Author: PetitePlusMeow

Social Media Enthusiast. Learning Designer. Curvy Fashionista. I'm a 30-something Canadian born Bengali (parents are from Kolkata, India...for those of you who need to know that type of thing). I've been chubby-curvy-plus-sized my entire life. Standing at a height of 5'2 and with a darker complexion, it has always been a challenge finding outfits or "looks" that really suit me. Living in the fashionable city of Toronto since birth, with a solid career has finally allowed me to embrace my love of pretty fashions in clothing, shoes and everything in between.

Fall Shopping Haul: NY State

I took a mini break from the blog last week and went on a road trip to Rochester, NY for a fun Lindyhop dance weekend called Slow Dance Soiree

Even with the CAD$ still being in the toilet … THIS was the look of my apartment AFTER the trip!!! 😮

YEP!!! Mama did some serious shopping this trip! So welcome to my Fall Shopping Haul Post – let me tell you what I found in my travels to NY State!

VILLAGE GATE MALL, ROCHESTER, NY

We took our own sweet time driving up to Rochester, NY … taking all the side roads to really see the city Friday afternoon on our drive up. My travel mate was on the hunt for a specific high-end liquor which lead us to a restaurant in the Village Gate Mall.

Naturally, if we’re in a mall… I’m gonna need to poke around to see if anything needed to be mine 🙂

Here’s what followed me home:

There was a little wee shop in a deep, far corner of this mall that had the cutest little things!!!

I’m so sad that I didn’t pickup a biz card to give them a shout out in this post. Sigh…

UPDATE: Shop name is Sweet Poison Cupcake

Unicorn Earrings!!! (There was some discussion around these being Pegasus … but they’ve clearly got a horn + wings … so that makes them 100% Unicorn) 😉

Giraffes and Penguins with balloons!! The cutest socks ever … $3 each!

Across from this shop was a hair salon that was having a WIG SALE!!! Naturally, I had to try on every single one! 😀

I think I provided a source of entertainment to all the shopgirls and patrons as I pranced back and forth to get a glimpse of me in their mirrors.

Here’s the one I settled on…

My **$10** wig from the Vivica A. Fox line… to give me an entirely different look!

I’m wayyyyy too chicken to actually cut my hair this short. But now I get the best of both worlds with this $10 wig – harnessing my inner Viola Davis and giving me that powerful How To Get Away With Murder look. 😉

FASHION OUTLETS OF NIAGARA FALLS, USA

I’ve been to the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, NY many times. And its sorta a hit-or-miss place for deals and fab finds. But since we’re driving by it anyways we HAD to stop in and see what was up. 😀

And here’s the results of that:

NINE WEST

EVERYTHING at Nine West was 50% off!

These rang in at $45 … totally worth it even with the USD$/CAD$ exchange. Super comfortable. Super fashionable. Super practical being flats with rubber soles.

I see myself living in these shoes for all of Fall – bring on the rain and sleet! ❤

Glossy Merlot Wine shoes with adorable ribbon laces … YES please! ❤

PAYLESS SHOES

I dunno what it is, but the Payless stores in the States just seem to offer better selection and sizing.

So when I found it was BOGO days – Buy One, Get One – it made the purchasing decision easy!

Aren’t these the perfect booties?! I didn’t wanna go with black or brown…like everyone else.

So when I found these hunter green ones – it was love at first sight! $39!

I’m all about finding adorable flats these days – sadly pumps are no longer something I can comfortably wear all day – plus, flats allow you to be dance-ready always 😉

These black tassel flats were marked down to $15 …. but with BOGO, ended up being $7!!!

FOREVER 21+

Ya’ll know I love me some Forever21+, but shop there as sparingly as possible to avoid looking like every other plus size girl getting her street-style on.

But these thin hi-low tank tunics in the perfect Fall colours of army green and wine red were only $14, how could I leave them on the rack?

And then I found this!!!!

Do I even wear sweatshirts? No! But that’s beside the point! Just look at the adorable puppies of all kinds on it!!!!

Puppy sweatshirt **$20**… Unnecessary spending at it’s finest – 😛

Michael Kors

One of the main reasons for me stopping in on this outlet mall on the way home was to buy a new FALL purse.

I’ve been using the same cross-body MK purse since 2012 – It has only now started to look worn… which means replacement is necessary 🙂

Found this bad boy in the clearance section … which meant an additional 25% off – woot! woot!

This dessert suede and leather messenger bag with optional cross-body strap stole my heart!

I didn’t intending on buying TWO MK purses – but just look at this one!!!

Perfect size! Lots of visual interest + tassel! Bonus!

Netural enough to go with nearly everything, without being black. AND optional cross-body strap.

Both of these pursues rang in just a bit over $100 each. #winning

Target

No cross-border shopping trip is complete without a stop into Target!

I didn’t find much that caught my eye in terms of clothes/accessories/shoes — but their home section was on fire!

ALL Lighting is on sale at Target until Halloween (or at least that’s what the sign said when I scored these) Making each of these sets **$11!**!!!

Found some electric blankets (unphotographed) which helped kick-start my xmas shopping. And found these adorable mini globe string lights.

I’ve used one set to make my bedroom more romantic and will be saving the other to amp up my balcony next summer!

There you have it friends!! My Shopping Haul!!! All prices I’ve listed were in USD$ …. Soooo when you do the conversion to CAD$ they might not have been such “deals” anymore. But it doesn’t matter!!! I loved all my finds and they needed to be mine.

The End 🙂

Until next time..xo

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Spectacular Specks

It’s been nearly 4 years since I’ve gotten my eyes checked. Way overdue, I know! I know! I’m not always good at adulting … I know this.

Typically work benefits are apart of your overall compensation and you’d be surprised at how many people don’t maximize them (click here for more on that). So make sure you don’t waste all that allocated money, hunni! 😉

Now, you could try on every pair of eyeglasses in the store to find out how each one looks, but narrowing down your choices in advance can save you a lot of time and aggravation. So that’s what I did – I scoped out the Hakim Optical website for my favourites – and then scheduled my eye exam + in-store visit.

It was the rainiest day ever in Toronto when I made my trip … so pardon my wet-rat hair and makeup less face, as I show you my short-list of spectacles I liked best:

According to The Vision Council, they’ve determined 3 points to consider when choosing eyeglass frames for your face shape. Click here to read more on that.

I took a different route and just picked out what I thought were cutest from the frames in the shop and then bombarded a few sweet people in my life with photos of my spectacled face, demanding their feedback immediately 😛

With all of my banked benefit dollars… I was able to buy 3 PAIRS. Here’s what I finally settled on …

The Grande … “An artistic version of one of the most popular new frame styles. For a true trendsetter.”

These bad boys come in speckled red, black and yellow.

I liked them so much over all the others that I opt’d for both Red & Black!!! 😀

These sunnies weren’t online. Just in-store only limited editions. AND they just stole my heart once I tried them on ❤

That gold trim across the tops and slight cat-eye point and giant shade coverage just made them perfection for lil’ ol’ me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There you have it friends! In my old age… seems I’ve gotta start including glasses into my vanity and outfit posts.

So might as well make sure I pick fashionable ones. 😉

What do you think of my choices? Were there others you preferred? Let me know in the comment section below.

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5 Blogger Looks for Fall

Layers are what makes Fall my most favourite season! But sometimes a girl needs some inspiration to help her shop and repurpose items from her own closet.

That’s when I go to the Fashion Bloggersphere for inspiration. Here is a short Top 5 list of the looks I’m digging this Fall:

#5. Style Cassentials

Pale pink over pumpkin – Cassie of StyleCassentials creating colour combos I never think of ❤ …and those fringed open-toed booties….Gawd!!! Just lovely!

Click here for deets on her look.

#4 Glitter and Lazers

A girl after my own heart rocking the perfect colourful pattern in this long-sleeved collar-necked dress ❤

Click here for the deets on her look.

#3. Girl With Curves

This is Tanesha of GirlWithCurves. Just loving how a little fur collar can make such a difference to your entire outfit. ❤ Work wear at its finest ❤

Click here for deets on this look.

#2. Curvily

This is Sarah of Curvily – a fellow petite who’s rocking a dark denim jumpsuit like a BOSS!

Click here for the deets on this look.

#1. CurvyGirlChic

This is Allison, of CurvyGirlChic is just doing all the right things with plaids.

Click here for the deets on this look.

There you have it … my TOP 5 Fall Looks from the Bloggersphere.

Who are your style inspiration/girl crush outfits for the Fall season so far?

Tell me about them in the comment section below and link to their look so I can take a peek! 🙂

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Birthday Frock

Doesn’t this dress just scream: FALL IS HERE!?

Gawd!! I fell in love with this on the hangers at Tatyana Boutique – before they closed their Toronto location – which means up to 80% discounts on all their gorgeous frocks.

So I picked up this bad boy…and have been patiently waiting for my birthday to wear it. 🙂

Not like I ever need an excuse to treat myself to a new frock …teeheee 😛 ….

But if you’ve got a looming birthday on the horizon – that is an EXCELLENT excuse to treat = a new outfit!

At the time of purchasing this dress, I didn’t really have any plans to celebrate my birthday. All I knew was that this dress needed to be mine.

Click here for more deets of the exact moment this dress stole my heart! ❤ ❤ ❤

Just look at the fun and sassy lace embellishment around the entire neckline ….. ❤

This dress came with a sweet little deep green ribbon belt…. which I chose to wear in my hair instead of around my waist.

Now Toronto’s still pretty lucky with the weather we’ve been getting. So for true birthday purposes wearing this dress solo was perfect!!!

But with Fall officially here now, a girl’s gotta come up with ideas to keep cute + warm.

Here’s my plans for this dress into cooler temperatures….until the snow hits, that is:

How I Got The Look:

Mirabelle Dress, Tatyana Boutique; Glossy Beige Pumps, Payless Shoes; Fur Collared Sweater, Reitmans

Photo credit: Lawrence Kerr of LawrenceKerrPhotography.com

What I Did

September babies are the best!!! Turns out several of my peeps are fellow September babies.

So what better way to celebrate ALL of their birthdays than by one big ol’ party doing all the things we each love:

Day Drinking – Patio Potlucking – BBQ’ing – Cake Eating – Dancing – Pole’ing – Hot Tubbing too!!!

14333173_10153980251919072_1790328659050317031_n — It’s not a party until there’s a POLE! Giddy Up! 😉

There you have it friends – celebrating turning 29 for the umpteenth time with patio fun, good friends and the perfect weather day!!!

Curious about my birthday outfits from previous years? Click here, here and here 🙂

Make a Wish! ~~ Happy Birthday to ALL the September Babies out there! xo

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Rodan+Fields – Product Review

I’ve been fortunate to have pretty decent, trouble-free skin. Having said that, I’ve typically gotten away with whatever was on sale at the drugstore when it comes to face cleansers, creams, lotions and potions.

As I approach yet another anniversary-of-my-29th-birthday, 😉 …the areas of noticeable change when it comes to my skin have become:

Increased freckles on my cheeks (aka, sun-spots), and
Under eye darkness/puffiness

Lucky for me Heather O’Shea, Independent Consultant for Rodan+Fields, reached out to me with solutions!

#1 SKIN SOLUTION: Give it a Glow Mini Facial

This 3-step system aims to give you skin a glow … revealing a more vibrant, youthful-looking complexion.

In the morning, I used the Micro-Dermabrasion Paste onto dry skin to enhance cell turnover and improve tone and texture of my face. For gentler exfoliation, it is suggested to add water. It is recommended to use this up to 3x per week. I had enough product to try it twice that week.

In the evening, after cleansing my face, I applied the REDEFINE Night Renewing Serum (blue ampule) over the entire face (avoiding eye area) to visibly improve skin texture and fitness, and reduce the appearance of wrinkles – if any 😉 My face felt a bit dry after, so I finished with a bit of additional moisturizer.

Then I used the REDEFINE Lip Renewing Serum (grey ampule) to smooth lip texture and increase moisturization.

#2 SKIN SOLUTION: REDEFINE Multi-Function Eye Cream

The REDEFINE Multi-Function Eye Cream combines powerful peptides to minimize the appearance of crow’s-feet, helps reduce the appearance of both puffiness and dark under eye circles while special optical diffusers noticeably brighten the eye area.

After cleansing and toning my face, I used this eye cream regularly for nearly a 2 months. Applying a small amount to the eye area in the morning AND evening, staying away from lashes and NOT applying it to my eyelids, as per the directions.

… and here are the results:

What do you think of the results of the Mini-Facial and the Eye Cream? Tell me in the comment section below.

Think these products might be right for you? Want them?

Contact Heather O’Shea, Independent Consultant

(416) 276-6331, via email heather@heatheroshea.com or visit her site here.

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Semi-Sheer Fall Florals

This summer I found myself some maxi dresses that I made work for my petite height. Click here and here to see what I mean.

As the weather cools to Fall temperatures … I’m doing my best to avoid jackets, leggings and pantyhose for as long as possible.

Maxi dresses are a perfect solution to doing just that! 😉
I’ve worn this semi-sheer maxi dress many times this summer …. and YUP it can be also be worn as a coverup with your swimsuit!

The 3/4 sleeves with buttoned cuffs are perfect for coverage, without being too heavy and warm for Fall.

I traded the sandals for my zippered black boots to go with the daring vibe of this sheer frock. The boots and fringe purse I paired it with kinda adds some edginess to the allover floral print.

There are a lot of nice little details of this dress:

The entire front is buttoned… I chose to keep it unbuttoned to mid-thigh to allow my shorts to peek out at I move.

The V-neckline highlights the girls … being chesty the buttons tended to gap, so I chose to wear a plunge bra for maximum cleavage and just embraced it! 😉

And the elasticized waist just sinches me in at the right spots, showing off that coveted hourglass figure. ❤ ❤ ❤

Being 5’2 … this dress is hella long without the heels of these boots. But I’ve worn it with flats by tying little knots on the end of each side bottoms and it works beautifully!

I see myself creating new Fall looks as the weather gets colder by wearing this frock with skinny jeans or leggings …hmmm

Lawrence Kerr Photography -4878 — This dress moves beautifully! Just look at some for these great windy shots taken by Lawerence Kerr Photography. ❤

How I Got The Look:

Semi-sheer maxi dress, Forever21+; Fringe purse, Aldo Accessories; Boots, Aldo; Dance shorts, Wal-mart; Plunge bra, Penningtons

What do you think about this sheer floral maxi style?

How would you rock one? What are your thoughts on how I styled it? Tell me in the comments below!

Photo credit: Lawrence Kerr of LawrenceKerrPhotography.com

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Summer in The6ix

Summer in Toronto is just the greatest!

We have everything….

Live Music! Plays and Performances! Dancing! Sailing! Spas! Shopping!

Outdoor movies! Cultural Festivals! Foods from around the world!

Annnnnnd all of these things are usually FREE and are walking distance from each other! No car required! ❤

Combo Royale performing under the Harbourfront Bandshell

There have been many wonderful fun-filled days this summer – but the most memorable was an unexpected Saturday afternoon that turned into a full day-o-fun!!!

It began with a play – an interactive dark comedy – THE WEDDING – put on by an independant theatre company: The Lighthouse Troupe. As audience members aka the wedding guests, we were encouraged to dress nicely, sign-in at a guest registry, find their table, and interact with the various members of the wedding party, much like a real reception. You know me – any reason to get dressed up is my kind of event! 🙂

After the show… we walked into Harbourfront for their Spicy Food Festival and found a free jazz concert which naturally led to impromptu lindyhopping on grass!

A Large Lady Lindy Hopping – yup! That’s me! 🙂

After that we walked along Queens Quay to Sugar Beach for Sail-in Cinema’s screening of The Princess Bride …

❤ My most favourite movie ❤

Since we arrived kinda late … we found a patch of sand for our blankets way in the back sadly, making the Sail-in screen teeny-tiny.

Plus, it seems we were too late for the courtesy popcorn and back-rests that many around us seemed to have nabbed.

Le sigh…

14115438_10154314807360359_6974492682269789308_o — Our sad seats on the sand, way in the back of Sugar Beach…before the win~INCONCEIVABLE! 😉

THEN….the event announcer asked for a family-of-4 who would/could potentially win a fabulous prize for answering a single movie trivia question.

When they failed…we managed to flag him down and I provided the CORRECT answer… which won us seats on a sail boat to watch the movie!!!

And there were handsome sailors too! #bonus 😛

Knowing useless Princess Bride trivia won us seats on Canada’s Fastest Sail boat! Boom!!!

THIS was our view for the movie … just waiting for the sun to set so that the movie could start!!!

Floating around on Canada’s fastest sail boat, eating popcorn with sailors and watching the greatest movie ever …

A perfect ending to a wonderfully unexpected summer day!

Curious about what I’m wearing?

How I Got The Look:

Dress and crop-top from Forever21+; Shoes from Winners

How would you describe THE Perfect Summer Day? What would it include? What would you do? What would you wear?

Tell me about it in the comments section below. 🙂

Special thanks to Ellie for capturing those dancing pictures! And to Five for the pictures on the boat!

Thanks for reading, xo

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Turban Chic

OK!! Can we all take a moment and fawn over this amazing turban I found!!!

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Turbans are a popular item in the fashion world. Traditionally they’ve been worn by men of North African and Southeast Asia.

But nowadays these headwraps are becoming a fashion staple – spotted on runways and street styles.

I try an avoid wearing black in the summer.

But since my hot pink leopard turban was the main focus of this outfit, a simple black cotton, knee-lenght tank dress seemed to be all I needed.

Belting it just added more shape and was a great way to pulling out the browns of the leopard print.

Making this look an easy way to showcase my new found LOUD summer accessory.

NATURALLY I had to wear lipstick to match my turban 😛

Who am I kidding! This turban look is gonna become my signature look into the FALL too!

I’m on the hunt for these turbans in ever eff’ing colour I can…so I never have do to my hair every again!!!! 😀

How I Got The Look:

Dress, H&M; Sandals, Coach; Belt is super old; Turban, Clore Beauty

It’s been a while since I’ve taken any snaps on my balcony in front of this classic Petite Plus, Meow signature brick wall. Did you miss it? :p

What do you think about the turban style? How would you rock one? What are your thoughts on how I styled it? Tell me in the comments below!

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4th Annual Tiki Lani Lanai

Toronto Vintage Society’s Tiki Lani Lanai

This was our 4th Annual Tiki Party … with surf bands, burlesque performances, rum tastings, limbo and colourful outfits galore … we threw one hell of a party!

Not quite sure what a Tiki Party is? Click here to find out more Tiki culture.

Click here and here to see what TVS Tiki previous parties were like

A wee glimpse of some of the crowd and performances of the night… Kassandra Love + Coconut

The bigger the hair flower the better 🙂 Moi…before the hair fell flat

What I Bought

There were a number of fabulous vendors on site … which means some shopping had to be done 🙂

This adorable brooch I picked up from Cheap Thrills. I DO Love Lucy! I do! I do!!! Click here to see what I mean.

Then I met Marylou of The Bonnit … and these bad boys followed me home. Perfectly compact rain bonnets with adorable patterns on them!

And they even fit with a giant hair flower affixed to head – bonus!!! 😉

They come 2-per-pack. And soon with colour printed patterns.

Right now she’s offering FREE shipping to all over Canada. Just sayin’ ladies 😉

What I Wore

I picked-up this floral halter-neck dress last year at one of those blowout sales Tatyana Boutique was having.

Kinda loving the lime green centers on blue flowers, all over an all black background. I plan on extending the wear of this dress into the Fall with a black cardi… since it’s been waiting to be worn out for an entire year!

How beautiful is the backdrop of our Photo Booth?

I can’t even imagine how much patience and delicate scissoring it must have taken to get each of these leaves perfect.

Totally worth it tho. Just. Beautiful! ❤

How I Got The Look: Dress and Purse, Tatyana Boutique, Giant hair flower, Fruits of Bali, Jelly shoes from my trip to Malaysia (click here to find out more)

Special Thanks to Joy Tan for snapping these pics of my outfit for me!

Did YOU make it out to our Tiki Party? What did you think of my outfit and this event recap post?

Tell me your thoughts in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading! xo

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Treat Yo Self!

Canadians know how to make sure they squeeze out as much summer as they possibly can – cuz Winter is Coming and will last 8+ months of the year! 😦

That’s why we gotta make the most of the August Long Weekend!!!!

This was the first time I stayed in town. The streets of Toronto are filled with loads of party people and tons of Americans who come up for Caraibanna ! The weekend is dedicated to TONS of parties happening everywhere and the weather is usually picture perfect!

I was lucky enough to have some RMT benefit dollars to burn – so I grabbed a gf and we drove to Caldeon, ON to spend the day luxuriating at a day spa!

The Millcroft Inn & Spa had an outdoor terrace, indoor and outdoor pools, an indoor whirlpool, an Infrared Sauna, private men’s and women’s locker facilities with herbal steams rooms and showers.

It was the greatest!!!

Plus, they’ve got an award winning resturant – where we had lunch overlooking this gorgeous pond + waterfall. ❤