black and white – PPMeow!

It’s a full week of rain in Toronto … and although I’ll happily take it over snow, I’m always looking for alternatives so I can avoid carrying around a giant umbrella to get from A to B in the city.

I have the best pair of galoshes!!! These pink paisley rubber boots basically screamed “Irene” when I scored them a million years ago from Wal-Mart.

But sometimes, a girl doesn’t want to be in humid rubber boots all day. Plus, these boots don’t exactly go with ever look and outfit. 😉

So here’s what I put together as a Rainy Day Alternative recently … in an effort to rid myself of an umbrella and galoshes.

The solution: A giant hat + booties!

Now naturally, this alternative is only good if the temperature is warmish (15+) and rain not too heavy so your footwear doesn’t get ruined. Since my jacket was 3/4 sleeved (and extremely light), pairing it with this fun scarf helped give me that extra bit of warmth. If you wanna see the many other ways to tie a scarf, I’ve got you covered in that link 🙂

Since the overall colour scheme was pretty simple and muted, I thought I’d add a pop of colour by wearing this HOT Pink gold studded belt to give my outfit some pizzazz!

I’ve been all over this circle scarf I picked up back in November from Aldo (I even mentioned it in my Interview upon being nominated for a 2014 LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD). It’s a light-weight simple beige toned bird patterned scarf, that I find myself adding to any and all outfits I whip up, especially on the weekends for running errands or impromptu meet-ups for brunch, drinks and the like.

Like the look? What are your solutions to looking cute in the rain?

How I Got The Look:

Bird circle scarf, Aldo Accessories (click here for related other posts)

Pink paisley galoshes, Wal-Mart (click here for related other posts)

3/4 sleeved brown jacket, AdditionElle

Black n’ white striped long-sleeved dress, Old Navy

Hot pink studded belt, Your Big Sister’s Closet

Large cream brimmed hat, Toronto Vintage Clothing Show(click here for related other posts)

Faux cowboy booties, Payless( click here for related other posts)

I was fortunate to have met Stefanie Augusteijn a few years ago B.B.B. (Before Becoming a Blogger). When I moved to midtown Toronto, her boutique SexyPlusClothing was walking distance for me when it was located just south of Rosedale subway station on Yonge St.

I’ve picked up a few coveted pieces from her shop in the past, including my beloved high-waisted leopard pencil skirt, my black lace wrap top and the highly complimented Cherry Bomb dress.

She’s recently relocated this fab shop. This past weekend a friend of mine and I took a Saturday morning road trip out to Mississauga to be a part of Stefanie’s Grand Reopening & 5-Year Store Anniversary Party!

There were promises of Fresh New Spring Arrivals + Buy One Get One 50% offers along with Fashion and Beauty Prizes…and best of all Gourmet Cake and Refreshments!

Don’t let the outside fool you – the store is beautiful! And Stefanie designed it all herself!!! The fresh, bright off-white of the entire space and hardwood floors with pops of that SexyPlus signature pinks all over the place, along with the familiar alphabet artwork of Lime Green Squid just make you feel all smiley. 🙂

Lime Green Squid's plus size art — Lime Green Squid’s artwork

Closer Look of Lime Green Squid’s artwork. A few of these framed pieces were given away to a few lucky customers of SexyPlus Clothing.

“Dress for the weather you want, not the weather you have!”

Decided on wearing this green & black maxi dress w/skinny black belt ($17 Forever21+) with a cropped cardi ($10 Old Navy) combo with my grey moto leather jacket (Winners) and Rocker-girl boots (Aldo) … regardless of the snow flurries that followed us from Toronto to Mississauga that morning. My hair was uncooperative this morning as you can see. Sigh…

Here’s a few snaps of all the shopping fun that was had at this beautifully renovated boutique for plus sized babes:

Me with Stefanie, owner of SexyPlus Clothing

Special shoutouts to go the lovely shop-girls, Dream Taylor and Sabrina who were uber attentive and helpful, providing honest opinions and encouragement once you’re ready to emerge from the change rooms. I tried on several pieces, including this lovely ‘Hello Yellow’ dress, this Black n’ White stripped number and this Tiki inspired beach-ready dress:

I even became the SexyPlus “Guinea pig” for trying on the new Convertible Maxi dress, as Stefanie transformed this lovely navy chevron patterned fabulousness whilst on my body for all to see the many different looks this one piece was capable of. Please ignore the giant bra straps that are taking away from the loveliness of this dress – clearly I was not prepared to be apart of this impromptu fashion show 🙂

Check out the pics below to see what this Marie Convertible dress in navy chevron can do:

It was a delightful afternoon….but as you can see from my face in the above pic, I was clearly torn as to which pieces I wanted to take home with me. I limited myself to only ONE new purchase of all the items above – I’ve got myself on a strict budget as my closet is bursting at the seams these days with all my recent mini-hauls.

Finally, I decided to buy the Captain’s Bodycon dress – it’s made in Canada!

Waddya think? Did I make the right decision? (Oh…ignore the moustache socks also…lol!)

SexyPlus Clothing’s new location: 5100 Maingate Drive, Unit 14 Mississauga, ON —- with lots of FREE parking friends. If you get a chance, you should def make the trip out to see what pretty fashions need to be yours!