Recently I was contacted by Tobi about styling a few pieces from them, which I was really excited about as I've wanting to get into OOTD type posts. Tobi have been on my radar for a while, but somehow I'd never gotten around to taking the plunge.
I have to get something off my chest though - I've been more than a little nervous about putting this post up. Body confidence is not something I ever worried about too much, until my weight really started piling on earlier this year. I've not been considered slim since puberty; curvy, yes, overweight at times, but I sat comfortably between a size 10-12 for over a decade, through two pregnancies, breastfeeding and differing stages of activity. But I don't eat as healthily as I should, I've become far too sedentary and it's caught up on me. I really started noticing it when we got pregnant again earlier this year and I seemed to outgrow my jeans overnight. Even in the short seven weeks before we sadly miscarried, my weight seemed to balloon and it continued to rise over the following months. Now I'm pushing a size 14, and although the size label is just a number, it's the first time I've really felt uncomfortable in my body. Don't get me wrong, I still love it - it's mine, I'm grateful for it and especially that it's given life to my two beautiful children. But I wish I'd embraced a healthier life style before getting to this point. Not that it's too late to change - it's never too late for that. The point of this ramble is that I want to make healthier choices and start making positive changes to my lifestyle so that I feel confident about my body next time I take photographs like this!
As it was, for these photos I had the very kind help of my best friend, Gina, who took all of the photos, directed me very patiently and helped me to feel confident. You can check out her art page, GinaAmy.Art on Facebook. We took these photos at the Esplanade in my hometown of Palmerston North, it's one of my very favourite places to go when I'm in town and I've had so many happy times there. If you ever visit Palmerston North I definitely recommend taking a stroll there.
First up is this cozy wee number, the Bright As A Button Back Sweater. It comes in black or blush and I went with blush because frankly my wardrobe is a little too dominated by black at the moment! This has been keeping me very warm and the button detailing is a nice touch - although confusing to my husband, who remarked that my sweater was on backwards! This is on sale at the moment, as are a lot of the other sweaters that Tobi offers, great for us cold kiwis. The lipstick I'm wearing here is Darling Girl Pucker Paint in Brain Fart.
This Taylor Babydoll Dress is one I'll be bringing out a lot in spring and autumn to layer up, I think - the rich berry hue is gorgeous and although you could of course wear it in summer too, the colour screams autumn to me. The material has a lot of stretch and is reasonably forgiving, so it's a good throw-on-and-go option. There are plenty of other dresses tempting me in the casual dresses category as well, along with the skater dresses which I often find flatter my figure well. I'm wearing Darling Girl Pucker Paint in Controversy in these shots.
Red is one of my favourite colours to wear (you may have gathered from my lipstick choices in old FOTD posts!) and the Celia Skater Dress is a gorgeous little number, although if red isn't your bag, it comes in a few other colour options too. This is definitely a style you'll want to consider sizing up for, as it has little to no stretch and runs small. I'd give it a miss if you are very busty too - I'm wearing a size large and it's sadly way too small (it doesn't zip at the back!). Such a shame as I really love the style and colour, but at least there are a lot of other red dresses to choose from. The lipstick I'm wearing here is ColourPop Jujurouge (sadly discontinued!),
If you'd like to check out Tobi too, don't forget that new customers get 50% off their first order, which is a pretty amazing deal! Right now I'm eyeing up their long sleeve dresses for the winter to spring transition, and longingly wishing I could fit their gorgeous bralettes and bras - I spotted some for less than $9NZD! If you can rock them, you have my envy.
For the curious, the nail polish worn in all of these shots is Pretty Serious Epic Haul, which I swatched and reviewed recently.
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Lani
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