed and accentuated my tan. They are so comfortable and don't show my bum cheeks so that's definitely a winner in my book.

As I was going to the park with my friends for a picnic, it would be around the middle of the day when the sun is strongest. For that reason, I wore this big loose t-shirt that is also from H&M. It was nice and big so still cool enough for a hot day, but it also kept me protected as I burn very easily on my back and shoulders. However, you can still be sunburnt through clothes so of course I kept my sunscreen topped up.

I'm very particular about protection from the sun now. Apart from it bringing on premature ageing, I had to have a mole taken off last year that the doctor thought was suspicious, which was enough for me to seriously think about how I protect myself in the sun, as the mole wasn't even in a place I got burnt very much. So if you're wondering what the little scar on my left ankle is, that's where I had the mole taken off.

For shoes I just wore my white jellie sandals from Primark. I think I must have extremely thin skin on my feet because the amount of blisters I get is horrendous. Or it could be the shoes I'm wearing! It is that but beauty is pain. So that's why you can see big old plasters all over my feet.

It was a lovely day with my friends out in front of the Royal Crescent in Bath. We're all graduating this year so we're making an effort to do as much as we can before we all leave.

Until next time!

Sam x

Plus Size Fashion: Casual OOTN and Jelly Shoes

This is the last post for today I promise (at least it gives you good bedtime reading material).

This week I've had a little more time to go out of an evening so I've had excuses to dress up a bit nicer. I did go out for a curry and loved my outfit but the pictures were a bit dodge so I'll retake them soon and post about that.

This OOTN was a bit more casual as friends and I were just walking around Bath listening to the music that was being played in loads of different venues around the city for a one night festival. It was a great night to be outside so we went to Bath Parade Gardens to watch a few bands, including The Zu Zu Men who did a 20 minute medley of songs. They were really something else and we even managed a little subtle dancing.

Before I get onto the actual outfit I need to do a little more babbling. The three of us listening to the band in park saw our future selves. It was like something out of Back To The Future, it was uncanny. The were around mum age and their children looked mortified as they were busting out their best mum dance moves. I personally love mum dancing so I was happy to see my future self doing it so well.

Anyway back to the actual subject of this post. I was feeling pretty tired from shopping in Bristol that day so I wasn't up for pretty dresses or whatever, but I wanted to wear a couple things that I got in Primark. The top I have on was 2 (my pound sign is still broken) and my housemate said it was a little highschool musical and I have to agree but I love these style tops. It's so soft and you could wear it with anything.

I'm also wearing my trusty dark blue jeggings that I got years ago at Tesco from the F&F range. They've now got a hole dangerously close to my lady garden but I can't throw them away because I can't find another pair that fit like these do. Unfortunately I tried to buy jeggings from Tesco again but they must have changed the pattern because they just don't fit the same. I'll be wearing these until they are just rags with a waistband.

Now for the crowning glory of this somewhat boring outfit, the heeled jelly shoes. If you don't by now, I love the 90's; not just the fashion, but everything. When jelly shoes started being produced in adult sizes I was all over it like a rash. I got two flat pairs from Primark months ago but was waiting for them to produce the heeled version because I knew it would only be a matter of time.

Now, I was going to wear these jelly shoes to my summer ball, which I know some people will think a little odd. I've since changed the dress I'm going to wear so they don't match anymore, but the beauty of it is they were only six pounds and so it doesn't matter and I can wear them any time I like now. Inevitably, I was going to end up with a pair anyway (I know I have too many shoes mum but look at them). I couldn't be happier with them and everyone is jealous mwahahaha.

Okay they have given me rather bad blisters, but what's a little pain if your feet look this cute?

Well, that's it for this post but hopefully I'll be back updating again tomorrow!

Sam x

Guest Fashionista: Curves aren't just for big girls

Today's post is going to be a little different. From time to time I'm going to be featuring people who I find fashionable and inspirational, and this lady is both. Like I've said before, just because I happen to be plus size, that's not all I'm going to be writing about. And being plus size isn't the only way you can have curves; curvy shouldn't be a code word for fat.

I first met Sue on my creative writing course in the second year when we had a class together. We happened to workshop our writing together quite a lot and so we struck up a friendship. I'd seen Sue around in the first year and had always admired her style, forever looking effortlessly cool. I also loved that, although she is a little older than your average student, she didn't let it hinder her fashion choices, and why should it?

Sue's style almost made me forget she wasn't around my age, and more than a few times, I've gone into class and seen her wearing something I wouldn't be daring enough to wear.

So during one of our last novel writing classes together I asked if I could take a photo of her for my blog. She told me she always worried that her fashion choices weren't on point, which actually couldn't be further from the truth.

What I love about Sue's style is that it is so unique and she always looks put together, even if I know she isn't feeling it. Sue has been through a lot in her lifetime and I love chatting with her because she just has so many interesting stories and advice. I can always count on her to cheer me up if I'm feeling down at all!

Some of the staples that I've seen Sue wear are patterned trousers which really show off her wonderful figure. In this photo she is wearing another lightweight pair of patterned trousers which I happen to love, especially paired with these boat shoes she's wearing.

I also love the way she has styled this cropped denim shirt with a long necklace and layering. She's taken androgynous and made it ultra cool. Her cropped hair will never go out of fashion and there is never a strand out of place.

Not only does Sue inspire me in terms of fashion, but she's also one considerate and interesting lady that I'm very glad to have met.

You go Big Bad Sue!

Sam x