OOTD: have a little faith

I got this dress from Forever 21/Faith 21 a couple of months ago but didn't wear it until today. It was the first dress I purchased from the Faith 21 collection so I wasn't too sure about sizing and tried to base it off the size chart. I ordered it in a 1x and it fits perfectly everywhere except right under the bust where its a little tight. I think the sweetheart neckline (which is incredibly flattering) may help distract from that a little though! I adore the detail on the sleeves too. At $24.95 (including a belt) I think it was a steal!







Dress: Faith 21 *** Belt: Faith 21 *** Bracelets: Forever 21 *** Shoes: Dunnes

Remember these nude shoes? The shoes in this outfit are the same ones but in black! I loved them so much I bought both colors. I wish I had purchased the grey and brown pairs too, they are comfiest shoes in the world.

My legs are looking a little paler than my face at the minute, it's not *too* noticeable in person but still enough for it to bother me! I'm all of out my usual MAC foundation (I wear it in shade NC15) so I have been using an old bottle of NW15 which makes me a little orange! Its not too fun being pale when it comes to matching your make-up to your skin, I can never find a shade that's just right!


Tomorrow is an exciting day for me! I'm going to see these boys perform:

(They are the band "Blink 182" for anyone who didn't know!)
I have been a fan since I was about 10 years old (which is half of my life, eek!) so I am really excited about their reunion and seeing them perform again. Their last ever concert before "the breakup" was here in Ireland and we're all glad to welcome them back again!
They are playing at the O2 and the concert is completely sold out so there will be about 15,000 people at the venue!
I'm not planning on wearing anything fancy to the concert. I'm thinking maybe a pink leopard print tulip skirt, oversized band tshirt and leather jacket. I'm not going to wear any jewelery either, which i'll feel very bare without! But I plan on jumping around quite a bit and I don't want to hit someone in the face with my jewelery!

See you all in a few days!

xoxo

Plus sized looks inspired by Gossip Girl.

Hey readers! I was planning on updating last night but got a little sidetracked so i'm going to do it now while I have the chance. Next week is going to be quite a busy week for me but I will try to fit in at least two posts!

I'm sure most of you have heard of the TV show "Gossip Girl" by now. If not, definitely check it out. I have been watching it since the beginning and while the story lines can get a little boring (how many times are Chuck and Blair going to break up & get back together?! Snooze!) the styling alone makes it worth watching.

So I felt a little inspired to make a post with Gossip Girl inspired looks, each look is from a different store that offer plus sizes!


Blair Waldorf is the all American prep girl. She loves pearls, headbands and elegant dresses. All of the items in this look are from dorothyperkins.com
Get the look: Black crochet neck dress, £30 *** Black lace bow clips, £4 *** Bow ring, £4 *** Metal flower pearl bracelet, £9 *** Black point quilted pumps, £20 *** Black opaque tights, £8



Vanessa Abrams' style has really matured since season 1. Before she was the girl in skinny jeans and Doc Marten boots, now she wears funky dresses and loves to mix patterns. Her outfits are always accessorized with bold jewelery! All of the pieces in V's look are from torrid.com
Get the look: Purple Floral-Print Fishnet-Shoulder Dress, $25.49 *** Purple Rosette Stretch Belt, $20 *** Mixed Metal Fringe Earring, $10 *** Pressed Bangle Bracelet 8-Pack - Antique Gold, $14



Jenny "Little J" Humphrey is the rocker chick. Her style is edgy and black is clearly her favorite color. Fishnet stockings, studded bracelets, thick eyeliner, lame leggings and ankle boots..she loves them all. All of the items in this outfit are from Forever21.com
Get the look: Cheetah Print Leggings, $15.80 *** Zipped Knit Top, $19.80 *** Crinkled Ankle Boots, $27.80 *** Chain Trimmed Leatherette Bag, $14.80 *** Nouveau Rosaries Necklace, $8.80 *** Pyramid Hinge Bracelet, $7.70



Serena Van Der Woodsen is the glamorous "IT" girl. She can pull off everything and has a less obvious style than the other girls. You can never predict exactly what her look will be. However she loves glitzy, figure hugging dresses and statement necklaces are a must! All of the items from Serena's look can be found at ASOS.com
Get the look: ASOS CURVE Mesh Waterfall Bandeau Dress, £17 *** ASOS PENELOPE Leather Platform Round Toe Court Shoes, £30 *** ASOS Long Spike Ring, £8 *** ASOS Mixed Metal Statement Multi Leaves Necklace, £16


I think Serena's look was the hardest to pick out! I do think the dress is very Serena (figure hugging, opportunity to show off your cleavage!) but i'm not sure if she would wear the color. However I think its the perfect color for the coming a/w season.

I would say my style is a mix of Serena, Blair and Jenny. I don't dress like any of the girls in particular but I do love a pretty, figure hugging dress (Serena), hair bows (Blair) and accessories with an edge (Jenny).

Do any of you lovelies enjoy the show? Which Gossip Girl character is your favorite and which has the best style?

xoxo

OOTD: On a rainy monday

While I was cleaning out my closet this morning I stumbled upon these black booties that I purchased last November but never wore, so I decided to try and make them "work" with today's outfit!
I'm really not sure that I like them all that much, I may have to list them on eBay. My feet are already large (7 1/2) and these shoes make them look much bigger! I do love the frills on the side and the soft fabric though.









Cardigan: Savida *** Headband: Forever 21 *** Dress: Primark *** Bracelet: Topshop *** Shoes: Love Label

I always feel so silly wearing hair bows or headbands. I think its partly because during my teenage years I went through a "scene"/"emo" phase and wore bows in my hair almost every day! But they are still a great way to add a finishing touch to any outfit.

My mail company lost my latest Forever 21 order which i'm not too happy about! I had about $150 of goodies in there (mostly pretty Faith 21 dresses!) and they can't locate it. They have agreed to give me the $150 but I would much prefer the clothes I ordered. Everything I ordered is out of stock now too so I can't place a new order. I guess a refund is better than nothing!

xoxo

OOTD: €3 dress!

Hey lovelies!

Even though this outfit isn't too exciting I just wanted to share my latest cheap find with you all! I didn't accessorize too much because I wanted the focus to be on my amazing Topshop booties!

I had been admiring this dress in store for a couple of weeks, I even tried it on twice but just couldn't justify buying a dress that I may possibly never wear! Something kept bringing me back to it though. I love the floral lace print and 3/4 length sleeves. Not so great is the incredibly short length and body-con style which really hugs to my whole body and "problem area" more than anywhere.
Then last week while I was browsing through the clearance racks I noticed the dress was there, the last one was in my size and reduced to €3 ($3.80/£2.45) so of course I used this as an excuse to buy it. It was just meant to be, right?!







Dress: Dunnes *** Blazer: Primark *** Booties: Topshop *** Bracelets: ASOS *** Spanx and Faith 21 shorts (not pictured)

I will admit it, I cheated a little. I'm wearing Spanx underneath the dress but not even those babies could hide my belly! They did smooth it out a little more though. Getting into the Spanx was a whole mission in itself! I bought them last year for the ridiculous price of €75 and they are without a doubt the most uncomfortable thing in the world. Every time I sit down or bend over they roll down. I thought maybe I had bought them in the wrong size but I have tried on larger sizes recently and have the same problem so I think Spanx are a waste of money. Yes they smooth out my body a little but they are uncomfortable and make me feel miserable every time I wear them!
I also wore my Faith 21 shorts underneath to cover my Spanx and help me feel more comfortable about wearing such a short dress.

(Thankfully I also remembered to fix the sleeves on my blazer before leaving! Whoops!)

xoxo

Tagged!

Hey everyone!

The lovely Jennifer of Jasifers Lions Club tagged me to answer 8 questions a couple of days ago so in an attempt to do something a little different I decided to make a video with my answers.
Please excuse all of the "ummm's" and the other random little awkward things, it was my first time making a video and I was nervous. Not to mention I felt incredibly silly sitting alone talking to a camera while people were probably watching me through the window and wondering why I was talking to myself!


(I may delete this video in the future since my constant use of the word "umm" is annoying me far too much!)

If you don't want to watch the video here are my answers:
1. What's your favorite dish/food and why? Pasta - because you can create a lot of different dishes with it and it's usually the only other option on the menu here if you dislike potatoes. (Plus it tastes good!)
2. What's your favorite girl and boy name? My favorite girl name is Allie and my favorite boy name is Elliot. I didn't mention it in the video but I quite like the name Oliver too!
3. What is your favorite piece of clothing and why? My black blazer, you can dress it up or dress it down. Just wear it with a high waisted skirt, blouse tucked in and heels for a smart look or roll up the sleeves and pair it with skinny jeans and flats for a casual look.
4. What is your greatest memory in life today? Photographing a band at the biggest arena/venue in my country! That was incredible.
5. Top 3 favorite stores to shop for clothes at? My favorite stores are Topshop, ASOS and Forever 21.
6. What are the 3 things you love the most about your body? My legs, my eyes (I don't know if they count but they do now!) and my wrists.
7. What's your guilty pleasure? I don't know if this is in general or related to question one and food, but my guilty pleasure in general is Miley Cyrus' music and my guilty pleasure food wise is pizza!
8. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I would hope that I have a secure job and maybe married or at least in a stable, happy and healthy relationship. I would like to own my little store with affordable pretty dresses.

Lastly, I wanted to share a little something a friend gave to me yesterday! I was having a stressful day so the timing was perfect, it really made me smile.


Hope you all had a good Friday and have a great weekend!

xoxo

OOTD: In bloom

Some of you may remember I mentioned back in June that Forever 21 are opening their first European store here this fall. You can probably tell how much I love their clothes and accessories since I mention them quite often!
Since then I have been searching the internet every morning to see if they were hiring and this morning I got lucky! They aren't hiring sales assistants yet (just senior staff/managers) but I called the agency who are recruiting for them and the lovely lady agreed to forward my resume to F21. Fingers crossed that I at least get an interview!

Today was a really nice day, not typical August weather but still much better than all of the rain we have been getting this summer so I decided to wear my favorite spring/summer dress.











(click pictures to enlarge on Flickr)

Dress: Topshop *** Cardigan: Primark *** Shoes: Topshop *** Necklace: Forever 21 *** Bracelet: Primark

Picture overload today, I had some extra time to take pictures! This dress is from Topshop a couple of seasons ago. The largest size they stock is a size UK 16 (US12) and it's rare that you can find it in their stores so I felt very lucky to find this dress in my size! I don't always fit into their dresses because of my large belly, hips, and bum area but this dress fits perfectly. The lower back has a small zipper and the rest is free size so it is fine for my size 16-18 body! I think the cut of this dress is one of the most flattering styles that I own.
I usually wear an off-white cardigan with this dress but I think the pink looks much better! I picked up the pink cardigan in Primark a couple of weeks back. Again, its rare that they have size 16's or 18's in stock in my local store but they had a whole rack of these in every color, I just wish I had snagged some of the others! The bow detail on the pockets is what sold me on it. I sometimes feel like my blog should be called pearlslacerufflesandbows, maybe even pearlslacerufflesbowsfloralprintandnude ...or not! :)

Also thank you for all of the lovely comments on my last entry, it looks like quite a few of us fancy a little change in our looks for A/W!

xoxo

OOTD: Sequin overdose

I have such a love/hate relationship with body con! I know that it highlights exactly how awkward my body shape is (and how big my belly is!) but I still can't say no. I feel so much better wearing a fitted dress or skirt compared to something that completely hides my shape, especially when i'm going out to a bar or club. I mentioned this on my Twitter account a little while back and at least 10 other plus sized girls agreed that it was their favorite style too!











Lace shirt: New Look *** Vest (underneath): Forever 21 *** Skirt: ASOS *** Shoes: Dunnes *** Necklace: Primark




Some of my pictures are a little darker than others, i'm still trying to find the best settings to use on my external flash with this new camera!

I believe that if you love something you shouldn't let your weight or shape hold you back from wearing it. I purchased this skirt from ASOS during the Christmas season last year, I obsessed over it for weeks before I actually decided to purchase it. I like how the sequins actually stay on the skirt rather than fall off, I have a pink sequin dress and every time I wear it I leave a trail of sequins behind me! I wasn't planning on wearing this again until the Christmas season since it's quite glitzy but I changed my mind today when I was picking out an outfit to wear to the bar/club.

Summer is almost over so I am planning on making a few changes to how I look! Firstly I am growing my eyebrows thicker. I have been growing them out for a few weeks and I am very tempted to pluck them every time I look in the mirror but even my mom commented that they were too thin so I am trying to resist the urge to tidy them up!
I also want to get my hair cut and colored. I mentioned before that I wanted to go back to my natural color (and spent a year growing it out!) however I think a darker brown will look much better. Plus I found my first grey hair last week which made me dislike my hair even more! I am thinking about going for a dark brown with honey colored highlights, or maybe even medium brown highlights. I don't want anything that looks too OTT, just something to give my hair a little more life.

Are any of you lovely girls planning on changing your look a little for the coming season?

xoxo