I adore shopping for holiday clothes. However, one of my pet hates has got to be deciding what to wear for the airport. Some women over dress for the occasion, remember what Victoria Beckham wore on her flight to Los Angeles? She couldn’t even walk in that black dress, let alone sit down! Not that you shouldn’t make some effort. You wouldn’t catch me in one of those tracksuits Madonna has taken to wearing whenever she travels. I know she’s fabulous, but she has a team of stylists and make up artists at her beck and call. Surely they could have come up with something better? But for us mere civilians finding the perfect mix of casual, comfortable and stylish plus size clothes for a flight is quite a tall order.

For our ‘girls’ break to Barcelona I wanted an outfit to travel in that looked fresh when I arrived, ready to hit the shops. I decided to go for white linen trousers with a little added stretch and elasticated waistband (in anticipation of tapas and cava later!)  and a cool cotton gypsy top with pretty embroidery in my favourite colour – attention seeking red! It can get pretty chilly in the cabin so we all made sure we wore our dressy cardigans. Perfect for popping into my handbag when we stepped out into the Spanish sunshine. I’m convinced I’ve hit on the perfect look for the plane – but email me if you have any better suggestions!

Going strapless

Friday nights are made for dancing as far as I’m concerned, but in this heat I don’t want to be wearing anything with sleeves. I’ve recently bought a new strappy top that looks fabulous with my pencil skirt; problem is wearing it with a plus size bra. I don’t want bulky straps spoiling the line, and as a curvy lady to go without just isn’t an option! But this plus size strapless bra from Marisota is an absolute godsend. Their plus size lingerie is structured enough to give you support but pretty enough to feel special. And after an entire evening of strutting my stuff, my bra didn’t budge an inch!

The sights

Can there be anything worse than a days’ sightseeing in shoes that pinch? Well luckily for me that will never happen again thanks to these little beauties! They really are the perfect holiday pump, comfortable, pretty and they come in lots of different colours. But the best thing? They are part of Marisota’s wide fitting shoes collection. They start at a D and go right up to EEE, so even after climbing all the way up La Sagrada Familia there wasn’t a blister in sight. My friend Anne wasn’t quite so lucky though. I get the feeling she will be shopping at www.marisota.co.uk soon too!

Our last night

I used to think glamorous clothes for large ladies just didn’t exist. I’d had years of trying to squeeze into tiny frocks in snooty dress shops and I’ve had enough. That was before I started homeshopping with Marisota. Curvy girls love women’s fashion too, and finally I found a plus size catalogue that lets me indulge my passion for fashion!

On Saturday night we put on our best eveningwear and headed down to Las Ramblas for dinner. I wore my black beaded dress with beautiful detailing, it’s one outfit guaranteed to make me feel a million dollars. And what can I say? When you feel confident on the inside, other people notice it too, and a romantic dance was the perfect way to end a wonderful holiday (just don’t tell Ian!) Plus in my wide fitting high heels I didn’t even need to wear gel pads to tackle the cobbles!