Image courtesy of Ewa Michalak
I fell in love with this babydoll when I first saw this playful photograph on Ewa's Facebook page. I already own their first babydoll offering, the Babydoll For You, and it's a superb piece of lingerie with its lacy unpadded cups and sheer body, but this one wowed me with its padded cups, gorgeous floral print, and opaque fabric. Yet again Ewa is giving us even more lingerie choices - hurrah!
I was sent the Koszulka Babydoll Nostalgia in 36KK/80KK and the matching thong in 20/48.
I teamed the babydoll and thong with my faithful black Prague Lady Microfiber Opaque Hold-ups from The Big Tights Company and my patent lace heels from New Look.
The Koszulka Babydoll Nostalgia has lightly padded four part (in my size, at least) foam cups, which are overlaid with a stretchy pink, grey, and black floral printed microfibre fabric. The tops of the cups are edged by a line of pink ribbon with just a hint of black lace peeping out, which is a subtle and sexy touch. There is a plain black button on the central gore, and also at the point where each strap meets the top of the cup. The same pink ribbon runs across the underbust, to be tied as tight as the wearer wishes, and its light colour gives the otherwise dark lingerie a contrasting but welcomed brightness.
The cups are the 'S' bra style, so essentially a padded balconette (NB Cup sizes at the smaller end of the bra scale will be made in the '3D' cut - see the blurb on the EM website for more information). There are removable pads in the bottoms of the cups, which can either be worn to help correct the appearance of asymmetry, which is their principle purpose, or kept in place to provide extra support to the breasts. As someone with particularly large and heavy boobs I usually keep the pads in place in my bras but I find this does make the cup about half a size smaller. In this instance, that isn't a problem as the cups are a very good fit with the pads in place.
The body of the babydoll is made from the same stretchy microfibre material that covers the cups, so it all blends together beautifully. The microfibre has a bit of weight to it so it hangs really well and feels fairly substantial for a piece of lingerie. The body is joined at the back, which creates a proper skirt. This is nice as some babydolls are left open at the back, but this one seems to have definitely been designed for at least some amount of modesty. The bottom hem is shaped in a soft zig-zag pattern and is finished off with black stretch lace edging.
Bandwise the Koszulka Babydoll Nostalgia is fairly stretchy, and of course this will be partly to do with the stretchy microfibre fabric from which much of the garment is made. The band fastens with three rows of three hooks and eyes and feels comfortable when worn. I certainly found the 36/80 band too big for me, but as this babydoll is a leisure/bedroom item I am not overly fussed about this. A great benefit of it being a bit big is that it's much easier to get on and off than my other EM babydoll, so there's much less hoiking of the cups under and over my boobs when getting dressed and undressed!
The 36KK/80KK cups are a good fit for me, either with or without the removable pads in place, and I don't get any quadboobing. As always, Ewa's wonderfully narrow wires and deep cups suit me down to the ground and give my breasts incredible uplift, support, and shape. The central gore sits flat against my sternum and under my arms my breast tissue is entirely encased. The wires do not run too high into my armpits and they don't poke or chafe me.
I was pleased to see nice wide straps on this babydoll. My heavy boobs can cause straps to dig in - not usually uncomfortably so, but by the end of the day it can sometimes get a bit much, depending on the bra of course - but wide straps are always a welcome feature as it means the weight of each breast is more evenly spread on my shoulders. Another bonus is the fact that the straps are fully adjustable, so it's very simple to get the right fit. There's embellishment along the edges of each strap to ensure the adjuster does not move during wear, and I am pleased to report that it is very effective indeed.
On reflection I think it would have been better to wear my Kix'ies Thigh Highs with this babydoll as they come up lower on my thighs and so that tantalising glimpse of flesh between the bottom hem of the babydoll and the tops of the hold-ups would have been more apparent. These Big Tights Company hold-ups work perfectly well in reality but for the purpose of these photos I think something shorter in the leg would have been preferable.
The thong is super comfortable to wear thanks to the soft and stretchy microfibre material. I am a sucker for sheer fabrics so I really like the sheer black mesh section over the crotch area (and it continues underneath...) as it gives a hint of what lies beneath without being too revealing. The thong has black lace around the top, pale pink ribbon edging along the sides of the mesh panel, and a cute pale pink bow on the rear. The gusset is lined with black cotton material.
I don't know how she does it but Ewa's designs are pure genius as the cut of her knickers and thongs always makes one's backside look incredible, and she achieves this without any compromise for the comfort of the wearer. I wish other lingerie manufacturers would learn from Ewa's designs of both her bras and her briefs, as she hits the nail on the head every time AND offers a massive selection of sizes in both. It seems like so many UK lingerie makers stop their briefs at a size 16 or 18, which is no good at all for plumper plus size bodies.
I was fortunate enough to receive the matching bra, the S Nostalgia, along with the babydoll and thong, and I will be reviewing the bra in a separate blog post.
The Koszulka Babydoll Nostalgia is a fantastic babydoll option for anyone who wants to keep their midriff covered, as it is essentially a bra attached to a skirt made from opaque fabrics. It's a bra-sized dress with underwires! I absolutely love it and the floral print's timeless beauty will ensure I hang on to this babydoll for quite some time to come.
Have you tried any of Ewa Michalak's babydolls? If so, what do you think of them? Have you tried lingerie like this from any other brands? Share your experiences by commenting below.
