Plus 40 Fabulous

Hi everyone,

The lovely ladies Leah from Just me, Leah and Mookie from Mookie's Life recently started the Plus 40 Fabulous initiative for all those lovely plus sized people over 40.

So here's my first post - and I'll start off by introducing myself.

First of all though I have to confess - I keep forgetting I'm in my 40's. Is that weird? I'm nearly 47, but every so often, it catches me by surprise. Most often when I'm filling in an online form and it takes longer and longer to scroll down to 1969 (I'm a child of the 60's - yay).

There are other reminders are all around me. Friends are talking about and even taking retirement. Some have sadly passed away. I click on Facebook and see photos of a work colleagues 2nd grandson (hang on, I think, she's way younger than me) so all around there are subtle hints than time is marching on. But somehow, the 16 year old me is still there and it seems like only yesterday.

I'd like to think I'd changed a bit over the years, I'm certainly more confident. I would never wear sleeveless tops or short skirts or even shorts. Now - what's the worst that happen? Someone could make a rude comment? Sadly, like a lot of us, I've already had that and although it was upsetting at the time, it didn't stop me. In fact, it's helped make me more determined to wear what I like. 

This photo makes me smile so much. Double denim, socks with pumps and I remember thinking I looked fab. Because you know what? I did. It doesn't matter about rules and what people say, if you like it, wear it. 

My hair has always done it's own thing though!

If I had to describe my style now, I would say I'm casual. I still love my jeans, I love casual tops, I like wearing cartoon t-shirts. If it makes me smile and is comfy, then it's for me. That doesn't mean I don't like dressing up occasionally though!

I think the last few years writing this blog have helped my confidence so much. The white dress above is something a younger me would never have worn. But talking with and meeting other bloggers has inspired me to try things out of my comfort zone. That's not to say I haven't given up jeans altogether!

This last picture sums me up completely. Doing what I love with friends and not caring if I'm too old, too anything. Just having fun.

So as you can guess, I'm not too worried about being 40+ because in my head I'm not. I'm whatever age I want to be. My Mother is 71 and we shop in the same shops and often inadvertently buy the same clothes. I hope that when I'm her age I'm still doing battle with the teens in Primark for the latest clothes!

Thanks for reading and please check out the blogs of the other Plus 40 Fabulous bunch

Mookie: http://www.mookieslife.com/
Leah: http://www.justmeleah.co.uk
Cathy: http://www.southernyacht.blogspot.co.uk/

Vicky: http://www.therandomnessoftwee.blogspot.co.uk

Sarah: http://www.plussizeproud.co.uk

Lisa: http://www.kitandkoboodle75.blogspot.co.uk/

Daisy: http://daisysays.co.uk/

Nikki :http://www.nattynikki.com/

Betty Pamper: http://www.pamperandcurves.com/

Kaye: http://www.polishedcurves.com/

Kellie: http://www.bigfashionista.co.uk/

Christy: http://www.sprintingwithscissors.blogspot.co.uk/

Cathy

xx

SHARE:

Corrie tour in Manchester

Hello there,

Back in September my friend and I visited the Curve Fashion Festival. Little did I realise when I booked the hotel how close we would be to the old Coronation Street film set and tour. We were staying in the Premier Inn opposite the Manchester Central which was about a 10-15 min walk away from the set. And after a long day looking and talking fashion, it was good to do something completely different.

Now I'll be the first to admit, I watched Corrie all through my childhood, but as an adult, I only tend to dip in and out during the big occasions (births, deaths, marriages etc). I did wonder if some of the tour would go straight over my head. I needn't have worried, there was enough of a mixture of old and new to keep everyone happy. Plus an awful lot of 'Oh! I remember that' moments.

The tour started with a tour behind the scenes of the internal sets and some of the dressing areas. The biggest surprise for me was how small all the sets actually were - the magic of television! The guide during this was fantastic, cheerful and knowledgeable and helped to make the tour. We visited the set of the Rovers Return pub and had the chance to do the obligatory pose behind the bar. Reckon we make good barmaids!

Then after this, we were free to go out onto the external set with the famous cobblestones, terraced houses and Roy's Rolls (even all this seemed smaller than I expected). At this point we were free to take as many pictures as we liked so here's a taster of what we saw.

The tour is only open now until the end of the year (31/12/2015) as the site is earmarked for development and the current studios are now at Media City, Salford. If you can get there before it closes, I would recommend it - if only for the trip down memory lane.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

The Curve Fashion Festival, Manchester

Hi everyone,

The last weekend of September saw The Curve Fashion Festival being held in Manchester. I was lucky enough to win a pair of all inclusive tickets in a competition held by Debz so there was added incentive to attend.

My friend and I arrived on the Friday and started off the weekend by attending the bloggers evening at Evans. Come Saturday, we were glad of the 11.00 start as we were definitely feeling in holiday mode.

The view from our hotel - we could see everyone arriving without even leaving the room!

I decided I wanted to be comfortable and colourful - this dress from the sale at Marks and Spencer teamed with a Primark cardigan did just that.

With any events like this, I find it takes a few minutes (ok hours) to say hello to everyone, sort out where everything is, what suppliers are there that you want to chat to and generally orientate yourself. I was a bit snap happy so I've just included some of the stalls that really caught my eye.

The fabulous Nicky Rockets

The Scarlett and Jo sample sale - blog post to follow on my purchases

The Very stand - that sequin dress is the dress of dreams. One of those photos is me clutching hold of it.

Beautiful pieces from Mink and Stone

The Just Be You clothing range from Lisa Riley

I was really impressed with this new range from Lisa Riley and how she took the time to chat with people about the collection. It looks like there is a store in Dorchester - not too far from me so maybe a day trip is on the cards

This was one of those why didn't I buy that moments - the #eff your beauty standards bags really caught my eye, but with everything going on, I completely forgot.

The beautiful Rosie from A Rose Like This. After seeing her designs at Style XL I'm sure Rosie will go far, her range is so beautiful.

I couldn't resist a bit of glitter from Glim Glam temporary tattoos. This is such a fun idea and perfect for the festive season. 

Catching up with friends

Bloggers united - I didn't realise there were so many of us until I saw this photo.

There were 2 fashion shows, but unfortunately I have no decent pictures of those. Being not very tall and sitting near the back, I only saw the models from the waist up. but I'm assured they were fully dressed! I understand that next time the seating will be better organised to address this issue. I also know that a lot of people have already mentioned the models. Very very beautiful, but not what I would call plus size. For me personally, I want to see the clothes on people of all sizes, heights and ages. That gives me a much better idea of how something will eventually look on me. Again next time hopefully things will be better.

I remember thinking that there was no way I'd last for the whole day, but the time flew past. Saying that though, by 5 I was shattered and so missed the final sessions. I would have liked to have seen these sessions earlier in the day when I was more alert!

All in all, I had a great day and an amazing weekend. I will definitely come back to the next one in 2016 - the date is in my diary already.

If the day wasn't busy enough, we finished it off with a trip to the Corrie Street Tour - more of that in the next blog post.

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

Evans Blogger night

Hi everyone,

It doesn't seem possible that it's over a week now since the lovely ladies at Evans held a bloggers evening at their Arndale Store. It was the night before The Curve Fashion Festival, so as you can imagine, we were all quite excited!

I might be a bit biased - but I think we all look pretty fabulous in these pictures.

There's a lot of love from us all for Scarlett and Jo dresses. I love the colour of this dress, but to be honest, it was a style I would never have considered. But once on - I think I could be persuaded to change my mind.

And yep, I didn't realise my butt could look like that!

Sweeties and drinks were on hand to keep our energy up and I discovered that prosecco and pink lemonade mix very well. I may have had quite a few of those during the evening - oops!

That might help to explain the flushed face here. Or the fact that I totally fell in love with this Scarlett and Jo dress. I sized down to a 20 on the advice of the other girls and it was a good decision. It fitted like a dream.

Readers of my blog may have noticed how much I love my jeans and pumps. So imagine my delight at finding sparkly shoes

Yep, very excited!

Best bit of the whole evening though? Meeting these lovely ladies. Some I'd met before, others for the first time. But it really felt like an evening with friends. 

Daisy

Debz and Lolly

Kat

Lisa and Lottie

A huge thank you to the lovely ladies at Evans who made us all feel so welcome and kept our glasses topped up throughout the evening. It was the perfect start to The Curve Fashion Festival weekend - which will be my next update.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx