I am back from a lovely journey that took me from Vancouver, to Kelowna to London to Helsinki to Tallinn. Thanks to an amazing sale, most of what I wore was from Addition-Elle and Eileen Fisher. The Marilyn top went with everything, and seeing that I am a messy eater, hid my shame. The Eileen Fisher skirt was perfect for the plane and queuing at security stops. It looked fab with flats and if I had brought heels, it would have worked with them, too. I loved these jeans. They were ridiculously comfortable and rolled up they looked on trend. The yellow top, though I loved it and it was of good quality, did not fare so well. I spilled crab bisque, clams, mussels, gravy and berries on it. I really do need to wear a lobster bib when out and about. Luckily, it is on for 10$ this week and I will go and buy a new one! I am a toddler in the skin of an adult.
One thing I found about shopping for plus sized clothes abroad, is that we have it damned good, here. In about 20 minutes, I can be in an Addition-Elle and snapping up on trend garments. In 40 minutes, I can be at Forever Yours, I can be fitted for bras in beautiful colours and comfortable panties. I can be in Lucy fawning over the beautiful dresses and I can drive to Railtown and shop Cherry Velvet Plus. There are plenty of options. There is variety, quality and colour.
In Finland, there is Stockmann. It is a department store that has a few lines of the dumpiest clothes you could find. Everything was tent like and made for a woman of "a certain age." (mid 50's-60's) There is nothing wrong with being over 50. However, there is something gravely wrong if that is the only customer your garments attract. I saw H&M + and was disappointed. The Helsinki store had two very small racks with army green pants that were of dismal quality and the blouses were very basic.
Lindex, a discount/fast fashion store has a plus line that sold over sized t-shirts as dresses for 29 Euros. The fabric was thin and not cut to flatter a full figure.
There are some exceptions, such as Carmakoma and Asos and all of the great shops in the UK, but in Finland, you don't have much choice.
Apart from Marimekko!
Marimekko is a fashion and textile empire that hails from Finland and covers sizes 00-22/24W. I bought a cute linen white with black polka dot dress. So amazing. The dress was made in Finland and I was thrilled.
(I apologize for the quality of the image! I will post a better picture in the coming days)
Marimekko is high quality and f-u-n. They are pieces that you treasure and that wear well. My dress was 129.00 Euros. And 3 days after buying it, it went on sale. Doh!
Here are the links to the pieces that I wore:
*The prices listed for Addition-Elle are less the 50% discount promo they have now.
The Marimekko dress is not online, however the corresponding top is here.
I look forward to chatting with you all in the coming days!
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