With the Summer holidays fast approaching, we’re pleased to introduce our new collection Sea by Melissa Odabash. Melissa is a world renowned designer, and wanted to create a range of swimwear that can be enjoyed by women of all sizes. The collection is detailed with flattering features, takes inspiration from 50′s silhouettes, and is designed to support, flatter and make you feel your best.

Sea by Melissa Odabash Blouson Swimsuit

This jade green swimsuit is a perfect trendy addition to your holiday suitcase. The swimsuit features a wrap over front, which with the help of a hidden powermesh control construction, is super flattering and creates a smoother body shape! The costume also has fixed foam cups which provide extra bust support.

(more…)

How exciting! There’s now a brand new section on the Marisota website called Marisota World.

On it you can find the latest style news, product reviews, style advice and more as well as information about me and the other Marisota girls.

Plus there’s a “Get the look” feature about the new film “Coco before Chanel”, I have to say I adore the boucle jacket.

Another great bit of Marisota World is the “as recommended by..” section. Good Housekeeping magazine recently did a feature on Marisota and I love that I can keep up with the “buzz” so to speak.

But my absolute favourite is Shop the TV ad.

I had so much fun filming the TV Ad and absolutely loved the outfits, it really rang true with my experience of Marisota, so me and the other girls have each given our “tuppence” worth and contributed to the page.

Obviously my favourite items were those I wore myself, I find it a real struggle to get skirts and trousers in my leg length so Marisota is a God send!

From the smart jeans with their lovely deep indigo colour, bootcut style and perfect leg length.

to the lovely outfit of red pleat neck jersey top, wide leg trousers and weave belt which were all exactly my style!

And finally my absolute favourite the Print Jersey Tie Front Dress, it’s perfect for a meal out, night out or even work with the right accessories.

I think the Legroom High Suede Boots Jane wore in the advert would be perfect

That’s enough from me anyway but keep your eyes peeled for some really exciting stuff coming up this Season!

Claire x

I read this article the other week about how, as times get tight and it becomes every man (and woman) for themself in the work place, people are starting to abandon ‘office casual’ clothes and return to smarter times of shirts, ties and suits in the hope of hanging on to their jobs.

I do think there’s a lot to be said for wearing smart clothes for work. It’s important to make a good impression, especially when you’re meeting customers or patients face to face. Then again, you don’t want intimidate anybody either. Well, I don’t anyway! Also, if you’re wearing something all day long you need to be comfortable. I’m glad I’m a woman and can choose from so many styles of clothes - I always hated wearing a shirt and tie at school. Hot, uncomfortable – and boring!

Marisota makes dressing for work easy – I love their plus size range of soft tailoring. You can mix and match to suit your mood and it’s got just the right blend of smart and feminine.

I love these plus size linen suit separates. You can choose stretch linen trousers or a pencil skirt to go with the ladies’ linen jacket and there’s a choice of cream or coral – perfect for the spring/summer season. And, because it’s Marisota, both the skirt and the trousers are available in a shorter length option. Hurray!

New statistics came back this week from Consumer Direct, the Government’s consumer helpline, reporting that complaints made about women’s clothing have shot up by a massive 23%.

Although there is no conclusive explanation behind this, it’s been suggested that one of the main factors is the explosion of mass-produced cheap clothes as sold in certain high street stores and supermarkets which has led to a dip in the quality of ladies clothing.

Personally, I’ve never been backwards in coming forwards when it comes to complaining. However, I do think that you get what you pay for. And if a top costs £2.50 then you can’t expect it to be the kind of quality that will last and last.

That’s why I think Marisota fashion is so great. It’s affordable plus size ladies’ fashion that represents good value for money. And good value doesn’t mean cheap. It means you pay a good price for the quality that you get!

I was interested to read this article recently about a new charity called Dress for Success.

Its aim is to help disadvantaged women get back into work after they have faced great difficulties in their lives. Getting a job isn’t easy at the best of times, but when you’ve been out of work for a long time and have lost all confidence in yourself it’s nigh on impossible. Dress for Success gives struggling women a new working wardrobe and a corresponding confidence boost to enable them to ace those interviews and get back into work.

What a great idea! It’s a subject very close to my heart as I had a long break from employment after having Joanne but getting back to work was one of the best moves I’ve ever made.

It’s amazing the difference that the right clothes can make. I think when you give up on yourself you give up on how you look too and it’s like a vicious circle. So to be given clothes that look like you mean business and a new attitude to match can really help turn your life around.

Something like this pencil skirt suit would be perfect for a formal job interview. You couldn’t fail to make a good impression in that outfit.

Or a plus size blouse and wide leg trousers combination would work well too:

To all of those out there planning to get back into work in 2009, or to move onwards and upwards to a better job, the very best of luck from me and the Marisota girls.

Yes, that’s right it seems that the big and well-developed human brain could only evolve into being thanks to the development woman’s broad child-bearing hips. Without those curves we could never have evolved much past the level of chimpanzees. Or looking at it the other way round, women’s curvy figures came about for the good of the human race. Read the full story here.

I’ve not actully seen any evidence yet that curvy women have bigger brains themselves, but I’ve sure that conclusion is just around the corner.

One woman who loves to celebrate the curvy woman’s shape is Caryn Franklin. Her designer plus size clothing collection at Marisota was created to work with a woman’s curves – not hide them.

Check out these sexy Caryn Franklin plus size dresses and plus size coat from Marisota - now that’s what I call curves!

.

It seems the tide is turning somewhat on the super skinny phenomenon – something I’m only too glad to hear. I’m very proud of my plus size figure thank-you very much!

Lots of gorgeous ladies have been speaking out about how they love their curves. Take the stunning Scarlett Johansson:

“There are a lot of actors around Hollywood who are just too thin for my taste.”

“I don’t understand this obsession for being stick-thin. I could never be like that – it’s just not my body shape.”

“I would never want to lose my curves, because curves are what make women look like women. They are what make you sexy.”

Then there’s Jodie Kidd, who in my opinion looks much better now she’s not so model skinny. With all that exercise she’s doing on Strictly Come Dancing she’s obviously much fitter and healthier now too. And it’s not just the ladies that love it – it’s their other halves too!

“He absolutely loved my new cleavage”, she said of her partner Thomas George. “I’d never seen my boobs like that. And I don’t think he had either.”

And let’s not forget everyone’s favourite songstress Adele. I love the way she’s sticking to her plus size shape.

“I’m really mouthy about not having the Hollywood look. Everyone asks me ‘Why don’t you feel pressured to get the Hollywood look?’ and I’m like, ‘Because I don’t',” she told Heat.”I mean, I quite like my eyes and my lips. I don’t like my double chin or my gut, but I don’t not like them enough to do something about it.”

That’s the right attitude if you ask me. If you are happy and healthy – and in Adele’s case beautiful to boot then what’s the problem? Life’s too short! Especially when there’s fab fashionable plus size clothes out there to suit you like at Marisota. Marisota’s plus size clothes are made to work with your curves.

I can see Adele in one of these stunning plus size tunic tops from Anna Scholz at Marisota:

Bold and bright like her big and bubbly personality – and so flattering for plus size women.

Apart from my weekend away I plan to make the most of the outdoors this September. If the sun does shine I’ll be outside in my favourite plus size halter neck top demanding a spritzer, you mark my words.

I bought so many beautiful summer plus size clothes (and I love being able to find my size first time) that I only had chance to wear when I was away in Barcelona, I am determined to make the most of them. Let’s all hope for an Indian summer and a warm September, I’ve got a lovely smock dress just waiting to be worn!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that September is going to be sunny. I’ve got a girls’ weekend away to the Lake District planned so it was straight to the Marisota catalogue to get some fabulous holiday plus size clothes, of course. I’ll be ever so upset if I don’t get to wear my new wrap dress on a night out, I’m praying it doesn’t rain! Just to be sure (because you can’t trust the Great British weather, or the weathermen for that matter) I have invested in a few chunky knits and an ultra stylish jacket. I expect we’ll do a few walks but nothing too punishing, I haven’t been to the gym in 7 months despite paying £30 a month for it. Oops. Better keep my plus size bikini then!