A few weeks back Mike and I went to Lewes to meet up with Leah and James since it had been a while since last time we met up. It's always such a treat to meet up with them as we have such a laugh when we are out and about together.
This time we had decided to meet on neutral ground in Lewes a place where neither of us had been before.
It was a beautiful spring day, but still quite cold, but we had a great time. Leah and James are so fun to be around and Leah and I we laugh a lot so it's like an injection of happy pills being with them. :)
Can't remember what Leah said here, but it was something funny. :)
We are trying to blend in ;)
From lovely Southover Grange Gardens.
Leah and I took some outfit photos in this beautiful garden, called Southover Grange Garden which is a beautiful spot to go for a picnic or have a relaxing time with friends. Plenty of benches and a cafe as well. Lovely architecture and a very picturesque little stream that are passing through the park makes this a perfect little place to vind down.
Lewes Castle
Next time I go to Lewes I have to visit Lewes Castle as I love castles. It looked really nice.
Lewes has so many lovely building and some stunning views out over the South downs. It's a very hilly place with lots of lovely little alley ways and if you look up on the buildings you can see a lot of interesting historic decorations, gargoyles and so on. It's like walking back in time and taking a look back into history.
Leah and I had so much fun laughing of our rude thoughts and comments on this shop!! :D
And my rude thoughts continued as I thought this angels sword was a penis :P
Between the photo shoots and the shopping we had a lovely lunch in this pub. Brewers Arms. All of us had lovely food, so if you are in Lewes I can highly recommend this pub. Very reasonably priced as well.
A very old bookshop called The Fifteenth Century Bookshop is one of the most remarkable places I've seen. They have book cages outdoors and the building is as the name say, from the 15th century. It specialises in childrens books and is worth a visit.
Look up and you will see lots of nice surprises.
I having a rest on some very comfy pillows.
Sending our readers lots of love.
Love these three so much <3
Coat from George (sold out, but I'm selling mine if anyone wants it. Size 24 £10)
Jumper from George (old)
Trousers from H&M (HERE) ON SALE £17!!!!
Boots from New Look (old)
Leah think I'm so yummy that she wants a bite of me ;)
Aww so much love :)
We were wearing out matching yellow duster coats from George and Leah and Mike were saying that we looked like some holiday camp rep from the 70s in our matching coats :) I'm also wearing these lovely leather trousers from H&M that I found for a bargain price in the sales. I'm sure you will see them more later in the autumn as I can't even imagine the quantity of sweat they would create if I was wearing them now ;)
After we had taken outfit photos we were just relaxing a bit, having a chat, and this grumpy git came past. He had a camera with him and was clearly waiting for us to move so he could take photos. We were packing our stuff, but when I kind of sat back on the bench to relax a bit more, he looked angrily at me and rolled his eyes while sighing very loudly. I asked him if we were in his way and he didn't even answer me. We finished packing up our stuff and left, but we regret not just sitting back to annoy him as it is a public space!! We just laughed of him, but it is so annoying when idiots try to make your day bad just by having a bad attitude.
So pretty!! :)
Silly faces :)
Awww love this girl so much!
I reviewed this amazing skirt/dress in my post HERE, so if you want to find out more about it, take a look.
I had such a nice time with Leah, James and Mike and looking back on it now makes me smile from ear to ear. Good memories created with good friends are priceless.
As you probably are aware of Evans are having a great campaign going right now called #Stylehasnosize and Jessica Clemmons, singer in the country band Jess and the Bandits has been chosen to front the new campaign. "We’re thrilled to be working on this exciting project with Jess and the Bandits. Jessica embodies everything we’re passionate about at Evans. The new, empowering single ‘Nitty Gritty’ reinforces our belief that #STYLEHASNOSIZE and we’re so happy to have her as an ambassador." - Fiona Ross, Brand Director
I recently had the honour of talking to Jessica about her role in the #Stylehasnosize campaign and how YOU can star in Jess and the Bandits upcoming video, "Nitty gritty" which will be filmed in association with Evans. I also got some time to ask her a few other questions that I wanted to share with my readers.
This is what to do if YOU want to take part in the competition on featuring in the video which will be filmed in only a couple of weeks. To celebrate the video collaboration Jessica has launched a social media, body confidence competition to find 10 stars to feature in her video. Revealing her own body confidence mantra as 'We're all incredible, be you and focus on that', Jessica wants everyone to share their own personal body confidence mantra by writing it on a piece of paper, taking a snap of themselves with it and sharing atevans.co.uk/stylemantra OR using the hashtag #EvansStyleMantra @evansclothing @JessTheBandits on Twitter or Instagram. The deadline for sending in your body confidence mantra is Sunday 5th of July, so if you want to take part, do it sooner rather than later.
- So Jessica, you and I share birthdays! It's not long before our birthdays, do you have any nice plans for your day?
Yes, my manager told me and it's such a fun coincidence. It's the best day ever! I will be in the UK touring on my birthday, so I don't have anything planned, but I hope something fun will come up.
- Coming from Texas, was it inevitable to get into country music? I started with pop music and did it for almost 10 years. But it has been really good coming back to my roots which is country and it would be hard not to be influenced by country music coming from Texas. It's in our DNA. It's probably been the best decision I've ever made.
-I see that you've been playing a lot in UK in the past, and this summer you're touring around England doing festivals. Do you have a big UK following? Yes, I do have a very big following from UK. I've been touring with Boyzone and The Overtones in the past, so I have gained a big following like that. My band is English as well, so I've had such a great time touring in UK. We are touring here again this summer and doing lots of different festivals.
-Do you play any instruments? Well, as a child I begged to have piano lessons, and I was forced to continue doing them for six years, but I have absolutely nothing to show for. I can play it well by ear and sit down and make some melodies. However I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar now.
-I'm Norwegian, so I'm wondering if you've ever been to Norway as we do have a big country music following there? No, we haven't yet, but we have actually been talking about it since I know there is lots of country music fans over there. So we have been thinking about going out there maybe next year. When is the Evans video going to be filmed? It's very soon. Around mid July. Everything is being finalised now. It will be a all day shoot. What I wanted to do was to get other women involved cause every time I see a music video, I never see myself represented, so I wanted to make it a bit different and get all kind of women involved. So that no matter what size you are, there is something that people are going to see and being able to see themselves. It's the same with women being naturally thin, they shouldn't be looked down upon either as much as I shouldn't be looked down upon for being bigger.
Being curvy and now also a campaign ambassador, what would be your best confidence advice to other women?
With this campaign I think that Evans is making such an important statement. Cause it shouldn't matter if you're skinny or large to being allowed to have a good style. A lot of women, no matter what size, are very fashion conscious and this campaign is something I can really embrace as it includes all women. Smile and be confident with who you are.
What is your best fashion tips for a curvy woman? Women are so good at finding the negatives about themselves so try to turn that around and try to embrace what you like most about yourself. I think I have quite a decent rack, not saying that in a bad way, not in a slutty kind of way, so I try to find clothes that flatters my chest to make me feel good about myself. The 50s style dresses are such a cool style that us curvy girls can pull off so well. I don't like my legs that much so I love longer flowy skirts this style has. Although it's good to push yourself as well. Something I've never done is to bare my arms, so today when I'm heading out for some drinks with the girls I'm going to wear a sleeveless dress from Evans and wear a sleeveless denim jacket with it. Cause at the end of the day, no one really cares. -Skirts or trousers/jeans? Like I said earlier, I love long flowy skirts. They are so flattering on curvy girls and are very on trend right now. I've got into the jumpsuits as well at the moment, but I do love my skirts.
-What is your favourite drink? Nothing beats a Cosmopolitan.
-How many pairs of cowboy boots do you own? I bought a new pair the other day actually, so I think I have about 7 pairs now. I don't know why I need 7 pair of cowboy boots, but I love the way you can wear a simple white dress and put on a pair of tan cowboy boots and it always looks good.
- Do you have another passion apart from music? I'm a creative person, so anything creative really. I love fashion and I like a bit of cooking. I'm single, so it's not that much fun to cook for only one person. I also like to bake. I'm known for bringing cakes to parties so I always have friends calling me to bring some cupcakes or some other nice baked goods. Anything that makes me being creative, apart from drawing which I'm terrible at. -I would imagine you've been asked a lot of the same questions over and over again. Which question would you like to be asked?
You know, I don't know. I think a lot of people don't dare to ask all questions that they want to straight out. Like when they see that I'm in a band with four men, that I must be dating one of them (which I'm not!), but they don't actually ask me, but you can tell they really want to ask me that.
Jessica was such a lovely person to interview. She can be seen all over UK in July and also in the autumn when her and her band are having a UK tour. If you want to see her live, take a look at their website, and don't forget to participate in the competition for a chance to be featured in the bands new video.
Xxx
When I went to Mexico last month I hadn't bought too many new clothes as I knew I was going to spend most of my time in swimsuits and bikinis. And I was right. The only times I wore something else was when Mike and I went to one of the a la carte restaurants at the resort we stayed in.
One of the dresses I had brought with me was this beautiful yellow tea dress from New Look. I have a yellow addiction at the moment and this dress with black/grey/white floral pattern let the yellow colour shine on its own.
Excuse the pregnant poofy look, it was a bit windy so this is the extra rotund look :D
The dress has a great length as it reaches me to just above my knee and I like the little details with the ruched sleeves. I really like the v-neck and the dress is a great shape for me as it flatters me. The short sleeves makes the dress very cute for a dinner out whilst on holiday. And when you come back to cold England you can team it with a cute cardi for a lovely date night look.
Dress New Look (HERE)
Handbag New Look (Old)
Sandals Simply Be (Old)
Bangles, Evans (Old)
However, there are a couple of things I can't understand with New Look Inspire range is that so much of what they make is made in this horrible polyester fabric that after one wash get so static that to wear it you must wear leggings or tights to avoid it from being glued to the back of your thighs. It must be possible to make these dresses in other fabrics as I love the style and the fit.
Another thing is the sizing!!! And to be fair, it is not just New Look that has sizing that is off at the moment. Simply Be, Evans, Scarlett and Jo, Lady V London and Lindy Bop are among the brands I'm struggling with when it comes to size. I'm not a size 28, but in this dress I had to go up to size 28 to fit into it. Normally I wear a size 24 so why is it so difficult to get sizing right? It's almost like companies are making the dresses smaller to get us fatties to lose weight, like a moral de-booster to make us think we are bigger than we are!
I know that my chest measurement is bigger than average, but it must be possible to get dresses to fit us bigger busted women too. I can't be the only one with this problem!!!! What we need is a Pepperberry kind of brand that makes clothes for bigger busts and bigger sizes. I know that I'm asking for a lot, it's just frustration that get the better of me. I am just very tired of having to always compromise.
Do you struggle with finding clothes that fit you nicely?
It's been a while since I had this post on my blog, but it is so much fun doing them, so I'm going to do them more often. :) The positive side about it's becoming more and more plus size bloggers is that there is no lack of people to interview.
This time I have interviewed one of my favourite bloggers. One of the bloggers I used to read before I was a blogger. She has a great style and I envy her the undeniable eye for details she has. The lovely and beautiful Becky Barnes. :)
So Becky, you’re from Grimsby? Is there many other bloggers in your area? I only know of one other girl who tends to blog about local events and lifestyle stuff. It can get a bit lonely (blogger-wise) stuck out on the east coast! It’s not too bad though, I’m only about 3 hours from London and 3 hours from Manchester.
How long have you been blogging? 4 years now!
How did you get into blogging? After I had my little girl I went to back to work but it just wasn’t working with child care an stuff, so I was a stay at home mum. My husband was working long hours as a chef and I found myself alone in the evenings so I started using social media a lot more, and I somehow stumbled across the plus size blogging community and back then it really was a small, tight knit community. I was so inspired by people like Lauren from Pocket Rocket, Claire from Monkey Fatshionista and especially by Rosie from A Rose Like This, she was like 17 at the time and so confident and stylish. I love her like the little sister I never had! So I decided to start my own blog, once I started posting outfits there was no going back, I fell in love with it, I still love sharing my fashion finds and styling tips to this day and all the wonderful emails and messages I get from readers makes it so worthwhile.
How much time do you spend on blogging? - I think when you add it all up, styling an outfit, taking the pictures, writing the post and then all the social media, emails etc, it is probably a good 10-15 hours a week. Which doesn’t sound much but fitting it round my work and family can be tough.
Where would you like to take your blog? - I think the ultimate dream would be a collaboration with a brand where I design a couple of pieces. I’m not sure that will happen but never say never. As it stands though, my blog has opened many doors I never could have dreamt of, so I feel very blessed!
How would you describe your style? - Laid back chic, eclectic, comfortable.
Who or what is your fashion inspiration? - It has to be Fearne Cotton, I find myself saying this in interviews a lot, so sorry if I bore people with this answer! Haha! I just love her eclectic mix of high street and vintage. She’s a little bit grungy in the day yet Hollywood glam meets rockstar of an evening!
How is your wardrobe? - FULL! haha! But glorious. It’s one of my favourite places. I could stand and stare at clothes for hours, I like to put outfits together and I out a lot of thought into what I’m going to wear.
What are you like? The bargain hunter or are you quality over quantity? - A bit of both if I’m honest. As I’ve got older, I’ve tried to start investing in more quality items, especially when it comes to handbags and shoes. I still can’t resist a bargain though!
Do you blog about anything else than fashion? - I do. Fashion is my main focus, but I blog about travel, food, health and lifestyle stuff. I also do a good line in rants, or should I say ‘opinion’ pieces haha!
What is a must have item for the summer? - Anything longline! I love the split side tunics, sleeveless jackets and maxi cardi’s that are about at the moment.
Favourite online and high street shop? Online has to be ASOS Curve. They just seem to get it right every time. Clarks is my go to high street shop, I love their footwear. Great quality.
Tell me about your best bargain - I picked up a leather Osprey handbag from TK Maxx that originally retailed at around £250 for £18. That was pretty good
day!
Thank you Becky for taking part in my interviews. I loved reading your answers!! If you like my interviews, please watch this space as another interview will be published soon. Xxx