Entice by Curvy Kate

Again, a bra from Curvy Kate's A/W12 season, but I thought I'd out this review up in case anyone is thinking of getting one now it's at a lower price on Brastop, currently £14.50 for the bra, £9.95 for the thong and £10.95 for the short.

When I first saw the initial shots of the Entice set, I loved it. It ticked all the boxes of what I look for in lingerie. It's sexy, padded and comes in a great size range; 28-30 D-J, 32 D-HH, 34 D-H, 36 D-GG, 38 D-G.  

While I was more than happy with the fit, it pains me to say that I was more than disappointed with the fabric. I was expecting a printed stretch satin, like that of the Thrill Me. Instead I got a kind of cheap polyester mix with the 'stripes' being a slightly bulky stitched-on trim. The shorts were mainly made up of a black stretch satin type fabric and weren't so bad. 

I'd read that the Entice is based on the same shape as the Fleurty, so I ordered it in a 28HH, and the shorts in a 16 as normal. As with the Fleurty, the fit was spot on, so bear in mind you should go up one or two cup sizes but stick with your usual band size. Order the shorts in your usual Curvy Kate size and you should have a set that fits. Hopefully! I was particularly fond of the straps on the Entice. They're not your usual boring bra straps but they are much wider at the point they're attached to the bra, tapering off to a wide strap for greater support. This is only a small difference but one that sets the design apart from all the other bras in my drawer. 

As much as I love how this set looks on, I found the fabric far too much of a reason not to keep it, so I've returned it. I'd love Curvy Kate to make this set in a stretch satin. Not only would it justify the (not discounted) price tag, hich in my opinion doesn't match the quality, it would also be much more wearable and less bulky under clothes.

The Entice is also available in Ivory/Gold which would make a beautiful bridal set. if you can live with the fabric. Here's the gorgeous Sophie Morgan modelling the set. Photo courtesy of Curvy Kate.

Ladies, would you rule out an otherwise perfect lingerie set due to fabric issues?

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?

Curvy Kate's Smoothie

It's been a long time since I've found a bra that I can truly say I'm happy enough with to replace my faithful Freya Decos but when Curvy Kate released photos of their new moulded bra last year, I felt things might just change.

When the Smoothie bra was released as part of Curvy Kate's AW12 range it was speculated that this new basic would be a rival for the firm favourite Freya Deco moulded plunge bra, which I'll be reviewing later this week hopefully.

The Smoothie is made from a lovely smooth black stretch fabric with a subtle leopard pattern, which can't be seen in my photo. It is lightly moulded and has fully adjustable straps and is the most true to size back in Curvy Kate's padded bras I've tried so far. The central gore sits higher than that of the Freya Deco which is good if you have soft, bottom heavy breasts that tend to fall out of the middle of plunge bras.

I've had my 28H Smoothie since November and the only real issue I have with it is that it comes up a touch high under the arms. The wires are just a tiny bit too long and this can cause a bit of discomfort towards the end of the day. The band is a little on the large side, but as I said before, it's probably the best so far from Curvy Kate, other than the Fleurty. The thong is a size 16 and is  perfect fit. 

Although the Smoothie doesn't quite give the epic cleavage that the Deco offers, it's overall a better fit. I will certainly be buying the Smoothie in each and every colour it's released in as it's such a good staple bra.The next colours to feature in the SS13 range are Hot Pink and Blush, as seen below (photos courtesy of the Curvy Kate blog)

Currently only available in black, but soon to be released in the above colours, get yours for £29 here at Brastop. Sizes 28-30 D-J, 32 D-HH, 34 D-H, 36 D-GG, 38 D-G

Bravissimo SALE! Tanzania Stripe and Rococco Charm

A month or so ago the new Bravissimo catalogue dropped through my letter box. Included with it was a supplementary sale leaflet and to my joy, a few of the bras I'd been eyeing up last season were in there! I immediately got on my iPad and filled my put my order through.

A few days later my parcel arrived, containing the Tanzania Stripe set and the Rococo Charm bra.

First up, the Tanzania Stripe by Bravissimo, currently £24 for the bra and £12.50 for the shorts. With it's striking teal/iris zebra stripe design, it immediately appealed to my love of animal prints. I was disappointed to find that it's unpadded, which is completely my own fault as I just assumed it was by the look of it. So instantly this was going back, but not before me trying it on for size of course. Before I ordered I carefully read the reviews and chose a size 28H on recommendation that this bra runs slightly small in the cup. The first thing I noticed was that this bra was REALLY tight in the band. So much so that I could only just fasten it! The wires appeared to have been made for a much larger band and ended up virtually touching my shoulder blades at the back! The cup was slightly too small so if I were to order this again I'd go for a 30H for both those reasons. The shorts I'd rad, came up small so I ordered a medium and a large, with the large being the best fit. It's a really supportive bra and I wouldn't have thought twice about reordering if I were a fan of unpadded bras.

Bravissimo's Tanzania Stripe

Secondly I tried Bravissimo's Rococo Charm bra, now at £21 which again is an unpadded half cup, and again, sent back because I thought it was padded! The design of the bra is really beautiful, and the colour, a soft peach is so pretty! Although the shape is supposedly the same as the Tanzania Stripe, I found that the fit was quite different. This is a 28H, the same as the Tanzania Stripe, but the Rococo Charm fits much better. In fact, I'd call it a perfect fit. The wires didn't go back as far and the back wasn't quite as tight. If this were a little padded I definitely would have kept it!

The Bravissimo Rococo Charm

So if it's unpadded half cups you're looking for, look no further and snap them up at Bravissimo before they're gone!

A quickie review of Flirtelle's Audrey and Curvy Kate's Rio Ruffle bikini

Hi guys, I'm so sorry I've not posted since November! My December holiday then Christmas got in the way and I stopped buying clothes and lingerie so I ran out of things to review. 

I looked through some old albums on my laptop and found a few bra pics that I hadn't posted. The following are both still very much available at Brastop so I feel this is a relevant and up to date post.

Please excuse the photo quality, I only took quick snaps as I was packing for my holiday at the time and I had to get both sent back for a refund asap.

Firstly we have the Curvy Kate Rio Ruffle bikini, currently at just £12.95 for the top, and £6.95 for the bottoms! The Rio Ruffle bikini was from Curvy Kate's very first plunge into the sea of swimwear and when I first saw it I fell instantly in love. The colours are beautiful, a rich jade with a cerise trim, and it has RUFFLES! I love a ruffle! I ordered a few different sizes on the recommendation of my busty pals, as this bikini is a tricky one to get right. In the end I settled on my usual size of 28GG for the best fit. 

Personally I found this bikini was too east/west for my breasts, and cut across slightly, giving me a spot of quadraboob. It would suit those who usually have success with lots of Curvy Kate bras, such as Emily as the Rio Ruffle is based on the Emily shape ut with lightly padded cups. I better suit their balcony shape (Fleurty, Tease Me) so it didn't work for me. I'd have preferred something a bit more cleavagey with more forward projection.

Rio Ruffle bikini by Curvy Kate

Next I tried the Audrey by Flirtelle, sister company of Curvy Kate. Priced currently at £12 and £6.95 for the brief, the pretty simplicity of the textured floral fabric attracted me to this set. It's certainly no show stopper but better suited as an everyday bra. It is lightly moulded and is very supportive, but again it's an east/wester on me, and again slightly cuts into my breasts across the middle, although this can't be seen in the photo below. The Audrey bra seems to me to be the same shape as the Curvy Kate Daily Boost bra.

Audrey bra by Flirtelle

I'm so sad that neither of these worked for me as I really like the look of them both. Oh well, at least it gives me a better idea of what to look for in the future!

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? 

Sorry to ask AGAIN but I need your votes!

Hey all, please could you all do me a huge favour and vote for me to win Curvy Kate's next swimwear collection?

Just click this link and click VOTE, or failing that, go to the gallery and find my design (see below) and simply click vote!

Also, while I'm on the subject of voting, please could you vote for fellow Star In A Bra 2011 contestant Georgina Horne of FullerFigureFullerBust to win Tesco's Winter Wishlist blogger competition. She's number 3 and looks something like this:

Thanks lovelies! x