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Saturday 29 June 2013

Summer Sandals - Black / Neutral nudes / Embellished detail / Comfort styles under £40

Summer is here and one of the essentials is sandals. I for one go for comfort and style as there is little point in limping around just so your little tootsies look good and lets be honest hobbling and wincing because your feet hurt due to your uncomfortable shoes is never a good look!

I've had a look around and found my favourite sandals:

BLACK:
Black with silver detail flowers flat sandals for summer - Dorothy Perkins £20
Black gold bow detail flat sandals with slight wedge- Dorothy Perkins £36
I love black sandals. They are versatile to dress up or dress down, go with everything and a classic colour. The top pair has ultra cute flower detail and the bottom has the bow with patent leather which is girly and summery but not too much. They are both not 100% flat which is better for your feet and more comfortable and I think both of these look pretty comfy. I actually have a pair from Kurt Geiger that are very similar to the second ones but instead of the gold bow they have a brown suede bow and small gold buckle detail. I wear them all the time as they go with jeans or maxi dress or leggings.

COLOUR:
Mint Green flat summer sandals with gold flowers and sparkle detail - Asos £28
Coral red flat summer sandals - New Look @ Asos £7.99
Blue Watercolour Fabric & Chain flat summer sandals - New Look £17.99
Stud zip back flat summer sandals - New Look £19.99
We all need a bit of colour, especially in summer. Even if you are wearing a simple neutral outfit or black etc, coloured sandals give a colour injection and spice it all up and make it summery. Oh I love the mint ones. They are so summery and pretty with the flowers. The coral ones are simple yet still give some colour and the blue water colour ones are very beachy with the gems, beads and blue colours. The studded red ones I also love. They are simple but have just enough detail. The colour is gorgeous and I love the covered heel area as it gives more support. I have a pale pink pair with diamante detailing that runs the length of them.

NUDE:
Nude patent T bar flat sandals with gold toe detail - Steven Madden @ New Look £34.99

 Pieces Cathie Light sand nude Leather Flat sandals - Asos £34.00 
Nude, like black goes with everything. Nude is light and airy and looks classy and classic. I adore the second pair. They have the cream and black detail that adds that little extra and I think these look really expensive, much much more than their price tag. I don't own a nude pair, but I do have a light brown casual  pair which I wear a lot but they need replacing.

COMFORT:

Papillio by Birkenstock Turin Wide Fit Toe Post Sandal - Birkenstock £39.95

Those of you that don't own Birkenstocks really need to. They are so uber comfortable and like no other 'sandal' you will have tried. I wouldn't go sightseeing or for a day trip in any of the others but Birkenstocks I would. They feel quite hard when you try them on but you have to 'break them in' and they mould to the shape of your foot and soften a little.  The support is fantastic. My pair has a bronze strap and they have been worn and worn. When I lived abroad they were the only shoe I wore in the summer when I knew it wasn't a short little trip as I could rely on them to support and be comfortable. I've had mine over 3 years so the investment is worth it. This pink pair is very tempting and there are lots of other colours, patterns and styles to choose from! The men's ones are nice too as they are clean and simple and give great support, so check those out for the men in your lives.

Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any posts and leave a comment and let me know which your favourites are to help me choose which to get :)

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Blog Series - Curves around the World - Curvy Plus size Outfits - WEEK #5 LBD -Little Black Dress

Firstly, sorry this is a bit late but better late than never right?!...that being said, its time for week 5 people, so get excited!! Okay, are we ready, are we excited?! Okay, then lets go ladies....

I think it's fair to say we all have that dress that we go back to time and time again and is 'trusted' and 'safe'. The LBD is notorious with us women even if you aren't really into clothes and fashions I think we all own at least one.

My offering this week is something I have reached for work events, Christmas parties and most recently a wedding. I know what you're thinking "black to a wedding"?! Well yes ladies and why not?! Black is always in fashion, always chic, always flattering and black bridesmaids dresses are popular now so why not guests?!  Also monochrome is THE thing right now. I wasn't the only one to go for the trust LBD at the wedding let me tell you! The reason I went for it was I couldn't spend on getting a new dress so had to dig through the wardrobe and this little gem came up and here it is.....
Curvy/plus size LBD Matalan Little Black Dress, gold accessories. 
The dress is above knee lenth (I wore tights). It has a very sheer overlay with a black inner slip kinda thang underneath which is attached to the top layer. I love the sheer sleeves and the button detail down the front. I got it for a bargain £10 in the sale at Matalan (yes people there are some great finds in there). 
Curvy girl LBD Black Dress, gold accessories, red lip and nails!
At the Christmas party I wore this to I had bright red lips and matching red nails. Red seriously pops against black. LBD, gold accessories and red lips/nails is a glam combo and a total classic, but I just decided to tone it down a bit for the wedding.....
Curvy / plus size special occassion little black dress outfit of the day
 I added a pashmina which was bright blue with a little embroidery detail down the edges. It was my Mum's so its special to me. It was a windy day so kept me warm and it's so soft. I absolutely adore the colour. Of course I wore a facinator and went for simple black with nothing OTT feather wise! My clutch was large nude colour with brown detailing with I have used and used and love it. It was from Dorothy Perkins a few years ago. I wore black ballet flats with a bow and gold detail (I still can't wear heels due to my ankle injury but to be honest, I wasn't a big heels wearer before but I would have for a special occasion and probably swtiched to flats for the evening party).
 I added gold accessories to jazz it up and add some glitz and glam (yep I used the word Jazz  2 weeks running!). The accessories were a stack of bangles, a thin gold chain belt and hoop with sparkley ball detail earrings. These earrings were £4 from Matalan. I love the gold with pink sparkles. I picked them up on a whim when I saw them out of the corner of my eye and thought they would look great with my outfit.

Make up wise I went for a neutral make up.  Not that its easy to see, but in addition to primer and foundation base, under eye concealer, blemish concealer, powder, I used a smidge of bronzer, then subtle blush and a highlight. I did a pretty light pinky/champagne eyeshadow with dark purple liner, black kohl liner on the bottom and lashings of Mascara (Maybelline Rocket Volume-Waterproof). I love me some Mascara! To finish I used Revlon Peach Parfait Lip Butter with a pinky Benefit Gloss. I am going to be doing more make up posts so look out for them!

I love this look and really think it all pulled together. This LBD is one I have already gotten a lot of wear from and I know I will continue to do so in future. 

That's it from me. Til next time my lovelies, have a fabulous week. Don't forget to follow my blog via Bloglovin to make sure you get the latest from me and don't miss anything and please leave a comment letting me know what your LBD is like!

Now its over to the other lovely ladies in this worldwide blog series. Go check them out:
Thulisa (South Africa)
Nina (USA)
   
Kate (Australia)
Laura (Canada)


 

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Blog Series - Curves around the World - Curvy Plus size Outfits - WEEK #4 STRIPES


Week 4 is already upon us. Time flies hey girls! Put your hand up- who's ready for this week?! ME!

This week the theme is stripes. I was thinking of what to wear and it dawned on me that the two things I have with stripes have both been featured on my blog before. Tres annoying! One was the floral striped Primark dress and the other was the shirt dress so definitely go and check them out, but first read on....

So as I have already featured the only stripey things I own I decided to dig a little deeper and do something a little different. Change is good right?

One thing I wear a lot of is scarves. It's "summer' in England and granted the last few days have been warm (a scorching 20 degrees Celsius haha!)  and it was really warm not long ago but we do have some chillier days so a scarf is great. I pretty much wear scarves all year round apart from the uber hot days! I also love how they cover you up a bit and add some fun to an outfit.  With that in mind.......
Zara big union jack flag scarf blue, red, white, grey
Fleur de Force Zara scarf
Zara scarf, plus size /curvy girl outfit of the day - red theme
I love this scarf. It's a giant union jack scarf I bought from Zara in the Christmas sales. I can't remember the exact price but it was definitely £10 or less. Bargain! I actually first saw it in a haul by Fleur De Force then spotted it whilst shopping so snapped it up as it looked lovely on her. I love the colours and the pattern and it definately jazzes up an outfit. Yep I used the work jazzy in 2013!!

Zara scarf
I wore this with a basic red marl long sleeve t shirt, boot cut dark wash jeans and my good old low white converse (they have red detail so I was on a red trend with this outfit! Yes they are grubby, that's what happens when you walk the pavements in Paris)

White Low style Converse
Curvy / plus size casual outfit 
What do you think on my take on the stripes theme? What are your favourite accessories to add to an outfit? Leave a comment, let me know! I love a bit of inter-activeness :)

Now go check out the other girls in this blog series. They are lovely ladies from all over the world so not only do we all do things different in our personal styles you can also check out different countries fashions and shops!

Laura (Canada) - Lavish Laura Blog
Nina (USA) -Curvy Mod Blog
Thulisa (South Africa) -Thick Fit and Fabulous Blog
Kate (Australia) Sparkles and Lace Blog

Til next time friends! Enjoy your week and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss anything!

Sunday 16 June 2013

Goodbye Google Friend Connect, HELLO Bloglovin!

Hi all,

So I'm sure most of you will have heard that GFC (Google Friend Connect) will be disappearing on the 1st July. If you aren't sure what that is, its the little gadget on the side and it shows all the smiley faces of the 'members' / people who have chosen to follow the blog via it. It means you can see all your favourite blogs in one place, see all new posts, and support the blogger. I seriously appreciate the support of my readers so fear not friends, there is a solution for when GFC disappears......

BLOGLOVIN!  You can transfer all your favourite blogs and see all new posts and popular posts. You can also discover new blogs. All you have to do is sign up (it's free and easy). Use this link to sign up.

Once you are signed up then either go to my page on bloglovin ( click here ) or just click on the button on the right hand side of my blog. It looks like this:
I really value everyone that reads my blog so it would be great if those of you who already follow me via google to transfer over and follow me, and to those who don't yet follow me it would be great to have you :)
It's nice for me to see each person that follows me so I know who you are :)

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Blog Series - Curves around the World - Curvy Plus size Outfits - WEEK #3 STATEMENT NECKLACE

Week 3 of the blogger series is upon us and this week the theme is statement necklaces.

Now I must admit I am more of an earring girl myself. I find necklaces can be annoying and restrictive sometimes. Does anyone else think that? Having said that I have been on the hunt for a nice statement necklace. They seem to be everywhere these days. I wanted nothing too OTT but something that will go with various outfits.

Two necklaces recently caught my eye:
Gold statement necklace £10 
Statement necklace multi metals on cord £10
As you can see, both of these are neutral and will go with so many outfits and they won't break the bank either.
Black basic long sleeve t shirt with  inexpensive statement necklace
Black basic long sleeve t shirt with  inexpensive statement necklace

As you can see they really give that something extra to an otherwise basic everyday outfit of a long black t shirt (with cute shoulder detail), dark wash denim jeggings and black ballet flats with stud earrings.
Curvy plus size girl outfit of the day with statement necklace and pink pattern scarf, dark wash denim jeggings and basic black long sleeve t shirt with puff shoulder detail with black ballet pumps.
Which of the two necklaces do you prefer? Leave a comment with your favourite and don't forget to subscribe so that you don't miss any future posts. Til next time girls.....thanks for reading :)

Don't forget to check out the other girls in the series to see what outfit they have picked this week:

Nina (USA) http://curvymod.blogspot.co.uk/
Laura (Canada) http://thickfitandfabulous.blogspot.co.uk/
Thulisa (South Africa) http://thickfitandfabulous.blogspot.co.uk/
Kate (Australia) http://sparklesandlace.net/blog/

Monday 10 June 2013

Country and Seaside weekend

This past weekend my boyfriend and I ventured down south to visit my amazing university friend. It's a mamouth drive but it was lovely to see my friend and be in the countryside and by the seaside. I thought I'd share a few photos.  The weekend included a road trip, BBQ, alcohol, pubs, playing country games like skittles and boules, cute doggies, Stonehenge, bacon sandwiches, great company, laughs, promenading by the beach, mooching the little back streets of seaside towns,  sunshine, oh and ice cream at the beach and fish and chips (has to be done!).  
English countryside in the sunshine
This dog was so friendly and cute and was a 'pub dog' so spent the afternoon in the beer garden making friends with us all
Lyme Regis harbour
English seaside!
Beach huts are so cute! Gotta love the English seaside
Stonehenge
Action shot at the seaside.
My friends dog Toby. All he wants is cuddles and is a gentle giant.
English countryside farm fields in the sunshine. Bliss.
England is a beautiful place and it's even better when the sun is shining and you are with great friends.

Who else loves the countryside and the seaside? Leave a comment and let me know your favourite places to visit. Also, don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on future posts! 

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Blog Series - Curves around the World - Curvy Plus size Outfits - WEEK #2 LACE

So it's time for round 2 ladies! In the spotlight for this week is lace. I instantly knew what I was going to choose for the lace theme as this dress screamed out at me. The whole thing is lace!
New Look Lace Dress with gold chain belt -  Plus size

This dress is a tad short so I wore thick black tights. I also wore simple black ballet flats. The gold chain belt was a little extra and I really think it adds to the look. 
Bold red lip with loose curls using my Babyliss Waving Wand
This dress is bold so a bold red lip is a must! I did loose curls in my hair as I think its pretty and girly just like lace. I love this look. It's perfect for a night out with the girls. Cocktails anyone?!

So that's it from me, but please don't forget to subscribe/follow me so that you don't miss any posts, plus it makes me a smiley happy Helen  :)
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Now its time for you to check out the other ladies in the blogger series by clicking on their names. They are all fabulous so go check them out and subscribe!
                         Nina (USA)                                                                                 Thulie (South Africa)

           Laura (Canada)                                                                      Kate (Australia)