MIDSIZE & PLUS SIZE STYLING TIPS

[Simply Be. kindly gifted me the blouse and blazer featured within this post]

Whoever said curvy girls can't be fashionable is WRONG. If my blog posts for the past five and a half years haven't proved that curvy girls can rock almost anything, then this outfit definitely will. 

People just presume that us curvaceous folk shouldn't wear bright and bold colours, they think that we should mope around in baggy dark clothes until we get thin, fit, and beautiful. Well.. how wrong are they? For starters, we don't need to 'get thin' in order to be beautiful. PLUS, we are beautiful, and we can wear whatever the hell we want.. bright colours and all. So just catch me over here flaunting around in fuchsia, with my round bum on show, and my curves... because curvy girls are worthy girls, and we deserve to feel amazing in colour!

When I was growing up, being curvy didn't phase me. I have always been curvy, or as some people would say.. 'bigger'. And although I did get a few nasty remarks regarding my weight at school, I never regarded myself as 'ugly' or 'fat'. I think that I never regarded myself as either of those things, because social media was only just picking up, and was virtually non-existent anyway (back in the days of BBM, MSN, and long before Snapchat and Insta).. therefore I didn't really compare myself to 'society's ideal', probably because I didn't know what that ideal was.

But as I grew older, social media grew too, and so did my insecurities. I've always known that I'm not small, and I never have been 'small' – so I guess when perfect models started to trickle into my consciousness, onto my smartphone, and then into my mind.. that's when my insecurities began.

In my mid-teens, when I got my first smart touchscreen phone, perfect girls flooded every social media platform – especially tumblr. Being a 'tumblr girl' was a huge aspiration of mine. A tumblr girl in my eyes was a girl who was super slim, dirty blonde hair, beautiful with no makeup, tiny tattoos, bushy brows, a thigh gap, and cushiony lips. I had none of the above.

I then started blogging, and bigger girls were almost non-existent back then. I hadn't discovered the world of #bodyposi or #curvyfashion. So I was stuck in a rut thinking that I couldn't be as fashionable, or as popular online as all of these 'perfect' slim, slender, and beautiful bloggers.

And then something shifted... and I finally realised that..

being fashionable or stylish is NOT determined by weight, size, race, gender, or hair colour

And then I stopped caring what people thought of me, and started wearing clothes I loved. And since then (2013), I have NEVER looked back.

Mollie's top 3 styling tips for midsize and plus size women

1. Always wear clothes that you feel comfortable in. Personally, I cannot go near tracksuit bottoms because I feel so scruffy in them. But my mum LOVES them – she wears glam VS PINK ones with sequins and she looks so glam when she wears them, but whenever I put a pair on, I feel so underdressed. So ALWAYS make sure you feel happy in what you're wearing. Unless you feel confident and beautiful.. don't bother!

2. Make sure your outfit flatters your figure. I'm all for wearing exactly what you want, but some things just aren't flattering, and that's life. The amount of times I've fallen in love with a dress on the hanger, but then after trying it on I realised it wasn't meant to be... well it's been a lot of times that's for sure. Due to me having a bigger bum and a smaller waist, I always try to buy/wear dresses that have a good waistline/empire line, and I ALWAYS steer clear of drop waist dresses and straight dresses too. So always keep your body shape at the forefront of your mind when shopping, because it's all about structure and fit!

3. Wear colours you love. Don't feel as though you have to stick to all black or dark garments – be bold, be colourful, and be YOU. I LOVE teaming bold and bright colours with darker colours, but I also love to wear pastel colours and lights. It's important to feel free and not restricted. Being curvier doesn't mean you need to compromise on colour!

Steal Mollie's style with Simply Be.

Simply Be. kindly gifted me the blouse and blazer within this post. The Pink Pleat Blouse by Joanna Hope* is a stunning blouse with the perfectly situated empire line, just below the bust. Nipping me in at the waist, this beautiful blouse flatters my figure well. I love how this blouse can be dressed up or down, for work or for play! I teamed it with the most amazing Hot Pink Edge To Edge Fashion Blazer*, a stunning pink blazer with black buttons. 

I styled these two pieces up so that the outfit had more of a sophisticated and classy vibe – perfect for meetings or cocktails!

The way that this outfit fits me is perfect. It nips me in where I need to be nipped in, and it flows where it needs to be free. The colour is bright and bold, and the detailing on both garments is beautiful. With pearl buttons on the blouse, and black sleek buttons on the blazer. This outfit is perfect for most occasions due to it's versatile nature!

Do you have any styling tips for your personal style or shape? Let me know in the comments below!