Trendy, Chic and Cheap
Monday, October 5th, 2009
I am generally an advocate of saving up and dropping decent amounts of cash on quality clothing that will ultimately last, provided that you care for it well. For anyone who follows my Twitter, a fortnight or so ago I tweeted “I get a smug sense of satisfaction when I handwash my clothes. Look! I am prolonging the life of my garments! *SMUG*”. If you have the time, learn to love the handwash.
Anyway, I digress. As much as I love buying gorgeous, high-quality fashion, when it comes to seasonal trends, I’m perfectly happy to buy and cheap and cheerful garments. The best example I have of this recently is harem pants. I know, I know, we called them hammer pants or (ew) poocatchers for a reason, but hear me out! I have two pairs of harem pants, from Dorothy Perkins and – shock horror – Best and Less. Big W also have a pair that I have my eye on.
These are the Dotty P ones:
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Tee: Uniqlo (JP)
Jacket: Nissen (JP)
Harem pants: Dorothy Perkins
Sandals: Birkenstock by Papillio
Necklace: Gift
Sour face: Courtesy of my job, I suspect
And these are the Best and Less harem pants:
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Tee: Threadless (this is what a girly 2XL looks like on an AU18-20)
Harem pants: Best and Less
Shoes: Melissa
Wrist cuff: Gift
Sunglasses: Christian Dior
Both pairs are pretty different – the Dotty P pants come to a point just below the hip, which causes the drape to the tapered ankle. (I suspect these are actually supposed to hit mid-calf, but that’s the joy of being short). The ones from Best and Less, on the other hand, are pleated all around the waistband, and fall to fitted cuff mid-calf. So there’s harem pants and harem pants, it’s just a matter of finding the pair that work for you. I’m fortunate enough to be able to work in a very casual office, so I often wear mine with a Threadless tee and my Birkenstocks, but you can dress them up or down however you please! I recommend with choosing a fitted or tight top, to balance the volume of the harem pants. That said, I’m itching to try them with a baggy men’s shirt and this grey deconstructed vest I have – I shall report back to see if it works.
As a general guide, in my experience, the suburban versions of Big W, Best and Less and Kmart tend to have the best range of trendy clothing in plus-sizes. Big W also gets big props for having several straight-sized pieces reproduced in plus versions. Best and Less currently have wet-look leggings available in plus (!), and Kmart has a very cute retro-esque faux-tankini which I believe Sonya has purchased.
I don’t advocate getting all your clothing from these kinds of stores – the quality tends to be fair to middling, and there’s a lot of polyester. They still tend to make work pants cropped just above the ankle, an absolute pet hate of mine, and there are still plenty of fuggo graphic prints around. But all in all, for cheap, cheerful, trendy clothes, you really can’t go past Big W, Best and Less, and Kmart.
My outfits, let me show you them
Friday, July 17th, 2009
I really want to get into some kind of habit of posting “outfit of the day” (OOTD) shots. First though, I think I need to catch you up on what I like to wear. I don’t like wearing polyester-chiffon, see-through blouses, or anything stretchy simply for the sake of hiding my body; I do like simple lines and layering, textures and surfaces, prints and colours. For me, fashion is joyful and expressive and I like to be able to dress for the occasion and reflect my feelings about the day or night ahead in what I’m wearing. Sometimes I can be conservative, but a lot of the time I just like to have fun. Depending on the brand, I range from AU size 20-24; in my overseas sizing experience I can be a US 22-26 and UK 24-26. My belly sticks out – I often say that I’m more frontal than I am “sidal”, and as a result I think I do try to find clothes that don’t draw attention to my belly. In the past I have been asked by strangers if I am pregnant (to which I answer “no I’m just fat”). I tend to either wear tops that sit at the top of my thighs, or skirts and belts at my natural waist – which is quite high.
I’m hoping to post at least weekly recaps of my outfits, but consider this a little retrospective of my favourite (photographed!) outfits of the last few months.
Top: City Chic (back when it was Big City Chic, ooaah)
Belt: City Chic
Skirt: $2 at the Valley Markets in 2002
Shoes: Softspots (so comfy!) via Shoebuy.com
Rad sparkly guitar brooch: mother in law
Cardigan: Kmart
Shirt: Target (has cute neckline + tiny collar!)
Jeans: 1626 (now Autograph)
Shoes: Novo
Bag: Sachi (Myer brand)
Scarf: crocheted for me by my Mother-in-law
Hair: needing styling but I couldn’t be bothered
Dress and belt: Yours Clothing
Awesome wet-look tights: Yours Clothing
Shoes: Novo
Scissor fingers: Jazz dancing lessons in my youth
Top: Bonds
Dress: Evans
Tights: We Love Colors
Shoes: Softspots
Shirt: Target (a men’s shirt that doesn’t fit my husband)
Vest: Yours Clothing
Jeans: Smile Land (Japanese brand – Zoe bought these for me when she was over there)
Cardigan: Target
Hat: Crocheted by me!
Shoes: Evans
Glasses: Giant Vintage
I have quite a few new clothes from Yours Clothing and Evans (including THE domino dress!) and quite a few places to wear them in the next few weeks, so I am reminding myself to be diligent in outfit photoing so I can report back to the Axis!
