Evans Up Their Game!

When it comes to shopping, I am at that ‘inbetweeny’ size where I can still find what I want on the high street and online without relying on plus size lines. I have always been grateful for this, and will usually turn to stores such as Evans for things like wide calf boots and jeans. This means that when I was recently given the chance to select ten items from Evans, I panicked and fretted that I would struggle to find anything at all that I would like and want to wear.

I needn’t have worried.

As I am London based, I visited the Marble Arch store and felt welcomed from the moment I walked in. The store opened recently, and is large, spacious and well laid out, with plenty of staff around. I explained who I was to the manager, and she left me to browse, telling me to ask for help should I need any.

In no time at all I had around ten items in my arms, and I headed for the changing rooms. I went for a size 18 in everything, and I’m pleased to say that I was spot on or had to size down in most cases. Below are some photos of my haul, as well as the links to them on the website.

This dress blew me away! I actually picked it up on a whim, thinking it was quite frumpy but still appealing. In the end, I loved it so much I wore it to the press event that I attended later that day!

You can read all about that by clicking here.

I thought that this dipped hem dress was the perfect mix of smart and casual, and could easily be dresses up or down. I rather liked it with a black bolero, click here for a similar one.

I also liked how it looked with a denim jacket, which fit perfectly AND did up over my boobs in a size 14!

I paired these looks with these fab shoes – oh so comfy with the chunky heel, and oh so George with the t-bar strap!  I teamed the whole look with these gorgeous bracelets that matched the colours in the dress perfectly.

The next items that I had to have were ones that I have tried before – this tunic and these leather look leggings from the awesome Scarlett&Jo.

When I was shown the leggings by the awesome Lucy of Scarlett&Jo, I admitted that they were really not my style. I am a sucker for a knee length dress and a bare leg, and so I didn’t see the need for the leggings… until I tried them on and fell a little bit on love!

It’s a slightly edgier look that I am used too, but I love that I have the option, and I have always been curious about pleather leggings!

I of course had to try some jeans from Evans, and my huge bottom and I are rather fond of a high waisted (read “arse accommodating”) pair of jeans. This khaki pair looked perfect!

The jeans were a fab length on me, and actually quite flattering, despite the colour being lighter than I am used too. I adore skinny jeans, and my only gripe with these was the usual…

The gape slightly at the waist. It’s nothing that a belt won’t fix, and it didn’t put me off them in any way.

This super cute heart print cardigan looked perfect with the jeans, and was a perfect snuggly fit in a 16. I was torn between that and the button up version, but in the end I favoured the longer cut.

With all this snow and general shit weather we’ve had recently, I was eternally grateful that item number ten was this size 14 jacket. It fits like a dream, even with a hoodie and t shirt underneath, it’s a fab length, lightweight and warm.

As ever, I rocked a Freya Deco underneath my items 🙂

There were several other items that I toyed with getting, and it was a hard job for me to whittle my items down to ten. I wanted to go buck wild on the jewellery as I am like a magpie around beautiful shinies. The coral Scarlett&Jo tunic was something I found hard to walk away from. And after seeing the gorgeous Nicolette Mason in this I was sorely tempted to grab one for myself…

However, I am happy with my decisions and I am seriously impressed with Evans and their in-house brands. I have never ever been able to walk into any shop and have that much success. Pretty much everything I brought into the changing room fit perfectly, which shows excellent sizing consistency (and also excellent service from the lady who worked in there and brought me the few extra sizes that I needed!) and I managed to identify a huge number of items that I wanted within minutes of entering the store. Granted, these items were gifted to me by way of thanks for being involved in the forthcoming Clements&Ribiero range, but I think you’ll agree that my hoard is a good one and my decision to snag them has nothing to do with the fact that they were free.

Have you found anything amazing in Evans recently? What are your favourites from my recent new wardrobe additions?

My Clements Ribeiro Adventure: Part One

Some of you may have spotted this post from a few weeks ago. In the post was a link to the Daily Mail, where an article had been written about myself, Callie Thorpe, Bethany Rutter, Marie Denee and Nicolette Mason. Within the mass of misquotes and lashings of ‘real women’, there was some information – the fact that the five of us have been chosen to partake in an ad campaign with top design duo Clements&Ribeiro.

When I first received the email asking me if this was something I wanted to do, I had to read it several times just to believe what I was seeing.  Myself and the four other girls involved would spend two days with the Evans crew.  On the first day we would have press interviews and a photo shoot, after which we would meet up with some other plus size bloggers in the Evans ‘Shape Studio’.  The second day would be the day of the shoot with Clements Ribeiro themselves.  I must admit, I was mostly keen to find out who the other girls would be more than anything, and when that was finally revealed I was not disappointed. I have worked with and met Bethany several times before, and although I had only met Callie once just briefly, we got on well online and I knew she would be great fun. I was, and am in awe of the American ladies as they are celebrities in the blogging and the plus size world, and working with them was sure to be quite an experience.

The morning of the first day came around I couldn’t wait to see what the two days would bring. I met Callie at Waterloo, and together we mused about what would take place, chatted about why we started blogging and how others react to our blogs and bodies. Before we knew it (and thanks to Callie’s expert knowledge of London) we had arrived at Arcadia HQ. As always, the Evans team made us feel very welcome, and we were soon sipping coffee and eating pastries whilst browsing some of Evans new and upcoming ranges. We got to meet Nicolette and Marie who were mid beautifying, and looked fabulous. I felt like a kid in a candy shop when I was told that I could select an outfit to wear for the press shoot for The Times, and within minutes I located a colour block blue and black dress. Carina went to find one in my size, and I was delighted to see that there was a red version of it as well! My dream dress – fitted, knee length, ¾ length sleeves and in red! Perfect!

I quickly changed into it, fastened a much loved belt around me and then was set to work on by the make up and hair artists. During my transformation from bleary eyed to babe, I watched some of the other girls have their turn in front of the camera and felt nervous all over again! They were all so natural and professional and they looked stunning. The photographer knew how to work their poses and expressions, and as we all had chosen our outfits our personalities really shone through.

My turn came around soon enough, and I stood there, wobbling in the huge platform heels trying to look amazing! As soon as I was allowed to release my feet I felt a little more natural, and the poses felt effortless and easy. I pose all the time for my blog, and so I got into the rhythm of how to stand, how to move for every shot and tried my best to follow instructions.

Once the shoot was over I had my interview with the lovely Times journalist.  The Times magazine which includes the interview and photo shoot images will be out on February the 16th.

After a surreal day of posing and preening, it was a lovely to see some of my fellow bloggers at the event that evening.  I had great fun posing with my fellow blogging babes, dressed in the blue version of the Scarlett&Jo dress.

The Scarlett&Jo collection went down a treat with the plus size bloggers who attended the event, and it was great to see women of many sizes, ages and clothing styles make the pieces work for them in their own way. And just when I was worried that I’d had too much free fizz, Evans whisked myself and the other Clements Ribeiro bloggers off to a gorgeous dinner, before checking us into a lush hotel in Knightsbridge so that we could get a good sleep before the following days shoot.

Stay tuned for part two of my amazing two days with Evans and Clements Ribeiro.

Sponsored By Evans