Taming your waist with Corset Story

When the folks at Corset Story offered me the chance to review a corset for them I must admit I was reluctant to try, as from past experience their corsets haven't been quite curvy enough for me ad as gorgeous as some of the corsets are, I resigned them to the 'just won't fit me' category of websites I no longer visit.

It turns out they've been working on their range since I last browsed their site, now offering 'waist taming' corsets including gored hips and hip panels in a variety of shapes and patterns. Take a look here, some of them are really beautiful!

I chose the Black Satin Underbust with Hip Panels, priced currently at £59. My waist measures 25.5" currently and I usually wear a 20" in my other corsets from What Katie Did and Orchard Corset but I know Corset Story aren't as generous so I went for the 22". I think the 24" would have fitted quite well too, so please bear this in mine when you buy. It is also worth noting that this corset has waist tape, something not usually found in low-end of off the rack (OTR) corsets.

The awesome hip panels!

Waist tape, hip panels and suspender loops

Modesty panel

I wasn't expecting much for a relatively low cost OTR corset but when it arrived I was pleasantly surprised! Although it doesn't quite create the extreme level of 'hip shelf' I get in my What Katie Did Vamp underbust corset (£159.50), the hip panels mean that it actually fits my shape comfortably! 

As you can see from the back, the corset has a wide modesty panel which I failed to neatly line up and also featured suspender loops should you wish to add suspenders (also sold by Corset Story here). Fully laced, the edges are pretty much parallel, apparently the safest way to lace as it means the pressure is even throughout the corset. All the Waist Taming corsets are fully steel boned and come with tags that contain a sample of the spiral steel boning, which is one of those little touches I love!

For the above photos I teamed up my new Corset Story Waist Taming corset with some old high waisted black swim shorts and the Egoboost Multiway Bra by Gossard. I also had a bit of fun, creating a couple of Halloween looks with various items I found in my bedroom as you will see below!

If you're new to corseting and don't want to blow the bank or if you're a seasoned corset wearer looking for something new, check out the new range of Waist Taming and Instant Shape corsets by Corset Story.

The Jessica Dress by Gerry Roxby

As you all know, I'm slightly obsessed with Jessica Rabbit but her 'traditional' floor length gown is somewhat impractical, so when I came across this shorter version, aptly named Jessica by Gerry Roxby for Glamour Bunny, I instantly added her to my lust list.

Priced at £80 I wasn't about to go crazy and impulse buy her, so when I saw Blogger rebelangel was selling hers in a size Small for just £35 I almost snapped her arm off!

Jessica sits just below the knee on me at 5'2", has a split at the back to ease walking and is made from a stretch sequin fabric. The bodice is plastic boned which can be awkward for some, me included, as it tends to create a more angular shape rather than rounded like what I was getting in my Gossard Egoboost strapless bra.I think the idea is that you can wear the dress braless, but to someone with a heavier bust this, as always, isn't possible. The bodice also has an elasticated strap with a bra fastening to help keep the bust securely in place. Jessica is fully lined and zips up at the back.

Apologies for the bra show!

As I mentioned before, Jessica is designed to be worn braless and yes, I tried it but it wasn't pretty! The plastic boning just isn't enough to hold up an ample bust sadly, so I tried it with my Gossard Egoboost strapless in a 30G (review to follow at some point) and it worked well, although Jessica didn't quite cover my bra fully. I'm sure a couple of carefully placed safety pins or strips of 'Hollywood tape' would do the trick nicely however. My other issue is that the shape of the bust line is more pointy than sweetheart, which would have been much more preferable I feel, and may have helped cover my bra.

Jessica is touted on the Glamour Bunny site as being ideal for hourglass curves, with the measurements in a size Small being 34" bust, 26" waist and 37" hips. I'm currently at 36" bust, 25.5" waist, 39" hips and it fits me well.

Under my Jessica I also wore my What Katie Did Vamp underbust corset to give me those exaggerated hips and a bit of extra bust support. I forgot to add my shapewear to smooth out the bottom of the corset so you can see the bottom line of the corset if you look for it.

I couldn't help but strike a classic Jessica Rabbit pose!

All in all, I'm very fond of my Jessica. It's definitely a, dare I say it, more subtle(?!) way to wear a Jessica Rabbit style and comes in other colours too. Okay, so it's not the most impractical dress as I'd have to wear it with a corset and strapless bra (come on ladies, they're not the comfiest piece of kit are they?!) but for a special night out where you want to make an impact it's absolutely perfect! It's always worth checking eBay for Gerry Roxby dresses as there are a few going for quite a low price from time to time.

Thanks for reading

Le Curvy Kitten

x

You Little Nipper! The Orchard Corset cs-301

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the absolute doll that is Jessica from PinUpPersuasion saying she'd been in touch with Orchard Corset and asked if they could send me a corset to review as a thank you for being her favourite lingerie blogger!

After some time of wallowing in utter flattery, I headed over to Orchard Corset's website to browse their selection. Since I'd already purchased the ever popular CS-426 underbust a few months back (which I'm yet to review) and own a number of overbusts, I opted for the mini underbust, the relatively new CS-301 in black cotton. I went for a 20", a size smaller than the recommended 22" for my 26" waist.

Photograph from Orchard Corset

Currently at $65 (£38) I consider the CS-301 a cheaper alternative to the What Katie Did Baby Corset at £129.50. Since I've not tried the WKD Baby, I can't do a comparison of the two, but I will say the only differences I can see are that the Baby is 7" long and curved at the bottom and the CS-301 is 8" long and is straight at the bottom.

The CS-301 is much easier to wear than longer corsets since it has a very short rise so you don't feel quite as restricted. It only has 3 fasteners too, meaning you can do a quick release should you feel uncomfortable or claustrophobic, which I sometimes feel a slight hint of when corseted. Yes, I know you're meant to unlace the corset first, but with the CS-301 I don't feel this is necessary.

I've owned a LOT of steel boned corsets over the years but never actually wear them so I'd consider myself a corset newbie. I wore my CS-301 on a hot summer's day with my navy polka dot dress from Pepperberry (no longer available) to a local vintage fair. Aside from some itching in the back panel, it was relatively comfortable and I managed to clock up a few hours wear including a large slice of lemon drizzle cake before I decided it had to go as I was too hot and itchy!

A few weeks later I decided to wear the corset to bed and for the following day, only this time with a cami underneath. It was remarkably comfortable and I only took it off to eat lunch. I'm far too lazy to get up early enough in the morning to lace a corset so wearing one in bed and for the following day would be the only way for me to waist train.

My only complaint about the CS-301 is because it's a short corset, when I sit down I have a 'muffin bottom' effect in my lower belly region. This wasn't such as issue since I was wearing a swing dress at the time, but it would mean I couldn't wear the corset with a fitted dress. Not unless I wasn't needing to sit down at least.

I'd recommend this corset to anyone, old or new to the world of corsetry as it is an easy starter corset, or for those waist training and wanting a break from a longer corset, this would be ideal. I'd love to waist train and may start wearing my CS-301 to start with, then move on to my CS-426 eventually.

Not causing a stink with Urkye's Skunks dress

I first fell in love with colour block illusion dresses when I saw Georgina of FullerFigureFullerBust and Caroline of CurvyWordy in this one by Scarlett & Jo for Evans, but since Evans specialise in sizes 14-32 I was sadly too small for this dress.

Caroline and Georgina; curves to die for!

Since I already own a LOT of dresses I didn't try to seek a similar dress out in my size, but when Polish fuller bust clothing specialists Urkye announced the arrival of their new 'Skunks' dress, I could feel my willpower weakening. I managed to hold out for a good few months until the dress started infiltrating amongst my curvy pals, and finally gave in! The Skunks dress is available in three colours; Sapphire, Grey and Magenta. 

If you're anything like me, you'll be slightly worried about ordering with non-English speaking companies, but sometimes you have to take the plunge or you'll miss out. on the Urkye website, you can set the language to English on the right hand side, making the process a whole lot easier.

Onto the next issue; sizing! Much like the British company Pepperberry and Polish company BiuBiu, Urkye use a system of dress sizes with varying boob sizes to ensure a neater, more tailored fit. So for example, if you fit into a 12 everywhere else, but need a 16 up top, then these are the companies you should consider shopping with. Each company has their own system, and Urkye's can be found here. I decided to size down in the body and up in the bust from a 36 o/oo I was measuring up at, to a 34 oo/ooo on the advice of ladies who'd already tried this dress.

Prices are listed in Polish Zlotych but don't be put off. Just use a currency converter such as xe.com. The cost for one Skunks dress comes out at £30, with postage a very reasonable £5.25.

A week or so later, the dress arrived. At first I didn't think it was going to fit as it seemed quite a struggle to get into it, failing arms, overheating, the lot! But when I pulled it down over my hips and straightened it out...WOW! I know I throw this phrase around a lot but this dress really does feel like it was made for me. The fit is absolutely spot on and I prefer a long sleeve over a three-quarter one because I tend to feel the cold easily. The length is perfect too, sitting just on the knee. I'm 5'2" for reference. I'm not wearing any shapewear with the dress in the following photos.

I was intending to wear this dress for work, but you know what? It's FAR too sexy for that! What do you think?

The 'I love you but you're totally unwearable' cartoon print dress from New Look

Yesterday I had half an hour to kill on my lunch break, so I thought I'd nip into New Look to have a look at their often lovely range of wide fit shoes. However, something caught my eye. Something so epic and crazy and completely unwearable that I felt compelled to try it on! The first thing I noticed about it is the amazing print, full of cartoons, doodles, photos...

I chose this eye catching number in a size 10 as it I could tell the size 8 would be too small. Off I toddled to the changing room. I slipped the dress on and soon realised that....um wow! Talk about a confidence boost. It looks like I was poured into it!

Unfortunately it's not the kind of dress you can wear a stitch of underwear with down to the sheer panels that run down the side of the dress. BUT, they add to the curvy effect so I couldn't see it working so well without them. 

The dress costs £24.99 by the brand Parisian and isn't available (yet?) on New Look's website. However, there's one without the sheer panels for just £16.99. 

As much as I love the way this dress looked and made me feel, I didn't buy it for numerous reasons. I need to wear a bra and I just couldn't in this. Also, it's way too racy and young for me!

What do you think? Would you wear it?

Lady V's Latest Offfering: The Wiggle Dress

As you may have realised by my previous posts, I LOVE Lady V London's dresses. Recently on their Facebook page they announced the arrival of the new Wiggle dresses, a prospect that filled me with sheer joy!

The Lady V Wiggle dress comes in 7 colours and 3 different prints in sizes 8-20/22. It costs £40, or £30-£40 at the time of writing this since it's on offer. I opted for the Red/White Polka Dot and the White/Black Polka Dot as they popped out to me most. As for the sizes, my measurements are; bust 36", waist 26.5, hips 38" so I ordered sizes 8 and 10 in both colours to ensure I didn't miss out on the introductory offer. Here's the size chart for this particular dress:

Two days later a pink package arrived containing the lovely dresses! My first observation was that the red isn't a bright poppy red but more of a wine red, which isn't what I was expecting, but is really nice nonetheless. The dresses are of a nice quality and don't feel like they'd fall apart or lose their shape easily. 

The fabric of the skirt part is quite a thick, quality stretch cotton/elastane mix and designed to cling to your curves, but does seem to be prone to creasing. The top part (the patterned bit) is made from a non-stretch viscose so I wasn't sure how the fit would work out on a fuller bust. The other design feature I was worried about was the 'apex' between the bust, which creates a kind of cupped dress. I've always steered clear of this sort of feature as all women have differently sized boobs, so I think a lot of women might not look quite right in these dresses as a result. A more preferable design in my opinion would be to have a high waisted design without the bit between the boobs. Something like this. I've added the collar and bow using my amazing MS Paint skills, but you get the idea! The original dress is from Ebay, apologies but I can't find the listing now!

The 'apex'

As I said before, I ordered both size 8s and 10s to try and find the perfect fit. The 8 fitted better in the body, if not a little more snug than I feel comfortable in but the top part of the dress was too small, hence the mega cleavage. The 10 was perfect at the top but too big at the bottom, which you can clearly see in the photos below. This problem could easily have be solved by a minor and relatively simple alteration.  

The one thing I noticed when I laid them flat was how 'hippy' these dresses are, making them ideal for those curvier ladies who don't go straight up and down. If I were to have kept one, it definitely would have been the white/black polka dot dress in a 10 and have it tailored to fit.

White/Black Polka Dot:

Red/White Polka Dot:

Be warned, the plunging neckline is not for the faint of heart and exposes lots of skin (and cleavage if you're busty). You'll need to wear a balcony bra, such as Curvy Kate's Tease Me or Masquerade's Rhea for the bra not to be seen. In my photos I'm wearing a Freya Deco plunge bra that I had to fold to make the cups less visible (you can see them in the red dress) and a shapewear 'Wear Your Own Bra' (WYOB) slip from Primark's Secret Possessions range to smooth out my silhouette.

I love the pin up style of the wiggle dress and the fact that it has a wide collared neckline, polka dot pattern, high waist and a bow really pushes my buttons. The 'apex' I discussed is something I would normally have overlooked for such a nice dress but I can't really afford another at the moment, so I've had to send them all back, sorry Lady V...I'll always accept gifts y'know ;)

So ladies, what do you think? 

Bringing out the Retro Goddess in you with Gossard Retrolution!

*This set was sent to me by the kind people at Gossard to review*

Apologies for the break in blog posts, I've recently stopped spending so much on clothes and lingerie on account of paying for my Maldivian holiday next month! Thankfully, the lovely folks at Gossard sent me another set to review, so I didn't have to spend a penny! Phew!

I was sent the Retrolution set of the half padded bra (£36) in my 'sister size' of 30G with a waist cincher (£40) in a large, but neither fitted. In the bra the cups run small, as does the band, so ideally a 30GG or 30H would have fitted, but sadly Gossard don't produce bras above a G cup. The large cincher was too big all round, so I returned the set for a 32G and a medium cincher.

The Retrolution range boasts tags saying 'VIP' which instantly makes you feel you're getting something special, and the 'hardwear' is in a striking shade of rose gold as opposed to the usual silver.

Each design in the range has high quality lace panels combined with a stretch satin type fabric, again of a high quality. The Waist Cincher benefits particularly from the stretch satin as it really holds it's shape and can help smooth out any lumps and bumps. The little details and stitching add to the 'VIP' feel of the range.

The back of the bra features the classic Gossard gate back, which I love, and a nice thick band of hooks and eyes as you can see here. Great for support in larger cups.

So, how did it fit? Well, it could be better. The bra, as I said was a 32G, a far cry from my 'real' size of 28GG which meant the back was on the large size, but not so much that it would cause any major issues. It fitted more like a 30G, so I'd recommend going up a back size but keeping your cup size the same as it runs small in the cup. The coverage of the bra is full and not something I'd normally go for, but is certainly something I'd wear as there's no risk of any spillage from the centre of the cups like I usually experience in plunge bras. I will need to take the band in a little to get the perfect fit, but I must say, this bra does seem to be a very wearable day-to-day bra.

The waist cincher was ideal for me in the butt in a medium, but an inch or so too big in the waist. This is perfectly understandable as not everybody is as curvy as me, with my waist measurement of 26.5" and hips at their widest at 38". The cincher could really work as decent shapewear on someone with more 'normal' curves I'm sure. I wouldn't recommend wearing this under a slinky dress as the seams are relatively bulky so you'd get a VPL.

So you want to know how it looks, right? Here you go!

Admittedly I wouldn't have bought this set as I like a PERFECT fit and something I know I'll wear regularly, and the price is a little more than I'd pay at £76 for the set. The thing I loved about this set is that it really hit the spot in making me feel like a Retro Goddess. I teamed it with seamed stockings and black heels (not seen) and felt every inch the Pin-Up, see?! 

What do you think?

The Tremendous Tiki!

When I first discovered Collectif around a year ago, I fell in love with the Tiki print Sarong dress, but it was sold out in my size. I toyed with getting the next size up but decided against it, and put those longing thoughts to bed. Le sigh. 

Then, whilst idly browsing Ebay, I came across Collectif's Ebay shop and found one in a size 8! I didn't pay a lot for it, I think it was £15 or thereabout. Luckily, nobody else was bidding against me. The listing said the print was slightly imperfect but once it arrived, I had a good look and couldn't find anything wrong!

It fits on the large size, so I'd recommend sizing down. As it's a halter neck, you'll need to find a multiway bra that doesn't show. Here I'm wearing a Panache Inferno Plunge. The fabric belt that comes with it isn't the best, and doesn't flatter the dress as well as it could, but that's not an issue when you have as many wide belts as I do. My red one is a firm favourite and it contrasts the turquoise blue of the Tiki print perfectly! What do you think?

So the moral of the story is, don't give up looking, and ALWAYS try Ebay!