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

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One Ticked Off The Bucket List; My Photoshoot with My Boudoir

FIRSTLY, PLEASE DON'T STEAL OR USE MY PHOTOS WITHOUT PERMISSION!

Back in 2011 during my time in the Curvy Kate Star In A Bra competition I said if I got into the top 10 I'd buy a floor length red sequinned strapless gown and have a photoshoot as curvy cartoon icon Jessica Rabbit. I eventually bought the dress and occasionally tried it on, dreaming about one day being transformed into Ms Rabbit. 

A few years ago one particular photographer, My Boudoir caught my attention after Georgina of FullerFigureFullerBust shot with them. Their images are stunning, capturing the beauty of each and every subject to a tee. My Boudoir is a 3 woman team; two make-up artists (Sarah and Michelle) and Nicola. Last year My Boudoir ran a competition looking for a muse and if you're a regular reader you'll know I made it into the final selection. Sadly I missed out on being selected for a shoot, but Nicola very kindly gave the runners up a £50 voucher towards a shoot and I finally bit the bullet and used mine last week!

My day began at home having booked the day of work to prepare. I had a long bath to relax and remove any trace of stubble to look as flawless as I could possibly manage for my shoot. I packed my bag and before I knew it my boyfriend was at my door ready to whisk me up the M6 to Ramsbottom. 

At Nicola's door I was greeted with another beautiful lady getting the last of her hair and make-up tweaked by Sarah and Nicola's sweet little French Bulldogs Stan and Norman. I was even given an antihistamine as I mentioned I'm allergic to short haired dogs so I could cuddle them without having to worry about having a skin flare up! Those ladies look after you, believe me!

I had the pleasure of having my look perfected by Sarah, and found myself convinced she studied at Hogwarts Beauty School of Hair Witchcraft and Make up Wizardry! Honestly, that woman is a genius! I've never seen myself look so good (even if I do say so myself)! I was then whisked upstairs to Nicola's bedroom (AKA her studio) and helped into my outfit. Nicola promptly snapped away, posing me as she saw fit. I then gotout of my Jessica Rabbit outfit and into my birthday suit for a couple of 'implied nudes', one of which I was posed beneath a dusky lilac ostrich feather fan, which I knew would turn out spectacularly.

So without further ado, my photos! I've spared you my butt crack and opted for the shot that Nicola so kindly cropped for me.

I consider My Boudoir to be the gold standard of Boudoir photography. I've perused numerous other photographers but none cut the mustard quite like Nicola! Yes, she edits the images but I don't have an issue with this as I see it as a final polish. It's not like I'm being made to not look like me anymore like some other editors do.

My Boudoir's make over and photoshoot packages start at £300. Keep an eye out for special shoot day offers by following their Facebook page.

So that's one thing checked off my bucket list! 

Thanks for reading 

x

Figure Hugging? Of Corset is!

It's no surprise that I love my curves, and anything to enhance them is a thumbs up in my book. The most extreme curve enhancer out there has to be the corset. Corsets have been around for several centuries, eventually spawning the bras that we know and love today, but still, they remain a staple in extreme shapewear.

It was back in 2005 when I first tried a corset, albeit a plastic boned one, offering little support but even so I was impressed with the way it flattered my curves. My collection grew and I found myself with 8-9 plastic boned corsets, dreaming of the day I could afford a 'proper' steel boned corset. As you can see from the photo, I still had to wear a bra to support the 'girls' or the corset would have collapsed.

Then one day I stumbled upon an online shop called corsets-uk, selling actually, proper steel boned corsets for a lot less than the £150+ was expecting to pay! I'm like a kid in a candy store when I find something new that I want, so I didn't stop at just one corset, I ended up with at least 10, all from Corsets-UK, but most of which don't fit nowadays sadly. With their fantastic Corset Of The Day (COTD) offers via their Facebook page you can often grab some real bargains. Most of mine I picked up for around the £30-£40 mark, like this awesome cherry patterned longline corset below.

My corset buying hit a lull until last year when I spotted this AMAZING Union Jack corset (£72 at the time of writing) just in time for the Queen's Jubilee and Olympic celebrations. I'm a sucker for Union Jacks since 1997 when Geri Halliwell stormed the Brits with that famous Union Jack dress. Despite measuring up as a 26" waist at the time, meaning I should have ordered a 22" corset, I chose a 24" for that bit of extra boob room. As much as I adore this corset, it just doesn't fit my curves as well as I'd like, particularly not now I've lost another inch from my waistline. I could cry! Still, look, it's not completely unwearable but it won't be cinching in my waist.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I tweeted a photo of me in said Union Jack corset to Corsets-UK. I was then contacted by one their lovely 'people' to ask if I'd like to review a corset of my choosing. As you can imagine, being a customer of theirs I was honoured and positively jumped at the chance! I'd recently drooled over FullerFigureFullerBust's review of Corsets-UK's Highly Curvaceous overbust corset, made for ladies such as Georgina and myself with more 'extreme' hourglass figures, meaning a difference of around 10" or more between waist and bust measurements.

Ideally I wanted a classic black overbust corset but unfortunately it was out of stock so I channelled my inner Jessica Rabbit and chose this red with black pleat trim overbust corset priced at £60 instead in a 20". I was so excited when it arrived that I tore open the packaging, laced myself into it and got snapping....at work! So for continuity and amusement I thought it would only be fair of me to use those very photos.

As you can see, the corset cinches me in perfectly and compared to the Union Jack you'll see there's extra room in the bust and hips, fitting me much better and in turn creating a cleaner silhouette. I just love the way it skims over my hips and actually FITS them, rather than creating a muffin...bottom (?) underneath like corsets without this amount of flaring normally would. Great stuff!

It's not THE perfect fit and I do have a few minor gripes with this corset. It doesn't quite push my boobs forward as much as I'd like, but I think that's more to do with my soft boobs rather than the corset. I'm almost certain this could be remedied by wearing either a strapless bra or maybe even some strategically placed 'chicken fillets'. The other issue is again probably down to my body rather than the corset, in that it feels slightly uncomfortable on my bottom ribs. As I said though, this is probably down to my body, since I'm only 5'2" and something that could only be fixed by having a bespoke corset made to my exact measurements. My last little gripe is that I'd have preferred it to have cord lacing rather than ribbon, but I can change that very easily of course.

I say with with a sinking heart and a sigh deep in my chest, but Corsets-UK have decided not to replenish stocks of their Highly Curvaceous range, so if they have your size in stock (4-5" smaller than your actual waist measurement) then BUY before they sell out! A little tip when shopping, you'll get more results by typing "GE" in the search box, but not all are the curvaceous type. You should be able to tell the difference very easily though.

Overall I'm delighted to have found a relatively problem free corset for my awkwardly short and curvy body!  Since I've never shopped elsewhere for my corsets, I can't compare to any other companies, but I'm more than happy with Corsets-UK so I've never felt the need to shop around. The corset has inspired me to finally buy that iconic red sequined floor length dress a la Jessica Rabbit as I promised myself I would two years ago! Here's a sneak peek until my dress gets here...

Are any of you corset wearers? If not, would you consider wearing one?

Ooh La La LOVE!

*This item was sent to me by Gossard to review. This in no way clouds my judgement*

As soon as I saw the Ooh La La range from Gossard I fell in love to the point of buying an entire set that didn't even fit purely on the basis that it looked gorgeous! I consider it the set that won me Brastop's Model Of The Month competition in December 2011. To recap, here's the set; plunge bra £30, deep suspender £22 and shorts £14.

Since then, I've lusted after the Ooh La La corsele £59 and thong £12 in it's different colours, particularly the most recent in Scarlet.

You can imagine my delight when the lovely Jade from Gossard offered to send me the very corselet and matching thong I'd been admiring from afar! As soon as I unpackaged it I was in love, but at a 30G (again, sent because Gossard don't make a 28GG) I was doubtful that it would fit.

The colour is more of a raspberry red rather than scarlet, with pinkish undertones. The vintage styling, pin tucks and lace really add to the luxury of this piece, making it ideal for bridal lingerie in the Ivory colour.

Firstly, Gossard boast this corselet has an 'easy-on, easy-off' side zip and hook and eye fastening. Let me tell you, easy it is NOT! I fought for quite a long time trying to fasten the damn thing, and eventually had to unhook the bra strap and spin it around! The zip is concealed and virtually invisible. Here's the fastening with the hook and eye part of the bra band fastened already;

The unique side hook and eye fastening with a concealed zip

The 30G padded cups were a perfect fit on me, but as expected, the band was on the large side, as was the body. I can imagine this fitting a 30G size 10-12 perfectly. Sadly it was an inch or two too big on my waist. It would be suitable for wearing underneath that little black dress as a sexy alternative to shapewear, but you also need to take into account the seams which may appear bulky under anything particularly tight fitting. I'm unable to comment on it's 'pull-in power' as it's loose in the body on me. This begs the question; how much pinning did they have to do on the model to get it to look so good?!

The addition of suspenders is both practical and drop dead sexy too! This corselet is a multi-way, enabling it to be worn under a strapless, halterneck, asymetrical or normal strapped dress. Sadly, as it was a bit big in the band, I can only wear it with straps.

Regular readers will know I like to buy my thongs in larger sizes to reduce 'muffin top' and in the Ooh La La, I was sent a Large, which fitted perfectly without any lumps and bumps.

Be warned, this corselet will make you feel like a real-life Jessica Rabbit!

At £59, it's a lot more than I'd be happy to spend, but if it fits and you have a use for it, I'd certainly recommend buying it. It's sexy, practical and well made. The corselet is available in sizes 30-38 D-G for £59 and the thong XS-L for £12. There's no denying it's one of the sexiest sets I've reviewed so far, it's just a shame that Gossard don't cater for more sizes.

What do you think? Would you pay this much for a corselet? Should Gossard branch out with their sizes?