Emerald City; Sparkling With Amy Childs Collection Jasmine Dress

Firstly, I must apologise for my lack of blogging. Admittedly I am a hoarder of notable proportions, so continuing to blog regularly isn't helping my hoarding as this type of blogging relies on me buying clothes and lingerie, and well, I now have a HUGE excess of clothes!

Okay, now that's out of the way, I'll begin! Back in December I had the honour of attending my the Christmas party of my boyfriend's workplace, and of course I needed (and I use the word loosely) a new dress for the occasion. I narrowed my shortlist down to three and purchased, rather typically, the cheapest, a different dress to the one I'm reviewing today which I may review at a later date. After the Christmas Party, I couldn't stop thinking about the 'reject' dresses on my shortlist, notably the gorgeous Jasmine by Amy Childs. Then, tah-dahhh, it appeared for half price in the sale for £37.50 on the Amy Childs Official site! I used the poor excuse that "I need a dress for Valentine's night" to justify my purchase! Unfortunately the green has since sold out, but it's available in red here.

Now I'm not some kind of TOWIE fangirl, not by a long shot. In fact, I've never even seen the show and only vaguely know what it is, but I do admire Amy Childs' curves and her confidence to rock them. Here's Amy totally rocking the Jasmine dress.

*When purchasing from a brand new to yourself it's always worth checking online first for reviews on sizing and fit. That way you're less likely to have to deal with returns and disappointment. Just a little tip for you there ;o)

Onto the dress!
As I mentioned above, I checked reviews of this dress and many, if not all of them said to size up, so I ordered a size 10. When I tried the dress on it was still quite a squeeze, so when I say size up, REALLY do. Either go one size up for a snug fit or two up for a more comfortable fit. I can't comment on the fitting of this dress two sizes up (which would have been a size 12 for me) but I imagine it would have been a good fit on me.

I would recommend wearing a WYOB (Wear Your Own Bra) shapewear slip under this to make it easier to zip up, and because it's a fitted dress. If you don't have one, there are hundreds on eBay. I chose a M&S one in my usual dress size and it works perfectly. The bra I chose was an old faithful Freya Deco as it has a seamless appearance and gives a good shape.

Jasmine is a real head turner of a dress, covered in green matte sequins for a more sophisticated sparkle. It has the added detail of a spot of ruching to nip you in at the waist a bit more and create more of a curvy outline and sits at a nice length on me, just below my knee. I'm 5'2" for reference. I love the asymmetrical neckline, but be warned, you risk flashing a bra strap, so choose your lingerie wisely. Although the dress is fully lined, you still risk getting a few scratches from the sequins, so bear that in mind before you buy.

I don't have scoliosis by the way, I'm just standing wonkily!

As much as I love this dress, it doesn't come without a couple of issues. Firstly, the sizing as I've discussed already. It's a real annoyance to have to buy different sizes. Secondly, it doesn't offer a lot of stretch in the boob department and I was on the borderline of looking like I'd really squashed my boobs into the dress. And thirdly, the armholes are a bit bigger than I'd hoped for, thus flashing a bit of bra. It's nothing you busty ladies won't be familiar with.

If you've fallen in love with this dress in green, I apologise for not posting this review sooner and advise you to regularly check eBay as Amy's dresses are popping up on there all the time. I must admit I was slightly disappointed with the lack of boob room since Amy is very busty herself, but if you look through the Amy Childs Official store I'm sure you'll find something you'll love!

My love for Morticia

Widely tipped as being THE corset to own, the best selling Morticia underbust corset by What Katie Did has been firmly wedged on my wish list for quite some time now. With it's gored hips and extreme wasp waist, the Morticia is recommended for those who possess a 'vintage' hourglass figure with a large difference between the waist and hip measurements, preferably 10 inches or more.

A few months ago I came across one on eBay for £100, £59 below the RRP, so I went ahead and bought it. I went for the 22" as my 25" waist sits awkwardly between sizes 20" and 22". Sadly, when it arrived, it was too big and the gap at the back of the corset was fully closed, offering no potential for waist training or reduction. This was a very sad day for me because as soon as I'd unwrapped the pretty peach corset, I'd fallen in love with it instantly.

As you can see from the photos, the colour married beautifully with my icy blue Masquerade Rhea (Bravissimo exclusive colour way, no longer available) set. Despite the corset being too big, I still felt it had given me some shape at least, but I couldn't justify spending that amount of money on something that wasn't absolutely perfect.

I continued to search eBay on at least a weekly basis for a Morticia in a 20", then lo and behold, last week, there she was! Admittedly not in the beautiful peach of my previous purchase nor the super practical black I coveted, but in white satin. I was willing to overlook the Colorado on account of the price, just £60! The seller was only asking this amount because it was being sold without laces, something I managed to pick up for £4 from another eBay seller. So for the grand total of £70 including postage and laces, I became the very happy and proud owner of a brand new sparkling white Morticia!

As soon as she arrived, I unwrapped her; the seller had placed her in silver tissue paper inside a leopard print carrier bag, which added to the enjoyment of purchasing such an item of luxury. I took my laces and set to work with the aid of thisYouTube video to help me properly lace up my new baby. With a little tugging and adjustment, she was on, and boy was I impressed! Instant reduction, instant Jessica Rabbit curves! BAM!

     Of course, corseting with an off-the-shelf number can come with its problems, and for me it was a slight discomfort of my floating ribs (the very bottom set). However, I'm pretty certain that given proper waist training I could overcome this quite easily. My problem is that I want it all and now, so in the photo I'd laced it up as tight as I could to see what kind of reduction I could gain. I'm pretty sure you'll agree that it's rather impressive! Here's the back;

You can really feel the quality of the Morticia, and the structure is quite a feat of engineering. Somehow the Morticia has that perfect balance between hardcore structuring and slightly pliable comfort. Perfection!

I'm wearing Morticia with Curvy Kate's Tease Me set, available in a variety of colours from Brastop.

I adore the figure corsets give me and I'm more than tempted to give waist training a try, but for now I'm happy to just get my Morticia out whenever I need a reminder of exactly how awesome I can look with a little help!