Clements Ribeiro for Evans

I realise this post is more than a little after-the-fact, but I'd collected all the images together at the time and have never had a spare minute to put the post together. Seeing as most of the items are still in stock and there's a few offers on just now, it seemed worth mentioning. There's up to 30% off until tonight (it was 20% off the CR stuff I looked at), plus I managed to use a further 20% off code I had (you can google and find several), along with a free delivery code!

The Clements Ribeiro 'Swan' collection for Evans launched last month and I think I'm correct in saying it's the first 'real' designer/high-street collaboration aimed at plus-size women. H&M in particular have collaborated with so many designers now, but more often than not anyone over a 16 or 18 doesn't get a look in, so I think a range for size 14-32 ladies is long overdue! People seem to get hyper-critical when it comes to anything plus-sized or weight related and while I wasn't obsessed with this collection, I did think it was rather lovely and am overjoyed that it's available to curvier women.

I have to admit to not purchasing from Evans all that frequently though for a variety of reasons. My nearest store has a very poor range so I'm confined to shopping online, I can still fit into it's trendier (or at least more 'me') sister store, Dorothy Perkins and/or other brands such as ASOS, Primark, New Look etc (which I know not every plus-size woman can) and generally I don't find all that much I like at Evans. I think there's a lot of pressure on Evans to deliver, but that's because women over a certain size simply don't have any other options. We can't make our virtual shopping list and trawl every high-street store looking for what we need because we literally need to find everything in this one store and if it doesn't deliver, we're screwed! I think Evans need to cash-in on this and develop more of a variety within their own range and their collaborations. They have to remember they're targeting all plus-sized women of every age and shape. Someone who is 5ft and hip-heavy is probably looking for something different from the 6ft well-rounded girl and the top heavy 55 year old woman. Like any other woman we are all different shapes with different needs and a "one plus-size fits all" approach simply doesn't work! Personally I'm a busty hourglass, always looking for dresses, vintage styling in kooky/kitsch prints and something generally quite 'young' and I think they're lacking that. Someone else might be more of a jeans and tee girl, some might be older and prefer more coverage, sleeves, longer hemlines etc and some might fancy a younger range with shorter hemlines and more trend-led pieces. So, I think that although it's a lot to cater for, it's definitely something they could improve on. Anyhow, long story short, this collection did appeal to me more than the usual Evans range.

What I loved was the range of colours and prints. I've tried to put these images together with samples of the print and isn't there a lot to choose from? I like that it was bold without being garish, a celebration of curves and an "I'm not hiding just because I'm fat" approach. After-all why should we? In fact I probably wear more prints and colours now than (my pretty much entirely black wardrobe of) my skinny teens and early 20's.

The cuts of the garments are apparently particularly flattering which is what I would expect from a designer range. For me the prices were a bit steep. I know it's a 'designer' range but given the vast volume of clothes in my wardrobe, I simply can't justify spending upwards of £50 on one dress and certainly not £90. The other day they emailed saying there was 'up to' 30% off the website and I thought it was a 1-day only deal and had missed it (researched what I wanted in the morning then forgot all about it), but when they emailed again to say it was the last day today, I realised I had a second chance to try a couple of things. I'd had two dresses in particular in mind and both were available in limited sizes (actually one wasn't available in my size the other day, so I was lucky to find it today). I've ordered 18's in both (because they didn't have 20's), so I'm hoping they may be generous and fit! I got the Betty heart print dress and purple pansy 'Peggy' dress. There's a few more I love, the black broderie anglaise 'Betty', the printed and red 'Joan' dresses and the heart cardigan, but alas funds were already stretched for these two! I went with those that I figured I would get most wear of.  All in all, it's a good wee collection and I'm pleased to hear there are at least two more collections from the design duo due.  Is there anything you fancy here?