Fashion Blogger Spotlight: Hanna of Hanna Wears

Blog: hannawears.com
Height: 5’5″ / 165cm
Location: London, UK

How long have you been blogging?
My blog just turned 5 years old in January 🙂

What or who inspired you to become a fashion blogger? What led you to it?
I found plus size fashion blogs around summer 2011 – it was liberating to see girls my size dressing in bright colors and trendy things. I started following a lot of them and was inspired to change what I wore myself.

My own fashion blogging journey started on Tumblr in November 2011, which is when I started to document my outfits of the day. It was also very much about body positivity and that big girls can indeed  wear whatever they want. On January 2012, I took it to the next level and I started a proper blog.

Do you blog full-time, for fun, as a hobby? Share your evolution!
I blog as a hobby, but still my blog has evolved a lot from the early days. I used to write a lot in my entries, and nowadays they are more picture heavy. And the quality of photos is about a million times better than what it was in the beginning, haha!

Believe me, they could still be a lot better and this is something I’m working towards, but the early ones are just dreadful. A few years ago I also added my native Finnish to the posts, so I blog in two languages now.

What is your favorite asset? Your legs, arms, waist? How do you play that up?
This is probably a weird answer, but I really love my ankles. I like to wear rolled up jeans, midi skirts, and also heels that show them off – and there’s quite a few detailed photos of my footwear and ankles on the blog! 😉

What are the challenges, if any, you face regarding being plus size?
I should mention seats, seat belts and lavatories of planes here, right? As they do come to mind first! When it comes to fashion though, funnily enough my biggest challenge is jeans BECAUSE of my ankles that I love!

I shop jeans to fit my waist and hips, but none of them are tight enough for me in the ankles, not even the skinniest of skinny jeans. Also finding trendy, properly oversized items for plus size is very hard as well.

What’s your favorite thing about being plus size?
Hmm, this is a hard one. I am what I am, and I have never thought of this to be honest. I guess having extra cushions is nice sometimes, at least I’m not hitting my bones on things. Haha.

What’s your favorite thing about being a blogger?
Blogging has taken me on a journey that has been amazing. New friends, travel, great collaborations with brands, features in the media.. But mainly it has been great just having the confidence to be me and dress like me.

The best thing is the reader feedback though. Hearing that you have been a helpful part of someone’s journey to their own confidence – that simply never gets old and always brings me to tears.

Who/what are your favorite designers/brands?
My favorites change every season, but at the moment I’m really loving what River Island is doing with their plus range. ASOS Curve is a firm favorite too. Also the indie brand Lost Ink is doing amazing things with their plus range. 

Describe your personal style.
Trendy Scandi-influenced? Maybe? Haha. I do mainly love simple and oversized items of clothing, and my favorite color palette is black, white and grey – with added earthy tones. My personal style is hard to put in a box though, as sometimes I might wear prints with bright colours! But I guess it is safe to say that typical ‘Scandi style’ is closest to my heart though.

Which bloggers inspire you? Plus or straight size! Any bloggers currently on your radar?
My fave plus-blogger is Danielle Vanier, who has such an inspirational and amazing style. Also plus girls like like Nicolette Mason, Isabell Decker, and my girl Mayah Camara among others. I do find smaller bloggers inspirational too, and male bloggers too. Fashion is for all 🙂

What do you think about where plus size fashion is today versus a few years back?
I think we are in a totally different place! So many new clothing ranges for plus sizes have appeared during this time I have been blogging, and we keep seeing more and more. And it isn’t just that – I love seeing models like Ashley Graham, Tara Lynn and Denise Bidot getting magazine covers and bookings to runway shows.

Of course, there are still things that are hard to find (for example those trendy oversized pieces that I mentioned), and more steps to take for mainstream fashion to be more ‘fat friendly’, but the situation we are in now is definitely better than a few years back.

What do you think or hear from readers, is one of the biggest myths about plus size fashion?
Sorry to keep bringing this up, but at the moment, for me it is the oversized pieces. The fact is that some of us really want to wear TRENDY pieces every season, and if the trend is oversized, we are interested just as much as skinnier girls are.

But because it isn’t flattering and makes us look like shapeless sacks, they don’t do them at all. But what if I don’t care? I just want that shapeless sack! But this goes for everything really – the trendy pieces are made more ‘flattering’ for the plus ranges in general. I have just never seen such a big difference in this until the oversized trend happened.

Are you working on anything or have anything to share? Anything else you want The Curvy Fashionista’s readers to know?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any special projects happening at the moment, as my day job has kept me quite busy lately. So in addition to hannawears.com I do try to post more outfits of the day on my Instagram, so please keep up with me at @hannawears 

Lastly, what does Curvy.Confident.Chic mean to you?
That we can all be confident with our bodies and our personal style, even if we have some more curves and rolls than some others 😉

Be sure to check out Hanna’s blog at HannaWears.com!!!