Recently, Scarlett & Jo launched their brand new Powerfit dresses on the Evans website and I was lucky enough to see them in person at Plus North in Manchester last weekend.   If you've never heard of the Powerfit dresses before, they are based on the illusion style dress with black panels down the edges and a contrasting colour or pattern down the middle.  These dresses give the illusion of a smaller frame and are very on trend at the moment.

The difference between other illusion dresses and the Powerfit Dresses by Scarlett & Jo are that many of their designs include a built in mesh lining that gives support and acts as shapewear.  Personally, I probably would wear more shapewear underneath the dresses because I like a really firm look to hold in my lumps and bumps.  The dresses come in a number of gorgeous colours, such as purple, red, blue, leopard print and lace panelled.  My favourite is the red one and I think that they would suit power dressing for work or equally be beautiful for an evening occasion.

Scarlett & Jo Claret Red Powerfit Dress, Evans, £45.00

Scarlett & Jo Leopard Print Powerfit Dress, Evans, £40.00

Scarlett & Jo Blueberry Powerfit Dress, Evans, £45.00

The prices for these dresses are very reasonable from £40 for the ones without the added mesh panels and £45 for the colours that includes it.  From looking at how well made the Scarlett & Jo dresses are (including the black velvet style one I was sent to review) this is bang on for affordability versus quality.  I would spend the extra £5 for the mesh panel unless I really wanted the leopard print version!

Recently, a couple of lucky bloggers (George - Fuller Figure, Fuller Bust and Callie - From the Corners of the Curve) took part in a photoshoot to show off these dresses on real women and the results were amazing.  Both girls look simply stunning in their Powerfit dresses as you will see below...

 

These gorgeous dresses come in UK sizes 14 to 26.  Isn't it lovely when we can buy decent, beautiful clothing on the high street!

I am very excited about this new launch and after seeing the catwalk show of Scarlett & Jo's new collection, us plus sized girls are in for some gorgeous clothes that will be hitting selected Evans stores and the website very soon!  Check out the Evans website for more of the Scarlett & Jo range!

I have just returned from my first ever Plus North event which took place in the Renaissance Hotel in Manchester.  We woke early on Saturday morning ready for the drive ahead of us and although it took a little time to get everything packed and sorted we eventually made our way up the motorway to Manchester. I must admit, I had booked tickets, hotel etc before we booked our wedding so I did have a slight pang of guilt that the money I had spent could have been used for our wedding.  I'm such a worrier! For the day event I wore a bodycon New Look dress, brown leather jacket, ankle boots from Tesco and a sparkly statement necklace also from New Look.

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate being late for anything so when we got stuck on the M6 with long delays I started to panic and ended up being around 30 minutes late - grr!  When I walked into the Exhibition Hall I was greeted by the lovely Charlotte from Yours Clothing with a goodie bag and a warm welcome which was much appreciated because for some reason I was really nervous!  There were clothing racks everywhere and pick a mix too!  Yum!  I arrived just in time for the first catwalk show which was the Simply Be catwalk.  I stood next to the Yours Clothing exhibit and watched as everyone walked down the catwalk looking fabulous.  

Afterwards I made my way around the room anti-clockwise and approached Curvissa, Bon Prix and Lovedrobe.  Every exhibitor had something that I liked on their rails but with the wedding approaching I was on a pretty strict budget and unfortunately had to window shop! Next up was the Evans stand which was really cool.  I chatted to a lovely lady about my body shape as I am still undecided if I am an apple or a pear then I entered their gift card giveaway where everyone got a gift card with a value of between £5 and £100 and would only know how much it was when I took it to an Evans Store.  Thankfully there is one in the Arndale centre in Manchester since our local one has closed down.

I then spoke with Natalie from Scarlett and Jo, who I have spoke via e-mail but never met.  She is so lovely - and had a good nosey at the Powerfit dresses from their new range which I will be blogging about later this week.  I moved onto the Slink Magazine exhibit of which I had never heard of before and spoke to them about their magazine and their new boutique which was opening that day.  

Simply Be was next and I finally got to drool over the blogger dresses in person and a bunch of other new Autumn / Winter ranges.  They also had some of their shoes on display too and they look really well made.  Next up, Excite clothing.  I had a look at this Exhibit in two parts as another catwalk show was about to start.  The Yours Clothing catwalk show was really good because it had more winter looking outfits including lots of comfy knitted jumpers and accessories too.  We had a very special treat to a Slink Boutique catwalk show straight afterwards with a mix of some really funky outfits and gorgeous eveningwear.  All of the models looked amazing!

The Excite Clothing stand had a lot of bodycon dresses that I liked the look of and after feeling a bit daring with wearing bodycon for the first time to the day event I made a mental note to check out their website again on my return.  I could have bought some there, but was being good for a change. Growing up sucks!   The Topsy Curvy stand was next; another brand I hadn't heard of and I had a good chat with the lovely Charlotte (my apologies if I have got your name wrong!) before heading over to the other exhibition room.  I didn't spend much time in this room as it was aimed at accessories and I am deadly around things like that so me and Mr FH decided to head over to the Arndale centre to have a look around since we haven't been to Manchester before.  

The Arndale centre is massive and you could get easily lost in the number of stores!  We looked in Yours Clothing, the Lego shop (omg I could live in there!), the Disney Store and I finally found the Simply Be store!! Go me!  The Simply Be store in Manchester is slightly smaller than I had imagined but it had an amazing atmosphere and the staff were all really friendly.  I tried on 3 dresses and had a good play with their magic mirror.  This feature is a fantastic idea!  You can take a photo of yourself in your outfit and tweet/facebook it too. I tried to tweet an AX Paris dress but it wasn't connected to the Internet.  I did give in and buy the navy floral print AX Paris curve dress because it was so stunning on (pictures to come soon!).  We also went to the Evans store where I had won £5, but the good thing about this is it will last for 2 years so after the wedding I will keep an eye out on what I want to order.

We went for dinner at the Slug and Lettuce before stepping back to the hotel to get changed for the Plus North after party.  By this time a migraine had set in so I was a little nervous that I wouldn't make it.  I changed into my Paper Dolls dress which has now gotten a little big for me due to spinning, so I teamed it with a cardigan in-case the straps fell down.  I wore flat shoes and a bunch of gorgeous accessories.  We arrived in the suite and were given a gorgeous goodie bag from Scarlett and Jo. Inside was a "Fatshion" acrylic necklace, some nail decals and some sample goodies.  We all sat around the tables and listened to a performance by the gorgeous Rosie O'Sullivan who was a previous Britain's Got Talent contestant.  We were then treated to a glamorous catwalk show by Scarlett and Jo featuring the new dresses and outfits all of which I want! It was a really lovely weekend meeting a bunch of bloggers - my only regret being that I didn't get enough time to chat to everyone!

*Edit - I have ONE photo from the event that is viewable! So next time.... please, someone remind me to take my Canon!

 

I'm terrible at making decisions.  If we eat out, I'll let someone else choose where.  If Mr FH and I are watching a film, I'll let him pick!  So imagine how difficult it is for me to order clothes online...

Generally, I do shop in actual stores because it means I get to try everything on in one go without having to worry about sizing issues or sending stuff back.  Recently I have been more interested in online shopping because of lack of time and also some of the ranges aren't available in stores and I live far away from some stores such as Simply Be, however I am going to make it my mission to get to one before the end of the year!

Anyway, I have found a bunch of dresses that I really like but I can't order them all as it will eat into the wedding fund, so I decided to make a post and see if anyone wants to get in touch with their opinions via comments, twitter or e-mail and help me choose which to order :)

First up, is Yours Clothing.  I've never ordered anything from here before but after reading the most recent post over at What Laura Loves, I too fell in love with the "Cream Bird Print Lace Trim Dress". Laura looks amazing in it!  This dress is £30 and the only drawback is that they are out of stock of 18's and a 20 may be too big... 

Next up, also on Yours Clothing is a beautiful floral hanky hem dress in black, red and beige.  I think this dress would be perfect for summer but also work in Autumn due to the gorgeous array of colours within its print.  This dress is low in stock in both an 18 and 20, so I need to act fast if I want to get it.  At £35, this is slightly more expensive than the previous one.

Heading over to Desire Clothing, another store I've never ordered from, I couldn't help but notice this peacock dress on sale at just £16.  Now, I absolutely love the peacock dress designed by Em over at Simply Be, but I don't think my shape would pull it off.  So this one (although fitted) would probably be better suited and it's in the sale, so can't really go wrong! The only thing with this dress is I am really nervous about which size I would need.

Now over to ASOS Curve where I am also a bit twitchy about their sizing.  First up, a couple of dresses from the Little Mistress Curve range (can I really justify more evening dresses and their prices when I have a wedding to save for?)... Both are bodycon dresses which immediately make me worry about shapewear but both are simply stunning on the model! 

Over at Simply Be there are loads of dresses that I love, so I have narrowed it down to the following although these don't have photos because the website ones are a bit lower quality... See why this is so difficult already? :) Maybe I should stick to the sales for now? HELP!! :)

• Anna Scholz Cowl Colour Block Dress, Reduced to £49.50 @ Simply Be
• Coral Jacquard Skater Dress With Pleats, Reduced to £18.00 @ Simply Be
• Enchanted Print Tea Dress, Reduced to £14.00 @ Simply Be 

I also love the Scarlett & Jo dresses I mentioned in an earlier post.  I would appreciate any opinions at all before my head explodes! 

Xx

A few days after discovering the Scarlett & Jo clothing line at Evans, I was contacted by them to ask if I would like to review one of their new dresses for Autumn/Winter.  This happened to be a black embellished neck line dress and I was thrilled for the opportunity to test out their clothing since I haven't been in an Evans shop for a long time.

The parcel arrived earlier this week while we were looking after my step son.  As soon as it arrived I was really excited and was already working out what I had in my jewellery collection to go with it.  It was beautifully wrapped in purple tissue paper and inside was a hand written note from Natalie which I think was a lovely little touch. I tried it on the day it arrived and Mr FH's initial reaction (without makeup and accessories I must add), was "WOW!".  It felt amazing on and looked even more gorgeous so I have been itching to accessorise this dress ever since. 

So that brings us to today and the day where I finally get to try out this dress with all of my accessories.  Firstly, please excuse my roots - I am getting them done tomorrow... :) I am wearing a size 20 in this dress - which I think I prefer because it's not so clingy on my curvy bumps, however this dress is very stretchy so if you like it tight, go for the smaller size.  It has a slinky, sexy appeal to it and is made from viscose, elastane and polyester.  The dress itself is quite heavy on and very well made with added shoulder pads just underneath the straps and an inner lining across the bust.

This dress is a perfect little black dress for any wardrobe and would suit occasionwear or date night.  I have a feeling Mr FH will be expecting me to wear it on our next meal out and I won't disappoint! I decided to wear my hair up in a bun ring, which is a new style I have been trying out, along with a black floral hair clip from New Look (£4.99).  

Accessories wise, I am wearing a bracelet from my mums jewellery drawer (thanks mum!), sparkly earrings from Select and a statement ring which I think was from Dorothy Perkins.  Shoes were a no-brainer - my high heels from Next never fail and instead of complimenting this dress with a black handbag to match my shoes I chose my silver glitter clutch.

 

 Dress: Scarlett & Jo @ Evans, £45, Bracelet: Unknown, Hair Flower: New Look, £4.99, Statement Ring: Dorothy Perkins, Shoes and Clutch Bag: Next

You really wouldn't want to detract from the detailed neckline and sparkles so I decided to go without - which is why I also chose to go bare armed!  I wouldn't want to cover up this dress unless it was cold and I wore my faux fur jacket with it.

Overall, I would say my first experience with Scarlett & Jo dress has been really positive and it is a brand that I will be keeping an eye on for future purchases.  I think that the quality of this dress is comparable to some of the more expensive luxury high street brands and the price tag is very fair. I expect their clothes would last a long time due to the quality of the stitching and embellishments.  This dress is available on the Evans website and is £45 - in sizes 14 to 26 so if you are in need of a new "little black dress", I would highly recommend it.

Thank you Scarlett & Jo :) x

The first time I heard of Scarlett & Jo was over on George's blog - http://www.fullerfigurefullerbust.com/  She had posted a review of the Scarlett & Jo illusion dress and she looked absolutely fantastic in it. I had never heard of Scarlett & Jo before so I decided to do a bit of research.

Scarlett & Jo are a trendy fashion brand that is available in Evans stores and on their website.  I must admit I haven't really been into Evans since I was a teenager as I always felt their clothes were a little old fashioned so when I went on their website I was impressed by the amount of trendier clothes that were available including the brand Scarlett & Jo.

Unfortunately, the illusion dress in bright blue that I particularly liked was out of stock, but there are some very noteworthy dresses available currently on the Evans website...

The Scarlett & Jo Sheer Yoke Print Prom Dress is a bold purple and red floral dress which looks like it is made to flatter women with the fuller figure such as myself.  I love the print and how feminine this dress looks and it would be perfect for a wedding or date. Another positive side to this brand is that it is available in a UK size 14 to 26.

Another dress that caught my eye was the Scarlett & Jo Purple Embellished Maxi Dress.  I am a massive fan of purple, and I already own a short embellished sleeve dress from Peacocks from a few years back, but the detailing of the shoulders on this dress is delicate and stunning.  It looks as though each shoulder is covered in a variety of size and shaped beads in colours such as pink, gold and light teal.  

This dress differs from the previous one as it has an elasticated waist which is perfect if you're unsure of your sizing and it also has a V neckline but leaving modesty intact!  Available again in sizes 14 to 26, this dress would be a fantastic evening dress combined with a pair of kitten heels and some multi coloured bracelets.