All Striped Up - Torrid Strapless Dress OOTD

Happy Fourth of July lovelies! I hope you all are enjoying the fireworks along with an abundance of yummy food. Today was an absolute scorcher...well okay, it was a scorcher to ME since anything above 75 degrees has me crying like the Wicked Witch of the West, "I'M MELTING, MELTING!!"

Since it was supposed to be a hot, ahem, beautiful day, my friends and I decided to journey down to the beach and spend the 4th on the sand with a perfect view of the gorgeous fireworks by nightfall. Since I usually come back from the beach exhausted, sweaty, and full of sand where it should NOT be, I decided to take my outfit of the day pictures before I turned into grumpy cat. I figured what better way to enjoy a day on the beach than a cute & casual dress paired with a white denim jacket to keep me at least somewhat warm once nightfall arrived. Okay...you caught me..skip the keeping warm part, I just wanted to rock my new jacket.

By the way, YES! I am wearing a jacket that I haven't the faintest hope of buttoning up. Why? I specifically bought it this way so that whatever top or dress that I'm wearing underneath won't be hindered by excess denim floating in the way.

I decided to wear this outfit sans accessories so that none would get lost in the sand. If you think that the heat makes me grumpy, you can only imagine me trying to dig in the sand for a lost bracelet, now THAT is a sight to be seen (it is similar to a Gordon Ramsay special but, you didn't hear that from me).

Since this post is kind of short I'm going to include my review for this dress as well. I picked this up not too long ago (whenever the last Haute Cash sale was) and I can certainly say, I'm glad I purchased this while on sale and not at pull price. Even though this dress is super cute and beyond comfy, I just don't think that it's worth the $48.50 price tag, in fact nowhere near; I would price this dress as being worth somewhere in the $20 range. Why? I have only worn this dress three times and pilling has already begun, and while that is okay for a cheap item, I do not want a $50 clothing item doing that after only a handful of wears. Also, because of the cotton/spandex material, this dress is fond of losing it's shape after a few hours of wear-time. Thankfully though, the shape does bounce back after it has been washed.

Now, as you've read, this dress has a couple of negative aspects but, don't fret, this dress has a certain level of awesomeness as well. Firstly, if you're like me and you sweat, and by sweat I mean boob sweat, belly roll sweat, and the whole shebang, this dress is perfect. Since it is made out of pure cotton, it keeps you both cool and dry, which is essential when being a fat babe and walking around in 80+ degree weather. Secondly, as I said above, this dress is wonderfully comfy as the sizes run quite large. I purchased a size 5 and I could have easily went down to a 4 or maybe even a size 3. Also, if you're a SPANX wearer like myself, this dress is flowy enough that you can easily forgo the SPANX (I know I did).

Overall, if you're looking for a cute summer dress that will keep you comfortable, cool, and dry, this is a good dress to own. However, I still would not pay full price; this item is on-sale right now for $33.95 but, between you and me, I may or may not have seen a $10 off coupon floating around so be sure to search for that *shameless hint*.

Torrid Black & White Striped Strapless Dress

Ashley Stewart Cropped Denim Vest

Lipstick is MAC Russian Red. Check out my review here!

This dress is also available in two other colors, you can check them out here & here

Much love xo

Torrid Fold-Over Pencil Skirt - OOTD & Review

"Soft, stretchy and oh-so-versatile, this jersey knit skirt goes from classic pencil to sexy mini with a fold of the wide waistband, it will be a fashion favorite all season long."

As a plus sized girl I have always been intimidated by pencil skirts; they are the one clothing item that I have always been absolutely enamored with but terrified to wear. Why? I have belly rolls. And the tightness and form fitting aspect of a pencil skirt was just not something that I felt comfortable wearing for a long while.

A few weeks ago, I was window shopping the Torrid website looking for a plain black skirt to serve as the bottom for my upcoming Shaun of the Dead cosplay and somehow, in between the lace and florals, popped out a series of fold over skirts. Okay...I will admit this sounds incredibly corny, forgive me! After a small pep talk with myself and an overbearing need to just say f*ck it and wear whatever I want, I called my nearest Torrid to check if they had it in stock. To my luck, they had one left and it happened to be my size. Fate eh? No? Well, I like to think so.

Anyhow, fast forward to trying this baby on and it was instant love; the length and fit were absolutely perfect. Now, I must warn you, it is a VERY good thing that this skirt is meant to be folded down and customized to your needs. Why? Because I'm 6'1 and even when pulling it up to just under my breasts, this skirt still almost reached my knees. If you are any shorter than I, you will probably need to fold this skirt up a bit to still be a classic mini or pencil.

Can I express just how much I love this skirt? The material is super duper stretchy and beyond comfortable, this is one item that you can definitely wear to dinner and not have to worry about it feeling uncomfortable by the end of the meal. Now unfortunately, nothing can be perfect and this skirt does have a flaw. Since the material is so stretchy, after a day of wear it becomes very loose, not to the point of falling off but it is definitely not as form fitting (hopefully washing will fix that right up).

Onto my cam-whoring! Let me pause for a moment and say, I tip my hat to all of you fashion bloggers out there; posing is a lot harder than it looks! I ended up taking around fifty photos just to get ten that I really liked.

Overall, I really do love this skirt so much I'm probably going to end up ordering the black & white striped version, especially now that they are on-sale. I think these types of pieces are essential in ones wardrobe since they are perfect for dressing up or down. In case you're wondering, my skirt is a size 3, lipstick is MAC's Lady Danger, and the cami that I'm wearing is also from Torrid but now sold out online.

And to all my fat babes and my regular babes, wear whatever the hell you want and hold your head high, don't be afraid or intimidated like I was; I spent so many years shying away from pencil skirts when I could have been enjoying them! Love you all and hope you enjoyed my very first outfit of the day!

Retail: $24.50 // 24" long (Cotton/Spandex fabric)

Purchase Black here

Purchase Grey here

Purchase Black & White Striped here

Purchase Navy Floral here

Much love xo

Torrid Kiana Fold-Up Flats - Review

Spring time is finally upon us and thankfully it's time to shed the boots, the scarves, and the heavy clothing! Who else is excited? I bought these flats back when it was still frigid and snowing so I hadn't had the chance to wear them until now and well...unfortunately they didn't work out like I had hoped. I never would have thought in one hundred years that a simple pair of flats would be infinitely more uncomfortable than four inch heels. My first experience wearing these was about a month ago, I chose to wear them on my convention weekend because I wore dresses on both days and these flats seemed like the perfect compliment to both. And honestly, we all know that conventions mean standing, walking and everything in between and I was NOT about to wear heels!! I sincerely tip my hat to the amazing people that wear heels to these types of events.

It boggles my mind but the Kiana flats are hands down the most uncomfortable pair of shoes that I have ever worn. Within five minutes of slipping these bad boys on and walking, my feet had turned bright red and were already crying for relief. By nightfall of day one, my feet actually had calluses in several places; I was in hell! Believe me, I wanted to say f**k it and go barefoot on more than one occasion during my weekend! (Hey! I'm angry here, let me vent) Now you might be wondering, Desi if these shoes were that uncomfortable, why on earth would you wear them both days of the convention? You are absolutely right. In retrospect, this was totally not one of my better ideas.

Now, to come to Torrid's defense for a moment, these are fold up flats which basically means that they lack the support of a regular shoe and thus are not really suitable for long time wear; they are essentially "emergency" shoes if you should ruin or loose your current shoes for the night or your feet have given up from a day of heels. I know that is partially the reason why my feet were in such bad shape by the end of it but, on the other hand these flats were already shredding my feet within a few minutes of slipping them on and that is simply not normal for any shoe. Another drawback? These flats have VERY LITTLE traction which resulted in me slipping numerous times no matter the surface (I spent the majority of the convention walking on carpet). Torrid, you really dropped the ball on this one. I hate to say it but, I would not re-purchase these shoes if they were on sale for 99 cents. While these pups might suffice for very short distances they just simply aren't adequate for anything beyond that, and at the $20 price tag that Torrid wants for essentially a piece of cardboard between the soles of your feet and the earth, there are certainly better alternatives. These shoes won the round for versatility but they have by far lost the round for comfort and quality; and that is what really matters right?

Retail: $19.95 (a small travel bag is included)

You can check out & purchase the fold up flats here:

Gold

Black Patent

Much love xo