Topsy Curvy is a UK based brand in the plus size industry that is leading the way on size inclusivity, they started out as a small boutique shop in Manchester, and things have come a long way since then - now having an ultra modern website, with customers from all over and their own shop, studio and offices in Hyde, Manchester. The brand has built its name by using models of all shapes and sizes - but when I say models, I mean customers - the brand utilises images from customers and asks regularly for ordinary people to model for them and show what their items look like on all kinds of bodies.
Jo and Nat champion body acceptance and loving yourself for who you are, with their Facebook group; Team Topsy which is a space to help each other and encourage others to get out of their comfort zones, show off your latest outfits and seek advice - they aim for inclusivity. They also run at least a couple of beach photo shoots a year, where all are welcome to attend, trying to help people with their body confidence and have a fun day out doing something you may never have dared to before.
I've known Jo and Nat for some time now, and they're both really genuine people who care about what they do. In the past I have modelled for the brand at a shoot, and had a great day with customers, other bloggers and models - it was a fun experience, we got some great shots too! So when the opportunity came up to try something new from the brand I was ready and rearing to go.
For me, multi size items are not always my friend, the fit will always be different on a size 20 to a size 26 - but with this dress it has been thought out and designed really well to accommodate different sizes. The material has stretch, but does not warp the pattern, it is soft, incredibly comfortable, and best of all, it has pockets.
This dress comes in at £45, which is a little pricey for an every day kind of dress but these have been made specially for the brand, with the prints only available to buy from Topsy Curvy, the material is high quality and well worth it for a dress you will get lots of use out of. The good thing is though with my discount code you can get it a little cheaper (NICOLA15), and Topsy often run other offers on their site which may be of use to you too - but honestly, they're worth buying.
With chronic pain I often find clothing incredibly uncomfortable, when it comes to waist bands and restrictive items - with this dress there was no discomfort, it was comfortable to wear, the neckline wasn't too high, the stretch meant no pain and the pockets are really handy for popping your phone in, some extra painkillers or your favourite lipstick. They're a reasonable size so I was pleasantly surprised to be able to get my phone in there!
I teamed the dress with an ASOS belt, a pair of Snag chub rub shorts, George at Asda Patent boots and my trusty Loungefly backpack, with a dress like this one I thought it was only right to go with the grunge feel, for Autumn/Winter I'd change the chub rubs to a pair of red or black tights (or maybe my duel red and black ones) and my black Dr Marten boots.
I'm sure I could also style this up to be a little more girly - maybe that's a challenge in the future?
How would you style this dress?
Head to the Topsy Curvy website here:
Some other posts from me:
Bottoms Up, Opening of the Botanist, Worcester
Multi Season Styling with Navabi