Holiday clothes for size 18, where do I start?

[eosmum]

Going on holiday in 3 weeks with the ILs. Lovely Sil's are all beautiful size 8/10 and tanned. I'm short pale, spotty and a size 18. I will be by far the heaviest person there including all the blokes. What can I wear? at home I wear mens polo tshirts and tracksuit bottoms. I have no idea how to dress and I'm going to look out of place anyway beside these gorgeous people. Anyone know where I'd start? My ILs are the loveliest people in the world and these are all my own issues, but I know i'll cry looking back at pictures. TIA

Stop comparing yourself for a start! I like Yours clothing. Plus they have an 'inspiration' page which puts outfits together as a whole and you can buy individual items or whole outfits.

I use them loads, very good returns as well as I often buy two different sizes and send one back.

I'm a size 18 and buy my clothes from normal high street shops - -next, M and S, Debenhams, etc.

Some department store have personal shoppers (for free). Book an appointment with them to help you.

Do,you know what shape you are? Buy clothes to,fit your shape, and you'll look,fab.

www.whowhatwear.co.uk/how-to-dress-for-body-type-pear-apple-hourglass/

One of the best dressed people I know is short and fat, but she dresses for,her shape, and looks great.

If you feel nervous about going into shops, then order clothes online, and send back what you don't like.

Have you a trusted friend who can help,you? I went shopping with a friend, and tried on stuff I'd never normally consider.

Asos curve, some elvi (although a bit dear), yours clothing , Evans and simplybe are my go-tos

Just a suggestion... maybe go to a department store such as John Lewis where there will be lots of brands available. You can ask one of the assistants to help select things to try. I was in JL today buying clothes. Everything I looked at seemed to be available in size 6 to 18. There was a great range of both casual and formal outfits. Enjoy your hols

At an 18, you don't need to think about plus size ranges, you can easily shop in mainstream store. I've bought a dress from seasalt, and a couple more from Boden for my summer holiday, plus a jersey maxi dress from Amazon, and a couple of pairs of loose linen trousers from M&S to wear with tee shirts. I'm travelling in loose jersey trousers and a tee shirt. Next also has some nice linen shirts in a range of colours - they dont actually suit me, but Ive seen several people look lovely in them.

At a size 18, I would avoid the dedicated plus-size shops and go with standard retailers. IME dedicated plus-size usually equals shapeless which just makes everyone look even huger.

Monsoon have some lovely stuff if you have the budget and currently have 30% off their summer wardrobe. You can even go for Boden if you like their look as they go up to a 22 as well.

At the moment, I am very impressed with Sainsbury's TU range for basics.

WOW thanks you so much for all your replies. I like the idea of pages where there is a look, just looked at the yours page and there are some lovely tops there. I'll make a list of all the places you all suggested and look tonight. I'm such a weird shape, 14 on the bottom but have rolls of back and belly fat and huge arms and no boobs. I think I'm too much of a people pleaser for a personal shopper, i'd just agree with them no matter what they said. Yeah and I'm billy no mates as well, other than my SIL's :) but my DS thinks I'm gorgeous and squishy.

I'm a size 18 and I love Tu at sainsburys.

I've got this vest in different prints and plain colours tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/p/Floral-Vest-With-Lace-/131122737

These shorts are also great tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/p/Black-Basic-Shorts/131193607

When I am a size 18 (I go up and down!) I love to shop at Next. I know lots of people here don't like it but I find their wide leg jeans very flattering as they don't strangle my legs like skinny jeans and I also love the cut of their t shirts. They do a lot of printed floaty stuff - dresses and tops - which work well on a slightly larger figure. I do like some Yours stuff but be careful as sometimes the plus sizes are cut for those much larger than a size 18 and it can make you look a lot bigger than you are. On the other hand their stuff is super comfy! Sainsbury's is also worth a look too.

I don't know if you are going somewhere warm but Lagenlook do some lovely floaty tops, really cool to wear and reasonably priced. I have bought them from "hippy" type shops but also from ebay and Amazon with really quick delivery. And enjoy your holiday!

I wouldn't bother with expensive brands for holiday clothes as you probably won't get much wear from them once you get home. On holiday I live in a pair of denim shorts which come down almost to my knees, mine were from m&s but you can get similar in lots of places. I also have a black pair of cotton shorts in a similar length. I wear these with camisole tops which are long enough to cover my tummy, mine were from Asda and the straps are reasonably thick so cover my bra straps ok. I know you'll probably feel self conscious and want to cover up more but if you're going to a hot climate you'll stand out more if you're fully covered up and looking hot and sweaty! I've also got a couple of dresses from Dorothy Perkins' website for evenings, Wallis have good stuff too in quite generous sizes.
Enjoy your holiday! I've been on holiday with thinner relatives too and can totally sympathise but there are always bigger people at the resort!