I have to say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by all the sale items in Reitmans these days. My entire outfit (minus the accessories) in this post has been assembled from the pieces I’ve picked up at from their Clearance Sale racks.
The easiest way to make your Summer pieces more Fall appropriate isn’t to ditch them altogether, but to come up with new ways to wear them.
Mark downs were as follows:
‘Love’ sweater $19 …. Black n’ White striped maxi skirt $19 ….Wine moto jacket $59
I picked up this wine moto jacket, that your advice PPMeow readers, when it was on sale (at $75). Buuuuut it was further reduced upon my last visit, and I managed to get a price adjustment for the difference. BOOM!
Aren’t these socks great!! They were birthday prezzies – pink owls – aren’t they a “Hoot” 😉
How I Got the Look: All clothing from Reitmans;Red leopard circle scarf from AdditionElle;Michael Kors bracelet watch; Suede booties from Nine West + Gloves from Danier Leather + Faux Fur purse from Aldo Accessories (click here for details on these three items)
I wore this outfit on a mid-week date night.
I’m really diggin’ this maxi skirt with the high side-slit… Casual yet sexy at the same time….to show off my legs. I love my legs! 😉
If you haven’t gone to Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Putt….you need to get to there! Sooooo much fun!
Sadly, I lost by one stroke. Meh … I let him win 😉
Ooo!! It’s summertime and I have to admit, I’ve been baring my arms and legs much more than I ever had in pervious summers.
Blogging has gotten me braver in my outfit choices and more confident to rock things I’d normally shy away from. Like this fantastic dress I picked up cross-border shopping recently … I was immediately drawn to it on the rack. Buuuuut upon picking it up I noticed that an important piece of fabric was missing ….that critical piece of fabric that covers up my giant bra clasps and that loveable back roll that gets formed upon wearing said giant bra.
Doesn’t this dress just SCREAM: Summer!!! I just love it!
The hi-lo skirt is perfect for petite beauties as there will be zero ‘tripping-up-the-stairs’ incidents as there might be with lengthy maxis (least it’s the case for moi…seems I’m terribly clumsy). I’ve already professed my love and devotion to all the nautical-ness in fashion since the Spring…so this dress just needed to be mine! Click here and here and here and here for all my previous nautical love posts friends!
A special shoutout to the lovely coral floral necklace and earring set I’m wearing in this post. Picked it up from this cute lil’ boutique called One Girl Who on St. Clair West in Toronto. Recently rediscovered it among all my jewellery….. doesn’t it just add to the summertime fun feeling of this outfit? 🙂
How I Got The Look:
Backless Navy Striped dress from Rainbow Clothing from recent Cross-Border shopping trip; Coral floral necklace & earring set from The Girl Who; Pink purse from Your Big Sister’s Closet; White & gold sandals from Le Chateau
So… waddya think about the backless-ness of this dress? Would you rock it? How would you style it? I wanna know what you think friends….tell me in the Comment Section below!
I am one of those rare people who only watched the Star Wars movies as an adult, but never as a kid. And I’m proud to say I’ve become an instant fan – owning both sets of trilogies on blu-ray 🙂
My favourite character is R2-D2. Is there anything this beeping trash can on wheels can’t do?
He’s a projector, a Swiss Army Knife and tolerator of 3PO, all rolled into one. I don’t even mind that he’s gotten too CG in the prequels, when R2 dropped oil slick on some battle droids and ignited them with his personal jet boosters – he’s a rockstar and can do no wrong. He helped the Rebels topple the Empire, was X-Wing wingman to Luke and to C-3P0’s Riggs, and then stuck around to help the new Republic grow and prosper. R2-D2 is nothing but cool and reliable.
Any droid that can survive getting spit out by some Dagobah sea whale thing is worthy of winning my heart!
In an effort to celebrate May 4th – Star Wars Day – I’m dedicating this post to the awesome fun geeky fashions out there that I’d totally rock for realz (if I could find them)… paying homage to this fab sci-fi cultural phenomenon that is STAR WARS.
Shoes
(Above images taken from Pintrest, however no links to actual products to purchase 😦 )
Love love love this infinity scarf — you could totally wear this anytime, all the time.
Scarf image found in EtsyR2D2 SkirtOpening Story Text Crawl Tee
In case you have no idea why this Tee is awesome, check out the clip below….
In a galaxy far, far away from geek culture there are some fabulous Star Wars fashion out there to be worn May 4th and beyond! Check out a few of my faves:
Outfits
How amazing is this dress!!! (image from Pintrest, no link to purchase)
*Insert Vader breathing sound here* 🙂
The Yoda Look – Do or Do Not. There Is No Try.
This hooded jacket is beyond words! (image from Pintrest, sadly no link to purchase)
And last, but certainly not least….. are these fantastic Star Wars gowns by Rodarte !
Do you own any Star Wars fashions of your own? Where did you get ’em? Tell. Me. Everything…. use the comments below 🙂
And May the 4th Be With You!
THE SouthAsian Princess Leia, Swing Dancing Look:
White Peplum dress from AdditionElle; shoes from Winners; sock buns for hair….Tah Dah! 🙂
Gussied Up, a plus size clothing boutique owned by the lovely Victoria McGroarty, celebrated the store’s 3rd anniversary this weekend – with a Meet & Greet with Miss Tess Munster!
This delightful Bathurst boutique has classic pieces and Canadian designs in sizes X-3X. With versatile pieces like day-to-evening dresses, casual blazers, leggings and cute but practical undergarments.
This past visit I had my eye on the vintage-inspired bathing suits — any era with fashions that celebrates hips & tits wins my heart every time! The feminine details for belts and bling is what I go weak in the knees for (ended up buying a sweetie-pie one I’ve had my eye on since seeing it on Instagram).
MINE! The Black Bow Belt!
With the weather oh-so gorgeous, I walked up from West Queen West (a significant distance) – so I decided to dress down cozy and comfy with my navy faux Toms (Airwalk from Payless), pink stripped maxi (from AdditionElle), cat-eye sunnies (from The Public Butter), pink moustache scarf (from Winners), faded denim-hoodie jacket (Jessica Simpson from HBC) and my MK grey cross body bag to make my Saturday afternoon stroll to meet Miss Tess Munster!
The line up to meet Tess nearly wrapped the corner of Dupont! Lucky for me….Rebecca (of Rebecca Northcott Photography) and I had a “tag-team approach”… and who ever got there first would save a spot for the other, regardless of the dirty looks to come our way by fellow-in-line fans! 😉
Tess is a Plus-Size Model, Make Up Artist, Body Positive Activist and Blogger based in L.A., who turned her hobbies into a successful career. She is a petite woman with an amazing smile that truly does light up a room!
She recently founded the #effyourbeautystandards movement which has over 65,000 shares on Instagram alone, that changed her life. She receives letters and emails from different women every day thanking her for empowering them to love their bodies, and to not be ashamed of being short, pale/dark, or dare I say…Fat.
The features that Tess was bullied about in her youth, that she now embraces, that has led to her success. She really is an inspiration, encouraging other women to embrace and accept who they are, as they are.
Tess hopes that girls who are bullied, and women who lack confidence will begin to see their inner and outer beauty at whatever size.
For everyone that says we can’t show our tummies, wear a pencil/form-fitting skirt, wear a bikini, wear sleeveless tops… YOU can!
That’s the main message of the #effyourbeautystandards campaign — Tess wants YOU to join her in wearing “daring” fashions & stop hiding your body because society tells you to.
BE a total babe regardless of our size..big OR small we all deserve to feel beautiful.
Take a look at some of the beautiful shots Rebecca captured at the Meet & Greet with Miss Tess Munster at Gussied Up:
Tess was a delight to meet! A genuinely nice person — happy to give hugs, pose for pictures …even TAKING SELFIES with her adoring fans!
I’ve got a massive #girlcrush on this woman – even more now that I’ve met her!
Tess with Rebecca, of Rebecca Northcott Photography
Tess is proof that determination, relentlessness, and positivity can look beautiful on anyone, and that there is a wonderful life past a size 20.
Gussied Up located at 1090 Bathurst St (at Dupot) in Toronto, Ontario. You should def make a visit to see what fabulous fashions finds need to be yours!
Here are a few shots taken by my iPhone camera too:
Me with Victoria, Owner of Gussied Up!
Shots taken with my iPhone: Me + Victoria and Me + Tess Munster
I must control my shopping! I must control my shopping!
This has become my yoga mantra these days. But everywhere you look there are lovely spring fashions and sometimes it causes me to lose my mind. Especially when the prices are under $29!!!
My newest weakness is Forever21+. I try so hard to limit my purchases from this spot, as the price point is TOO perfect that EVERY SINGLE plus size diva in Toronto is gonna be rocking the same outfit. Buuuuut, I’m only human….and there’s no harm in trying things on…right? Right!
I tried on three items recently: this purple halter dress ($29), pink blush lacey dress ($29) and this green maxi dress ($17).
Did I leave empty handed? NOPE! Another mini-haul for moi!!! Only two of the three dresses above…and this cutie-pie cherry-rope bag ($12)!!!!
I love pink!!! I would wear pink head to toe everyday if I could. So this pink blush lace dress needed to be worn ASAP!! Just wore it to the office this Monday, with a grey cardi to keep it more professional and warm enough for spring weather 🙂
How I got The Look: Dress from Forever21+; Grey cardi from Old Navy; Mint-toed nude pumps from Hudson Bay Co.; Necklace from One Girl Who (St. Clair W/Bathurst Sts.)
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.
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 artworkCloser 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!
From SexyPlus Clothing: The Captain’s Bodycon dress – it’s made in Canada!
What do you immediately do when a camera is pointed at you and you hear, “Say cheese!”? Do you know which side is your “good side”? Do you know what angle and what light really makes you look your best in photos?
I’ve generally got one standard photo stance: look straight ahead at the camera, smiling ear-to-ear with an involuntary head tilt. Not at all model-esk.
Rebecca Northcott is a photography who has recently moved from Leeds, England to put down roots in Toronto, Canada with her hubs. Yup …she’s a newly wed! 🙂 She’s already done a few outfit photoshoots on my blog here, here , here and here. (More to come in the future too I’m hoping, xo Bexx). Since I began blogging a mere four months ago…I’ve realized how difficult it is to pose for that perfect shot! I’ve been fortunate to have Rebecca’s professional eye – a much welcomed change from those photos taken with my shaky hand and iPhone.
Rebecca has been developing her craft since she was 17, she’s had her work published in magazines and has worked for a range of clientelle over the years. Her recent move to Canada has been a blessing and also a challenge going from a huge client base in UK to rebuilding from scratch here. Rebecca’s photography style is classy natural lighting with up close portraits. They are her favourite. Her self-proclaimed OCD about having perfect sharp images is a standard she has set for herself, one which gives her a buzz and excitement as nothing else does.
She shared with me that she still get nervous before every shoot, because she knows how important it is to the client she’s working with. Having worked with her several times, I can confidently say that she will produce something wonderful each time – it has always been a pleasure and a fantastic experience working with her!
In an effort to continue to keep her portfolio current, she asked me and a few others bloggers to model some of the lovely Spring Arrivals of Your Big Sister’s Closet so she could snap some editorial type pictures . How do you say no to a request like that? 😉
So last weekend we, Alex of Not Afraid to Wear Heels, Hanna of Classically Curvy, Karen of Curvy Canadian and moi, PetitePlus, Meow! arrived at the store to get styled in fresh spring fashions with light pastel-makeup faces and headed to High Park for the photoshoot. Weather forecasted a +7 degree day … but I was still armed with nude hosiery and a shawl…mama didn’t raise no foo!
The above summary shot links to Rebecca’s Photography page on Facebook, where you’re able to read all about the collaboration and a bit more about each of the outfits worn in each shot. Between the multiple bloggers who were involved in this shoot, I thought I would dedicate this post to the artist, Rebecca Northcott, and the art of photography.
I recently stumped upon this article called “The Truth About Photography and Brown Skin”. Writer and photographer Syreeta McFadden eloquently breaks down the problem: Photography has an “inherited bias” against dark skin. McFadden explains that when it came to the invention of color film — developed to be used by the public and taken to a lab — “the technician worked off a reference card [aka Shirley Cards] with a perfectly balanced portrait of a pale-skinned woman.” This is how modern photography was calibrated: Using a white woman. Which means, as McFadden points out, “film stock’s failures to capture dark skin aren’t a technical issue, they’re a choice.”
Looking at my fellow models from the above “Is It Spring Yet?” photoshoot – I can only imagine that editing MY photos must have taken a lot more time and careful adjusting before they were ready to be shared with the masses. Take a look at the end results of my photos with the talented photographic eye of Rebecca Northcott below:
Rebecca Northcott Photography‘s future goal is to get her own studio space and possibly photograph a celebrity or two (here’s hoping!), while continuing to provide her services and create collaborations on personal projects to those in the community who cannot afford professional portraits.
If you want to get in touch with Rebecca, lifestyle photographer specializing in Weddings and Portraits for families in Toronto, Ontario (GTA), use the various links baked into the above post ….as her website is getting a facelift at the moment 🙂
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!
PPMeow! 