Evans Scarlett & Jo Blue City Dress

You may recall a few months ago I reviewed the Scarlett & Jo Side Panel Dress from Evans. This dress was a big hit with me, both in the red/black and the blue/black colourways, as its shape worked so well on my hourglass figure.

Since then, there have been a few different colourways brought out, as well as the Blue City Dress, which has many similarities to its predecessor.

Image courtesy of Evans

Collectif Dolores Doll Red Riding Hood Print Dress

I have been meaning to write a review of this dress for several weeks but other commitments have meant that I've had to put it to one side.  Now I am delighted to be able to tell you about my latest Dolores Doll dress from the amazing Collectif.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the Dolores Doll Red Riding Hood Print Dress.

Image courtesy of Collectif

F&F Clothing Julia Peplum Ponte Dress

You may have noticed I've been giving peplum dresses a try lately (you can use the search box on the right to find all my peplum reviews on here if wished).  Peplums are something that until recently I thought were only for women with smaller hips but after trying a few different styles of peplums I must admit that I am quite the fan!


The one thing I hadn't found before was a peplum dress with a v-neck.  I'd seen heaps of peplum dresses with a high neck, a round neck or a slight scoop neck, but nothing at all with a crossover or v-neck.

You can imagine how thrilled I was when I spotted the Julia Peplum Ponte Dress on the F&F Clothing at Tesco website.  

Image courtesy of F&F Clothing

F&F Clothing Julia Animal Print Gold Ring Wrap Dress...AND GIVEAWAY!

Just over a week ago I attended The Official British Plus-Size Fashion Weekend on behalf of F&F Clothing (the new name for Clothing at Tesco).  You can read all about my day out here.

As part of the arrangement, the fab team at F&F Clothing kindly provided me with a voucher so that I could buy something from their fabulous clothing range to wear on the day.  I went crazy and ordered a variety of dresses, way outspending the value of my voucher (oops).

Matalan Print Midi Dress

When browsing my local Matalan store recently, I happened upon a couple of wrap dresses that I hoped would work as well as my beloved George at Asda Moda Wrap Dresses.  

The Print Midi Dress is available in blue:

Image courtesy of Matalan

And also in black and white:

Image courtesy of Matalan

I tried the dresses on in store in size 14 but they were far too big on me so I got them both in size 10 and took some photos when I got home.

I'm going to review both dresses together as they are exactly the same dress, just with a different print.  So, first of all, we have the blue dress:

Simply Be Glamorosa Dress in Very Voluptuous

I have got lots of different dress reviews on my blog - from maxi dresses to fitted dresses and flared dresses.  But all of these dresses have something in common: they are all made from either jersey or viscose/elastane, which are both very thin fabrics.  With the cooler months heading towards us at top speed, I have been turning my attention to items available in thicker fabrics which are more suitable for cooler temperatures.

Thankfully, Simply Be have released their clothing and footwear collections for Autumn/Winter 2012.  And what a lot of beautiful items they have for us all!  

Moda Printed Jersey Dress by George at Asda

I went shopping yesterday and happened to visit a nearby Asda superstore.  You're probably wondering why I am talking about a supermarket on my blog...but here in the UK supermarkets no longer just sell food and drink.  For several years now they have been expanding into new markets, including electricals, banking, toys, books and - hurrah - clothing!

'George' is the name for the range of clothing available at Asda.  I have blogged about them before because they have a wide range of clothing in many different styles and all at great prices.

A few days ago, I had a conversation with the gorgeous Kitty over at Undercover Lingerista about some of the dresses on the George website.  One which had caught her eye was this Moda Printed Jersey Dress:

Image courtesy of George at Asda

Hurray for Hobbs!

I recently needed to find a posh frock for a fancy evening do for work.  Where would you go if you needed such a dress?  I had very few ideas so asked friends on Facebook, who came up with all sorts of suggestions.  One lady, however, suggested the online and high street retailer Hobbs.  I wasn't overly familiar with the brand but a quick skim through their website told me that they stocked quality items for all sorts of occasions. 

I duly took myself off to the Bluewater store and was treated like royalty by assistant Marcia and manager Mo. The Hobbs ladies really cater for their customers' every need and are willing to offer advice and styling suggestions as well as having a very thorough knowledge of their ranges. Superb!

Eliza Parker Portofino by Day Dress

I had never heard of American plus size clothing brand Eliza Parker until I read a review of the Monaco dress by the amazing Mhairi at Lilybobomb's Lovely Lumps.  She made the dress look absolutely stunning and I was most envious!

Recently I was on the lookout for something special to wear for a posh work do and I was over the moon when Jessica, the founder of Eliza Parker, was kind enough to offer me a dress of my choice to see if it would be suitable.

It was so hard to choose from all the gorgeous numbers on offer but after a couple of choices ended up being out of stock I settled on the Portofino by Day dress in Teal.

  

Images courtesy of Eliza Parker

IGIGI Naime Maxi Dress

It's been a little while since I did a non-lingerie post so I decided it was about time I told you about some of the clothes I have been trying out recently.

Last month, I was invited to attend a very posh evening do with work so the hunt was on for an appropriate dress to wear.

Ewa Michalak CH Karmelki

It's no secret that I love Ewa Michalak bras.  I am fortunate enough to own many of them in various designs and two different styles - PL (plunge) and CH (halfcup).  My PL collection is pretty comprehensive, however I am having to sell some of my older bras and replace with new ones as I am no longer the 36 back I was (or perhaps thought I was??) when I started this blog last autumn.  

A couple of months ago I was fitted as a 30K (or perhaps even KK if they made it) in Freya bras.  I have also been wearing Ewa Michalak bras in a 32K, although I have been wondering if a 30 back would be better.

I was really thrilled when I got the chance to try out some of the latest EM designs.  First up is the CH Karmelki.

Image courtesy of Ewa Michalak

Bravissimo Sun Seeker Bikini in Pink

Before my holiday last month, I tried out several bikinis as I was in dire need of a couple of new ones for 2012.  When I saw the Sun Seeker bikini on Bravissimo its colour jumped out at me and I knew I had to add it to my basket.

Image courtesy of Bravissimo

Ewa Michalak PL Lato

Wow, it's been quite some time since I last wrote a review on Ewa Michalak lingerie.  I've missed it!  Truth is, I ended up with quite a stash of lovely lingerie and couldn't afford to buy more.  Also, I came to a point where I owned and had reviewed most of the latest collections so I had taken things as far as I could at that point.

The great news is that over the past couple of months, Ewa has released yet more stunningly beautiful collections and I was really thrilled when I received the gorgeous PL Lato to review.

Curvy Kate Daily Boost Bra

I got ever so excited a few months ago when I heard that Curvy Kate would soon have a padded bra available all the way up to a K cup – this is the stuff that my dreams are made of!

Image courtesy of Curvy Kate

10 Years of Gorgeous Lingerie at Debenhams

You'd be forgiven for thinking I'm having a bit of a love-in with Debenhams at the moment.  I've featured their swimwear on here and written about how they are now stocking Elomi lingerie in selected stores, all in the past couple of weeks.

Well, if a retailer does good things, we should shout about it, right?  Certainly people are often all too quick to criticise so I think it's crucial to make a big fuss when something good happens.

And Debenhams have a lot to celebrate at the moment, especially with their own brand 'Gorgeous' lingerie celebrating its 10th birthday this year!

Freya Lauren Bra

On my recent trip to Leia Lingerie with Georgina, I came away with three new bras. One of these was the Freya Lauren in black.

I was also lucky enough to receive a free Lauren in white at the recent Eveden Autumn/Winter 2012 launch. Suzanne kindly gave me a black pair of the shorts in XL to match my black Lauren as they didn't have any white in stock.

Images courtesy of Freya

Masquerade Lula Mae Bra

The Masquerade Lula Mae is a bra I've heard a lot about from friends over the past few months.  They have highly recommended it to me and I have seen photos to prove its great shape, lift and support.


When I saw the Lula Mae on offer at Bravissimo (note it is misspelt on their website; I am taking the spelling from the label on the bra), I knew I could not resist placing an order.

Image courtesy of Bravissimo

The bra that changed my life

The wonderful Kitty Lingerista at Undercover Lingerista is celebrating her 1 year bloggiversary by running an amazing competition on her blog.  She is asking people to write about the bra that changed their life; this is my entry.

Like many women, I spent most of my life wearing the wrong size bra.  Until very recently I hadn't had a proper fitting and, although I never used the ridiculous '+4' method to calculate my size, I know I have been wearing far too big a band for the majority of my boobified years.

I have been large-breasted since my teens and used to order bras from my mum's 'Great Universal' mail order catalogue.  Unfortunately I was limited to boring white bras as that's all that was available in my size but nonetheless I would pore over the lingerie pages wishing I could make those pretty coloured sets work for me.

Bravissimo Boudoir Beau Bra

Bravissimo have a wide range of own brand bras available on their website.  Almost a year ago I visited their store in Ealing and tried on several styles and sizes but could not find anything that really suited me.  I have now realised that this is probably because I was going for too big a band - my Ewa Michalaks have helped me become accustomed to a firmer band and now I find I am sizing down time and again.


I recently placed an order with Bravissimo for several bras and one of them was the very foxy Boudoir Beau in red/graphite.

Image courtesy of Bravissimo

My quest for a sleep bra: Royce Sadie

I have reviewed the Royce Sadie in one of my earlier posts but wanted to try it again in a smaller band and bigger cups.  I found this bra available on Bravissimo, which is a great place to find large cup bras.

Image courtesy of Bravissimo