OOTD: Desert Rain
A couple weeks ago I shared two different Kiyonna dresses that I wore in one day, and lucky for me I get to now share a third! Kiyonna contacted me to see if I would like to try a piece of their line as part of their Blogger Brigade series. If you look at Kiyonna‘s website, they always have pictures of various women wearing their clothing, which I find really helpful in deciding if the item would work for me or even how to style the item.
Blogger Brigade: Hailey from Discourse of a Divine Diva
When they asked me what item to get, I knew I wanted to try one of the maxi dress styles. I love how maxi dresses look dressed up with minimal effort, and the details that Kiyonna puts into their dresses really allow you to dress it up or keep it casual. I chose the Desert Rain Maxi in black, and I accented the piece with silver and turquoise accessories.
I will totally admit to wearing this dress 3 times in the past week and a half. When you work 2 different jobs, you can get away with repeating an outfit often 
. If you decide to purchase this dress, I recommend sizing it to your top size, as the hips do have extra room if you are a larger pant size than top size. I’ve been a loyal Kiyonna shopper for a long time (they’ve seen me through every wedding I’ve gone to in the past few years), so it was particularly sweet to get to try a piece for their Blogger Brigade. I love them even more for their size range, 10-32!
If you were to wear this maxi, how would you accessorize it? What do you think of their Blogger Brigade series?
*Dress was provided courtesy of Kiyonna for their Blogger Brigade series
A Few of My Favorite Things
There’s a lot of good things floating around the internet this week. Here’s a few that you should check out:
1. The Clements Ribeiro Swan SS13 collection will land on Evans.co.uk (and hopefully the USA site) on March 14th, and Evans asked a few bloggers to model the line. These girls look AMAZING, and I am so thrilled to see a collaboration like this taking place. Check out Marie, Callie, Nicolette, Georgina, and Bethany‘s personal blogs to check out their individual styles.
2. On top of that good fashion news, I also learned that Gabi Gregg of Gabifresh.com collaborated with SwimsuitsForAll.com on a swimsuit line (out May 15th), AND indie designer Ashley Nell Tipton is releasing her collection for purchase on her site AshleyNellTipton.com mid-May.
Gabi in the galaxy print bikini
Ashley Nell Tipton’s Release Photo
3. There’s also other good things floating around that won’t make your wallet scream out in pain. Gabi Gregg (yes, I’m still talking about her) wrote a piece for rookiemag.com responding to readers who felt like they couldn’t dress the way they wanted to due to family, society, “rules”, feeling the need to blend in, etc. The entry is titled: Because You Can: Make ‘Em Look.
Chasity of Garner Style also wrote a response piece, but this time it was to those who write hateful comments about her body. I have to admit that her piece was pretty timely for me. I’ve been struggling to deal with getting a lot of hate traffic from random forums where they are putting down myself AND all the girls I put on my 20 bloggers at 24+ post. It’s upsetting to think that not only am I getting mean notes, but that I’ve also opened up these other bloggers to these people. But as Chasity says in her post, “Now in the words of Beyonce, ‘I love haters.’ You need them. They get the crowd going. In the last few days, I’ve gotten so much traffic just from their rants and raves on my weight. That works wonderfully, because through their rants and raves women who needed that encouragement to love themselves find my blog and other plus size fashion blogs. Anytime I can help someone accept themselves, I’m all for that.” [emphasis added]
4. Reconnecting with my blogging/twitter friends. I haven’t had the most time in the world to devote to this space, so it’s been nice as the semester comes to a close to pick back up in the conversations on twitter or email. I miss these ladies, and I always feel more inspired after talking with them.
What are some of your favorite things? Any links that I should check out?
FFFWeek 2013: Tickets Now Available!
Last week I received some news that will send me on an exciting adventure this summer. I am officially one of 12 bloggers that make up the Fashion Front at Full Figured Fashion Week in NYC 
, and I am so excited to go back to New York, see old blogger friends, meet new ones, and experience FFFWeek up close and personal through the Fashion Front. As we get closer to the event itself, I will post new information about the event on my blog. I hope to see you there, or if you can’t go, I hope to share all of the exciting things happening in plus-size fashion during the week with you via my blog.
This week the team behind FFFWeek officially posted their schedule. You can purchase tickets or register for events on their schedule page, so make sure to scroll through and look at the bottom of every entry for ticket information. From what I’ve heard, the Curves at Sea evening cruise and the Indie Runway are already getting close to selling out. Crazy!
It’s not surprising though. The Curves at Sea cruise was my favorite event last year.
There was even an engagement during the cruise–pretty much the sweetest thing I’ve ever witnessed.
What I love most about 2013′s schedule is that they kept some of the known favorites of the week (the cruise and runway shows), but they are also expanding the types of events to include panels that cover topics such as make-up, wellness, and social media, a class focusing on sensual movement exercise, as well as a silent auction to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness and a launch party. Check out the full schedule and purchase tickets here!
Let me know if you are going! I’d love to see you during the week or answer any questions you have about the event.
Shop Dresses from my Closet
Hellllooooo! I am doing a closet sale again, and I’ve decided to focus on particular kinds of pieces at one time instead of a mash of everything. This week, I’ve uploaded 24 dresses for sale, ranging from size 22-28. There’s a little bit of ASOS, Torrid, Lane Bryant, and more, so check it out at: http://theplussideofme.bigcartel.com/
OOTD: Wearing Kiyonna Day & Night
Yesterday was the first day in a long, long time that I felt good and had plans to see friends, so I wanted to make sure and take on the day in style. That afternoon I was meeting one of my closest friends for a little window shopping and a manicure, so I took my cue from the beautiful warm weather and took off in comfortable & chic Kiyonna wrap dress. I had been holding on to the dress for weeks after receiving it as part of my subscription to Gwynnie Bee, and for some reason I didn’t like it on me a couple weeks ago but put it on yesterday and fell back in love. Funny how that can happen sometimes.
This dress is Kiyonna’s Winona Hi-Lo Wrap dress, and I love the color and cut of the top of the dress. I would like it a little better if the dress was not hi-lo, but that’s because I’m 5’4″, and hi-lo tends to almost hit the floor on me. You can’t see the back from this picture, but the hem probably dips about 6-8 inches lower than the front. You know it’s a good dress when you get compliments from strangers, so this dress is going on my “Must Buy” list since I’ll eventually return it to Gwynnie Bee for a new item (P.S. Definitely look into their service. It’s nice if you like to try new items but do not want to buy new items all of the time).
Later that day I was attending a wedding for one of my friends from college, so I chose a Kiyonna dress to wear again. It was definitely outside of my comfort zone because it was much more body hugging than I typically go, but I went for it anyway and really loved wearing it. Unfortunately, I’m a crap blogger and forgot to take a picture. Luckily, I did pose for one picture with some friends, so you can get a slight idea of what it looked like on me.
This is the Danika Draped Dress, and I like the cut so much that I’ve been contemplating getting the pink version too. Since I bought the dress on sale, they were already out of some sizes (including mine), so I sized down one. I definitely would go back to my normal size if I buy the pink one, so if you purchase this, follow the size chart to pick your size.
Yesterday was a beautiful spring-time day, and it brought me back to being excited about fashion. I love that these Kiyonna dresses saw me through both a casual and formal event, all while being so comfortable and put together.
What are your favorite spring time looks for casual and formal events?
*I was not compensated in any way by Kiyonna or Gwynnie Bee. I just happened to wear both dresses on the same day, so I decided to feature Kiyonna in this post .
Well, What Did You Eat?
This is a post about some recent medical issues I have faced and all of the emotions that go along with it. Click through the jump to read (it’s long), or if you prefer to just see fashion shots, here is a gratuitous outfit shot that I never ended up posting:
OOTD: When You Have the Blues
Thank you to everyone who was in and commented on my last blog post: 20 plus size fashion bloggers size 24+. I think it’s going to go down as my most viewed post ever, which is pretty damn exciting because it features so many wonderful bloggers. Definitely check out the comments, as so many more bloggers left links to their own sites. I am planning to do a second list in the next month or so, so keep an eye out for that!
I had a rough past week, so I went into self-care mode for the past few days. For me that meant:
Bright pink nails This week it’s Butter London’s Primrose Hill Picnic
Comforting music from one of my favorite movies, You’ve Got Mail.
(Although this movie totally set me up for disappointment when it comes to online dating.)
(Source)
Giggling over Pitch Perfect with my sister
Going out for iced coffee (and, yes, sometimes even doing this takes extra energy when you are down)
I think somehow the weather had pity on me, and Saturday and Sunday had warmer, happier weather, so I finally felt up for wearing something that I like (another thing that makes me feel better) and sitting down to write a post. It’s casual and simple, but the polka dot printed shirt and the bright pink bag were just enough to perk me up.
Penningtons Polka Dot Denim Shirt, Lane Bryant Jeggings, Lane Bryant Purse, Target Merona Flats
What do you do when you have the blues?
