It’s all about the confidence!

Last weekend I had a rare night out for my cousin’s hen do! I was really excited about a girl’s night out and put a lot of thought into my outfit. I wanted to dress up and feel gorgeous!
I decided to wear one of the Collectif dresses I got in the sale – the Polly shirt dress, and these super old Evans mary jane/t-bar shoes. I then spent forever trying to hunt down a matching bag!

I settled on this vintage one I found in a shop called Hidden Gems on Etsy from a fantastically helpful seller who posted it out next day delivery to ensure it arrived on time!

I had a bright red nail varnish in my July Birchbox so I painted my nails – for the 1st time in over 10 years!

I also decided to give pin curls a go – with proper old school setting lotion and everything! I did 1 practice run earlier in the week so this was my 2nd attempt:

I teamed my curls with an inverted victory roll and my amazing Janine Basil wired head tie.

I’ve finally made friends with the Benefit ‘They’re Real’ eye liner – after a bit of practice I’ve managed to perfect a reasonably good flick – and this stuff seems to last forever and stays put all night!

Here’s the final look:

And full length, with petticoat:

I received loads of compliments! I was particularly struck by the number of beautiful (and much smaller) ladies who said ‘I wish I had the confidence to dress like that – you look lovely!’. It reminded me that confidence is a state of mind – not a number on your dress label. And that’s what I told them! 🙂 I hope I can carry that confidence with me when I take my bikini on holiday next week! :oO xxx

My 1st Collectif Order – The Verdict

I collected my 1st Collectif order from the sorting office this morning! I thought you might be interested to see my purchases and see what I thought of the experience.
I’ve admired Collectif from a far for quite some time, since I heard about them from the gorgeous George via her blog,  Fuller Figure Fuller Bust. But I was worried about the sizing (a lot of lines only go up to a 22) and they’re generally a bit out of my price range. For me, over £50 for a dress is a bit too pricey for general day to day stuff! So when I saw their 50% off code I thought ‘this is my chance!’.
I ordered 3 dresses – the Tallulah, the Polly and the Cynthia. A couple of days later I received an email saying that they didn’t actually have the Tallulah in stock (a system error apparently). So after a brief period of mourning I got over it and eagerly awaited my mew friends Polly and Cynthia instead!

Polly

Cynthia

Sorry the photos are a bit rubbish but my 2 yo kept photo bombing, you can see evidence on Instagram!
I’m really impressed with the quality of the dresses – they’re beautifully made, with good quality fabric. As always seems to be the case with plus size dresses, the belts are NEVER quite long enough! The white isn’t wearable at my current size.
Both dresses fit well in the waist but are too tight and gaping around the boobs. I might sew up the front to stop the gaping so I can just put it over my head. (Button front dresses and blouses always tend to pop open for me anyway – one of the occupational hazards of an ample bosum!)
I’m very impressed with the dresses but I think I’ll have to stick to sale items and special offers to make it work with my budget.
Did you get anything in their sale?! Tell me tell me! 🙂 🙂 🙂