Plus Size and Tall!

Now, I don't want to start my second ever blog with a whinge - but I'm compelled to do so! And I'm afraid, it's a big one. And I'm taking height wise.


I'm fed up of looking through my favourite plus size clothing sites and finding lovely new dresses, all of which would be fantastic additions to my spring/ summer wardrobe, only to find that the sites definition of 'midi' is just 39 inches in length!!! For pity's sake, I'm 6' 1.75" tall which means that 39" dresses are not 'midi' - they are not even 'mini' - they are tunics!!

But the dilemma doesn't stop there. As if the prospect of flaunting a little more of your curves than you bargained for in these 'midi' dresses were not enough, there is then the issue of the 'long' length trousers.

I have noted that most 'long' length trousers are a 'whooping' (do excuse my sarcasm!) 30" to 32" - Pur-lease! Some of us have an inside leg of 35", which means a standard 29" leg is akin to a crop trouser, and a 'long' length of 32" is an ankle grazer - whether that's the look you are going for or not!

Now in all fairness, there are some online/ mail order companies offering 'proper' longer length trousers and I'd be remiss in not mentioning Simply Be at this point. But similarly whilst Simply Be do help us taller plus size ladies keep our ankles covered, they are amongst the prime suspects in the 'too short' dress phenomenon. You just can't win!

Anyway, I'm not going to carry on complaining - the trick is to think outside of the box. So trousers come from one supplier, a co-ordinating top from another and shoes from another - because incidentally although I am plus size, I don't have wide feet (but that's another bug bear for another day!)

 
And midi dresses - well, they come from the USA! Oh well...
Just Charlotte

Here we go then!

Well here we go! I have never written a blog in my life but as I have had so many amazing opportunities presented to me this year, I thought it was about time that I shared them.

 

As many of you know I have been exceptionally lucky this year. I have been selected to represent my county as ‘Ms Gloucestershire Curve 2015’ in the ‘Miss British Beauty Curve 2015’ pageant. It is a true honour and I am very much looking forward to meeting all the other lovely ladies on this pageant journey. The final is being held at the Epsom Playhouse on Saturday 8^th August and is sure to be a great night.

 

 

Now, you may well ask; why on earth has someone reached the age of 34 and suddenly decided that she wants to be a pageant queen? It’s simple. I’ve spent my whole life feeling that I am on the perimeter of everything. Worried about my weight, feeling that I don’t fit in because of my size and not feeling good about myself – despite wonderful support and encouragement from family and friends. But no more. With the rise of wonderful body positivity campaigners such as Georgina Horne and Tess Holliday, I have begun to realise that I matter. I am valid and I do have the right to feel good about who I am. It’s not about my size or shape, it’s about being comfortable with who I am.

I’m not saying that I am there completely yet, but I am taking the journey to get there. It took an awful lot of courage to enter the pageant world and perhaps because of that, my acceptance into a pageant feels like an enormous success. I know that it sounds trite but I am sincere when I say that, for me, my entry in ‘Miss British Beauty Curve 2015’ is not about the winning. It’s about the journey I am taking to get the pageant.

 

So I hope that you’ll join me on this journey – wherever the ups and down take me – and let’s see where I end up…

 

 

Just Charlotte