Why Curvy Girls Can Wear... Prints

Firstly, apologies for the long absence! Dissertations, essays, and general final-term-of-university stress has got the better of me recently, leaving me with very little blogging time.

Lack of writing hasn't been the only consequence of third year woes-- my bank-balance has also been reeling from the sporadic bursts of retail therapy motivating me through hours in the library. A spate of summer outfits have steadily streaming my wardrobe in anticipation of mythical, post-hand in sun drenched days.

With the greyness of both the university study spaces and the current weather weighing on my mood, my reaction has been to invest in cheering, increasingly gaudy prints. Splurged with colour, my new staple outfits are a rainbow of cartoons and printed cupcakes. As a lover of stand-out pieces, the creativity of prints currently available is perfect for stamping individuality, especially with the quirky cartoon prints of spring setting a trend for stylishly brazen outfits.

However, as every curvy girl will know, prints can be a worse enemy. A veritable minefield, patterns have the unfortunate effect of distorting the figure, the effect of your curves on the design highlighting every lump and bump. With the age-old ferocious warning against stripes ringing in every curvy girl's ears, the motto 'black is slimming' has sent me scurrying for a nice plain dress on many an occasion.

However, the thinking curvy girl can be worry free with jumping on the print-painted bandwagon. The simple tip for achieving a beautiful, flattering look is to avoid all over, busy prints. Teaming a patterned skirt or leggings with a plain top is a perfect way to get in on the trend, making sure any 'worry areas' are covered my a plain item of clothing, offsetting the busy-ness of the print, and solving the problem of nightmarish stretched prints over curves.

I recently purchased these pop-art print leggings from ebay. Garish and over-the-top, they require teaming with a plain top. I chose a long, black vest top to cover up the print around my mid section.

My other great print purchase lately has been this gorgeous skirt from Cameo Rose at New Look. Having lusted after its bodycon counterpart, regretfully acknowledging that I simply can't carry off tight prints, I was delighted to discover a skater skirt version. Flared out, the effect of prints on my shape isn't a problem, and it's nipped in waist is ultimately flattering. Furthermore, the skirt is truly gorgeous, and incredibly elaborate.

So here's a few of my recommendations for carrying off a curvy print look:

1. For an all-over print, go for one that is simple, sparse and non-geometric; busy prints will show off any lumps and bumps A black background is perfect to create a more streamlined shape. This Boohoo cartoon print dress, worn with spanx, would be perfect.

April cartoon print bodycon dress, £12, Boohoo

2. Geometric prints are ultimately unflattering, but you can still get in on the monochrome trend for checks and stripes. Choose a skater skirt which will flare out over your curves, or accentuate the curves you want to show off with a crop top and plain, high waisted skirt (don't forget to check out my earlier blog for more crop-top advice! http://what-katieb-did.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/why-curvy-girls-can-wear-crop-tops.html )

Geometric Print Skater Skirt, £28, River Island

Ellin vertical stripe monochrome crop top, ASOS, £8.99

3. For the more adventurous fashionista, wide-leg trousers are a good way to get on board with the craze for global prints. Hiding a multitude of sins, these should be worn with a plain, fairly tight top to avoid looking frumpy.

Eastern Print wide-leg trousers, Topshop, £48

Heels and Heartbreak

 Judging by my complete obsession with beautiful footwear, this blog has been a long time coming. I'm the kind of girl who will happily forfeit lunch for a week in pursuit of THAT pair of heels, and heaven forbid I should purchase a sensible pair of flats to replace the battered ballet pumps I've been hobbling around in when I could be splurging on gravity defying, skyscraping stilettos.

However, I fear that the standard rant about my unrequited love for Louboutins (strictly pining away at a distance) and a gleeful showcase of my own shoe collection has probably been a little overdone in the blog-sphere. So instead I've decided that far more apt would be a homage to the healing virtues of a good pair of shoes; the comforting power of a good platform and the warm fuzzy feeling of a fresh-out-its-box boot.

So rather than bombarding you with pics of my latest purchases, I've decided to show to you lucky viewers today a shoe collection with heart. From my battered kitten heels I bought alongside my first heartbreak when I was fifteen (now so well worn they've lost a good inch off the heels) to my help-me-I'm a-grown-up panic buys, this is a look-in on the shoe collection that's seen me through the saddest and most stressful times of my life, and brought me out the other side still strutting my stuff and feeling incredible.

Now, as every shoe-loving girl will know there is no better pick-me-up than a good pair of heels. As irresistibly comforting as chocolate and Gossip Girl on a weekday night, splashing out on that new Topshop slingback gives you all the warm gooey feelings of good old-fashioned retail therapy, whilst also granting a much needed confidence boost. Having been unceremoniously dumped, there is nothing better than throwing on a shiny new pair of leg-lengthening, bum-lifting shoes and proclaiming to your full length mirror how utterly gorgeous you look, and that it is clearly his loss.

A quick glance at my shoe collection is a look-in on my soul. True, there's also a lot of gifts and manic sale buys in there, but the pictured heels are a carefully selected showcase of the shoes that have been my therapy since my first standard issue Clarks school shoe gained an inch of height.

Progressively becoming more extreme from the semi-sensible scuffed lace up heels of the floundering of a college romance to my most recent staggering six-inch patent stiletto, height has coincided with the progressively more mature themes of my problems. And although a scarlet shoe I can only just about walk in might not solve my oh-no-I'm-very-soon-going-to-be-a-jobless-graduate stress, it certainly helps.
     


Unfortunately the fashion side of this is going to be a little on the staid side since all the pictured shoes hail from New Look. However, I can't promote their heels highly enough; with a much bigger range than most high street shops, New Look heels are beautifully budget friendly from around £19-£25 and have a fabulous variety of classic and fashion-friendly styles. They're also better than most places at providing a much needed lift with a generous platform at the front for those extra few inches. They're not incredibly durable, but I've had most of mine re-heeled and they've lasted me through the years.

So forget Ben and Jerrys and Bridget Jones, feel beautiful and get yourself some shoe-therapy.