On Wednesday 5th June I was lucky enough to be invited to Manchester for a preview of Simply Be's blogger takeover to see the dresses that Lauren, Laura, and Em have designed. It was such a lovely day and I'll copy what I wrote on my way home on the day.
Simply Be asked some bloggers to
work with them to create outfits, and all 3 ended up creating dresses. Laura’s
is a black chiffon skirt with a coral crossover top, very bling for a night
out. Lauren’s is a pink skater dress only the material has yellow ice creams
printed on it too! It’s so out there. Then Em’s is a really funky but very
classy dress with ruching around the stomach. It’s black with pink, purple, and
green peacock feathers on it – it’s just beautiful. Today was the launch.
We went in and got a glass of
Buck’s Fizz and a voucher for 2 drinks at the bar. This was a lovely touch as
it felt like Simply Be had spent their money on us (and to be fair they get a
lot from us!). We wandered around talking to the bloggers and admiring the
dresses both on the mannequins and on Em, Lauren and Laura. There were also
several racks of clothes which will be out in A/W 2013, so we got a sneak
preview! I’d got a lift with Rachel and Lisa, so the three of us were chatting
loudly, with others, and about the new items. And it really felt like Simply Be
were listening.
The bloggers talked about
their dresses and then a buyer and a designer talked about the process of their
clothes. They have ethical working practices, with factories in Turkey and
India, which I definitely think they should shout about more, as it’s nice to
know that people aren’t dying in sweatshops just so I can have cheap clothes.
They also have a production factory in Leicester, and it's really good that
they’re creating jobs in Britain too.
Then there was lunch. All fat
birds love a free lunch, obviously! It was really good though. I talked to
Rachel and Lisa and Mel and Charlie, we’re all quite similar politically and in
our rad fat ethos, so we can have good chats. After lunch we listened to
another buyer talk about the brands Simply Be buys and how they work with Anna
Scholz (I absolutely love her prints and dresses but they’re way too spendy for
me, although the range with Simply Be is slightly less expensive). Then they
were asking questions and well if you don’t want a bunch of fat folks telling
you exactly what they love and hate well you just shouldn’t ask! All the staff
are lovely though.
We each left with a lovely
goodie bag – a few treats in one of Simply Be’s sturdy black bags – they’re
great for keeping stuff in!
These are some photos of the preview clothes that I particularly liked:
I loved this black dress with mesh shoulders and detailing.
This is a close up of the detailing, I think the flowers are velvety.
I also loved this black dress with red lace overlay.
Here's what I wore: skull print dress from New Look last season. I love it because it's so feminine and yet so badass!
When the dresses were released for sale I ordered Lauren's and Em's. Unfortunately Em's, although beautiful, wasn't for me. I wouldn't have felt comfortable in it, so I sent it back.
Lauren's, though - wow! I love it! I love the neckline and the colour and the print and the length!
Excuse my unbrushed hair, it was early in the morning!
This is to show you the length - I'm 5'5" and it is plenty long enough for me to wear on its own (if I ever get brave enough to!)
You can buy the Blogger Takeover dresses
here. Please please Simply Be do another one of these!
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