The event took place at the Marriott Hotel in Heathrow on the 10th November. This was my first event i had been invited to but i'm so glad i said yes.
On arriving i meet up with some of the other bloggers attending, Betty and her friend, Lucy and Charmaine. It was really lovely to actually meet some of the ladies in person. We were chatting about the event and our outfits at the drink reception while some the Big Girls Paradise Boys walked around topless, it definitely sparked our interest and raised some giggles from us and the rest of the people around.
Once it was time to go into the venue i was sat with Lucy and one of the organisers, Emma and one of the contestants family (Luckily it was the girl i was supporting Sarah).
Then while the mains came out we had the swimwear round, i was truly amazed by the cheers and roars of support for the girls as they strutted down the catwalk, the sheer courage of the 19 finalists is to be applauded, not many slim women would have the courage to get in their swimwear and walk down a catwalk in front of about a 100 people knowing you were being judged, this would send the most confident of girls, into a panic, yet there girls held their heads high and showed that this is what people really look and that there is nothing wrong with it, truly inspirational.
We then had some entertainment from a Burlesque dancer, Sarah's dads face when she took her bra off was priceless, he really didn't know where to look. And stand up comedy from Junior Simpson, who was really funny, the entertainment really was good and there was never much just sitting about waiting for things to happen.The final round was evening wear and we got to hear from each of the girls a bit more, i just wish they had been prepped a bit more for the questions as some of them were clearly flustered and didn't have anything to say, which didn't represent them as well as they could, but some gave brilliant answers which made me proud to be plus size and you could see how passionate they were about representing plus size girls and what this meant to them.
While at the event, i met an amazing up and coming designer who i think you should all go check out, her name is Syreeta Badu her website is here http://www.syreetabadu.com/
After what must have been a really tough decision for the judges, Gemma was crowned as Miss BBW International 2012. I was sad Sarah didn't come top 5 as i think her vintage style is very unique and made her stand out.
We then danced the night away.
Overall this was a great event to be part of, it was great to be in a room full of plus size women, it was something i've never seen before and it showed me the support for things like this and that we can all be fashionable and proud of ourselves.
