December Round Up 2012
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Welcome 2013! We hope you guys have had a gorgeous 2012, we have and are looking forward to a fabulous new year. December was a very busy month for us, so here’s a run down of our best bits.
We had competitions galore in the run up to Christmas and at the very end of the month, we gave away a whole year’s worth of free delivery! The lucky winner of which, is Claire Rumsey. Congratulations to you Claire, please get it touch with us so that we can activate your prize 
In the news, two of our beautiful models were named in a top ten, plus size hot list. The gorgeous Marquita Pring and Candice Huffine pictured below – both of which have appeared in Vogue Italia – were listed in Complex Style among other fabulous plus size models. See the full list here.
Here’s Marquita looking gorgeous as always.
Candice on the cover of I.D magazine and here rocking our on-trend cut-out shoulder top from the new in range.
In December we launched a must-have limited edition footwear range. This on-trend collection is filled with stylish boots and shoes to keep you bang up to date. We love this range and there’s still many items in stock, perfect for this time of year. Here are just a few of our favourites:
Did you check out our sneak peek VIP preview collection? If not, then take a look here at what we’ve got to offer you guys for Spring Summer 2013. We love these fresh and on-trend looks – we’re already looking forward to shaking off our winter coats in exchange for our spring skirts. We’d love to know what’s your favourite Spring pieces?
Also this month we showcased our beautiful range of party dresses, did you spot a few of them in our modelled by you Facebook album and partywear blog post? Did you wear any Simply Be over Christmas and New year? We’d love to see pics
Here are a few more pictures of our dresses, modelled by some of our favourite fashion bloggers.
Looking forward we’ve got more fabulous fashion, exclusive designs and amazing competitions coming soon, so stay tuned! What was your favourite moment of 2012? What are you looking forward to this year? xx
September 2012 Round Up
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How was your September? It all seemed to go very quickly here at the Simply Be office, and dare we say it, we’re almost on the countdown to Christmas
This month we have enjoyed reading all about the latest fashion trends and who’s been FROWing at London Fashion Week, dusting off our winter jackets and scarves and of course welcoming the return of weekend TV; Downton Abbey and X Factor – cosy nights in are back!
We’ve got a rundown of our fave moments from this month and in case you missed any of it – as always we have it right here…
At the start of the month we had a lovely visit from Gabi Fresh who came from across the pond to attend London Fashion Week. She visited us at Simply Be HQ in Manchester. It was great to meet her and we’re glad to hear she had a lovely time too. Read her blog to find out what she got up to on her Euro trip!
Gabi in Simply Be floral trousers at our office
Adele has been speaking out about her weight, declaring she is not ashamed of her curvaceous figure. She has said “I’m not worried, I’m plus size and so much bigger than other artists. No matter what you look like the key is to be happy with yourself.” We just love Adele’s mentality and couldn’t agree more!
Also in the news, Ralph Lauren has taken steps to promote a more healthier body image by hiring its very first plus size model. That’s right, Robyn Lawley is 6ft 2in, a size 16 and one of the world’s leading plus size models. In this interview she explains the importance of showcasing curvy women in the media and praises Lady Gaga for urging fans to ‘triumph over insecurities’.
Here’s Robyn in one of her Ralph Lauren shoots.
Do you agree with Robyn or do you feel as this article suggests that the world is not ready to admire plus size figures? Let us know your thoughts here…
Our new Super Curvy boots are our widest calf fitting boots ever and went under a Big Boot challenge reviewed by bloggers Toni at The Only Way is Toni and Becky at The Ramblings of Mrs BeBe – read their blogs to find out how they got on.
Here they are looking fab in the on-trend riding style super curvy boots:
As we come to the end of September we celebrated our Liverpool store’s 1st birthday. We also helped raised over £1000 for McMillan cancer care at the Liverpool branch when we hosted The World’s Largest Coffee morning.
Here are some fab pics from that day:
More store news to look forward to next month as we launch a Simply Be store in our hometown of Manchester – so watch this space
What’s been your highlight of September? xx
Plus North
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On Saturday 7th July Simply Be were proud and delighted to be the lead sponsor for what proved to be an absolutely amazing event – Plus North, a plus size beauty and fashion event for bloggers and shoppers alike.
It was all organised by these two lovely ladies – Toni and Becky. *applauds*
Mhairi was responsible for ticket sales – here she is rocking our sarong skirt and shrug:
The Aspire venue in Leeds looked truly beautiful:
As did the cupcakes!
Lots of beauty and fashion brands had stands, including Simply Be of course. Here was our stand before and after the people arrived!
It was sooo lovely to meet everyone. We also raised £70 for charity selling handbag samples!
The highlight of the day though had to be our catwalk show (if we do say so ourselves). Thirteen fabulous bloggers all volunteered to model for us and they did such an amazing job! Visit our Facebook page or our Pinterest page for all the pics.
Here’s Rosie having her make up done by the lovely ladies from Benefit before the show:
Our models afterwards, on a high from walking the runway:
It was great to see some familiar faces – and meet lots of news ones too. Here are Claire, Laura and friend – three blonde bombshells!
It really was a massive honour to be a part of this event and we’d like to say a great big thank you to everyone who help make it such a great success.
See you at the next one?
News from the Simply Be Model Competition Final
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There is so much going on here at the Simply Be Model Competition Final I don’t quite know where to start!
We’re here in the fabulous Monastery venue in Gorton, Manchester. Everywhere is beautifully lit with candles and down the centre of the great hall is a crisp, white runway. And at the end of the runway… the judges table.
For the morning, the girls have been split into groups. They’re all having catwalk tips from our very own runway diva extraordinaire, Alix Walker to learn how to strut their stuff.
They’re having their hair and make-up done, to make them even more gorgeous (if that’s possible) and will be dressed and styled in the very latest Simply Be clothing by our team of stylists.
We’ve also got a suitably glamorous ‘Confession Room’ set up so that the girls can come and talk to the cameras about their experience so far.
The girls are all having their photos taken to start off their modelling portfolios, and Simply Be model Wendy is on hand to share some top modelling tips!
After lunch there’ll be a full catwalk starring all the girls – and then it will be a very tough time for the judges, as they’ll have to select just five finalists from our gorgeous 24.
The final five will be announced at 5pm so watch this space! Remember you can follow us on Twitter for live updates throughout the day.
Our Model Competition Takes Place Tomorrow – Who Will Win?
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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?
Our 25 Model Finalists have been selected!
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We kept everybody waiting, and whole new Facebook friendships were formed during the tense wait for the announcement – but on Friday we finally revealed our 25 ladies who will participating in our plus size model competition final.
With 750 gorgeous entrants to choose from, picking our finalists was a near-impossible task, but after much careful consideration, we got there in the end. Our finalists are:
Abi Hill
Abi Tweedle
Amy Morris
Anastacia Manning
Becky Holmes
Claire Bloomfield
Donna Preston
Ema Goudge
Emma McGrath
Gemma Duffy
Grace McAlonan
Janine Hillman
Jo Copeland
Kay Marsh
Kayleigh Smith
Keri Patterson
Lizzie Watts
Louise Singh
Marie Fletcher
Natasha Lawless
Sharlene Denys
Sophie U-Ming
Stephanie Hogan
Susan Norris
Toni Jennings
The ladies will be heading to Manchester for the final, where they’ll strut their stuff for our panel of judges. And they don’t just have to walk the walk – they have to talk the talk too, because we want a woman who will embody the Simply Be spirit as well as look fab.
We’d like to sincerely thank all those that entered – we wish we could have chosen all of you.
And well done to the finalists – watch this space for coverage of the final event! Who knows who will be the next to model for Simply Be alongside the likes of Candice, Justine and Wendy?
Catalogue Modelling Tips
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Modelling isn’t all about catwalks and fashion shows: you can have a very successful (and lucrative) career as a catalogue model. These days it’s not just about taking shots for paper catalogues – websites for fashion retailers are just as important, if not more so.
Catalogue modelling can vary greatly depending on what the client wants. Some retailers purely display the clothing, showing just the model’s body and not their face, so the model is literally used a mannequin. Often, shoots will take place in a studio, and sometimes they’re on location.
At Simply Be we do the majority of our shoots on location, and we’ve taken our models everywhere from Paris to Morocco! The advantage of the more exotic locations is that the light is so much better. The right location can also really add to the mood of a collection.
Some of our Simply Be shoots are held in studios. This gives a much cleaner look and keeps the focus all on the clothing. This can be a more challenging shoot for a model as there are no props or scenery to interact with. Not that it’s a problem for our models!
The main thing the client will be looking for from a catalogue shoot is variety. When a customer is faced with a catalogue spread or a page of dresses on a website, they don’t want to see the same facial expression or pose over and over again. So get in front of that mirror and see how versatile you can be. Remember though, if your pose obscures too much detail of the product that shot won’t be selected. You’ve still got to sell the product so make sure you show off the item as best you can. Does it have a full skirt or flowing sleeves? Work with the product to show it off to its best advantage. Do your research about the brand as well to see what style they prefer. At Simply Be we prefer smiles and giggles to moody pouts!
In catalogue modelling you’ll often be asked to work with props, be it a cup of coffee, a hat or a motorbike! It’s a great way to introduce variety into a shoot. The model’s job here to make it look natural. It can be a fine line between pulling off a natural pose with a prop and falling into a really obvious cheesy pose – and that’s when good models can show what they’re made of.
The amazing Teer Wayde for Simply Be
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A little while back, curvy model Teer Wayde got in touch to say she was a fan of Gok Wan underwear range, and this fabulous shoot was the end result.
Well we at Simply Be and our fans alike loved the shoot so much that we wanted to see the gorgeous Teer working those curves in some of our fashion too.
Teer chose some of her favourite pieces from our SS11 collection and pulled outfits together in her inimitable style! Take a look – gorgeous or what?
Teers wears:
Teer wears:
Teer wears:
Frock and Frill lace dress in black
We’ll be putting lots more Teer Wayde shots up on our Facebook page later this week so make sure you come take a look!
Teer is also doing a Simply Be giveaway over on her blog Curves to Kill – you could win a MagiSculpt dress and double-buckle belt in size 16 to get Teer’s gorgeous look!
Crystal Renn talks ‘plus size’
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Once hailed as the face of plus size fashion, Crystal Renn has had a rocky couple of months. It’s not that she isn’t gorgeous or curvy, just that every change in her body or weight is put under the looking glass by millions of women across the world – and this week, she spoke out about her figure, her career and her thought on the plus size fashion industry.
Talking to Chenese Lewis on Plus Model Radio, she told the story of her career…
Crystal started modelling at just 14 years old, not as a plus size model, but as a ‘straight-sized’ model. It meant staying slim, really slim, and this didn’t come easily. Eventually, she started starving herself, her confdence took a massive hit and clients started to notice – the Editor of Glamour magazine actually called Crystal’s agent to let her know that something was ‘wrong’.
Eventually, she reached a crisis point and her agent gave her an ultimatum – but it wasn’t the one she expected. She was told that she could go on as she was, struggling with anorexia to maintain the figure that the modelling industry considered beautiful – or she could go into plus size modelling.
In her interview, Crystal said she was ‘intrigued’. She’d never even heard of plus size modelling before – and would have done it from the start if she’d known! She goes on to say that ‘beauty comes in many different shapes’ and that accepting her own body and just being herself, sent her career sky-rocketing. As far as she’s concerned ‘being open, being comfortable with who you are – that’s going to bring success’.
Being plus sized
Crystal Renn was definitely the first ‘plus-size’ model to reach superstardom. Suddenly, everyone wanted her for photo shoots, catwalks and interviews. She spoke out and wrote a book about her experiences, called ‘Hungry’. Her curves became her signature and women around the world looked to her for inspiration. But as with most women, her weight went up and it went back down. She’s been up to a UK 18 (US 14) and down to a UK 12 (US 8), leading to widespread debate about her right to be ‘plus size’.
And you know what? She’s the first to confess that actually, she’s not really plus sized at all. In her interview, she says: ‘I’m 4 inches smaller than the average plus sized model and 4 inches bigger than the average straight-sized model’.
But Crystal gets where her critics are coming from. In her interview, she says ‘these women want to see something diferent, they’re screaming for it’, so when she lost weight ‘they felt betrayed’. She argues that it’s more important to be yourself and says that sometimes she likes to hammer it at the gym, but at other times, she just wants to have that extra slice of cake – ‘I am a human being at the end of the day’, ‘I can’t not change’.
And who can blame her? We’ve always said that being yourself is key, loving your curves and making your own personal fashion statement, it’s part of who you are, so we’re with Crystal all the way.
The future of plus size fashion
Crystal’s take on the fashion industry is really refreshing. She doesn’t see straight models and plus models, she just sees models – and that’s got to be the best way of looking at it. She says ‘it’s about bringing everyone together – and acceptance’. Well said!
And to those women, who feel excluded by the fashion industry, her message is simple – ‘your time is coming!’
If you’d like to hear the full 50 minute interview, head over to the Plus Model Radio website – and while you’re there, have a look at all the other fabulous interviews they’ve got on there!
Teer Wayde loves our shapewear!
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Here she is, Teer Wayde, the gorgeous Aussie model wearing her pick of the Simply Be lingerie collection! It turns out she just loves our shapewear, especially Gok Wan’s curve-controlling creations, exclusive to Simply Yours. So we sent her a little collection and she was kind enough to do a photo shoot!
You have to agree, she looks absolutely stunning. The vintage stylish, her vibrant red hair, those fabulous curves and our beautiful lingerie – it’s a match made in heaven! We’re loving the backdrop, outside is such a fab way to shoot lingerie, so unexpected. But then, the weather over there is probably a whole lot nicer than here!
Alas, we couldn’t fit all our pictures here on the blog, but you can see them on Facebook. So head over to Simply Be Fashion to see more!
Like what you see?
Between you and us, the Gok pieces you see here won’t be around for much longer. He’s got a brand new collection coming out, so this really is your last chance to buy these beautiful pieces. Get them quick, before your size sells out!