OOTD: Body-con me baby!

On Sunday afternoon Ben and I met up with his groomsmen in the city so we could order thier suits for the wedding. I've been wanting to show this killer BooHoo dress off and what better excuse than a day out in town!

Dress: BooHoo c/o

Jacket: City Chic

Necklace: Colette

Clutch: Kate Hill

Flatforms: Betts

Size wise, this is a UK 24 and pretty much fits like a glove. I normally wear an Aussie size 20-22, so I reckon the BooHoo plus-size fits slightly on the smaller size. On that note though, I'm quite round in the belly, so I often find body-con styles less roomy in that area. I'm keen to get my hands on some of the skater dress styles and see how they fit, some of them are super cute!

I love the sequin print with the bold blues- its so easy to style up. It was chilly that afternoon so I (stupidly) didn't take my jacket off so you could see the extremely flattering hourglass pattern with black panels. And flattering is not a word I use lightly at all, its a shit word, but yes, this dress shaves a good few sizes off of my waist with its optical illusion. 

I figure if I'm getting dressed up I may as well do it all the way so I threw on my favourite, trusty leather jacket and my amazing Betts flatforms. I can't get enough of these beauties recently. I used to wear flatforms all the time back in my early teens (Spice Girls crazy and all!) and I've just gotten back into them recently. I've whinged more than enough about how I don't like heels (even though I wear them because I love the look of them- isn't that ridiculous? Pain for beauty eh?!), so I'm loving the extra COMFY height!

What do you think of body-con? 

OOTD: Horses and Paris

There is something awesome about a mini-skirt. I always feel flirty and super girly in them. It might also be that its a total flaunting disregard for all the stupid 'rules' about what fat girls should wear and that feels pretty fabulous too.

Skirt: eShakti

Top: Forever 21+

Tights: We Love Colors

Flats: Rubi

Clutch: Thrifted

Necklace: Colette 

Ben and I went out with some friends on Saturday night for dinner and drinks. The temperature is just at that in between stage, cool enough for stockings, but warm enough to have bare arms. This is my favourite time of year.

I love the way the sequins catch the light and play off the red flats. Even though they are juts plain, the colour is so bright they always feel like ruby slippers.

The necklace I picked up in the Colette sales. For $8.50 with 50% off all jewelry, I couldn't resist! The cord with metal details is so easy to wear, I've already styled it into several outfits. It just seems to go with everything! Its easy to buy too much dress jewelry (I'm a definite victim of sale-spontaneity) but I'm trying to pick pieces like this I will get more wear out of. 

Seriously though. How adorable is the skirt. I love that eShakti is fully customizable, this was originally a past the knee length, but I knew it would be too cute as a mini! The moment I slipped it on I loved it. From the funky print to the metal look buttons, it was perfect. Funnily enough, it was one of those pieces that got lost in my wardrobe. Its just been rediscovered and rotated to the front!

What do you wear in between seasons? 

OOTD: Summer evenings

Ben and I met up with a few girlfriends for dinner and trivia tonight. On nights like this, I want something quick and easy I can throw on and still feel cute in. Funnily enough, I find it easier to dress quickly in winter- layering up makes for an instant chic outfit. I'm working on having more simple outfits like this for last minute get-togethers after work.

Top: City Chic

Skirt: Modcloth

Necklace: Lovisa

Wedges: Target

I loved this skirt online, but I'm not sure this shape is for me. I've already been blessed with quite curvaceous hips (no matter how much I weigh) and the bell like shape of the skirt definitely extenuates it. Nonetheless, it was comfy and breezy for our sweltering Summer nights and Ben liked it- he's actually a pretty harsh fashion critic now (I've created a monster!!!)

I wanted this shoes soooooo bad! I held off for the sales and ended up picking them up for $10! Bargain! A funky pair of cork wedge heels is the ultimate fashion chameleon and I'd been hunting for a pair for ages-  Target ended up being my saving grace, with three different styles similar to this. Now I just need to hold out from buying all three!

What do you wear on hot evenings? 

Wardrobe planning

I'm more than a little guilty of buying clothes that I don't need. I buy them on special (and seriously, they are always irresistible bargains) with the intention of working them into my everyday outfits and more often than not, they sit in the closet with the tags on until I ebay them. So I've decided its time to be tough. With the wedding and honeymoon bills literally accumulating on my cork board, a bit of outfit planning is needed.

pencil skirt, floral dress, stripe shirt. 

2014 is my year for improved buying and re-wearing. I've started off my sorting with outfit essentials. Every woman's wardrobe needs (and honestly, I'm sure most of your probably already have these important basics) a black pencil skirt, a floral dress and a stripe shirt. These three indispensable must-haves are from Autograph and I've built some funky day and night outfits around them:

The Pencil Skirt

NIGHT: spike heels, gold necklace, clutch, bow belt, blue peplum, 

DAY: Floral kimono, gold sandals, purple boob tube, coral across body bag, stacked bangles 

The pencil skirt is the ultimate classic must have. They have flattering lines and that bombshell shape so its easy to dress up for a night out with an eye catching top and bold accessories. The cut is an instant outfit wower- looking like a million bucks pretty much goes hand in hand with a dressy PS. But, its easy to get into a pencil skirt rut. I've worn mine with soooo many peplum tops and although I do love the way it looks (refer to evidence A, where I've chosen my night outfit with a City Chic peplum, I have obscene amounts of those amazing tops in different shades!), dressing it down can be just as much fun; albeit harder work.

I'm trying to include a more bohemian feel into my casual day outfits and the pencil skirt stops the look from seeming sloppy. The long kimono means I can easily wear my PS at the markets or even a picnic without being overdressed. The purple boob tube is actually a tankini (cute much!?) and the bright colour looks awesome with a clashing across-the-body bag. Add some stacked bangles and you've got classic and casual chic!

The Floral Dress 

NIGHT: heels, necklace, flower crown, clutch, 

DAY: wedges, shopper tote, heart sunnies, polka-dot jacket

I've been going through my dresses and re-classifying them all. I'm often too quick to pigeon-hole a dress, thinking that it might only suit a day or night events. A floral dress can be one of the most underrated fashion essentials. It took me years until I started to transition floral summer dresses from my 'day-time only' to 'party-time' wardrobe.And I can definitely still fall back into that routine. Now don't get me wrong, they make the perfect debonair day look- I mean, denim jacket, heart shaped sunnies and cork wedges for the win! But by adding some heels and a clutch you can get so much extra wear out of them! I wore a floral dress to a wedding last weekend and it went off! If you're new to the floral dress night time look, you could try starting with one like this with splatters of black. The black makes the translation easier and gives an effortless night time look while still keeping the playfulness of the floral.

The Stripe Top

NIGHT: jeans, coral blazer, necklace, clutch, wedges, earrings

DAY: flats, moustache necklace, skirt, heart bag

I don't doubt for a second that you all have a stripe shirt in your wardrobe. Maybe its short sleeve, perhaps its a tank- but there is definitely at least one in there. You could almost even say that the stripe top is where my love-affair with fashion came from. A stripe shirt was the first adventurous item of clothing I bought myself. And it felt so rebellious wearing something I was always told I shouldn't. I actually have far too many stripe shirts now and am always thinking about new ways I can wear them. I love this gorgeous, dapper skirt and my stripe tops would like awesome tucked into it high waisted. Then for night time a stripe top is easy to dress up- a jacket and long accessories, coupled with killer wedges makes for a perfect chic look! Plus I somehow acquired far too many blazers last winter and I'm trying to include them in more outfits so they don't end up on the eBay pile!

Do you re-asses your wardrobe regularly? 

Do you outfit plan?

Aussie Curves: Pink

I wasn't intending to play along this week, only because I thought I had run out of time to take outfit photos. Then by a complete dressing-up fluke, I wore some pink out to my best-friends birthday party last night! As it turns out, I actually wear pink more often than I thought I did- apparently it makes up quite a lot of my wardrobe! 

Top: Autograph

Skirt: City Chic

Necklace and Clutch: Colette

Boots: Bennetts Boots

Tights: We Love Colors

Ring: eQuip

I cannot get enough of this cute little City Chic skirt! CC have a new range of 'Sweet Steals' with 50 items under $50 so this pretty little thing only set me back thirty bucks! I'm digging the shape so much, I'm thinking I might go back for a few more!! 

This dinner was not long after a wicked thunderstorm and the post-rain chill was enough to get out my fabulous boots out! These Bennetts Boots are my biggest fashion indulgence. But I figure the perfect pair of boots is the ultimate wardrobe must have. And I know even though they set me back a mint, the real leather, fantastic make and wide calf fitting makes them a once in ten-year kind of purchase. If you have calf-zillas like me you have to check Bennetts Boots out!!

The awesome Brisbane city view from the restaurant!

Libby and I both had skirts with pockets! Seriously, I LOOOVVVEEEE skirts with pockets!!

I accessorized the pink with some bold turquoise accessories. How rad do hot pink and turquoise look together?! They are actually two of our wedding colours, I adore how vivid and happy the colours are!

Do you wear pink often??

Fatshion Faceoff: Green shirt

So, I want to start off by saying I'm totally bummed that the shirt looks so blue in these photos. I swear in real life it's quite bright green. In fact, one of the reasons I bought it is because it's such an awesome green. So, colour aside, the shirt is actually Ben's- a bargain buy from our holiday. 80% of Ben's wardrobe was bought while we were on holidays. Clothes are so crazy expensive in Australia, it's almost worth the plane fare just for the shopping!

Top: Van Heusen (Ben's shirt)

Under skirt: City Chic

Over skirt: Forever 21+ 

Clutch: ASOS via Vintage Cartel

Moustache chain: ASOS

Eagle necklace: Colette 

I've been looking for a skirt to wear underneath this sheer Forever 21+ maxi. It was a total fluke that I paired it with this City Chic tulip skirt and I'm loving it! It's such a feminine shape and looks fab with the floaty top layer. It's also amazingly comfy and easy to wear, even with the double layers.

I'm obsessed with necklace layering at the moment. I go through phases with jewellery, currently, it's definitely a necklace phase! I was so excited about this long moustache chain that I accidentally bought it twice!

This post has made me realise that I rarely own any green. Or orange. Ben has the best collection of rad coloured shirts. It's funny, but I always feel most girly when I'm borrowing his clothes.

Check out all the green shirted FF babes!

Hanna from The Wardrobe Challenge

Dani from DIY Fatshion

Mouna from Brussels Fatshion

Mhairi from Lilybobombs

Fatshion Faceoff: Studded Bag

Studded bags seem to be everywhere at the moment! I've been lusting after so many of them and when I went to do this challenge- it turns out I don't own one! I do however have a pretty funky spiked necklace, so I whipped that up into a cute clutch!

Top: Dorothy Perkins

Skirt: eShakti

Bag: Bijox Turner

Necklace on the bag: some random boutique store in The Valley

I think you all know by now how much I love eShakti. This skirt is one of those purchases that I know is a long term investment, its so easy to wear and goes with so much. It also has a really gorgeous vintage shape and is super light and Summery. 

I think the handbag ended up looking really cute! The mix of lace, chain and spiked rocked! Seriously though, these studded bags are everywhere! Here are a few I've been drooling over lately.

L-R: Christian Louboutin spiked leather shoulder bag, Colette spike ring clutch, Forever 21 studded envelope body bag, Colette metal tipped bag, New Look blue stud hard clutch. 

I'm totally loving all the ring clutches. Even better- I can actually get my chubby fingers through them! ;)

How cute is this Dorothy Perkins Peter-Pan collar telephone top. They have some mega cute printed tops on their website- I caved and bought this one in one of their awesome sales!

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Check out all the Fatshion Faceoff babes with their studded bags too!

Hanna from The Wardrobe Challenge

Dani from DIY Fatshion

Mouna from Brussels Fatshion

Have you picked up a studded bag this season??