By Diane from Fat Girls Like Nice Clothes Too

No sooner is Christmas and NYE is over and done with, Valentine’s Day comes hurtling towards us at breakneck speed. For couples who have been together for years the day may just come and go with no real event to mark the occasion, but if you are about to embark on a first date with a new man then this is a very special day indeed.

Years ago I went on a first date with a guy I met at a party. He was handsome, funny, smelt great and I was looking forward to seeing him again on what I hoped would be the first of many dates. He arrived at the rendezvous point still handsome, still funny, still smelling great but dressed in what I can best describe as a beige leather Thriller type jacket with beige drainpipe trousers (thankfully not leather) that were a good 3cm too short- the perfect outfit if it had been 1983. It was the mid- late 90’s and a whole decade before the 80’s would come back into fashion again and even now in the full throes of the revival, I’ve yet to see anyone sporting anything quite as retro-tastic. I spent the entire date avoiding eye contact with everyone, fearful that I would catch people staring at him or worse- laughing at me.

To this day that is my lasting impression of him even though I did see him on a couple of occasions since that night with only moderate improvements on that initial ensemble terrible. The moral of the story- apart from don’t write off a perfectly good man because he wears a dodgy outfit, is that first impressions truly do last.

If you are trying to make a good first impression on Valentine’s you could do worse than opt for this outfit which is feminine without being too girly but also comfortable and looks like you made an effort without trying too hard.

Jacket- £55, Evans

Dress-£22 Yours

Jeans- £28 ASOS Curve

Shoes- £60 Topshop

Bag- £22 Miss Selfridge

Visit Diane’s blog here.