Two blue dresses in a field of daffodils

Little babs photographed in a Little Green Radicals outfit aginst a bed of daffodils in the background. She’s wearing a mint green dress with a colourful horses print and a matching sunhat in the same fabric. She’s carrying a wicker basket and holding a posy of dried flowers.

I’m wearing New Look shirred maxi dress (available in plus in lilac gingham and black) Old ASOS sandals (not pictured)

Lila is wearing Wild Horses dress and sun hat c/o Little Green Radicals Start Rite shoes H&M knee socks

This post is all about celebrating the joys of a good outfit – or outfits! – and exploring an unexpected riot of daffodils on a spring evening. Snatching Simple Joys from the belly of a bustling life. From shaky starts, these spring evening shoots with Lila have grown into a much loved oasis of family time together in the admittedly modest and not so rugged outdoors (we shot these photos next to a roundabout on one end of the town moor!) And then I think about how lucky we are to have the town moor and jesmond dene right here in the middle of Newcastle and feel sad about most likely moving away from the city come autumn, even though it’ll be to somewhere a lot more rural. Considering we’re looking at County Durham and Northumberland (unless it ends up being the coast!)

Plus size fashion blogger Ragini of A Curious Fancy photographed in a spring look. Ragini is wearing a blue maxi dress with long puff sleeves and carrying a wicker basket.She’s standing in a field of daffodils and narcissi.

There’s something so atmospheric and ethereal about a blue dress in a field of daffodils, so I decided to multiply that by two and dress Lila in her new Little Green Radicals set as well! Little Green Radicals has been one of my favourite children’s brands, not only are they fair trade but their clothes are made sustainability and ethically in Calcutta of all places, and that just makes it a little slice of home and fills my heart with joy to dress my daughter in their clothes. Last year, Lila’s birthday and Christmas dresses were both from LGR, so when they offered to send her a few pieces from their Spring/Summer collection, I of course said yes! 

My dress is one of my new favourite buys this Spring – it’s the perfect cottagecore milkmaid style dress and what’s more, the fabric is a mid weight cotton-viscose-linen blend which is just so lovely on. Last summer, I gained about a dress size during the first lockdown and was put in the unenviable position of having to source a functioning autumn wardrobe in my new size. This year I’m doing the same with my spring wardrobe, selling a lot of what no longer fits to make enough room in my closet (and my purse!) for a few new pieces that’ll see me through till autumn. And while I wish I could afford a whole new capsule wardrobe of nothing but ethical, sustainable clothing, at best I could probably only afford a couple of pieces made to those standards – which will definitely not see me through till autumn!

Little babs photographed in a Little Green Radicals outfit aginst a bed of daffodils in the background. She’s wearing a mint green dress with a colourful horses print and a matching sunhat in the same fabric. She’s carrying a wicker basket and holding a posy of dried flowers.

I’m lucky that as an ‘influencer’ I’m sometimes offered clothing by ethical, sustainable brands whose pieces I treasure in my wardrobe, and that financially we *are* in a position where I can make the more ethical choice about a third of the time. This is obviously not one of those choices. What it is though is a genuinely beautiful dress in a style that’s hard to find in plus sizes and which, being made of natural fibres and a heavier fabric, will last many, many wears if I take good care of it, wash it gently and mend it when it needs mending. I’m the last person who’ll shame someone for not picking the ethical option because a) I’m very much the opposite of perfect in that regard and b) I know what it’s like to only be able to afford the cheapest, fastest fashion and then try my best to make those clothes last far beyond their intended lifespan. 

Most of my clothes are still secondhand from eBay and closet sales (my friend Marie’s closet sales, to be precise!) and for the longest time I did have the luxury of just adding a thing or two to my wardrobe once in a while because my body decided to be comfortable at a size 18 for the best part of 6 years. Starting a size 22 wardrobe more or less from scratch though – that’s a whole new animal altogether! Writing this post also made me think of all the things I do to get years of wear from every single item of clothing I buy, even when that is an item of fast fashion. Is that something you’d like to read about? Let me know by leaving a comment! 

Plus size fashion blogger Ragini of A Curious Fancy photographed with her daughter in coordinating spring themed outfits. Ragini is wearing a blue maxi dress with long puff sleeves, her daughter is wearing a mint green dress with a colourful horses print and a sun hat in the same fabric. They are in a field of daffodils and narcissi with a basket containing a few daffodils.
Little babs photographed in a Little Green Radicals outfit aginst a bed of daffodils in the background. She’s wearing a mint green dress with a colourful horses print and a matching sunhat in the same fabric. She’s carrying a wicker basket and holding a posy of dried flowers.
Plus size fashion blogger Ragini of A Curious Fancy photographed with her daughter in coordinating spring themed outfits. Ragini is wearing a blue maxi dress with long puff sleeves, her daughter is wearing a mint green dress with a colourful horses print and a sun hat in the same fabric. They are in a field of daffodils and narcissi with a basket containing a few daffodils.
Plus size fashion blogger Ragini of A Curious Fancy photographed with her daughter in coordinating spring themed outfits. Ragini is wearing a blue maxi dress with long puff sleeves, her daughter is wearing a mint green dress with a colourful horses print and a sun hat in the same fabric. They are in a field of daffodils and narcissi with a basket containing a few daffodils.

6 thoughts on “Two blue dresses in a field of daffodils

  1. So beautiful! And that baby is so wonderful. She reminds me of my daughter when she was little, we call it “cafe au lait” skin (that mixed babies have) big black eyes and dark hair. (My daughter has very curly hair as part West African). And what you say about making clothes last as long as possible is very important. I would very much like to get some inspiration on that. A year or so ago I became an even bigger lady than before and with the pandemic I had less work and less money so I just tried to (well how to put it in English…) make my clothes fit me (or fit me more or less) by changing them myself. (Enlarging them/making them bigger). It worked surprisingly well and some of my clothes became even better after I had changed them and made them bigger.

    1. That is so cool that you were able to enlarge your clothes with your sewing skills! I’m afraid that my sewing skills are nowhere near there, but I hope that someday I will be able to sew well enough for that level of diy. And aww thank you so much <3 Lila has her dad's skin tone but with a permanent tan hehe. She gets her dark dark brown eyes from me but her hair's auburn like her dad! We call her my unexpectedly ginger baby, because her hair has ginger highlights running through it!

  2. I love these photos! The two of you match so beautifully 💞
    I would love to read more on the topic of making your fast fashion last longer, as a student I’m very limited with what I can afford and I keep trying to come up with uses for items that no longer fit/have stains etc.

    1. Thank you so much! And for the feedback as well! For permanent staining what doesn’t come off, dyeing is the best option. I did this post on machine dyeing cotton garments last summer https://curiousfancy.com/machine-dyeing-with-dylon/
      If there’s staining on hems or cuffs that isn’t coming off, cutting off the stained bit and re-hemming also works. Hope that helps somewhat!

  3. thank you so much! I’m very much a novice seamstress and haven’t yet dipped my toes in the world of garment making, but I hope to get there one day soon! Also darning feels like a really useful skill to have.

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