OMCZ 5 - Bare arms or cold shoulders

Hello lovelies,

Outside My Comfort Zone is a monthly fashion challenge organised by Steph. It hasn't been long since last month's post as I was really late putting it up.

This month's challenge is about bare arms or cold shoulder tops. I've cheated slightly by wearing cap sleeves today but I have plenty of bare armed photos from the past like here and here. The idea with this challenge is that the theme each month is out of the comfort zone for some of us who do the challenge. I'm not too bothered about bearing my arms any more. If it's hot, I'm not going to boil to save someone else's eyeballs from seeing my fat arms.

God I look tired in these photos, and I am. My step dad is back in hospital again having more intensive treatment. He has a rarer form of non-Hodgkins than they previously thought. It's very aggressive, but is supposed to respond well to treatment. Because it's a bit more specialist he's not in the local hospital to them, and I worry about my mum being on her own, as well as my step dad's outcome. He's got 5 days of intensive treatment ahead of him starting Friday, and then about another 8 months' worth afterwards. Any good juju you can conjour up will be appreciated. God knows how my mum is coping - I feel like I'm weighed down with concrete and I'm not even there to see it first hand.

I'm wearing:

Top, gift from my cousin
Harem pants, past H&M
Shoes, last year Everything 5 Pounds
Hair slide, July Crown & Glory Glitterati subscription box
Necklace, Jewel Street

Do you mind wearing sleeveless tops? Or do you cover up?

Thanks for reading,

Leah xoxo

Outfit | OMCZ #2 - Top of the crops

Hiya!

How was your weekend? Mine was......draining, but at the same time it was good to see quite a few family members. 

This month's Outside My Comfort Zone fashion challenge is about crop tops. Steph, who organises the challenge said:

If you own a crop top go ahead show us how you wear it, if like me you don't, then make one or fashion one out of something else. Be creative. 

I've worn crop tops before and thought I'd up the ante a bit and go sheer. This top is from Elvi and as soon as I laid eyes on it I was in love. I wore it on a trip to Aldi to do the shopping. James said 'It's see through.' like I didn't know. I said 'I know, but I'm so fabulous I've got to share it with everyone!' Hahaha. If people were giving me funny looks in the supermarket I was far too busy checking labels for milk and egg content to notice. ;)

Here's a piccy of me and the man. These photos were taken on my new camera, by the way.

I'm wearing a size 24 in the shirt, the biggest size available, and it's fine in the body. It's just the arms which are tight if they ride up. If not for the delicate nature of the fabric I might be tempted to unpick and widen the sleeve edges, but as it is I'll leave it. I don't want to ruin a gorgeous top.

Necklace, past Chunky Cat Cuddler
Superstretch skinny jeans, Evans
Leopard print belt, just seen, ASOS Curve from 3 pack
Shimmer box shirt, Elvi (size 24)
Shoes, past season Very
Faux leather bag, eBay
Velvet jacket, past season Taking Shape

Do you wear crop tops?

Thanks for reading, and have a most excellent week.
Leah xoxo

OMCZ 2 - Shopping trip

Hello lovelies!

The theme this month has more of an open feeling to it. No specific items or patterns to showcase. Just show us what you'd wear to go shopping. 

We took these photos late last night on our way to a Green Party meeting in Hastings old town. No open shops in sight, to James's absolute pleasure as he hates shopping (unless it's for computer games.) This dress is miles too big but very comfortable. I'm super bloated as I've been on the bread again. When will I learn?!

I don't go shopping in real life (as opposed to online) very often (in fact only really when I meet other bloggers) but when I do I always wear comfy clothes. Usually I will wear a dress with sleeves, so I can take my jacket off without being bare armed. A jacket has to be light enough for me to carry it as well as my shopping. ;) I take off my jacket if it's too hot in the shops and I always wear comfy boots so my feet don't hurt too badly from a long day on my feet.

I'm wearing:

Headband, clothes swap
Polka dot dress, past season Yours Clothing
Boyfriend coat, past season New Look Inspire
Leggings, Very.co.uk (twin pack, one full length one cropped)
Boots, New Look
Skull diamante bag, past Everything 5 Pounds

I took some photos of my makeup too - green eyeshadow for a Green meeting. :)

What kind of thing do you wear to go shopping?

Thanks for reading,
Leah xoxo

OMCZ - Money no object

Hiya lovelies,

Today's Outside My Comfort Zone is a cracker. What would we buy if money was no problem? Here's my outfit.

On my list:

Anna Scholz dress £420
Alexander McQueen boots £895
Lulu Guinness clutch £475

What would you buy if money was no object? Private island, sports car, lots of pretty things? Do tell!

Outside My Comfort Zone 29 Pastels OOTD

Hiya lovelies!

This fortnight's challenge is pastels, chosen by Hollie, who said:  

Pastels are here for Spring & Summer but I'd love some inspiration from you lovely ladies. I want to see you flourish in fondant colours. Pinks, Mints, Sky Blues... the list goes on. I don't want to hide away this Summer so this will be good practise!

I don't have a lot of pastels. In fact (off the top of my head) my 'collection' as it stands is: 3 vest tops, one bracelet and a hair flower. Pastels don't really suit me until I have a bit of a tan, which is why I've avoided them I guess - there ain't a lot of sun in these parts! :) I'm loving the trend for pastels this year though (especially all the pink) and need more colour in my life. The vest is more mint green in real life but appears a tad darker here.

I'm hoping I haven't worn this exact outfit before, or at least I'd have been unfortunate to wear it twice as the skirt and the vest are both a couple of sizes too big. Before I started blogging I always used to drown myself in sizes-too-big clothes as I thought they minimised (they really don't) and sometimes it's a habit I refer back to without thinking. My waist and boobs have vanished in this outfit, so it's not my favourite outfit, but hopefully you'll forgive me. ;) I have no lipstick on as my tea was on the side going cold - the blog always comes first.

Hair flower, Primark
Necklace, old Superdrug
Ring, Debenhams
Cardigan, Just For 5 Pounds
Vest, Simply Be from 3 pack
Skirt, old Yours Clothing
Shoes, old Evans

How do you feel about pastels? Are they up your alley or a bit too 'My Little Pony' for you?

Thanks for reading.

OMCZ 28 Bring your high heels OOTD

Hiya all,

Today is the 28th fortnightly post of the Outside My Comfort Zone fashion challenge managed by Steph. This month's challenge theme was picked by Mary, who said:

I know that heels make our feet hurt and sometimes is quite difficult to walk however, is there anything more stylish than a woman in high heels? You may have a simple dress and no accessories but if you put your heels on you will be the most elegant girl in the room so ladies I what to see your heels!!

Dress, Simply Be
Leggings, Pink Clove
Shoes, old Office
Necklace and bracelet, Sister Vintage

Me and heels do not go at all well, so I whipped the shoes on and off. I used to wear heels when I was younger. In fact when I was a teenager I used to work miles to work in my stilettos (it was the late 80s/early 90s) and at that stage I wasn't too accident prone in heels. As I went on into my 20s, I started to sprain and twist my ankles with alarming frequency (as I had done in childhood) and now they're so weakened I can barely stand for 5 minutes in heels. Whenever you see heels on the blog, they've been posed in and cast off immediately. ;)

Are you a heels or a flats person?
Thanks for reading!

OMCZ 26 - Looking back - one year on

Hello pickles!

A year ago I tentatively asked to join my first ever fashion challenge - Outside My Comfort Zone. You might be surprised by this but I was so nervous I expected to be told I couldn't join because I was so new to plus size blogging at the time. (I used to blog about other things before changing the focus of my blog in late 2012.) It shows how far I've come in the year since then because now I'm in a few different fashion challenges and love them all, and more importantly I'm not quite so lacking in confidence. (Yes, me, really.)

Our first challenge was called Blazing Red, and was to involve a blazer and a pop of red. I didn't have a blazer then and I don't now. ;) Here's the brief for this fortnight's challenge.

My theme is looking back and I’d like us to all look back over the last 12 months since the challenge started and see how we have changed. It doesn’t matter if this is your first or 26th post in this challenge I think it’s be nice for all of us to look back and reflect on how we have changed in 12 months style wise. For those of us who did #OMCZ 1 you might like to share that post again and re-do the theme

I decided to inject some red into my outfit with the red coat from New Look which Mookie gave me recently.

Headscarf, eBay
Coat and dress (old) New Look
Wet look leggings, Miss Difusa
Shoes, Rocket Dog

The headscarf thing was a total accident. Truth be told I had greasy hair, grabbed a scarf, wrapped it around my head twice and tucked the ends in and TA-DAAAAAA!

Here are some photos of me looking adorable.

(Now here's the confusing bit - I'm doing Fatshion February which involves a fashion post each day of February. This constitutes day 12 of that because I'm not going to do TWO fashion posts today. As a part of FF I'm wearing the same black dress 14 ways, because I'm obviously a glutton for punishment, ha. This counts as day 6 out of 14 black dress days.)

Thanks for reading!

OMCZ 24 - Keeping it casual

Hello lovelies!

This fortnight's theme was chosen by Natalie, who said: "I always love seeing everyone looking lovely in their outfits but what do you wear when you are lounging around at home? Are you an all day pj girl or do you still keep it glam?"

It varies. Sometimes I might be in something casual all day with no make up on and my hair in a pony tail, or I might have a dress on with my eyebrows on point and red lippy on.

I recently bought some new jammies from Yours Clothing after seeing them on the lovely Lolly's blog so I thought I'd show them here today. As soon as I saw the print I did a big squee and since I had a bit of Christmas money left it was serendipitous.

The print is lipsticks and nail polish. How adorable! The PJ bottoms are £12 and the top is £10. They're made from a lovely soft cotton. The bottoms have a hot pink ribbon drawstring waist. A tip - tie a couple of knots in the ends of the ribbon. I showed hubby just how big the trousers are by stretching the waist out and the ribbon ends got lost inside the waistband. I spent about 15 minutes pulling them out. Only me, eh?!

I think they kinda look like hospital scrubs. I look cute!

I'm looking for pockets here and there are none!

I'm wearing a 34/36 in both top and bottoms to allow for shrinkage as they're made out of t-shirt material which tends to shrink over time, especially when you bung the tumble dryer on for too long (which seems to be my speciality.) Hubby's t shirts are starting to look like crop tops, hahaha. Also the top is longer, the sleeves are longer and the neckline is lower because of the oversize fit, and I will wear it as a t shirt too because it's too good not to wear alll the time. I always go at least 2 sizes up with lazy lounge wear. I like to feel the breeze, maaaan.

I took these photos as the sun was going down so there's a golden glow to the photos I like, especially the way it makes my hair look fiery.

Pyjama top and bottoms, Yours Clothing (nightie also available.)
Slippers, Primark (last year.)


What do you wear when you're hanging about the house?
Thanks for reading.

OMCZ 23 - Pretty pencils OOTD

Hiya pickles!

EDIT: I POSTED THIS ON TUESDAY THINKING IT WAS WEDNESDAY. Oops!

Happy New Year's Eve.

This fortnight the challenge was picked by Betty:

'Pretty Pencils'

Betty Wrote: I absolutely love pencil skirts but I've never had the confidence to wear them, what with the VBO and all that jazz. However, I've just ordered a beauty and I could really do with that push in order to wear it...let me see all you lovely ladies rocking your pencil skirts, get those pins out and share your style tips (as I also have no idea what to wear with the damn thing)! Betty x

I'm wearing my old faithful ASOS Curve pencil skirt and a blouse which only arrived a couple of hours before I started taking these photos. It's fresh out of the bag and thus a little creased. It's from Everything 5 Pounds.

I like it because there are 2 layers of fabric over the boobs for modesty, but there's only one panel below the boobs, giving a lovely sheer look. I sized up to a 30/32 as I have a problem getting things with no stretch to fit over my bubble butt. It's too big in the boobs but I don't mind a bit. It has lovely loose flowy sleeves which are see through. The sleeves are too long for me, but they act as hand warmers. 

I'm wearing my Wonder Woman necklace from my friend Lisa. It's funny because I often joke about not being Superwoman any more, so now I'm Wonder Woman as in 'I wonder which body part is going to play up today?' Hahaha. My sense of humour gets me through. :) I love the necklace, and I had the biggest crush on Wonder Woman when I was a child.

Necklace, from Lisa
Top, Everything 5 Pounds.
Skirt, ASOS Curve
Tights* Big Bloomers Company
Shoes, Rocket Dog

Do you wear pencil skirts? They can be a tad unforgiving on my ample hips, but I say sod it!

Thanks for reading.

Outside My Comfort Zone #5

Hiya lovelies!

It's that time again! Rachel of HappynessMagnet came up with the idea to do a fortnightly fashion challenge and here we are on challenge 5 already. WOW!

 The challenge was thus:

Mixed Pastels

Any piece, accessory, shoe, bag, nail polish etc, coordinate some pastels.
At least 2 colour pastels (pale light colours.

I have an extra accessory in today's post, you will notice. I keep coming over faint so I have to have my blood pressure monitored for 24 hours. So far I'm about 3 hours in and I'm tired of the cuff already but they really need to find out why I keep nearly passing out.

Outfit details:

Mint, pink and lemon vests (the latter worn as a skirt) Simply Be
Cardigan Primark (2012)
Leggings Very
Boots Tesco
Hair flower New Look

The thing I REALLY love about these challenges is it forces me to push myself. Before, I didn't like pastels because I thought they didn't suit me, but I can see I look amazing in pastels. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to push my fashion boundaries!

Do you rock pastels?

Thanks for reading!

OMCZ Challenge 3 - Pink on Tap

Hiya lovebirds!

Doesn't time fly?! Seriously, blink and 2 weeks have passed.
The challenge, if we chose to accept it *Mission Impossible voice* was this:

1. Date Due:  Wednesday, March 27th

2. Time Due prior to noon your time.

3. Challenge Piece: Leggings/Tights

4. Challenge Color: Bright/Hot Pink

5. Challenge Pattern: Stripes

YES! I LOVE this challenge!

Hot pink, black and white is my favourite colour combination ever and this outfit is probably my favourite so far. This is really 'me'.

Outfit details:

Dress - Anna Scholz (via eBay)

Leggings, Yours  

Boots, Tesco

Belt, ASOS

Hair flower, gift 

Thanks for looking!

What's your favourite colour combination?