SimplyBe Blog

After all the morning’s activities, our twenty four gorgeous ladies walked for the judges, giving it their fiercest and most fabulous strut down the runway. Tyra Banks would have be proud! We know we were.

The judges thought long and hard about who should be in the final five, agonised in fact – there was seriously stiff competition for those coveted five places in the final. But they finally reached their decision… and they decided there should be seven!

The seven finalists are, from left to right (after our Wendy!): Sophie, Kay, Abi Hill, Sharlene, Stephanie, Grace and Ema Goudge.

The ladies then walked once more for the judges and were interviewed to make sure they’ve got that Simply Be spirit!

The judges deliberated once more – and they had found their winner!

And our winner is… Abi Hill!

Congrats to Abi and all our gorgeous finalists! We had such a wonderful day and would like to thank you all so much.

We’re all getting very excited here in the Simply Be office – because tomorrow it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for, our Model Competition final!

The judges are certainly going to have a very tough decision on their hands that’s for sure!

Who will be the new face of Simply Be?

Fitting rooms getting fabber: Retail chain installs luxury fitting room area for the ultimate shopping experience

Plus-sized retailer Simply Be opened its first stores in Liverpool and Bury this month, with the aim of giving customers the ultimate shopping experience. Simply Be has made sure that their fitting room area is extra spacious – and extra fabulous, as one of the least fun parts of clothes shopping for customers of all sizes is having to struggle in cramped and crowded changing rooms. Luxurious velvet sofas give friends and partners a restful place to wait, while the spacious changing rooms and boudoir feel make for a much more relaxed and enjoyable shopping experience. Mini blackboards on each changing room door can be chalked up with the name of the customer, adding a personalised touch.

Simply Be undertook some research that revealed that shoppers don’t want to have to leave the changing rooms and then queue all over again at the tills, so they have installed a till in the changing room area. This means that shoppers can pop straight from the changing room to the till, making for a smoother shopping experience.

One of the most exciting features of the changing room area is the Magic Mirror. This allows shoppers to take photos of themselves in their outfits, which they can then share to Facebook and Twitter to show their friends how fab they look, or email to themselves if they want to keep a copy their favourite pic. When you look good – you want to share it with as many people as possible!

Fuller figure mannequins in store reflect the average size of a UK woman – a size 16, whilst the curvy store staff have been trained to be experts in fitting and truly enhance the shopping experience with their friendly approach.

There is currently extremely little choice for fashionable plus size women on the high street – but Simply Be are out to change this. Parent company JD Williams/ N Brown had until now sold its clothing through catalogues and the internet because, like any number of home shopping companies, that was its business model. In fact, in 1882 Mr James David Williams was the very first person to make use of the UK’s parcel post service, to send his company’s products direct to his customers, in what could well have been the invention of home shopping.

Chief executive Alan White said yesterday: ‘In the last few days we have opened Simple Be stores in Liverpool One and at The Rock in Bury. These stores are aiming to give Simply Be’s current and potential customers a better shopping experience.
‘We will be monitoring the results with a keen interest. Initial responses from customers have been very positive but it is early days.’

White tells how one of his online customers actually burst into tears after visiting the Bury store because it had been so long since she was able to have a positive experience shopping for fashion on the high street.

According to initial findings by independent market research company RDSI, 97% of visitors would recommend the store to a friend, 98% thought the changing rooms better than other stores, and 90% thought the store was better than their current favourite clothing/footwear store.

Simply Be is all about loving your curves and being proud of who you are. Now Simply Be are proud to be on the high street – and their customers are definitely proud to be seen in their glamorous new stores. There are plans for five more stores in 2012.

So – our two first ever stores are now open, at Liverpool One and The Rock, Bury! If you’ve popped in to either of them or read any of the coverage, one exciting part of the stores can’t have escaped your notice – the Magic Mirror!

Us girls know that shopping is more fun when it’s shared. So with the Magic Mirror, whether you’re browsing in store with your mates or just having a solitary mooch, you can share a pic of your outfit with your friends! The Mirror takes four photos of you in what you have tried on, and then you have the option to send the pics to Twitter or Facebook to get your friends’ opinions (or just show off how fab you look!) You can also email them to yourself or if you like, email them to us at Simply Be so that we can share them with our Facebook fans! (Email us on SimplyBefashion(at)hotmail.co.uk).

Perhaps the mirror is something that makes more sense when you see it…

This is what the one in Liverpool looks like:

Here’s Chelsea from Key 103 radio working it!

Simply Be fan Cat looking fab:

Steph, Rosie and Laura looking their usual gorgeous selves:

And here’s Laura again with Lauren enjoying a spot of champers!

Here’s what Chelsea from Key 103 had to say about it.