Fake It Till You Make It

This is going to be a very, very quick post of last Friday's outfit. I'm going to be quick because I was still sad last week, which you can probably tell from my red-ringed eyes in the photo, but I'm in a much better mood this week and I don't want to focus on last weeks sadness. However I thought y'all might enjoy Friday's colors, which was another day of dressing the opposite of how I felt. My colors were bright, happy and cheerful and I was not. Folks kept saying I looked like I was colorblocking, whatever that quite means.

So in a brief rundown of last Friday's outfit.

I'm wearing these amazing purple Tripp pants that I got from Torrid in one of their mega clearance sales. They have these pants in a variety of crazy colors and after months of hemming and hawing I finally ordered a pair for like $15 and let me tell you I LOVE them. I think they're so much fun! The sweater is a hand me down from my darling Jamie. You might remember I wore an outfit using the same sweater in a similar color palette, but it was a very different look.


Now on to the accessories, my favorite part. I'm wearing a new, purple sequined bow that I got from Dorothy Perkins, which reminds me that I must update you on that international order that didn't go so well. The earrings are from Topshop and the necklace I got in a rainforest in Argentina.

And the shoes, ahh the shoes. I think these may have been the very first pair of shoes I owned from my beloved Office and if you can't tell from looking at them I have loved them to death. Seriously, I have had these resoled at least 4 times and they are stretched out and coming apart and fall off my feet half the time, but they are the perfect, gold flat and I can't find anything perfect enough to replace it with. I'm an 8.5 if you see anything that you think will work for me.


Photo credit goes to my work wife Nicole. Thanks love!

Stewardess Chic

I've had a terrible week. Well actually I've had a terrible past 3 weeks if we're going to be totally honest here, and yesterday was the worst of the worst. I had a completely and wholly unprofessional nervous breakdown in the office and to help ease the anger and pain and sadness I got drunk on margaritas. Thus when I woke up this morning I was both embarrassed by my actions at work and nursing a pretty wretched hangover. Ugh.

I felt and looked like I should just throw on some sweats, but I thought that if I put on a pretty outfit it might help to trick me into feeling better. Do you ever have days where you think "ok, I feel like shit and my world is collapsing, but if I look presentable and put together maybe I can trick people into not noticing that I'm biting my lip to keep from crying." Well it kinda worked, but not really. I think the fact that the lip biting didn't stop me from crying may have had something to do with it.

But this blog isn't about stress and drama, so I'm going to stop focusing on that and get back to the outfit at hand.

I had purchased this dress back in September and it has been hanging in my closet unworn, ever since. I don't know why as I think it's adorable and cute and easy to wear, but hang in my closet it has. I grabbed it this morning and thought, navy sweater dress, you are finally going to have your moment to shine. The dress is a large from H&M, and like much of their clothing is fat friendly. The tights are Old Navy and the shoes are Sam Edelman, who makes very cute flats (although they're fairly narrow so I'd recommend going up half a size). I bought the flats in a fit of drunken shoe shopping and was happily surprised when I woke up the next day to find that even sober the shoes fit, were cute AND were in a color lacking from my closet.

I was trying to figure out how to best accessorize the outfit when I suddenly had the idea of a scarf. I've always wanted to be a scarf person, but they scare me - I'm always worried that I don't know how to wear them properly and am going to look like a freak. But this morning I just couldn't stop thinking of scarves to complete the outfit.

Now here is where you're probably thinking, "ok bloomie, if you don't wear scarves why do you have one that matches your outfit so perfectly?" And there is a reasonable answer dear readers, I promise. When my Grandma passed away in 2005 my sister and I cleaned out her apartment. We were not the same size - clothing or shoe or hand, lord the dozens of pairs of leather gloves we gave away in every color of the rainbow still breaks my accessory loving heart. But she had scarves, a ton of them and I kept about 30 and they were sitting in a shopping bag in my closet. So this morning when I wanted a scarf I burrowed into my closet, discovered the bag and voila, found today's pink scarf. The one thing about this scarf is that I keep surreptitiously sniffing it, because it still smells a bit like my Grandma. Smelling a bit like my Grandma is absolutely great, but it does lead to an awful lot of stares and questions of "ummm, why are sniffing your scarf?" Awkward people, awkward.

Photo credit goes to my friend and co-worker Amy who was also kind enough to let me, the ex-smoker, bum an I'm stressed/angry/scared cigarette off of her. Thanks Amy, you're the best!

Solid Gold

Sorry for the lack of posting, it's been a rough past week. To make it up to you I'm back with a completely and utterly ridiculous outfit that I hope gives you as much joy as it did me.

On Saturday night I attended a Solid Gold party and I was out to win for best outfit. Last year these same friends threw a Black and White party and I was totally going to win until my friend Ateqah showed up and completely bested my outfit. It took me a long time to get over that loss and I was determined to win this year, coming up with an outfit that would guarantee victory and let me tell you, victory was mine.

Here I am with the male winner of the evening in our matching 1970's victory necklaces. In case you were wondering, it was never about the prize, merely the bragging rights.

Back to the outfit. The top has a bit of a back story to it. I got via a plus-size vintage reseller called Cupcake and Cuddlebunny who has an etsy shop and who also sells on Fatshionista. She has really beautiful pieces, however I've ordered from her about 4 times off of Fatshionista and twice there was something wrong with my article of clothing. The shirt I'm wearing arrived with a hole in the front of it. The owner was very accommodating about it and allowed me to return the items and I did with one of them, but return shipping and waiting on line at the post office just makes it not worth my while.

The shorts are Size Queen via Re/Dress and the wig is courtesy of Target and I bought it cause 2 years ago I dressed up as Miss. Piggy for Halloween. Tights are Target, bag is vintage and my wedges are from Topshop. I must say Saturday reminded me just how much I love the way I look in heels and wedges. I really wish I had more tolerance for them, but I just don't. After about an hour of dancing they were sitting under the couch.

I got a lot of male attention on Saturday, many wondering 1) what my hair looked like under the wig and 2) if my outfit was made up of things I already had in my closet. The answer to the latter question was a resounding yes which amused people all night long. To my surprise folks were more shocked that I had a blond wig in my repertoire than sequined hot pants. Really?

It leads me to wonder if blonds have more fun or girls in hotpants have more fun. What do you think?

Rain, Rain go Away

Some days it rains and some days it pours. And some days, like yesterday in New York, it rains so hard and is so windy that they shut down the streets around my office because office windows were being blown out in lower Manhattan and in my favorite moment of the day, a woman outside my office building was holding onto a pole and as I passed begged me for assistance getting into the building cause she was afraid of being blown over. Now that was a New York first for me.

When it rains like that a girl has to be practical in how she dresses. Note the following rain concessions in my outfit.

1) I am wearing contacts. I always wear contacts in inclement weather so my glasses don't get fogged up by the rain or snow. I am seriously blind and when it's uber rainy I always fog up and subsequently cannot see shit, so I reach for my contacts instead. I always feel the need to wear eye makeup when I wear contacts since I can finally see to put makeup on, which is ironic since I'm often dressed in not-so-nice, crappy day clothing.

2) My hair is both up in a clip and has an around-the-neck headband that keeps flyaways to a minimum.

3) Rain boots. I talked about the utility of solid black rainboots in an earlier post.

4) Dress and tights. Now you may be thinking that a dress and tights aren't the smartest for wet and windy weather, but here's where I'd argue with you. Pants can easily get soaked and tights are thin enough as to dry relatively quickly.

5) Umbrella. And the fact that it matches my outfit in both color and pattern is just an added bonus that I had to point out.


Outfit details.

Dress I got at some random store in Charleston and was featured once before.
Cardigan is a hand me down from Jamie
Belt is Torrid
Tights are We Love Colors
Boots are Laila Rowe
Umbrella is Uniqlo
Headband was found in a random storage space at my old job
Earrings are likely from some 99cent store or something like that

Introducing what I hope will become a regular feature

I got an email the other day from my friend and reader titled Target. I opened it up and Emi had written the following. "Returning stuff and saw this dress. 19.99. Totally reminded me of you! :)" She included the following photo.


I cannot tell you how much I loved this! Both the dress and the idea that Emi saw something and thought I would like it so much that she papped it for me. For those of you wondering what in the hell papped means, in the UK they use it as slang for when the celebs get their photos taken by the paparazzi.

In fact it made me so happy that I want to make it a regular occurrence. So dear readers, if you're out and about and see something that you think I would love, pap it and email it to me at 30Dressesin30Days at gmail.com. I cannot wait to see what sort of crazy fatshions you come up with. As an added bonus, if I like it so much that I end up ordering it for myself I will send you some sort of delicious, homemade baked goods.

Also I want to come up with a name for what I hope will become a series of photos sent in by readers. I was thinking "Pap it for Me" but I don't know if that's really the best idea. Please, offer up any and all suggestions you might have.

Asos Curve Launches Today

For many of us British retailer Asos has long inspired lustful longing and today they launched their brand new plus size line Curve. Sadly the sizes only from a UK 20-26 which rougly translates to a US 16-22, but it's a start. I have to say that looking at the website I'm not necessarily overrun with excitement, but that was until I saw how the pieces actually looked on people.

The lovely Sakina over at Saks in the City looks unbelievable in her new Curve pieces and I'm now dying to own both the first dress she models and those jeggings.

Christina over at Musings of a Fatshionista has a review as well and she too looks beyond adorable in the same dress of Sakina's that I lusted after.

Finally, Gabi over at Young, Fat and Fabulous also offers up a rave review of the line and because of her comments I'm dying to order the sloucy t's.

All three bloggers (of whom I am MAJOR fans) talk about the high quality and construction of the pieces so once I see how things work out for me at the office next week I may just place an order. They're selling a skirted legging and I can't decide if it's brilliant or ridiculous. What say you?

I finally wear something blog worthy

As promised earlier today, I present you with a non-question blog post.

With all the cold weather I've been in a bit of a fashion funk. You would never know from the way I've been acting this winter that I was once a cold weather fanatic. Seriously, I'm the girl who used to dream of living in Alaska and still dream of living in New Zealand - it's the prettiest place I've ever been. Don't believe me yet? After reading this book, I applied for a job at the South Pole. I will also add that the job was to wash dishes, cause at that time in my life it was the only thing I was even remotely qualified to do there. Everything else had an ologist at the end of the job description, so truth be told if I applied again it would likely still be to wash dishes.

All of this is a preface to say that it has surprised me how much I've been hiding away from short dresses and skirts due to the cold this winter. But no more. My legs are out and about and now that I have a new, warm down coat to wear I'm not hiding them anymore.


The dress I picked up on a Friday fats sale and is vintage. The belt from Accessorize and the cropped velour jacket from Dorothy Perkins help to give the dress definition.


The headband is from Primark, the tights are from Target and the worn, scuffed, but still loved boots are from Evans. There's a whole lot of London purchases going on in this post.


Photo credit goes to Ateqah who is so very kind in indulging my need to document my outfits.

Boots, boots and more boots

Ok, you're probably getting sick of this activity of voting on possible purchases for me so I promise later today I'll post an actual outfit, but I once again want your advice.

It's difficult to buy boots when you're fat as the circumference for most boots is something like 15.5 inches and my calves circumference in at about 18 inches. It was when I lived in London that I discovered the wide calf boot department at Evan's which was a revelation. I went a bit mad buying all sorts of boots since it was the first time I could fit my calves into them. Stupidly I bought several boots with heels which have since languished in my closet season after season as I'm not so good with heels.

But my boot existence really changed when I discovered Duo (which is sadly also a British company) where they sell boots in a variety of calf widths. They have showrooms where you can go and try on boots and they'll then ship you your order. The way it works is kind of amazing. In every boot, in every foot size they carry over 10 calf widths - perfect for those of us with either thin or fat calves.

I spend a lot of time gazing longingly at the Duo website. However it's always hard for me to commit to ordering shoes internationally when you never know about the fit. I'm in desperate need for some flat, black, everyday boots and have been eyeing these for 6 months. They're pricey so thankfully my father has agreed to purchase them as my combined birthday present from last year and this year.

However they're currently having a sale and if I'm still employed as of next week I want to treat myself to some flat, brown boots and I'm hoping y'all can tell me which you like best. The great thing about the sale is that you can just plug in your shoe size and calf size and they'll tell you what's available.

Option 1 I don't recall ever having seen before the sale, I assume it's some really old stock they're trying to get rid of. Option 2 is cute, but only mid-calf and I worry that I'm not able to rock a mid-calf boot with dress look. Option 3 are technically not on sale, but I'm happy to splurge on them. Option 4 is on sale in the caramel color which is so popular this season, but not the dark brown.

Also I own these and love them to pieces. Mine are fairly wrecked at this point and I'm wondering if I should invest in a spare pair when it's so cheap.

Help me Pick a Coat

Once again dear readers I come to you for assistance. This time I want your input on a new down coat.

Now lets get a few things straight. I know that none of these coats are exactly "fashionable." In an ideal world I wouldn't need to own a down coat, but I live in New York and it gets cold and I'm outdoors an awful lot. In fact in every NY woman's closet there hangs a long, black, puffy down coat. Seriously I think it's the law or something. There's one in mine and it has been there since 2003 when I walked into Macy's one freezing evening and asked for the warmest coat they had. The coat is still serviceable and keeps me toasty warm but it weighs an absolute ton and well...after 7 years I'm sick of it. I figure I'm allowed to buy a new down coat every 7 years or so.

Last weekend my best friend was in town and we went on the hunt for a down coat. Luckily she and I could have fun doing anything, absolutely anywhere because we spent the afternoon in EMS, Patagonia and North Face - not exactly the shops I like to spend my time or money in.

You know how most women have to do the "breast test" when trying on an article of clothing - the test to see if it buttons past your chest. Well my version of that is the ass test - does something fit around my hips and ass. Too often as we discovered the answer was no, it does not. Ideally I wanted a coat that hit my knees but these stores only carried straight sizes - none of which were going to zip over my ass.

I had asked friends for recommendations on Facebook with the stipulation that I wanted something warm and light and numerous friends recommended this Patagonia coat. It was the one coat that I seriously considered purchasing as it was warm and weighed nothing and I was taken with the lime green, but with my penchant for dresses and leggings I really wanted some protection for my legs. My besties suggestion that I purchase said coat and just wear long underwear resulted in an eye roll.

So after an unsuccessful day of shopping, off I went to the internet and ended up at Land's End. They were having a massive sale, they carried lots of long coats and they had plus sizes - the holy trinity! I had no idea how things were going to fit and so I ordered 3 different coats in a variety of sizes. It was a good thing as they all fit very differently and the one I like best is the one I almost didn't even order.

So in order from favorite to least favorite I present you with my 3 coats and ask for your advice as to which I should make room for in my overcrowded closet.

Option 1

This is the Morgan and I ordered it in a 1x only because they didn't have a 2x, which is a good thing since the 1x fits pretty perfectly. The photos on the website made the coat look awfully shiny and I was worried I'd look like Missy Elliot, during the garbage bag phase but it's waaay less shiny in real life than on the website or in this photo.

Option 2

This is the best-selling (and not on sale) Dory which comes in a wide variety of colors of which I {gasp} didn't order the brightest one. I ordered a 2x, which due to the cut is actually tighter around my bottom than Option 1. Folks in my office were of a mixed opinions between 1 and 2.

Option 3

This is the Reversible Quilted Down and it is just a fail in every imaginable way. I ordered a 2x which is absolutely swimming on me, but I don't think that even if it fit properly I would like it. It's just a bit blah, even for a down coat.

So, vote in the comments below. I'm heavily leaning towards option 1, but would love to hear what you have to say.

Oh and finally, look how small they made those coats for shipping. I'm in awe.

Follow up from yesterday

Yesterday when I posted about the shiny, purple leggings, reader (and dear friend) Jamie said that if I stuck to all black the leggings could be cute, but that knowing me I'd likely wear them with "an orange shirt, a kelly green skirt, a yellow scarf and red shoes." In which case she said they'd be too much.

So I promised that today I would wear my crazy purple, green and black spandex leggings with all black to see what I thought. Let me tell you, it was difficult. When I was getting dressed I really wanted to put on a purple cardigan, but I restrained myself and stuck to the promise of all black...well all black in different textures and then my very non-black leggings. I think it came out well, even if I did have to try on a few different black dresses before I decided on the one that I felt most comfortable wearing without any additional color.


Dress is a large from Banana Republic and is a hand-me-down from Jamie
Jacket that I have recently rediscovered and am in love with all over again is from Dorothy Perkins and is a 18 UK
Leggings are from Torrid and I think are a 1
Boots are from Evans


I may have cheated every so slightly with my accessories. The hair clip I got at the bust craftacular in December and the earrings are from Accessorize. Two-toned hair is a casualty of trying to get back to my natural hair color after years of coloring.

Photo credit goes to my co-worker Selene that I ran into on my way into work this morning.