Big Boogie Prom

So as I mentioned here before, I was organising a "body positive, queer, trans inclusive prom" which was held in Wakefield on 29th March. I had a really amazing time and I'm going to run it again next year, but probably in Sheffield. There weren't as many attendees as I'd have liked but I think everyone had a great time.

I had got some great sponsors/raffle prize givers so first of all I'd like to thank them:

- The Melting House in Mirfield did a special deal on chocolates for the goodie bags for me and also donated a raffle prize
- Sarah at Pookledo kindly donated a pair of earrings for each goodie bag; if you don't wear earrings I hope you could find someone to pass them on to
- My friend Meg baked the lovely lemon cupcakes
- My mum bought the table flowers and also let us use the vases from her wedding to display them - gorgeous pink gerberas.
- Fashion World donated a lovely leather leopard print bag for the raffle
- ChunkyCatCuddler donated a gorgeous cat necklace
- Life's Big Canvas donated an amazing stationery set and also Big Boogie Prom badges for each goodie bag
- Cedar Court Hotel donated Sunday lunch for two with a bottle of wine
- Yours Clothing donated two canvas bags and an amazing £50 voucher!

I think all other raffle prizes were bought by me but if I've missed you out I do apologise.

Finally I have to also thank Fashion World for donating my amazing dress to me! It is from the Claire Richards collection. I had seen this dress but couldn't justify it at £90 - however having worn it I do think it's worth it for a wedding or other special occasion. It is absolutely beautiful and I'm not sure photos do it justice. It has netting underneath and is lined which gives it a smooth silhouette and all makes the skirt stick out a bit - perfect for dancing! I also love the fact that it has sleeves and that they're mesh - perfect for me as I don't like baring my arms but do like my tattoos to be seen!

The dress is available here. I also got the matching cardigan but didn't wear it as I was warm. I'll review this separately when I do wear it!

My "official" prom photo. My shoes were from Barratts 4 years ago, I wore them for my mum's wedding and realised they matched the pink flowers in the dress. 

This was after the raffle - my mum bought me some flowers for all my hard work and I knew my stepdad would want a photo. My feet are awkward! 

And here's the shot of all 24 attendees!

All photos courtesy of my stepdad. 

Big Boogie Prom

Last year while I was on holiday I had the idea to put on a plus size prom. I was thinking about how when I was at school they didn't exist, and if they had I would have found it difficult to find something that I felt comfortable in and I would have felt out of place. I know fat fashion has come on leaps and bounds in recent years but I bet there's still fat teenagers who struggle to feel as beautiful as their thin counterparts. So I felt like a prom was needed.

When I got back, I started looking at venues and sorting out dates. The prom will take place on 29th March 2014. I have chosen Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield which is just off Junction 39 of the M1. There are other hotels nearby and Wakefield Westgate is a short taxi ride away. 

When I was talking to a friend we talked about how people other than fat women may have had issues with proms and such, and therefore we've extended the remit to have a queer slant to it, and want to extend the invitation to queer people, trans people, older people, and so on. Basically everyone is welcome!

The ticket price is £25 and you can find links here on the website. The ticket price includes a welcome drink, a buffet, and a disco. There will be other things available as money permits. You will have to buy drinks other than the first one, though.

There's a Twitter @bigboogieprom where I can answer any questions but here's a few that I've already been asked:

- There is no "minimum fatness" requirement! This prom is for anyone.

- There is no dress code. Yes, some people will be in fancy dresses and suits. But if that isn't your thing or within your budget, there will be no shame in your turning up in a t-shirt and jeans.

- I am actively looking for sponsorship if you are in a position to offer help, contacts, or if you own a shop and can offer a discount for our goodie bags!

Please do consider coming and making it a night to remember! 

Rad Fat Doncaster Trip #3

We've had a few trips to Doncaster now as it's great for fat shopping. There's a Simply Be, a Yours, a New Look Inspire, all kinds of other things. You can read about the previous trips here. We went in January hoping to hit the sales and I'm pretty sure we did! There were ten of us in all which is the most we've had - so thank you SO much if you came!

This is Lolly, Abi and me in the lift on the way home, thoroughly exhausted!

As you can see I'm wearing my trusty old New Look stripy dress and pink cardigan. I love this dress because it makes me feel amazing, and it's a great length for walking around all day. 

Okay so on to the shopping!

I turn 30 in a couple of weeks (in fact, by the time you'll read this) so I wanted a new dress and some sparkly shoes to wear for my party. In Simply Be I tried on a couple of dresses but didn't like either on me. I did however pick up this jumper in cream, half price at £15! I also picked up some knickers, 3 for £5. 

My penpal Mariska who lives in Holland happened to be over in Yorkshire so I invited her shopping too. She wanted to look at books, so we popped into Waterstone's and recommended some books to each other. I got two on buy one get one half price. 

I bought my birthday dress in Yours, but I'm keeping it a secret until after my party! I promise you'll see it, though. The Yours sale wasn't bad, they have it organised by size so it's easy to find what will fit you. 

I wasn't impressed with the sale stuff in New Look. When we went in October there was loads of sale bargains, and we each took about 15 items into the changing rooms! But this time there was nothing that grabbed me, sadly. I looked for sparkly shoes, too, but couldn't find any. Boo, New Look. I did however get shoes very similar to these for only £10. 

We went for something to eat and for cocktails, I had something called a Sweet Shop which was delicious! I enjoyed it. We went back to the shopping centre and people said their goodbyes and split up. I still needed sparkly shoes so Lolly, Abi and I went into Debenhams where I acted like a proper diva and the two of them brought every sparkly shoe in the entire shop! I finally chose a pair of gold low wedges which I will also show you later. 

Thank you to everyone who came, you make the rad fat gang amazing and the shopping trips fun! 

Rad fat swimming trip!

Just a note to let you all know that there will be another rad fat swimming trip to Barnsley Metrodome on 11th August! If you fancy coming please do, even if you've never met us before - I promise we're nice! We'll be swimming and playing on the slides and stuff, and probably getting something to eat afterwards.

You can see the event on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/447174605379817

Epic weekend with my rad gang

Last weekend was an epic weekend! It was Becky's birthday weekend; she decided she wanted to come up to South Yorkshire to hang out with us rad fats. So on Friday night I had a houseful: Lisa, Rachel, Becky, Bettie, and Jen. We got Chinese food and just chilled out - it turned crazy! We were comparing bras and whether they fit, we were making all kinds of inappropriate jokes, and one by one we went to bed - late. I personally crashed on the couch at 5.30am. It's a LONG time since I did that.

On Saturday once we were all somewhat awake, we got the train to Meadowhall. Six fat lasses do cause quite a stir. By myself I never get much hassle, or maybe I don't notice it, but together we get a lot of attention. Maybe it's because we're confident and self-assured and, well, loud? It's great, though.

In Meadowhall we were joined by Beth and Nicola. We got lunch (badly needed by me as I was so tired/hungover) and went shopping. I personally tried to not spend much as I'm about to go on holiday, but I did buy a top in New Look, a top and a cardigan in Evans, and some stationery in Paperchase! Here's some photos:

Rachel gave me this dress - it's from New Look, it's size 24 which can be too small for me but I've decided it looks great anyway! I love having friends of similar sizes now - we swap clothes a lot!

This is what I was wearing on Friday, AX Paris dress with feather print from Simply Be, a bargain £20!

And here's a sneak preview of what I bought in Evans! I love it and it will be so nice on holiday!

Sunday Symmetry

Twitter is a terrible place! Your friends post about the bargains that they've just bought, and you end up buying them yourself! It's terrible!

I think I saw Becky tweeting about this skirt first, and then Lisa bought it, and Steph did too - and we've all styled it differently. So here's my take on it

You can't see the skirt very clearly, but my cream top is from New Look, the cardigan is from New Look, and the feather boa is from Claire's Accessories. 

I was at the Rocky Horror Show with my mum, Sam, and my Auntie Gill. Gill has never seen it live before, but me and my mum have been going since I was about 14! 

Nearly everyone was dressed up last night, there were so many pretty people to look at! I love the inventiveness of the costumes sometimes.

Before we went to the theatre we ate at Prezzo which is Italian, it was delicious. Sam and I shared a bottle of prosecco, which I love. Here I am with my fancy glass. 

You can see the skirt more clearly here. It's from Yours Clothing, the top layer is chiffon with velvet spots on, of different sizes. The bottom layer is a really soft stretchy cotton. The waistband on this is at least two inches wide, which is great because it means the skirt doesn't ride up. I've worn it twice and it's so comfortable, it's definitely going to be my go-to skirt this summer.

Plus, it was only £9.60 in the sale! Now that's my kind of shopping!

You can see how the others styled their skirt, here:

Steph

Becky

Lisa

Sheffield Zine Fest and What I Wore

Hi! Sheffield Zine Fest was really amazing! Bravo to Bettie and Chella for organising it. It was held at the Electric Works which is right next to the bus and train stations so ideal for anyone travelling in.

I got the train, met Bettie and Jen, and we grabbed breakfast from the station before heading over to the Electric Works where we got to work moving chairs and tables and setting up. Then it was time to open and people started to pile in! It was a very good turnout. I sold lots of zines and some of my envelope sets and bought and traded a few new zines too :)

Here's what I wore:

This dress confuses the hell out of everyone and that's partly why I like it! It was from the Arlene Phillips collection at Simply Be a couple of years ago and is one of the first dresses I bought when I first got into wearing them again. It is a bit longer length than I wear now, but still a good length. I love the confusing pattern - it has flowers, circles of varying sizes, and pixellated type bits too. It's so weird! People either love or hate it.

I always have to pin the wrap part to my bra because otherwise it flashes a lot of boob and bra. I keep the safety pin attached to the dress when I take it off so that I always know where it is.

It's a lovely drapey thick jersey, and it has a kangaroo pocket across the front! I haven't worn this dress in ages but on Saturday I couldn't remember why!

Sorry for the dark photo, I think the flash was turned off on my phone. Thanks for taking the photo, Lisa!

Here I am behind my stall. I hope it was an inviting one. This was the first zine fest I've tabled at, but I had such fun that I want to do it again! Bettie and I think we might road trip to some more. I had free sweets too to lure people in, I think it worked. My tablemate was Emily, it was nice to meet her. 

Thanks to Jen for taking this photo!

Kirsty (of Fatty Unbound) and I led a workshop at the fest, on Body Positivity. Although it wasn't specifically fat-positive, most of the attendees were plus sized so the discussion had that slant to it. We talked about comments that we've had about our bodies or our clothes, and we talked about coping strategies. (And yes, ignoring and walking off is a valid strategy! Sometimes it's the safest thing to do for yourself!) Then we talked about accepting compliments and how we're not very good at it. If someone pays you a genuine compliment, just say "thank you." It's a radical act! Then we went round paying each other compliments, so I hope everyone left feeling heartened.

My friend Rachel was at the fest. I haven't met her in person before so it was lovely to do that. She's incredibly sweet. After the fest a ton of us went to a pub called the Rutland Arms where they do really fab chips and cheap food. I had the thickest burger ever and chips. I was sitting next to Rachel so it was nice to chat with her more. 

Such a fabulous day!

What I Wore February 13th

I'm a few weeks into my MA now and it's going well. At the moment, because I'm part time, I just have one lecture a week, and an evening, optional Masterclass. I'm being taught about "The Novel" by a published author; we have an hour's lecture and then an hour spent critiquing the work of others in our class.

I get the train to Sheffield and either meet a friend (I have some awesome rad Sheffield friends) or go into uni and get something to eat and read a book until lecture time. Between the lecture and the masterclass I sit and chat with people on my course, which is nice. Most of them have already done a semester or two and know each other, so I'm trying to make friends. I can be incredibly awkward at times, but I talked to a nice woman about feminism this week, and a lad about films, so that was nice.

This week I met up with Bettie for lunch as she was already in Sheffield. We went into the Winter Gardens, and mooched around the shop afterwards. They had a bargain on for 20 postcards for £1! I thought I was misreading it, the cashier said lots of people do. I've already given some away as gifts :) I love postcards!

Anyway, here's what I wore:

I recently bought a bunch of things in the sale from Asos Curve, and this was one of the dresses I kept. I love red, and this is a beautiful stretch jersey dress with black polka dots. It came with the belt, and has belt loops. I'm wearing leggings that I recently got on eBay for £5 (my Evans ones disintegrated), and my Dr Marten dolly shoes. 

I look a bit dishevelled because, slightly before this, I fell over in the snow/ice and skinned my knee, jarred my shoulder, wrist, bruised my calf, etc etc. And shocked myself too! A nice student helped me up, bless him. So I was in need of sympathy when I met Bettie, which she gladly gave! She also took the photo. 

I would share a picture of the scab on my knee, but it's just too gross.

What I Wore January 23rd & Starting My MA

I have started an MA in Writing. In 2010 & 2011 I did a Diploma with the Open University but decided that I wanted my MA to be at a bricks-and-mortar university. I researched a lot and eventually settled on Sheffield Hallam, as the lecture structure fits into my life, it's easy to get to, and I liked the tutors. I didn't start in September, I was part of the January intake. I went on Wednesday 23rd January to enrol, and lectures start on the 30th! Eek!

As I was in Sheffield I asked Bettie and Jen and Lolly to meet me for lunch, so we went to the Winter Gardens for coffee and cake, and I also had a really spicy Mexican sandwich before I went just across the road to find my tutors and co-students. I got a bunch of information, talked to people about YA literature, had a tour of the library, got my access card, and got the train back home!

Here's what I wore:

I'm wearing a black with cream dots tea dress from Simply Be - I was encouraged to try it on in Doncaster by Rachel, she has the same dress in a different print. It is gorgeous. It's lightweight cotton, it doesn't stretch but it's cut on the bias so it has a bit of give. It has a V-neck, floaty sleeves, and a nice waistband. I love it, I think I'll be wearing it a lot!

I'm also wearing it with black leggings which are soon to be replaced as they're full of holes, and my black boots that I am SO sick of wearing because of the weather! They were a bargain from Peacocks last winter though. 

I'm standing in the Winter Gardens in front of some very beautiful trees! 

Fat shopping in Doncaster

Saturday 5th January saw me and several others hit Doncaster for a rad fat shopping trip. Above are Lisa, me, Becky, Lisa, and Rachel. I stole this photo from Laura, you can see her post here for more ace pictures. Doncaster is some kind of fat shopping Mecca - it has a Simply Be store, a Yours store, an Evans, and the biggest Inspire range in New Look that I've ever been in. It also has a really great cut price make up shop called Dazzle. The train and bus stations are also right next to the shopping centre - you don't even have to go outside - making it a great and accessible place if you can't walk very far. 

When I set up the shopping trip, I honestly thought there'd be four of us - me, Lisa (the one on the left), Laura, and Rachel. We've been shopping before and socialised together. But Laura brought her friend Lisa, Beth and Steph came from Lancashire, and Becky even travelled all the way from Bath. It's really great what can be achieved when we get together. We were quite a spectacle, I think - eight fat girls wandering through the shopping centre. One man even turned to his wife and said scathingly, "Oh look, it's a fatties outing". To which I turned, laughed, and said, "Yes, it is!" Thanks for trying to insult us. It didn't work.

As you can see, we all shopped ourselves out. I was lucky because my mum told me to buy myself birthday presents. I don't need to be told twice! I spent £44 in Simply Be, I will show you these at a later date. 

I'm wearing a black, orange, and yellow dress from Tesco last summer, it was just £8 in the sale! And a black hoodie from H&M that I got secondhand, I wear it all the time.

I am sure we'll organise another shopping trip before long - maybe the beginning of July? You'd be very welcome to come!