As someone who has been no skinny-minnie for the last several years I have struggled regularly with finding clothes that were fashionable, flattering and fit well. I used to regularly put off shopping trips as I despised looking for clothes, and would regularly either go home feeling even worse about myself, or in floods of tears in a changing room… Luckily I’m relieved to see that more and more high street shops are either developing or expanding their plus size clothes ranges and even realizing that sometimes the cut of clothes needs to be adjusted for different sizes… New Look are one such shop, and they have some really lovely looking items in at the moment…

One of my all time fave items of clothing in the summer is a maxi-dress – I actually bought this one, so it’s nice to see its still available…

I also love wearing shorter dresses either as they are, or over leggings in the day time – I really like the look of this one which is currently on sale for £15, as has a nice empire line detail which is flattering to peeps like me with a bigger bust…

One part of my body I’m not keen on having on display right now is my upper arms… Did someone just shout “House”!?  I personally like to solve this by donning little shrugs or cardies like this one…

My top tips for to look and feel good about yourself no matter what your size?

• If you’ve got it flaunt it – everyone has one good feature, be it your cleavage, a good set of pins or a nice waist. Find out what features you like about yourself and play them up to the max – we’re talking quantity AND quality here!
• Don’t worry about fitting into societies idea of normal – It’d be a very very dull world if we were all the same size and shape, so instead of falling into the trap of making unfavourable comparisons with yourself and others, learn to appreciate your differences for what they are – no one is better or worse than you, they are just different!
• Accessorise, accessorise, accessorize!
• You wear the clothes, don’t let them wear you – if you step out in something that doesn’t feel good, it’ll just chip away at your self esteem all day…