Beat the January Blues – with Joe Browns!
Our Joe Browns range is one of our best-loved collections at Simply Be. All those bright colours, gorgeous prints and quirky shapes – there really is nothing else quite like it.
We think it’s the perfect antidote to the January blues – wearing something bright and beautiful really is a mood-booster. Try it!
Yellow is a warm colour – like a ray of sunshine! There’s no cheerier shade so this wrap tunic is sure to give you a sunny disposition, even on the greyest January morning.
Red is the colour of passion and excitement! It’s the colour of confidence, shouting ‘look at me!’ With skinny jeans and a shrug this Joe Browns tunic can be adapted to lift your spirits all year round – so why wait for summer?
Blue is the colour of serenity and calm – just the thing if you’re battling back to work stress! This crinkle dress is gorgeous with tights and boots now then bare legs and sandals when the weather hots up.
And if those sumptuous shades don’t boost your mood, we’re sure this little fella will. Twit twoo!
December Round Up!
So we’re almost at the end of the year – time for a look back on the month’s goings on!
Mhairi rocked our fab Grazia dress. Read her review.
And our green Zandra Rhodes dress. Review here.
Georgina wore our Rise Dorothy dress and made it look even more adorable than it already is! Read her review.
The stunning model Teer Wayde did a photoshoot for us and braved pleather pants in the Australian sunshine for us.
Becky reviewed our Simply Voluptuous Denim Dress…
and our Chloe super stretch skinny jeans. How cute? Read her reviews here and here.
Sara wore our bird print tunic, accessorising with fab red lippy! Read her review here.
It’s been a very busy month! So if we’ve missed you and you’d like to be featured just tweet us @SimplyBeUK x
Our Top 6 Winter Warmers
With this morning’s sprinkling of snow our thoughts have turned away from party dresses and towards all things to keep you warm, cosy – and dry! And stylish of course, but surely that goes without saying.
1) The Festive Jumper
A soft and cosy jumper in festive red is super snuggly. The dipped hem shape is perfect with leggings and Ugg-type boots.
2) The Cardigan Coat
If it’s cold but dry out, or you just want to wrap up in an extra layer indoors, this Joe Browns cardigan coat (or coatigan) will keep you toasty.
3) Thermal Socks
Nobody likes cold feet! If you’re out on a wintry walk, line those wellies with some heat-retaining thermal socks and crunching over icy puddles will be a walk in the park.
4) The Faux Fur Scarf
Faux fur has been a big trend this season and what simpler way to work the trend than with a vintage style fur stole. Warning: people may try to stroke you.
5) The Knitted Beret
Team your fur scarf with a cute soft beret - after all, you lose the most heat through your head! If you think you don’t suit hats you’ll find this style surprisingly flattering.
6) The Fleece Gown
Whether curled up on the sofa watching a Christmas movie or gathered around the tree with your family on Christmas morning, you’ll need to keep out the chill. Slip into this super soft long sleeved fleece gown and get that fire going!
If all else fails, we find that a nice mug of hot chocolate or mulled wine warms the cockles nicely!
Your Perfect Christmas Weekend Wardrobe
It’s not just your Christmas party that requires a fabulous outfit – Christmas weekend means spending lots of time with family and friends – some of whom you only see once in a blue moon, so we all want to look our best. Then of course there are all the photo opportunities. And let’s not forget that any occasion is lots more fun when you look and feel fabulous!
Christmas is a very busy time, so the last thing you want to be worrying about is what you look like. Get your Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day outfits all planned out and then you can just relax – as much as you can!
Here are our suggestions – but of course everybody does everything differently over the festive period, so adapt these outfits to suit Christmas your way.
Christmas Eve
Many people like to get together or go out for drinks on Christmas Eve, so this glam look is just the thing. You can’t get more Christmassy than festive red while the leather-look trousers add a daring dose of rock’n'roll – but you could always swap these for plain leggings or tights.
Christmas Day
The day itself is usually a time for family get-togethers so choose an outfit that will keep everybody happy. This chic blouse from our Lauren’s Way collection gives a bold colour pop that’s perfect for Christmas Day whilst palazzo pants are both comfy and on trend. Add a touch of sparkle with a hair accessory plus some fab shoes. If you’re doing the cooking or lots of running around after people then simply switch the heels for some fab flats. Effortless!
Boxing Day
Whether you’re out for some fresh air to walk off a bit of that Christmas pud or simply snuggling and snoozing, a soft knitted jumper dress and thick tights will keep you warm and cosy. Shearling lined boots and bag add to the cosy feel and a scarf will add extra warmth. Royal purple is just the colour to keep that festive feeling going.
Fitting rooms getting fabber: Retail chain installs luxury fitting room area
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.
Our 25 Model Finalists have been selected!
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?
Hot New Trend – Into The Blue
Meet the perfect partner to our Urban Traveller trend – Into The Blue!
Fluid palazzos, cape sleeves and flared shapes bring movement to vintage style prints for a retro feel that’s so right now. Choose from deep teal, cobalt and petrol blues. Gorgeous!
These cape sleeve dress feels fabulous to wear with full, swishing sleeves:
We love the shape of this jumpsuit in figure-skimming jersey. With a tie waist and adjustable straps you make it spot-on for your shape.
This ditsy print dress has a real vintage feel to it:
Take a look at the trend in action:
Catalogue Modelling Tips
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.
Our style crush… Christina Hendricks!
Have you ever seen Madmen? It’s an acquired taste, a bit like marmite, but the more we watch, the more we love it. And yes, we’ll confess, for us, the clothes are the best bit… especially when they’re worn by the gorgeous and oh-so-curvy Christina Hendricks!
In character…
She plays Joan Holloway, a sassy, fashion-savvy woman who always gets what she wants. Her character oozes confidence, charm and sophistication – she loves her curves and she knows how to work them – just like the actress who plays her! She’s our latest style crush and after her latest outing on the red-carpet, we won’t be getting over it any time soon!
On the red carpet…
At this weeks Golden Globe awards, we caught sight of her in the most stunning dress of the evening. Bright red, with right-now flower detailing, it skimmed over her curves in the most beautiful way – proving once and for all, that nothing is more gorgeous than a curvy woman!
And all this despite that fact that she almost lost a ‘borrowed’ bracelet worth a awe-inspiring €850,000 – yes, the lead lady had to hot-foot it back to the red-carpet while everyone else took their seats, to see if she could find the expensive accessory, which had fallen off her wrist as she passed the paparazzi. Luckily, an event co-ordinator found it and have it back before the panic took a toll on her picture-perfect appearance!
At home…
If you want to wow the crowds in a curve-skimming, red dress, just like Christina – try our brand new Simply Voluptuous Dress! It’s been specially designed with different cup size options, so you can get the perfect fit for your curves!
Military mileage…
It seems military styling will never go out of fashion! The little brass buttons and khaki hues are back again for Spring 2011 and they’re looking better than ever. On the catwalks they were bright beacons of impending shopping sprees, with everything from jackets to shirts all making a appearance. So you can rest assured that this come-again trend has the green light for Spring/Summer!
The question is, how will you wear it? Because very few Spring trends are as versatile as this one. You have the choice to go all-out military, as we saw on the catwalks. After all, there’s enough choice. You could couple a plus size military jacket with a pair of cargo trousers and a white shirt – or a plus size zip-front dress under a smart military jacket, with a belt and army boots! It’s easy to go all-out and look totally on trend with a military theme.
But then, it’s just as easy to add a subtle military slant to your look. Army jackets go with everything – and they make the perfect Summer cover-up. Or you could wear a plus size khaki tunic with jeans and couple our open-toes military boots with just any look in your wardrobe!
And the best thing is, whatever you buy, it won’t be going out of trend any time soon. Because as we all know from experience, the military trend is here to stay! So if you want a look with mileage, one you’ll be wearing as a trend-must next season, and the one after that, and the one after that – make military your new style favourite!