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Nick and I went to Ikea in search of containers for our kitchen cupboards and I felt like wearing something comfortable and loose. I am a big fan of Susie from Style Bubble and the way she wears oversized clothes with longer proportions, but I also thought it was fun to change my silhouette. I’m an apple shape, but in this skirt I have extra padding on my hips and I quite like it!

This brooch is by Peta Pledger and I bought it from Meet Me at Mikes! I’ve been wearing it constantly since getting back from Melbourne, it’s so cute.

T-shirt: Sara by Ezibuy
Long vest: Moda by Target
Skirt: Target (obtained by clothing swap)
Shoes: Crocs
Sunglasses: Giant Vintage
Brooch: Peta Pledger

My art was shown at the opening of the Tribal Theatre (the old Dendy on George Street) on Thursday night and I thought it was a good opportunity to show Brisbane the cute City Chic dress I also bought in Melbourne. If you’re ever at a loss for something to do, make sure you check out what’s playing at the Tribal Theatre because they’re going to show awesome old movies as well as local films.

Top: ebay
Dress: City Chic
Tights: Kmart
Shoes: Crocs
Bag: Dangerfield

Last week was pretty overwhelming and I’m still coming to terms with the death of my Uncle Pete, so I feel like I have just been putting on clothes in the dark. It’s made me think though, personal styling isn’t always about presenting the most fashionable or on-trend you at any particular time. It’s more about presenting the most you you at that moment. It’s been raining every day for a week, and I have craved comfort and simplicity, so the first thing I wanted to do on Friday night was put on one of my husband’s shirts. It felt good, but more importantly it satisfied my need for solace. So the next morning I woke up at butts o’ clock to attend TEDxBrisbane, and I thought I’d do it again except I wore a lighter coloured shirt of Nick’s. My grief had found a uniform, a consistency I was sorely lacking.

Shirt: Husband’s
Vest: Target
Skirt: Yours Clothing
Leggings: Kmart
Shoes: Crocs
Bag: Dangerfield

Yesterday was a big day. I set off early to visit my grandmother down the coast with my sisters, but we had to come back shortly after lunch because one of my uncles is very sick in hospital with pancreatic and liver cancer and it’s not looking good. It was a pretty sad day, and the rainy weather matched my mood perfectly.

Tshirt – www.yoursclothing.co.uk
Dress – City Chic
Shoes – Crocs (don’t hate)
Umbrella – no idea, but I’ve had it for years!
Brooch – Babushka’s, Melbourne
Bag – Dangerfield

I’m sending out much love and support to my uncle, aunty and cousin at this sad time. I’m sending out much anger to pancreatic cancer and how poorly funded and supported it is.

Dress: City Chic
Boots: Torrid
Sunglasses: Giant Vintage

I went out for lunch with my family at their soon-to-be local pub on the weekend and decided to break out the paisley dress. Everyone usually has a giggle when they see me wearing this!

When I can afford new clothes I’ll be buying more floral dresses and brown boots that aren’t so slouchy so I can rock my bad 90s self through winter 2010. It’s just a thing I feel I need to do!

You’ll also note my new hair style – I had to cut a bunch of length off because it was so wrecked (if you DIY dye you’ve got to remember to DIY condition too!) I went to the Brisbane School of Hairdressing where the lovely Yoko cut my hair. I was a bit nervous because of my shaved side, and rightly so, because pretty much all the supervising hairdressers were aghast at it. Whatever I do what I want! Yoko was fantastic about it though, and did a great job on a challenging asymmetrical cut.

I have since dyed it a medium brown with a flash of blonde at my fringe. I can’t break my DIY habit!

Thank you for your art and your inspiration. It’s desperately sad to know you were in so much pain, and I resent depression so much for taking away a huge amount of talented people.

If you are seeking help with regard to depression and feelings of suicide, here are a few resources you might like to have a look at:
http://www.lifeline.org.au/
http://www.beyondblue.org.au/
http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
http://bluepages.anu.edu.au/

I know I do, but I have long been thwarted by the junior plus size offerings from Pinup Girl. Amazingly, the clothing store want to offer a broader collection of sizes, and they want to hear from you! Laura from PUG posted an open thread on their facebook page for people to offer feedback, and an overwhelming amount of people requested larger sizes.

It looks like Pinup Girl will be moving to a Torrid-style sizing system, and Laura has asked plus size shoppers to email her with their Torrid size so she can get a proper survey on the demand. I requested sizes 4 and 5, and she responded:

If you wear a size 3 or up, please contact Laura on Laura at pinupgirlclothing.com and request it!

Nick never understands how I can call shoes pretty. He thinks that they are functional objects that are designed to act as a barrier between your feet and the earth, objects that should be comfortable but rarely ever are. I think shoes can be pretty. They can also be magnificent, ridiculous, fantastic, even drab… but I do agree that they’re rarely as comfortable as they ought to be! Always having had a wide foot, my relationship with shoes is difficult. I love them, they can help you punctuate an outfit and describe exactly how you feel (or want to feel!) but so many wider fitting shoes are rarely fashionable. In recent years I have promised myself that I will only wear properly fitting, comfortable shoes that don’t contribute to grumpy moods and crippling calf aches that wake you up in the middle of the night. But I can look.

Recently I was turned on to Jeffrey Campbell shoes by Christina and Hayley, and I am pretty much so in love that I am willing to jeopardise my foot well-being. I think I will start off with a flatter shoe like the fuchsia Roller 2 or the taupe Warrier but I also adore the 99!

When I have enough dollary-doos saved up, I will contemplate this more seriously, but until then I will gaze at this incredible footwear and daydream.

Last night I went out with the fabulous Sonya to dine and sip fancy cocktails at Byblos within the recently enfancened Portside district. The food menu is based on pretty classic Mediterranean dishes but the cocktail and drinks list is the real stunner.

But first, what I wore:
Nick took this when I came home, so that’s why I look all tipsy and sassy!

Tshirt (under dress) – Yours Clothing
Dress – Evans
Leggings – Kmart
Boots – Torrid
Bag – Satchi (Myer)
Necklace – Bourjois disco ball with lip gloss inside

Next – the food. I ordered the Rekakat and Sonya ordered The Mixed Platter. I found the Rekakat to be lovely and not too oily despite being fried, but it really missed something acidic. The menu says it’s paired with tomato but mine came with undressed lettuce leaves and shredded carrot, and in my opinion the tomato would have paired much better with such a salty cheese filled parcel. Sonya loved the mixed platter but it was huge and filling! We probably could have shared it and been well satiated.

1. Macadamia Colada, 2. Byblos Citrus Punch and The Violet Martini, 3. Cherry Julep and The Phoenician Sunset, 4. Singapore Sling

But the best part – cocktails! Byblos do some fantastic cocktails, and while I’m not an expert and I can’t tell you if everything was as it’s supposed to taste and served as it’s supposed to be served, I can tell you that I loved them all very much. My favourite was the Cherry Julep, seriously yummy but rather potent!

The other best part was the interior fit out. Coming from an architectural/ marketing background I really appreciate when venues take care with their interiors. We sat in the lounge area and it was pretty dimly lit, hence the poor food and drink photos, but it was a very comfy place to chat for a few hours.

Nick and I are planning to take a trip to Melbourne in a few week’s time, so if you’ve got any wining, dining or accommodation suggestions please let me know in the comments!

My friend Zoe held a clothes swap today for a handful of friends and I was totally unprepared and didn’t bring anything to swap, but gladly took a chance to spend the afternoon with friends. So while I look a bit pouty in this photo, I’d perked up considerably by the afternoon!

I wasn’t really in the mood to wear tailored or tight clothing, so I opted for the baggiest garments I own. Sometimes it’s nice to reclaim shapelessness and forget about pursuing a “womanly” silhouette (which is usually code for an hourglass shape that only a percentage of us actually have!) I used two pieces from the Ezibuy Wardrobe Challenge, threw a baggy tunic top over it all and was super comfy all day.

What I wore:
T-shirt – Sara
Tunic – Big W
Pants – Sara
Sandals – Evans
Sunglasses – Valley market vendor
Necklace – Lola & Bailey

I still recommend clothing swaps as a way of getting rid of clothes that no longer fit, and claiming garments that actually do!! Go organise one with your friends, family and workmates

Following up on yesterday’s Australian edition, I present the UK and USA edition of “Where I shop online”! It’s not as long as the homegrown plus size shopping post because I have grown to love the UK retailers, Yours Clothing and Evans in particular, and give them my custom regularly! I’ve included links to other online shops that I browse frequently – if you’ve had any experience with them or other plus size shops do leave a comment.

UK

Yours Clothing
Quality: Yours Clothing have a huge variety of garments, which have a huge variation in quality. I’ve bought things that are fantastic, yet others are constructed in arse-about-face ways that obviously save the manufacturer money. Regardless, Yours is one of my favourite places to shop because there is so much to choose from!

Sizing: The best thing about Yours is that they also stock a huge variety of sizes, from UK 14-32. In my experience UK sizing is pretty much the same as Australian sizing, but as always do make sure to consult the size chart and your measurements!

Cost: You can browse the site in a few different currencies, which is fantastic, and all the garments are very well priced. Yours have great sales too, so it’s worth signing up to their email list to get a heads up! You can pay with Paypal without any dramas either – I love retailers that accept Paypal!

Shipping: Postage to Australia is £10, and depending on the conversion rate it’s pretty good. It’s definitely worth it at sale time! I usually receive my orders within a week.

Evans
Quality: I adore Evans – their garments are really well made, on trend and totally my style. Evans and Yours are tied for my favourite plus sized online shops, because while Evans doesn’t have as many clothes as Yours they make up for it with a great collection of footwear for wide fitting feet.

Sizing: With a range from UK14-32, Evans offers fantastic on-trend clothing to fatshionistas who miss out on a lot of plus size brands that stop at size 26. I’ve always found the clothes true to size, but be careful when shoe shopping as most of the shoes are EE fittings (a nice change from having to pass up all the shoes that are too narrow!)

Cost: I find Evans a little pricey at times, but the sales are great. I am a huge stinge, obviously

Shipping: A super duper £7.50 to Australia, which always makes me happy! Shipping usually takes around a week, which also makes me happy.

USA

Torrid
Quality: I read a lot of complaints about Torrid’s quality from stateside fatshionistas but the pieces that I have bought over the years have been of great quality! The brand is very young and full of statement pieces, sometimes a little too much so for me, but there’s a lot to choose from if you’ve got a fearless sense of style!

Sizing: Torrid offers from US size 10 – 28 but in my experience their sizing conversion is totally funky. I always go a size up from my Australian size, sometimes two, yet their chart says Australians should go down a size! Always have your tape measure handy and pay attention to the measurements, NOT the conversion chart.

Cost: Unfortunately it is pretty spendy for what you get, especially if you’re an Australian shopper because you get stung on conversion and pay a whopper for shipping.

Shipping: As I mentioned above, shipping your Torrid gear to Australia costs a bomb! They say it’s based on weight but it’s usually around AUD$60. Ridiculous!

Other retailers I haven’t bought from yet (but check all the time!)

USA

B & Lu
Igigi
Kiyonna
Size Appeal
SWAK Designs

UK

Next
New Look
ASOS Curve

Phew! That was an epic round up, but I hope it was of some value. If you’ve never shopped online before, start with the clearance sections first and make sure you take your measurements (honestly!) and pay close attention to the sizing charts.

If you can recommend other plus size online shops, go nuts in the comment section!