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Shopping Adventures with Lovely Leah - Evans Store Opening at The Highcross, Leicester


So, I was very excited last week when I received an email from Evans letting me know that they were opening a new store in The Highcross in Leicester - before this the nearest store was at Fosse Park which although close to my work, isn't the best to get to from my home, so I didn't often get the opportunity to go. The email said that they were having a bit of an opening event on the Saturday and I thought I'd love to go but wanted a shopping partner and immediately thought of lovely Leah of the fab blog 30 Something Curvy Me who I had met at Plus North back in September and had recently found out lived not far from myself! I sent her a tweet and we arranged to meet up and check out the new store - oh the wonders of Twitter!!!


As you can see from the above photo, we had an absolute blast trying out lots and lots of things! On arrival we were both given a cracker which we pulled to reveal the gift of a 15% off coupon which was very nice, and naturally only encouraged me to make a purchase which I will share later, but first, here are some photos from the day...


I just love that adorale penguin sweater (they have sweet little diamante bows on!!!) and think Leah looks fab in that white and lace detail shirt which goes very well with her pretty Pink Clove rose skirt.


As usual I went straight for the lace and was very excited to try on the Scarlett & Jo lace prom dress that I'd been waiting for since the preview at Plus North. It is really really lovely and unfortunately the photo above doesn't really do it justice - the pic of Leah in it below gives a much better impression of how nice it is! I really liked this bright fuscia skater dress and really wanted to but it, but as I would class this as a staple wardrobe item rather than a special occasion dress I was a little disappointed with the £45 price tag and left it for the moment.


We both loved the brigh red of this tunic dress! This pic shows the S&J lace prom dress off a lot better - as usual the fabrics used are all lovely quality and it's a great shape for us plus sized gals - perfect for your Christmas or NYE party!


As you can see, that face I'm pulling right there is because boy was this dress see through so apologies for the rack shot!!!! It's a shame as the ribbed detail was lovely and although it was a little too short for me to have worn with tights it would have been cute with some leggings or skinny jeans. Here's another Scarlett & Jo beauty in the form of a fabulous monochrome Powerfit dress - as always with S&J I adored this dress and thought the print was perfect for adding to your workwear wardrobe.


Leah and I both tried on this first sparkly floaty number but neither of us liked the bubble hem - it was really hard to know where it should sit and didn't seem very flattering, but maybe we just didn't have the right body shapes... This sweet bird print sweater however looked so nice on Leah and would be a great casual staple.


I just had to try on this 80's-tastic martini glass jumper! The fabric was nice and soft and it was a great length - all in all a fab graphic sweater. As you can see the sparkly floaty purple number just wasn't for me, I felt it instantly aged me by about 20 years and the bubble hem did nothing for me, although I though the floaty sleeves and spangly fabric were very nice.


I just love the unusual design of the lace on this purple tunic and here we have another great example of Scarlett & Jo! Another fab monochrome stlye print comes into play this time as a peplum dress with a super sexy mesh detail to the bust.


As you can see here, we were both really disappointed with this top! It looked so lovely on the hanger, sparkly white with a silver gemstone on the neckline, but it just did not sit right on either of us. Again the dreaded bubble hem scuppered both our body shapes and the gem just wouldn't lay flat and kept drooping down or turning round. Such a shame. Also, I think I look like I should be in an Abba tribute band in this...


Last but not least we both tried on the Scarlett & Jo Powerfit dress in purple, and both fell in love! It is just a marvellous design and I'm so glad it is available in so many colours! I used my voucher and brought mine home with me, and I know that Leah wants to head back to buy one herself very soon!

The store itself was very nice, as were all the staff, and they had a great selection of pieces including a great footwear selection and some very pretty jewellery and lingerie. I would have liked to see a few of the other brands on sale like Live Unlimited or Clements Ribeiro, I'm hoping they'll start to stock some more when they've been open a little longer.

I had a great day with Leah, she is awesome fun to shop with and a great photographer buddy - we also visited another store on our travels and I'll share the pics from that trying on session in a few days!