So… that whole ‘making it work’ thing

Argh! I apologise for my lack of updates lately – I think my 9 hour work day combined with a 3 hour daily commute has impinged my ability to keep up with all things fashionable, sadly. I do have some very exciting stuff coming up though which I can’t WAIT to share with you all!

I know that most plus size bloggers advocate the ‘make it work’ mode of thinking – that you can find things to fit you in any store if you look hard enough. And while I agree, it’s not something I put into practice a lot, if I’m honest. For years now I have almost unconsciously avoided Topshop and similar stores because of their indignation about going larger – they clearly don’t want my money, so why spend it there? The problem is, though, that about 85% of my wardrobe comes from either Dorothy Perkins or Evans, both of which are under the Arcadia umbrella along with Topshop. So that mode of thinking is actually quite silly – surely it’s worth a look?

With that in mind I recruited one of my best friends Emily to be my straight size stylist and went to the Oxford Circus branch of Topshop to experiment. Here are the results. Do let me know what you reckon, I love your feedback! xx

Pink crop top, Size 14
Bodycon skirt, Size 16

This was a hit. It reminded me of a softer version of my friend Christina’s look, which hopefully I will be showcasing here before too long. The skirt was a bit too tight to be truly comfortable for me.

Floaty blouse, Size 14
Black vest, Size 14 tall
Bodycon skirt as before

See I understand that this kind of floaty, flowery 90’s is extremely now, but on me it just recalls the very worst that plus size fashion have had to offer in the past and the kind of blouses certain family and friends would hide themselves in. It was so pretty in itself though – in fact, Emily has her own version and looks amazing in it!

Mesh/Dot dress, Size 14
Vest and skirt as before

Now this overlay dress I absolutely fell in love with. A smidgen too small in the bust as a 14, however a 16 could probably work. And part of me quite liked it unbuttoned – made me feel like I had big boobs! I tried another skirt underneath which I think worked really well:

Skirt, size 16
Vest and dress as before

This reminded me of some of the Rodarte for Target range that came out a while ago and was definitely my favourite look of the whole afternoon.

Cream dress, Size 16
Mesh dress as before

I also liked layering it over something light, however for all its give the underdress was definitely a little uncomfortable for me to wear as it clung in a way I didn’t want it to. More confident gals could definitely rock it, though!

Knit dress, Size 16
Vest as before

Gettin’ my Mark Fast on! Haha. This wasn’t actually made by him although he is bringing out a Topshop line in the future. This was too tight – but not nearly as much as I’d expected. An 18 – if it existed – would have been pretty much perfect, though still smaller than my size is meant to be.

And finally, for one last blast of ridiculousness:

Ruffled shift, Size 16

This dress reminded me of those soft focus makeover shoots that women used to go on when I was a kid, so it felt natural to do a ~romantic~ pose, haha. I wasn’t completely horrified by this dress from the front and think it would be AWESOME in a bigger size. The zip on this totally didn’t go up at the back, though. ;)

Have I learned anything? Well, it’s definitely good to experiment and actually, window shopping is GREAT FUN. I’m not completely convinced that I can magically walk into a store and find stuff that fits – I do believe it is possible, but that it does take a lot of training. In the meantime, I’d still prefer to focus on retailers that are happy morally to see their garments on a woman like me, and egg them on to take more risks and be creative with their designs. It’s all good!

Tags: arcadia, dorothy perkins, evans, fashion, florals, glamour, inbetweenie fashion, make it bloody work dammit!, straight size fashion, topshop