Fabulous Chic! City Chic Shopping Cart

On Friday, online plus size fashion store, City Chic had a flash sale of 60% off everything!


Everything.

I'm relatively new to the whole online shopping thing when it comes to clothes, so each time I do order I like to try a new site.  60% off sounded like the perfect excuse to make City Chic my next stop! Oh and, (pay attention here, fellow Canadians) one of the best things about this site is that they actually ship to Canada for free!  I seriously cannot figure out why more & bigger clothing websites haven't managed this yet. I can often buy from UK based ASOS for zero shipping fees but somehow Torrid wants to charge me more that $30+ to cross the Canadian border...

So 60% off, plus free shipping AND... a coupon code worth an EXTRA 20% off led to the following delicious purchases...

Frill Hem Jacket with Belt

Love the cut of this piece! Puffy sleeves, funky belt and all on sale for only $39.20, regularly $98!
Can't wait to wear it with skinny jeans for shopping & form fitting skirts on date night.

Chiffon Flocked Spot Top

I think my love of polka dots is obvious by now, so this top should come as no surprise. At the regular $54 I would probably never consider this piece but for $21.60 I found it irresistible!

Velvet Leopard Print Jacket

I saved the best for last... for only $37.60 I couldn't pass up this beautifully tailored, velvet, leopard print jacket. Matching it up with a LBD, pencil skirt, jeans... even my pajamas! I want to wear this all the time, everywhere.
Looking for me? I'll be the one with the scarlet hair in leopard print.

Anyone else score some great deals from City Chic's sale?

Shopping Cart Saturday v.5

Okay - enough about shoes!!
Let's dig those heels into fall...

I know, you want to hate me just for saying it but with the September issue of all the magazines hitting the stands it is hard not to get excited about switching over my wardrobe & finding brand new pieces to incorporate into it.


So what am I most excited about this fall? Coloured denim & fabulous tights!

We Love Color, plus sized colorful tights $1

Purpe skinny jean from ASOS

Maybe I just want flashy legs!
Cuz something about these leggings with bows from Domino Dollhouse make me giddy!!

I'm also dying for these red skinny jeans from ASOS Curve line to mix & match with some of my favorite black pieces & a perfectly matching red belt I nabbed from Torrid.  I'm also envisioning them paired with a bold b&w blouse I love...

 

ASOS CURVE, Skinny Red Jean $60.34

So those are my Shopping Cart picks for this week - what is on your list of fall 'must haves'?

Shopping Cart Sunday v.4

The only actual thing in my shopping cart this weekend is the Cherry Velvet dress seen here, (have you made your vote yet?) but dress shopping has made me start to think of shoes & accessories to match!
I started to scour the Internet this morning hunting for the perfect hot pink flat. Why hot pink? It will match my chosen outfits for two different weddings & is a shoe colour sorely missing from my wardrobe!

If I could find it, I think this would be the one for me;

I've seen this shoe in various other colours & always in a high heel. I've fall in love with it every single time.  Problem is, due to severe ankle problems I cannot wear a heel... ever.
Imagine my delight when I saw the above shoe online today.
Now imagine my sorrow when I couldn't find it for sale anywhere.

My friend Melissa, from the blog Sigh, Gush, Gasp suggested I try Zappo's for my shoe hunt & here is what I turned up;

Me Too Ladon



Me Too Stellina

 I did enjoy the idea of these $325 Kate Spade beauties... for a brief moment until my reality kicked back in.




Kate Spade, New York Frankie

It suddenly occurs to me that I could try a great black flat & invest in 1 or 2 colours of shoe clips. Would further my investment & wear... These ones from etsy are rather adorable;

Ruffle Flower shoe clips by sunshineandcarousels on etsy



 So what would be your choice? Or maybe you have a great suggestion for me?

Also can no one mention this post to my husband... he already thinks I have too many pairs of shoes!

Shopping in the Great White

This weekend's Shopping Cart feature has lead me to thinking about one of my most often thought of fashion dilemma... Canadian Plus Size retailers.

I discovered this site; http://www.plussizefashion.ca/ which lists what is available to Canadian women wearing plus size but frankly, more than half of them are still just American sites who just happen to ship to Canada. If these retailers want Canadian customers, why have none of them set up shop here?

That is my real question.

Why do we have only a handful of retailers carrying plus sized clothing (and 3 of the 5 that come to mind are all owned by the same company.. but more on that later!)?
In recent years we have seen some of the US favorites like American Eagle, H&M or Forever 21 (which does have a plus size line but doesn't have a store on the east coast OR carry it in most of their shops???) but not one of the major plus stores have opened up in the Great White North.



...I hope it's not because people like me use phrases like 'Great White North'?!!

So if we want great items from places like Torrid we have to order online. I've done this & the shipping was quick but... expensive. Torrid offers free shipping deals all the time to their US customers but doesn't extend the same courtesy to us Canadians. They also don't offer us a flat fee for shipping (like say the UK's ASOS does - $14!). I paid almost $40 in shipping for my last order.
It really does not cost them much more to ship to us in Canada, so why not offer free shipping? I mean, we will probably have to pay giant duty fees on our purchases anyways, so make it easy on a girl, Torrid!
Forever 21 stores have reached Canada but not the east coast AND to make matters worse a) only a couple locations carry the plus line & b) they don't even carry the full plus line on the Canadian version of the website! (Check out a previous post all about that!)

Okay okay, enough about what we can't get (for now...*sigh). What CAN we get? Where can we big Canadian girls, walk in & buy something? Here are the big hitters;

• Pennington's - plenty of locations & an online shop (flat shipping, free returns). These tend to be large stores in plazas carrying wide selections of items... problem is they tend to be almost all for the older demographic of plus size's. You can occasionally find something fun & current there though.

• Addition Elle - Guess what? This store is owned by the same company as Pennington's!  It tends to sell higher end (higher priced) items that are more for the 20-40 demographic.  They also carrying a younger line called MXM. Probably my favorite thing to purchase there, besides camisoles are dresses & bras. They have an extensive assortment of bras & panties.



• Reitmans - Canadian chain that carries petite, regular & plus size clothing. Specializing in casuals, denim & cotton basics. Oh & guess what? This company owns Pennington's & Addition Elle! Strangely I find their jeans are better fit & at half the cost.

• Old Navy - we are all familiar with this large chain, owned by Gap. Their sizes in Canada only go up to 20 though (...while their US counterpart goes to 30!).
• Walmart - I don't really think I need to describe this hallow hell, do I? hahaha

I think our only salvations at the moment are Etsy & the speciality boutique. Beautiful shops & people who have the sense to know & care that there are women beyond the size 12/14. But I'll have more* to say about that in another post.

So what are your shopping experiences like, plus sized, east coast, west coast, online - I want to hear it all! Share in my misery (or rant)! 

In Montreal, wearing Torrid, Addition Elle & Winners

*If you are an east coast shop owner or Canadian website who would like to talk to me about what you have to offer plus size shoppers please feel free to to contact me - I'd love to hear from you!

Shopping Cart Saturday v.3



Lola & Gigi's is one of Canada's best & only online plus size shopping sites. It is also one of my favorite places to browse! I love having Canadian options for my clothing purchases & wish more retailers would set up shop in the Great White North.

This week's dream shoping cart includes these two fabulous pieces

Jibri High Waist Full Skirt $99



Both these pieces just look like they are amazing quality but the cuts of them are

what drew me to them!

I've decided I have avoided the high waisted skirt for far too long & this is the one I want to break that streak with. Add the shrug below & I can take this skirt right into my late fall wardrobe!



SWAK Amber Shrug $38

What's  on your wishlist this week?

Shopping Cart Sunday v.2

This weekend I'm all about dresses! I have two fabulous weddings approaching in early September (one is my brother's!!) back in my home province of Ontario.  I imagine it will still be quite warm so have been scouring & searching for the perfect dresses.
One dress was purchased a few months ago from Torrid. An adorable strapless floral dress that I will pair with a cute bolero.  I'm going to make you all wait for that one though!

In the mean time I've been trying to decide (& save money for) on the perfect to wear to my brother's outdoor/barn wedding.  We are all considering this 'event' to be the party of the year, so I obviously need a dress to match the occasion! Knowing how fun & wonderful this wedding will be I know that it is the perfect excuse to make my first eShakti order, especially since they have now opened their shipping up to Canadian orders!

eShakti - Shop Women’s designer fashion dresses, tops
Size 0-26W...

If you aren't familiar with eShakti here are a few things you should know;

• almost all their design are customizable (sleeves, length, bust, height, neckline...)
• sizes run from xs to 3x!
• they charge Canadians the same for shipping as US residents, which includes free shipping on orders over $100 right now!!

Just reading their 'mission' makes me happy to have found this great site!
So shown in this blog are a few of the dresses I've (currently) narrowed down my selection to for the wedding.

eShakti - Shop Women’s designer fashion dresses, tops
Size 0-26W...
 

Here you can see one style in two different colours that I like.  
I'm particularly fond of this one;

eshakti dress by fulloffabulous on Polyvore.com

eShakti - Shop Women’s designer fashion dresses, tops

Size 0-26W...
Size 0-26W...
 

I think this style could be flattering & I would probably get several wearings out of it;

eShakti - Shop Women’s designer fashion dresses, tops
Size 0-26W...
 

I adore this one & all of it's pretty detail but wonder if it will flatter my shape or be a bit too fancy;

eShakti - Shop Women’s designer fashion dresses, tops
Size 0-26W...
 

And finally there is this style in two different shades of blue;
 

Untitled by fulloffabulous on Polyvore.com

eShakti - Shop Women’s designer fashion dresses, tops
Size 0-26W...
Size 0-26W...

So that is it for this week's Shopping Cart - now all that is left to do is choose the perfect one for the wedding of the year!! Would love to hear your opinions!

Shopping Cart Saturday v.1

I've been debating for a couple weeks about introducing a weekly feature to the blog. I adore blogger's songs of the week, photo diaries & recipe shares but also wanted to feature something that appealed to my specific corner of fabulous. So I introduce Shopping Cart Saturday/Sunda - a weekly feature of some of the things in my online shopping carts.  Think of it as window shopping (or WindowsXP shopping... ohhhh sorry for the bad joke!)

So without anymore preamble, here are this weeks choices! I've gone with ASOS since they are still having their massive Summer Sale!

Belted Sixties Skater Dress

This dress might be too short for my 6ft tall frame but with a $68.96 reg.price on sale for $37.93...how could I not want to risk it!?!!
(the website says the model is 5'11")

Textured Waffle Shift Dress

This dress is the same price as the above but higher on my want list.  I've been craving more red in my wardrobe & am picture this with nylons, tights or maybe even a dark skinny jean?
Check out the detail!

And my final gotta have in the cart are these shorts!

Belted City Short

I really don't like shorts often so the fact that I am in love with these, says a lot (like 'buy me buy me').
Reg.$52 on sale for $25... I hope to see them in my future - supplies are running low on these beauties though.


Anyways, those are some of the items haunting my shopping cart this week (wouldn't it be lovely to strike it rich?!!) but before I sign off I also want to share some of my favorite blogs who have some great weekly features. If you have a weekly feature you want me to check out - leave a link in comments & I will!

Brilliant Sugar has her Snapshots
Doll Parade has her Love Chronicles (I don't like to pick favorites but....)
Oh My heart has her Song of the Week
Maritime Shopaholic has her 3 Things

Those are a few to sink your teeth into - enjoy & see you next week!

Forever... Fabulous?

Hello Fabulous!

Oh, wait. That’s me!

Just kidding! Hello to you too, fabulous reader. Thanks for dropping by!

With all of this dreary weather we’ve been having lately, it’s been difficult to fuel my style mojo. The more dreary the skies are, the more black I wear each day as color just doesn’t seem appropriate. With today’s outfit choice being head to toe black, I have my fingers crossed the fog will finally lift and we’ll see the sun for more than an hour this weekend. (Please? Pretty Please?)

With dreary weather also comes a dreary mood to match. I have a bone to pick and Forever21, I’m lookin’ at you, kid.

I am desperately trying to build a Spring wardrobe. As you may have seen in my previous post, retail shopping is impossible because no local retailers carry my size. Online shopping is impossible because barely anyone ships to Canada, those that do have ridiculous shipping charges or sell out of what I want faster than I can type my credit card info into the checkout.

Forever21, I thought you were going to be my knight in shining armour. My light at the end of the long, dark, narrow tunnel that is plus size shopping. My Prince Charming to this Cinderella princess.

*sigh*

You came close. With your gorgeous, affordable fashions and free shipping to Canada with an order of $60 or more. The second I started browsing your Canadian website, I put on my bedazzled party hat and was ready to do the happy dance..

Luckily (or unluckily?) I figured out what you were up to, and this just isn’t cool. I’d like an explanation!

Exhibit A: This SAME top is listed at a higher price on your Canadian website. As fashionistas and shopaholics alike all know, the Canadian dollar has been at par or better than the American dollar for weeks now. What the heck, Forever21?

USA site:  http://www.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=FOREVER21&category%5Fname=faith%5Fwoventops&product%5Fid=2058636544&Page=1

Cdn Site: http://canada.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=FOREVER21&category%5Fname=faith%5Fwoventops&product%5Fid=2058636544&Page=1

$4 isn’t THAT much. But if you’re buying 10 items with a difference of $4 each, that’s $40 I could spend on 2 additional pieces.

Exhibit B: Not all of the amazing items available on your USA site are featured on the Cdn site. Huh? You’re already charging me more money for what you DO have available. Can’t we make a deal? Use the amount you’re overcharging me to make available the other 4 items I want not currently found on the Cdn site so I can at least have them shipped to my country? If I order through the US site that means I have to drive an hour to the border town of Calais, Maine to pick it up since you won’t send it to me here in the great white north. We’re attached to you! Our countries touch each other every day. Show us some love! (Please don’t overcharge us for the same product and then not even offer to cover my gas money to pick it up!)

Cdn Shopping Bag, 3 items, $69.40, delivered to my house.

 

  

** Correction! The last top has sold out in my size since I began typing this post. Down to 2 items and I no longer qualify for free shipping. Bummer.

USA Shopping Bag, 6 items (3 dresses!!), 129.80, delivered to Calais, Maine, 2 hours of driving + gas money (And, uhh, who goes to Calais without going shoe shopping?).

 

I was *thisclose* to giving in and placing my order before realizing cross border shipping has been ridiculously slow lately. I probably wouldn’t get them in time to go away to Toronto next week (which is where I wanted to show off all of my new duds) and since there’s a 21+ in one of the malls close to my hotel, I’m going to wish on every star I see that some of the pieces (or better ones!) will be available in the store.

Wish me luck Land of Fabulous - hoping for a positive post, when I’m back from my mini vacation, all about my shopping adventures and new wardrobe from the big city!

xxo

– D.