Every girl’s dream is a pamper session or someone waiting on her hand and foot. Well, I am no exception. I was shopping in Basingstoke last summer and came across a shop called Taking Shape. To quote their website, they are “a plus size fashion brand. We make clothes in sizes 14-26. We love inspiring women and making them feel good in what they wear.
We started in Australia, so all our clothes have a little bit of Aussie attitude: we’re not afraid of colour, bold prints or getting dressed up.”
I was browsing their shop, looking round and admiring their styles, fabrics and range and one of the fabulous assistants asked if I would be interested in returning for a ‘Personal Styling Session’ – an opportunity to mix and match and find a style. What could I say? “Duh!!! yeah! of course,”. I booked a session for early December with the lovely Emma.
My ambition was to have lost a few dress sizes by then, so it seemed the perfect pre-Christmas treat to myself.
The day came, immediately after a weekend away with the girls in Bournemouth (but that’s another story). Excitedly I drove up to Basingstoke from Portsmouth for my 10am appointment.
I was warmly greeted by the team, Emma asked me about the kind of things I was looking for. Well, I have a lot of evening wear and not so many day-to-day outfits so this was my desire for the session.
Emma set to work traversing the wonderful store picking numerous outfits whilst I relaxed with a coffee in the stylish changing area at the back. It wasn’t long before Emma joined me with armfuls of tops and dresses to try on.
-
- Taking Shape Outfit
-
- Taking Shape Outfit
-
- Taking Shape Outfit
-
- Taking Shape Outfit
She was tirelessly patient with me, complimenting and advising. Scurrying back out collecting different sizes, shapewear and other items. I must have tried upwards of 10 outfits with mix and matching resulting in at least 20 changes in total – hot work I can tell you. I even managed to get plenty of photos of the outfits as I went.
All of the staff were wonderful, complimentary (apparently I have good legs lol!!), and they were so helpful. I would thoroughly recommend the experience and this shop to anyone. At one point, I am not afraid to say I got very emotional and cried with joy.
OK, I spent more than I was predicting… but it was so worth it. I did leave behind many options but I was happy with what I had chosen. I even wore this outfits out of the store.
The outfit I wore out of the shop
I can’t wait to go back, now I have lost some more weight, to find my Spring and Summer outfits… any why not.
