My Personal Shopping Experience

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”.   So 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.

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.

I can’t wait to go back, now I have lost some more weight, to find my Spring and Summer outfits… any why not.