Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Favourite Tunic Everrrrr


As I sit here with my cup of tea, fingers poised over the keyboard, I think to myself, "Gosh, I really do miss blogging!" I haven't photographed any outfits in months, but I really felt like posting something today. So I had a look through iPhoto and found these pics which I hadn't used yet. It really is quite fitting, because lately this leafy New Look tunic (via ASOS Curve) is all I've been wearing. It's only in the last two weeks when the heat has been unbearable and the thought of wearing leggings is inconceivable that it's had a little break. I really wish that I'd taken the jacket off for a few shots so that you could see the little cap sleeves. Maybe I'm losing my touch?

This jacket is an oldie but a goodie. Real leather, purchased from the standard ASOS range a few years ago (size 18). It's still one of my favourite things in the world. I did want to also mention the size 11 tan boots here, which I bought from Autograph in the winter and I've practically lived in. So comfortable and easy to wear. I really, really like the shoes from Autograph!




I wore this outfit to work recently and some of my students asked if I had weed on my shirt. I explained, in some detail, the difference between palm and marijuana leaves. "Plus, do you really think wearing a top covered in weed would be a responsible choice for a teacher?" 

I'm off work for January, so I'm excited to have some relaxing days ahead. Hopefully lots of swimming. I have a lot of school work to do as well, so that will need to be a priority (teachers may get a lot of holidays, but there's always so much to do!). Lately my days have pretty lazy, sitting around in horrid maxi dresses, teeth unbrushed and checking Facebook every two minutes. Relaxing, but about as unproductive as you can be. I've also seen The Force Awakens twice (so in love!) and watched this amazing ten-hour Netflix documentary called Making A Murderer. As I said - lazy days! 

Now to sign off so that I can prepare my house for a New Years Eve party here tonight. Think lasagna, booze, Disney Singstar and Cards Against Humanity. Should be a fun night. Oh and did I mention it was 39 degrees Celcius (102 Fahrenheit) in Adelaide today? Yeah. Yuck. Hope your New Years is cooler!

Lots of love and a happy new year to you,
Sophie.

Friday, September 4, 2015

A Pop Of Colour

I thought I'd pop onto my blog today to write a post because I have some outfit photos that I haven't written about yet, and I suddenly realised how long it's been since I did this. I'm sitting at the table with some crackers and pate, contemplating a cup of tea, and I actually feel nervous. Will I remember how to do this? It's a little hard to explain why I've neglected my blog because there's a few factors involved. But mainly it's because it's harder during winter when there's no daylight saving. Also, I've become more shy with taking photos in public places, but I'm sick of my backyard as the backdrop. Perhaps the most honest reason is that my fashion choices are more conservative these days, or just plain lazy and convenient - and therefore boring! Having said that, I do have some bloody awesome pieces that are yet to be blogged. I have some big non-fashion news to share too, so I'll make sure I take some time to do some catch up posts.

I've been excited to blog this particular outfit because this skirt from Missguided is so damn awesome. It's a pencil skirt, but the red tartan fabric belt is attached, which means I can feel a bit more comfortable about my VBO (visable belly outline) - not something I have amazing confidence about. 


The long cardigan is from City Chic and the plain black tee from ASOS. All together, the outfit is very 90s, which I kind of love, and the red belt gives it just the right pop of colour. 

I love a lot of the clothes on Missguided, so it's a shame they don't have a larger plus size range, or a quicker turnover of new stock. They seem to keep outfits up for ages, even though they are sold out in all but one size. I also found their website very difficult to navigate on Firefox for some reason. I had to use Safari to finally checkout. But that might just be issues with my browser version, perhaps. I have to say, I love the sizing though. Quite generous - probably on par with the ASOS Curve brand.

What has been your experience with Missguided?

Thanks for reading! x

Monday, June 1, 2015

Aussie Curves: Black

I have to admit that most of my clothes come from City Chic or ASOS, so I'm excited about writing this blog post because I've been branching out a little and have tried some other online brands. You may be wondering why I haven't been blogging very often lately. Well, I usually photograph my outfits on the weekends for my blog, but over the last few months my "weekend" wardrobe has become all about comfort and I haven't been trying out many outfits I'm afraid. It's all been a bit boring. I'm excited to get back on the saddle again and show off some of the outfits I've been wearing to work and on the occasional night out. If you're a regular on the blog, you may remember that I am a freelance DJ, and now that wedding season is over, I'm finally getting more weekends off. I had a night out in town two weeks ago - the first one in six months I reckon - and I went to an Oasis vs Blur indie night. It was so thrilling to be able to do that again. These days I get really excited about Saturday nights in, but just occasionally I really crave the nightlife again. I'm not sure why I'm bringing this up, since I'm not actually blogging the outfit I wore out that night in this post!

What I AM wearing is a lot of black, in keeping with this week's Aussie Curve's theme. 


skirt || MISSGUIDED
crop top || GISELA RAMIREZ
coat || IZABEL LONDON (gifted) find it here
shoes || NEW LOOK VIA ASOS

I realise I prefer the coat unbuttoned on me. I love how the sleeves are 3/4 length so it's quite freeing. It's also very lightweight. It's from Izabel London, based in the UK. They have started posting to Australia and have a plus size range of around 200 items. The style of these items reminds me a bit of TS here in Australia, with some more structured items thrown in. Their coats and knitwear are pretty impressive at the moment. This is my first item from Izabel and I've got my eye on a few other things too. However, I found their sizing chart a bit misleading. My recommendation is to go with your regular size, not necessarily the sizing chart. I went by the sizing chart, and thought I'd need to order  two sizes up from my regular size, and found their items swimming on me.

The second brand I tried for the first time, inspired by a post by Suger Coat It, was Missguided. I had some difficulties with signing up and processing payment on several different occasions and just about gave up. However, I persevered and found that by using Safari rather than Firefox, I was able to navigate the website without any hitches. I bought two skirts and a t-shirt, which both fitted me perfectly and were so much better than the pictures implied. I loved the quality and fit of the items. Missguided have more alternative styles which I tend to gravitate towards. I should also mention that I got those three items for $60, free shipping - and the package arrived within a week from Manchester. An absolute bargain for items I've been practically living in!

Thanks for reading! x
Modish Maracas


Monday, March 23, 2015

Aussie Curves: Bridal


Last year one of my best friends, Ali, got married. We house shared for several years, a ramshackle unit on a beach in Adelaide. I still miss those days. Now Ali lives interstate and I'm a home owner with my partner, so life is very different and grown up now. Janelle was our other housemate and bestie, and she now lives in the Northern Territory. The wedding was the first time we'd all been back together in Adelaide for a while.

I was thrilled to get a phone call from Ali asking me to be her bridesmaid on her special day. If you've ever been asked to be in a bridal party, I'm sure you can understand the sense of honour and privilege you feel.

Discussions and planning commenced pretty quickly, and I suggested we use Light In The Box to select and order our bridesmaid dresses. I'd seen other fashion bloggers review the site, and I was keen to try it. It seemed too good to be true. Just send in your measurements and the dress is posted out to you, for a ridiculously reasonable price. Yes please.

When the dresses started to dribble in, we were all a little nervous to hear from each other about how they turned out.The dresses themselves were beautiful, but all of us needed slight alterations by a dressmaker at some point. I found my dress far too long and the shoulders kept falling down. Also, the plunging neckline was embarrassingly revealing! However, a family friend was able to fix all of those issues. Even though the finished product was gorgeous, I got the impression from the dressmaker that dresses from places like Light In The Box can be really tricky to work with because of how they are made. Something to keep in mind.



I had such a marvelous day and loved being a part of it with my best friends. Ali is the most beautiful bride I'd ever seen, and the day brought out a lot of unexpected emotions. I have a lot of love for those two girls.

Thanks for reading! x

Modish Maracas

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Aussie Curves: Investment Piece

When someone says "investment piece", my first thought is LEATHER. Trendy plus size leather items are kind of rare, aren't they? Maybe I've just been looking in the wrong places, but I have the most luck with ASOS Curve. I have a pencil skirt, dress and two jackets - all in leather - from there. Each item cost more than what I'd usually pay for clothes, but are beautiful to wear and will be in my wardrobe as long as they continue to fit me (and even then, I'll probably hold onto them). 

The most versatile item is this black leather jacket. I was a bit apprehensive about the wide shoulders and was prepared to send it back if I didn't like how it looked. I kept it, though! I wouldn't mind getting another black leather jacket in a different style down the track, one day.


jacket ASOS CURVE || dress CLUB L VIA ASOS CURVE
sunglasses ASOS || boots DOC MARTEN || necklace COLETTE


I wore this outfit to my uncle's 50th birthday dinner. Here's a photo of me with my fella. The couple next to me is my sister Chelsea and her boyfriend. We had a lovely night at the Seaford Hotel, which has been renovated. The meals were delicious!

Where do you get your quality leather plus size items?


Thanks for reading! x

Modish Maracas


Thursday, March 5, 2015

When You Try To Defend Tess Holliday on Social Media



Sometimes I feel like I live in a bubble of body positivity. I almost never experience harassment or concern trolling for my weight. I'm pretty sure it's not just because my friends are awesome, but also because the people in my life are generally pretty good and aren't rude. Also, I haven't been down Hindley Street on a Saturday night in a while, haha. 

Tonight I was absolutely stunned to open up Facebook and see that a friend had commented on a post about Tess Holliday. This post was written by someone I don't know - but a quick stalk told me we have 14 mutual friends. Don't you find it totally weird when that happens? Like, how can I not know you if we have 14 mutual friends? During my teenage years I attended a really big church, so I think that's where the connection is. 

She wrote the following:

I'm not convinced with all this 'self love' stuff with Tess Holliday. Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely supporting ALL self love and self confidence but a part of 'self love' is 'self respect' and this girl is NOT respecting herself. In a day and age where we know know so much about health and nutrition (let alone being in an obesity epidemic) she's blantently showing no respect to her health or her followers. Not meaning to offend anyone but majority of her supporters and followers are probably overweight themselves and looking for some excuse as to why they don't have to face their own demons. Everyone's beautiful, but not everyone respects themselves and to me...that's not a beautiful trait. If Tess Holliday REALLY wanted to do something positive with her body image, she'd call out to all her followers and start a life transformation! Because the universe/god gave us one body and how disrespectful to let ourselves get to this point! All the supporters are just basically saying to the PLUS PLUS PLUS size model 'oh Tess it's okay your disgustingly obese, but so am I so we can take comfort in each other and tell each other we're perfect the way we are so we don't need to face the harsh reality of nutrition and exercise'.
If you really love yourself, you'd focus on your health. Would you feed your children disgusting foods and let them ignore exercise until they were this obese? I doubt it, because you love them.
Tess does not love herself. She loves that people are saying it's 'okay' to be fat. End of story. 

The friend who commented had written, "I 100% agree. She's not curvy. She's unhealthy and obese. She's the cover girl of what not to love which is an unhealthy attitude to looking after your body. If she loved herself she wouldn't destroy herself."

I was happily wrapped up in bed, the TV on, a nice cold drink nearby and I could hear Jeff in the shower. I was feeling happy, content. 

And then the bubble popped.

I just sat there, phone in hand, stunned. 20 likes. Her post had 20 fucking likes and one share. A chill crept up my spine.

I began to read through the rest of the comments. I was thankful that two people stepped in to offer up their disagreement but her response was not one of contrition.

I think you girls have missed the point a little bit...as I mentioned in my post - I'm all for self love and there is no way that I'm saying one person is better than another. All I'm saying is - self love is more than words and makeup... due to medication and diet (diet being something that could change if YOU wanted) im not talking about just food or even Tess's husband or child. Often that's a classic 'mum' thing to when they start a family...gain weight because they are giving most of their love and energy to their family and therefor they themselves miss out on the 'love'. I don't have a perfect body! And that me not loving myself completely. But I'm am always encouraging healthy diet and lifestyle to my friends and family. Tess isn't. She is obese and date I say much larger than a size 22. Sorry but it's rather disgusting.
 
Another wrote, "To be honest I have A LOT of friends who are over weight making really bad food choices. A vegan cake is still very bad for them, just because it is vegan doesn't mean it is healthy!!"

I'm sure you get the point, but the thread became this space where a group of women spewed forth their disgust over fat bodies and unhealthy lifestyles. As the comments unraveled, I felt like Bridget Jones when she's talking to Rebecca - the social jellyfish. "Being with Rebecca is like swimming in holiday sea full of jellyfish: one minute all lovely, next minute lashed as if from nowhere."


Like seriously, what is wrong with people? 

I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I'd had my say, so I stayed up and wrote a carefully worded response - stealing snippets from The Militant Baker and Gabifresh. No one will see it until morning. I wonder what the reaction will be. I don't think I care.

I think sometimes I take it for granted that I've lived and breathed body positivity for a few years now. I've read the canon of BoPo books (Health At Every Size, etc). I've educated myself and surrounded myself with the right people and blogs. So when this kind of vitriol comes out of nowhere, seemingly, and from people that are in my circle, I balk. 

There's nothing worse, nothing more smug, than people on their healthy high horse.

I was at work last week and someone had left a library book on the desk. It was a non-fiction book on smoking and its history. The page I opened up to said, 

Adolf Hitler launched the first anti-smoking campaign in the world. Magazines and newspapers were filled with warnings of the dangers of cigarettes. One magazine asked, "Brother national socialist, do you know that our Fuhrer is against smoking and thinks that every German is responisible to the whole people for all his deeds and emissions and does not have the right to damage his body with drugs?"

So there you have it. Living proof that you can be healthy and have "concerns" for how other people are damaging their bodies, and still be the world's biggest asshole. 

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Aussie Curves: Style Inspiration


One of my favourite plus size bloggers is Danielle Vanier, based in the UK. On her blog, she writes, 
The main aim for this blog is to help empower you and to inspire you to feel confident through your choices in clothing and accessories. I want to help inspire you to feel confident about your body (what ever size/shape you are) and to show you that there are beautiful clothes out there, no matter what size you happen to be. I have very rarely let my size affect my style or sense of self worth and if I can help at least one person feel great about themselves then I know I have done a good job!
Well, she has definitely made me feel great about myself and this outfit certainly helps! When I first saw this photo of her on my Instagram feed, I was pea-green with envy (check out her blog post here). I couldn't believe how much I loved this outfit, and I was on ASOS right away trying to replicate the look. I was able to find the exact leggings, but the other items I found were just slightly different. For example, the New Look Inspire "Nothing To Wear" top is a T-shirt, not a sweater.


Also, today is the second of March and let me just say THANK GOD IT'S AUTUMN. So I might actually be able to wear this outfit out and about soon. I'm all about Autumn and Spring - mild weather is where it's at! I'm just not into the extremes, not one little bit. Also, I have a feeling that the faux fur collar is going to be all over the place come winter. I feel like I'm seeing it EVERYWHERE! I am soooo on trend, teehee. 


cardigan: river island via asos || leggings: asos curve || t-shirt: new look via asos || shirt: asos curve

My style inspiration is the bloggers that I follow. I highly recommend signing up to Bloglovin' if you haven't already. You get email updates daily, telling you which bloggers have posted new content. It's wonderful!

Thanks for reading!

Check out the other Aussie Curve bloggers on the blog hop!

Modish Maracas


Sunday, February 22, 2015

My Valentine


Jeff and I have never celebrated Valentine's Day. Growing up, my parents owned a florist shop, so Valentine's Day was always a very stressful time. When I got my drivers license, I had to load up my bucket-o'-bolts VN commodore with flower arrangements and deliver them. When our first Valentine's Day was approaching, we had the discussion about our expectations regarding gifts. This is always a tricky moment when you first start dating! When you think, how much should I spend? What if I get him something and he doesn't get me anything? What if I just get him chocolates and he goes all out and gets me a nice piece of jewellery? Being the blunt person I am, I probably just came out and asked, "Are you getting me anything for Valentine's Day?" Knowing Jeff, I'm guessing his response was blase (this conversation happened three years ago, so the facts are hazy) and I most likely said, "Let's not bother, then!" Birthdays and Christmas are another thing entirely - I spend a lot and expect a lot in return. I've had to train Jeff to play along.

I was inspired by Callie Thorpe's story over at her blog, where she did a "Valentine's Day" post about how she met her partner, Dan. I enjoyed reading the honesty there and decided to write a similar post.

I guess I should start by saying that Jeff and I are not a conventional couple. 

I'm taller than him and I'm a fatter than him. He's Asian and I'm white Australian. But somehow we just work. At times I have been a little apprehensive about how we look together as a couple, in public. Most people are pretty cool and just look casually on when they see us, or don't give two hoots (yay people!). But occasionally we do notice others who point us out to their partners (I've literally heard a girl say to her boyfriend, "Look at that couple!") or look us up and down with curiosity. Elderly Asian people tend to stare a bit longer than your average Joe, which Jeff finds hilarious ("Aiyah! Why you marry white girl? So disappoint!" he says, putting on a thick Chinese accent). I once asked Jeff if these experiences ever bothered him and his reply was, "Not really". I don't know if that means it does bother him now and again, but I can tell you that he will always initiate holding hands in public, as soon as we get out of the car. This small act floods me with peace. Sometimes it also pisses me off, because he's shorter than me ("Jeff, you're dragging me down. No - not metaphorically! I mean you are LITERALLY dragging me down!").


I met Jeff on an online dating website called Oasis. A friend from work pressured me to put myself online and go on some proper dates ("You can't snog randoms at clubs forever, Sophie"). I joined up to Oasis and loved it. I used to spend hours with my housemates pouring over dating profiles, laughing until tears ran down our cheeks, declining winks from men whose music tastes specified, "Whatever's on the radio" (a big no-no for a music nerd like me). Seriously though - if you're single and have thought about online dating but never had the courage - DO IT. It's worth it for the entertainment value alone. Do it with a friend over some wine and have a laugh. Sifting through the idiots is half the fun. 



What I love about Oasis is the ability to do these advanced searches. For example, you can search for someone who is 5'11, speaks Egyptian and likes The Arctic Monkeys. I found Jeff on one of those searches. I was really drawn to his profile because he made fun of the common wording that most other male users favoured, such as "I like nights out, but also nights on the couch with a DVD....I'm easy going....blah blah....I work out....I am a [insert secure job title here]...pubs over clubs..." etc etc. I wish I could recite word-for-word what he wrote, but my point is, he made me laugh. He told me later that he found my profile interesting too (although he can't specify what was interesting about it). We started to chat online over the next few weeks. It was purely "surface", friendly chatting. I was still reading other profiles and making contact with other possible matches, to be honest. At times I felt Jeff was just passing time when he was chatting with me, which he admitted was true, as he was overseas in Hong Kong for an interview for three weeks at the time. 

One Friday night, when Jeff was back in Adelaide, we were chatting online and Jeff's plans with some mates fell through. He made a spontaneous decision to ask me out for coffee. I agreed and we signed off. An hour later I was meeting him at Krypton Discs on Jetty Road, Glenelg. I had arranged to meet there because I knew whoever got there first could kill time by perusing CDs, rather than waiting around awkwardly. I found him towards the back of the store. He was wearing a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders. I decided I would hug him to break the ice. I went in for a hug and realised I was going to poke my eye on one of the spikes so I pulled back, so our first moment of meeting was this awkward limbo-hug that didn't happen. 


All the cafes were shut for the night so we went to pub for a drink instead. The night was going really well, with no lulls in the conversation. I asked him where he likes to go in town when he goes out. His answer was a club called Swish which plays 90s music on a Friday night. I had always wanted to go there but never had, so Jeff said, "What about now?" 

I agreed.

He drove us into town in his Daihatsu handivan. One of the smallest cars I'd ever seen. 


When I got in, I saw that he had attached a toilet roll holder to the passenger door. There was a roll of toilet paper on it. "When you gotta go, you gotta go," he said. 

I think that was the moment I fell in love with him. 



The trouble was, his behaviour toward me was still platonic. I had no idea if he only liked me as a friend or was interested in something more. 

I was definitely interested. 

While finding a park, we were pulled over by a policewoman on a horse for a breatho. Because the car was so small, all we could see was the horse from its knees down, and the policewoman's boot. Her hand appeared at the open window with the breathalizer and Jeff blew into it. Her hand disappeared again and we heard her call out, "All clear! Have a good night!"


We went to Swish, where we danced to Teenage Dirtbag, Mmmbop and S Club Party, and I drank three Vodka Smirnoffs because I knew I'd need courage to find out if he liked me. After dancing for a few hours, we left and walked down Hindley Street to one of my favourite clubs - Supermild. On the walk down there, we held hands.

At the club, we sat on a sofa together and for the first time, silence fell between us. I finally asked him, "What are you thinking?" 

He replied, "You could just kiss me."

I don't think I need to describe what happened over the next few hours. 

He dropped me home at 5am and rang me the next day. He invited me over to his house to watch Disney movies and order pizza. The day after that, he visited me at my unit. I couldn't get rid of him.

A few weeks later, Jeff had to go back to Hong Kong for a week for a second round of interviews. He brought me back a rice cooker as a joke, and a copy of Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus, on a genuine 90s single CD. We've barely had a day apart since. That was July 2011

Our strength as a couple is that no topic or issue is off limits - we communicate everything. Our thoughts, doubts and frustrations are always out on the table and we deal with problems almost as soon as they arise. Secondly, we laugh together constantly. 

I never pictured myself with someone like Jeff. When you're a teenager or young adult and you try to picture the person you will end up with, often you have a vague idea of what person would "suit" you - and you think not only in terms of personality, but also in a physical sense. As woman, you might picture someone who is taller than you, or earns more money than you do, or has never been married before, or is a wine connoisseur. As a teenager, I was heavily involved in a church and I remember being instructed to write a list of all the qualities we wanted in a man. I had a lot of fun writing that list and I understand that the leaders just wanted us to "aim high" and not settle. But I do think there's danger in establishing a "type" at such a young age - to have an idea in your head of who you're going to end up with. Life doesn't always work that way and you never know who you might find yourself attracted to. 

In the show My Mad Fat Diary, when Rae tells Finn that he's out of her league, he says to her, "You don't tell me who I can and can't fancy, alright? That is mine. That belongs to me, no one else, no one. Not even you.” I love that. I wish I could tell every teenager that. Who and what you're attracted to will change over and over again throughout your lifetime. It's such a personal thing; it belongs to you.

I don't believe in "the one" - I think there are thousands of people out there you could be happy with, and have successful relationships with. 

But I'm glad I found Jeff first.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

My New Gabifresh Bikini

Another year, another collaboration. Working with Swimsuits For All, Gabifresh has designed a number of bikinis and one-pieces, and the online plus-size community is drooling. Including me!

It was the Sea Reef bikini that really caught my eye, though. Admittedly I love all of the designs, but I went with my instincts and pre-ordered it. 


Since I'm a pear shape, I ordered a smaller top and larger bottoms. They both fit perfectly! Now I just have to find the right occasion to wear it. Mind you, wearing it around the house was pretty nice too.

I have to say, I'm always impressed with the quality and customer service of Swimsuits For All. I highly recommend ordering from them if you've been sitting on the fence. I also find their products reasonably priced, and there's always some great sales happening. By the way - I bought this swimsuit myself and they didn't pay me to say that! ;)

Thanks for reading! x

Modish Maracas

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Aussie Curves: Date Night

Jeff and I haven't gone out on a "date" in a while because we've been making more of an effort to eat in. It sounds boring, but we're totally obsessed with Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals right now. A lot more thought and effort has been going into our grocery shopping and buying our vegetables from farmers markets. We are really enjoying cooking together and trying new things. 

But I know my boyfriend, and if I was out to impress, this is something I'd wear. He waited outside for me with the camera, and when I appeared, ready for him to photograph this outfit, his first reaction was, "Rowr!" He loves well structured pieces. I feel more myself in flowing bohemian-type styles, but I still keep outfits like this around to impress the fella.


shoes: new look via asos || top: city chic || skirt: junarose via asos curve

I first saw this City Chic spliced corset crop on SpijkerKat's Instagram. I thought it looked amazingly sexy on her, and I thought it was a bit different to the usual City Chic stuff. The skirt is also a bit unusual, but I'm enjoying mixing it up a bit. Gabifresh is wearing a white version here, with a matching white top. It's positively breathtaking. Fashion goals right there.

Thank you for reading! x

Modish Maracas

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