This site has now moved to http://blogs.loughboroughecho.net/amysfashionfix/

Summer's coming

IT'S official, summer is on its way.

How do I know? Bikinis are back on the shelves and I had my first joke sunglasses try-on of the year this week.

Now if I could only fit into a bikini without looking like a beached whale...

That's where Weight Watchers comes in. I've been doing this for almost three months now and had been doing pretty well (lost six pounds was very impressed) then the chocolate and other naughtiness beckoned and I'm back at square one. So seeing the lovely skinny clothes on the shelves has given me a new inspiration, watch this space.

Big bra'd beauties wanted

THE Star in a Bra search 2010 is on.

Online retailer Brastop.com is currently scouring the country for naturally curvy girls, who have the chance to become the face and body of the new fuller bust brand Curvy Kate.

Despite the UK’s average boob size now being above a DD and the average dress size being a 16, many fashion brands still ignore models that relate to these statistics (although see previous post - well done Debenhams), Brastop.com is championing the UK’s shapely figures and their average 34G (yes I know!) customer by searching for a DD+ girl who is curvy, charismatic and confident with a fuller body and natural bust.

With more than 2,500 entrants in the first two years, Star in a Bra 2010 looks set to be even stronger with consumer awareness of plus size modelling increasing all the time. In the last 6 months several fuller figured shoots have taken place but the Star in a Bra search is looking to make real women modelling the norm, not just a novelty.

Laura Butler, Star in a Bra winner 2008, said: "Most lingerie brands either use stick thin girls or girls with fake boob and I could never figure out which bras would suit my shape.

"The Star in a Bra competition was a great opportunity for me to step into the spotlight and hopefully show how gorgeous a fuller figure can look in lingerie. It really kick started my modelling career and I still model with Curvy Kate and love all the shoots…and attention!"

We're going on a treasure hunt

GET yourself down to Nottingham on Sunday, April 25, for the next Affordable Vintage Fair.

Now in its 5th year, the fairs were started by Selfridges stylist Judy Berger and his since toured the UK holding events for vintage clothing and accessories sellers to sell to the UK's vintage lovers.

Held at The Art Organisation, 21 Station Street, Nottingham, from 12pm-5pm, entry costs £2 and inside you'll find an Aladdin's cave of 40 stalls offering vintage clothing, accessories & homewares dating from the 1920s-1980s, boasting on average prices 40% lower than vintage available on the high street.

Judy Berger, said: "Nottingham is always a bustling fair with traders selling all aspects of vintage clothing and homewares.

"Over the last two years we’ve seen a huge increase in people coming to our events. People still like the high street but are tired of seeing everyone wearing the same thing. Our events are like treasure chests, you have to dig a little but you end up finding a true gem without having to spend a fortune."

Designers in the making

I couldn't resist putting this picture up.

BUDDING fashion designers at Highgate Primary School in Sileby recently got to strut their stuff on the cat walk.

It was the culmination of a series of fashion based events that the school took part in called ‘Dress To Impress’.

Under the guidance of teachers Miss Hand, Miss Coaker and Mrs Ward the children learned about different types of clothes, materials and design processes.

They were also asked to design their own school uniform while Year One dyed, sowed and modeled their own creations on the cat-walk.

Miss Hand from the school said: “The children created some fantastic outfits and throughly enjoyed the topic.”

Welcome back old friend

AFTER enduring years of ridicule from my friends about my love of Baby G, Rihanna has finally made the brand cool again by using it in her latest Rude Boy video.

Not a massive fan of the video - or Rihanna for that matter - but hey, Baby G's back! Slightly obsessed with bright watches at the moment (wearing a bright purple Nixon at the moment and had to stop myself from buying it in blue and pink) and this sure fits the bill...

Here's the video by the way in case you are so minded to watch it:

Get your Gagas out

Now I'm not one for celeb copying but this is just funny:

New research by www.MyCelebrityFashion.co.uk, which works with high street brands to copy celebrity outfits, has found that 25% of 1,326 women would be happy to bear their breasts in the name of fashion - Lady Gaga styley.

Of the women polled, 302 said they would be happy to reveal their breasts under a lace top, although only 25 of them would go so far as to wear a lace dress and would opt to wear a pair of modesty concealing briefs if they did so. 85% of women said they would be willing to wear a lace top but would opt to wear a bra or boob tube underneath.

Andy Barr, marketing director of MyCelebrityFashion.co.uk, said: "We have definitely seen a growing trend in the popularity in the number of lace and other provocative items being bought from the site, so we decided to conduct a poll to see how just how much women out there were willing to flaunt.

"We are surprised just how many would show off their assets, but women out there are getting increasingly fashion focused and the majority of the population are not as surprised by nudity as they once were."

ANYONE feeling rich and generous can buy me a Mulberry coat please, preferably one of these two as seen at London Fashion Week last week.

Thanks.

Now this is what I call advertising

CAKES and sexy lingerie - what more could a woman want (other than a half naked man of course)

As women all over the country fight to shrink their shapes in the usual January diet frenzy (I should know I'm eight weeks into my new Weight Watchers regime), fuller figured brand Curvy Kate are celebrating the naturally curvy using plus size models (otherwise known as NORMAL sized women or, actually thin women with huge boobs) in their latest shoot with a delicious theme of Afternoon Tea.

Cup sizes are available from DD to J and back sizes from 28 to 40 and bras retail from £26-30.

The AW10 collection is available to view online but annoyingly can't be bought from the website - although websites where they are available are listed on the site, such as Bravissimo.

Definitely worth a look though - go to www.curvykate.com

I'd rather make my own thank you very much

AS nice as it is to see the friendship bracelet make a come-back after all these years, this new 'trend' kind of misses the point.

Aurelie Bidermann is not your friend (unless you know her personally of course), neither is Dior. I for one will only jump on this bandwagon with homemade bracelets - any offers most welcome!

TAKE a look at this picture, notice anything unusual?

I didn't because these mannequins look like regular women and that's exactly what I will be saying to Debenhams when I am asked for my feedback as a customer.

Ok so we're not all size 16s but let's face it, although many of us would like to be, we're not uber skinny either. These show customers exactly what the clothes will look like - saving us the horror from the changing rooms when such a fabulous dress "doesn't look like it did on the mannequin".

Apparently normal mannequins are a size 10 but having worked in the fashion industry I find that hard to believe to be honest considering size 6s sometimes need pinning because they look too big.

The size 16 mannequins were unveiled last Thursday at the store's Oxford Street Branch and will eventually be rolled out across the country to get feedback from customers.

This, in my humble opinion, is the start of a long battle in trying to make stores show 'real' women and real sizes. Well done Debenhams (and Gok if this had anything to do with you)!

Oh, and if you want to see what they look like next to a 'normal' mannequin, here you go:

London Fashion Week

I COULDN'T let this week (and February - oops) go by without putting something on here.

London Fashion Week began today (as if you didn't know already), having been opened by Sarah Brown.

Wearing Erdem skirt and top (didn't like it personally), Russell and Bromley shoes and jewellery by Astley Clarke, she welcomed the British Fashion Council's support for Backing Young Britain, which aims to create opportunities for young people struggling to find work in the recession...oops sorry downturn. The BFC is calling for fashion houses to give young people a foot in the door into fashion.

Wish I could have been there but alas the world of Loughborough calls so I'll have to settle with online viewing. But don't you worry fashion fans, the clever people at London Fashion Week HQ have decided to help us out by streaming the catwalk shows online.

See the next show at: http://www.londonfashionweeklive.co.uk/

Becoming a little obsessed with http://fifi-lapin.blogspot.com/ It's one of those kick yourself moments where you think why didn't I think of that!!

Happy New Year

Ok, new year new start. I am not going to promise to update this every week but I do promise to update it more regularly.
My other new year's resolutions are good ones this year, never mind that no chocolate no drinking lark I have joined Weight Watchers and am selling mounds of clothes on ebay ready to start the new year in style! So be prepared for updates on how both of those are going - contrary to common belief I WILL last longer than a month!
Hope you've all had a great new year (if there are any of you still left reading this, I haven't updated it for a while after all) and you'll be hearing from me soon.