Big Deal Toronto

The easiest way to make your Summer pieces more Fall/Winter appropriate isn’t to ditch them altogether, but to come up with new ways to wear them.

I picked up this sheer, pleated, sleeveless dress from BIGDeal Toronto’s pop-up sale a few months ago, and was determined to transition it for Fall/Winter wear. (Click here for other ideas to transition summer into winter outfits.)

Transitioning this into a Fall/Winter outfit required hosiery and a sweater. I love the way adding tights to dresses and skirts easily give them a whole new look.

Personally, I think tights give my outfit a chic, sophisticated, lady-like look. Lucky for me Sonsee Woman sent me two packs of tights to review, which do just that! 🙂

Sonsee sizes come in Gorgeous (14-16), Flawless (18-20), Stunning (22-24) and Radiant (26-28).

Unlike shape-wear – Sonsee is both comfortable & smoothing with broad ranges in sizing, products and seasonal colours. I was sent “Shadow” – a solid grey colour shown in these pictures, and “Black” which I’m yet to wear (click here to see how I’d wear them).

I have to say, I’ve become ever dependent on buying cheap hose from the Dollarstore. Being petite (aka short) their ‘queen size’ seems to do the job, but these are only really good for one-time wear.

These Sonsee tights were such a nice change in terms of fabric quality, with a fabulous “sheer:thickness ratio”. Meaning I didn’t have to fear ripping them as I rolled them up my leg. They’ve got an anti-roll waistband which allows you to wear them high or low on the waist with comfort. And there’s extra reinforcement at the thighs for greater durability – and “Lighting & Thunder” – my loving nickname for MY thighs – really appreciate that! 😉

Since I wear a size 18 in clothes, I ordered my Sonsee tights in size Flawless (18-20). Being petite, this size was a bit too big on me. Next time I’d order a size smaller to avoid extra length and scrunching at my ankles, as you can see in the close up shots in the pics above.

To up the sophisticated vibe of this outfit, I added my navy statement necklace & earring set from LOFT and covered up my arms with a simple v-neck grey cardi from Old Navy.

You really do get what you pay for. These Sonsee hose transitions this Summer dress perfectly into sophisticated chic Winter wear, don’t you think?

What do you look for in your tights and hosiery products? Leave a comment and share your thoughts friends 🙂

FYI — Sonsee Woman offers FREE worldwide shipping – when you buy two or more pairs; enter coupon code: SONSEELOVE at checkout, just sayin’!

How I Got The Look: Shadow grey tights, Sonsee Woman; Grey & black maryjane shoes, Nine West; Tri-coloured pelted sheer-dress, BIGDeal Toronto pop-up sale; Grey cardi, Old Navy; Statement necklace and earrings set from LOFT.

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What began as a simple blogger-hosted “Shop-Their-Closets” sale in the summer of 2013, has evolved into an annual celebration of body positive and environmentally sustainable fashion.

Big Deal Toronto is an annual gathering of plus size women in the city – for one day only! Where the general public can shop from the closets of their favourite fashion bloggers who are vending their indie merch & selling their rarely/barely worn clothes and accessories.

I attended last year BBB (before I became a blogger) and found a few gems that I still wear today and continue to get complimented on. This was the first year where I year I opened up MY CLOSET for sale 🙂

PPMeow Big Deal Toronto — After doing a massive purge of my closet, I had three bins of lovely plus size pieces to sell 🙂

Toronto Bloggers who opened up their closets to the general public to shop from included: Clothes and Shit, Sheena Snively, Jessica Biffi, Flaws of Couture, Curves & Curls, FatintheCity, Candi Apple Couture, Cloud14+, myself Petite Plus, Meow, Erica Exposed, Big Hips Red Lips, Geek with Style, Ursa Major +, Ruby Nite,SexyPlus Clothing, Peonies & Paper Dolls, Ginger Won’t Snap, Round Raglan Road.

The MANY T-dot Bloggers who were in attendance

Each blogger was equipped with a fabulous sign for their rack created by the owners of Your Big Sister’s closet, sponsors of the event. Isn’t my board great? 🙂

I even printed up a few LIMITED EDITION tees for sale …. in 100% pre-shurnk cotton these v-neck MEOW tees are pretty great! Click here to see how me and other readers have created looks wearing their own MEOW tee 🙂

Meow! tee shirts — There are a few limited edition ***MEOW! tees*** still available for sale – $20! They are a very generous fit – I’m wearing a Large for fit comparison if you’re considering getting yourself one. (FYI: S soldout; M two in each colour remain; L & XL only white tees remain)

I was responsible for managing “Team Change Room” 🙂 And at the end of the day I realized I didn’t take too many pictures myself to blog with later. Lucky for me ladies like Jessica and Sheena were on-top of it… capturing some fun via Instagram below.

I was very good about limiting my shopping at this event – working the Change Room was the perfect spot for me, as I got to SEE all of the best pieces being tried on. And got to try on those items that didn’t make the cut by shoppers before they were returned to the floor 🙂

My BIG Deal shopping haul included:

Sheer collared dress – $25 – I just loved the pelted tricolour skirt! Some alterations needed to happened to the arm-holes as it was bit too big, but otherwise I really, really like it.

This fabulous cropped stripped open blazer – click here for blogpost on this outfit.

And this top-hat fascinator for $5!

After the event, I pulled out all of the ‘office wear’ appropriate pieces and was able to donated 6 bags of useable clothing to Dress for Success, which included 9 full two-pc suits, plus tons of separates including blouses, dress pants and skirts, ranging in sizes 14-20.

If you’ve got similar items that are cluttering up your closet…please consider donating to this worthy charity ❤️.

I believe they do donation tax receipts as well … I’ve inquired, but yet to hear back.

Thank you Annika, of Candi Apple Couture, for creating the awareness and for organizing donation pickups! 👍

Are you a fan of these types of Pop-Up Sales? Did you attend this one? What did you score? Post your finds on my Facebook Fan Page…would love to see how you styled something new-to-you found at this sale!