Writing, fatshion, me: Simply Be's Blogger Takeover

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!