Plus size and dressing well

[MallowsMiaow]

Recently I've been only buying cheap clothes that hide my body because of weight gain, and I've realised I need to stop this. I was refusing to buy better clothes as I was kidding myself that I would go back to being a size 8-10 again, but the truth is, I have quite severe health problems and (unless my health improves) I'm probably never going to be slim again. Or if I am, it's going to be a slow process.

Living for what might be has meant I've lost most of my 20's.

I don't want to wear baggy stuff as actually it doesn't appear to suit me. My measurements are 42-38-42, so not top or bottom heavy, but not quite curvy enough to be an hourglass figure either. Plus I adore vintage/rockabilly/goth fashions, so want a bit of glamour.

Anyone else up for sharing tips and support? Think it'd be good to have a few of us larger ladies encouraging each other to feel good about ourselves.

I love joe brown jeans, I get an 18 and they are so comfy and have long leg :) Most other trousers I have to get a 20 so they are a generous fit.
I like mantaray at Debenhams top, they are fitted around the chest and cover tummys well and usually have a good length. I often find trying to buy tops the biggest problem is that they are too short. I prefer long tops.
I don't like NYDJ, they feel too high waisted for me.

bigmouth That is gorgeous! Very tempting!

poly I'm only 4ft 10 so that's good to know about ASOS Curve, imagine it'll still be too long, but still

Tanaqui I am so jealous of her tiny little waist! Can't believe that's not from a corset

What is with tie backs on plus size stuff, does it ever look good?!

good You are stunning! That polka dot collectif dress looks amazing on you, and how fit are you to do all that pole dancing! Very jealous!

I've only just joined Instagram, so not much on there atm, I'm themallowaesthetic

I'm tall and fat too, 6ft and size 24
Trousers normally Simply Be - only place i can find 34“\35“ which aren't that nasty shiny fabric
Same with jeans altho not ever happy with jeans - always too big around my waist.
Tops are find harder, i have inexplicably small shoulders and a very high (38J) bust so everything always sags and shows my tits/bra
Evans are the worst, there tops/dresses are cut for woman who wear their boobs around their waist.
I wear a lot of jersey tops - tight enough which gives me a nice hour glass shape
I'd like to wear more formal work dresses but my height rules me out quite a few as the waist is always too high.
The Matalan double layer tube skirts are also regular work staple.
Weekend wear is unfortunately the fat girl stable jersey dresses and leggings (altho they look more tunicy on me.

Would love to be one of those fabulously put together larger ladies but I just can't pull it off

Thank you
I do a LOT of exercise, pole, horse riding, weights, spin etc
Also a little plus size modelling when I have time

Yes the NYDJ are pricy but I'm content to pay because such a good fit on me. Have along body so waist just right on me. Also wide choice of colours and styles.

Agree Evans are hopeless btw.

I'm not sure who Evans make their clothes for because they are always so short and so wide.

I buy from next, curvissa, simply be, asos curve, debenhams and the odd thing from M&S.

Went into Evans the other day for the first time, they had some gorgeous prints but in really frumpy cuts :(

goodasitgets you do not look plus size in that spotty bodycon dress. You look amazing!
I would love to have a curvy figure but I'm just straight up and down and tend to look matronly. If i ask anyone how i look they always say "smart". I don't want to look smart - i want to look sexy or trendy or glam - anything but smart!

British stuff is not designed for pears! If only it were! Majority of British plus size wear us designed for apple shaped women. This looks terrible on me .
I do like asos curve though and yours is ok. HandM's plus size range is really nice if only there were more of it as it's quite a small range but good quality. Alternative clothes might be good better on eBay and Vinted.

Another larger lady here. I have been struggling over the last few weeks, with finding something for a wedding which took place last weekend so the whole smart dressing thing has been a bit of a crusade. I normally don't have to dress up that much except to smarten up a bit for work - although I am by no means a jeans and t-shirt and nothing else, type of person. I do wear a lot of skirts.

I suppose the problem with plus size dressing is that being larger means that our different shapes are a lot more obvious than if we were smaller sizes and so a size 22, say, means very different things on different people. When slimmer I was a pear shape but I think, now I am bigger, I am more hourglass but I can't wear baggy things because they just make me look even bigger. Too much is produced for the larger woman that has very little definition to hide everything rather than giving the opportunity to accentuate the positive. V. depressing.

Anyway, there are some great sites I have never heard of before. I shall have hours of fun having a look. It is nice to see sleeves on things. The biggest bug bear I have is sleeves that are too tight or too short. The cursed bingo wings gene means I hate my arms and they are never going to be something that I want to show off. That has been a problem looking at larger sizes of 'normal' ranges.

"I suppose the problem with plus size dressing is that being larger means that our different shapes are a lot more obvious than if we were smaller sizes and so a size 22, say, means very different things on different people."

Absolutely. It definitely makes things a lot harder.

As far as I can tell my body "type" hasn't changed, tried putting my measurements into one of those body shape calculators and it came back as rectangle, which is how I was when I was slim. But a slim rectangle and a fat rectangle are very different.

I've just found out that boohoo.com has launched a plus size range. Some of it is very cheap so I don't know what the quality will be like. But I've just ordered a few things for my holiday in a few weeks so will see.

I've found a few new plus size blogs over the last few days. I am enjoying reading them however a lot of them seem to be hour glass shapes with beautiful long hair - the total opposite to me!
And they have the confidence to wear much more figure hugging clothes than i would. But then i think they look smaller than me so maybe that's the trick.
How have i got to my mid-40s with no clue about what clothes to wear?!

The Boohoo stuff is ok quality for the price, bought some when I was bit smaller. Not overly inspired by their plus size stuff though :(

I'm finding the same with some bloggers, they've got this wonderful figure which I cannot ever hope to have. The one I'm most inspired by right now is Betty Pamper

Agree, very unimpressed by the looks of the Boohoo Plus stuff.

I never normally wear trousers or jeans but was struggling to find decent dresses to bf in, so ended up buying skinny jeans from ASOS curve and they are amazing! So much so that I bought an extra pair just in case anything befell the original pair

Evans stuff is terrible, I agree.

Ineedsomehelp what size are you? There are some excellent bloggers of all shapes and sizes. I might be able to recommend.

itsbetterthanabox I am a size 16 so, in theory, shouldn't have any problems getting clothes to fit.
However I just seem to be a funny shape. Relatively tall (5'8") with broad shoulders and big boobs (34FF) but no waist to speak of and fairly slim hips and bum. I sound so attractive!

I have real problems with trousers, they'll fit beautifully on my thighs, but too big in the hips/waist so they fall down. Whereas any that fit my hips/waist nicely are a struggle to get over my thighs. I didn't think my thighs were oversized!

virtual I swear by Dorothy perkins jeans, also their jeggings are well worth a try, super comfy but made of sturdy enough denim to be more jean than legging. They go up to size 22 and their long leg is 34''

I love next plus size clothing, well made and reasonable pricing.

Curls what are DP jeans like for calf width? That's what I always struggle with.

ineed hmm I find them a good fit, but not sure if I have particularly strong calves! The jeggings have lots of stretch, so have more give in them. Their online returns system is as good as any others, so worth a try!

OP have you checked out 'wiggle dresses' on Amazon? Very glam and very rockabilly, they'd look amazing on a woman your size. I'd love them myself but even though I'm not a stick I'd look like Olive Oyl!