Panache Cleo Zia Bra 32J

It's been a little while since I did a lingerie post (and I know some readers have been missing them!) so when the lovely people at Panache got in touch to ask me to review something from their latest collection I was absolutely over the moon!

In the past, when I have tried Panache bras I have ended up feeling disappointed.  The wide wires and shallow cups just didn't suit me, no matter how much I loved the gorgeous designs.

However, a few months back I tried the Cleo Chloe and Alexa bras in 32J and I fell in love!  Seriously - the Chloe in particular was threatening to rival my beloved Ewa Michalaks!!  I'd heard that Cleo wires were significantly narrower and the cups deeper than regular Panache bras and I found this was absolutely true.  The bras were wonderful and gave such amazing shape, uplift and support, especially for unpadded bras.

Ewa Michalak PL Bratki

As a child, my mum dressed me in blue whenever she could.  WIth my blue eyes, blonde hair and fair complexion I guess it was the natural choice but once I was older and made my own clothing choices it lead me to avoid wearing blue for a while as I'd had such an overdose.

These days, I wear clothes - and lingerie - in as many colours of the rainbow as I can.  Diversity is all good in my book.  That's one of the many reasons I love Ewa Michalak lingerie as they have such a wide range of styles and designs on offer.

I was recently offered the chance to try some of the newer PL (plunge) range and, having overcome my earlier aversion to blue, I wanted to give the PL Bratki (Pansies) a try.

Image courtesy of Ewa Michalak

Marisota Coleen Nolan Ruffle Dress

I was recently contacted by Marisota to see if I wanted to review something from their Autumn/Winter collection for this year and of course I jumped at the chance.  It's always so flattering to be asked to do this and seeing as I had been eyeing up several items I knew I would have a great selection to choose from.

I wanted to get something special and I was particularly attracted to some of the items from the Coleen Nolan collection, as they are glamorous and great for special occasions.  Coleen says the following of her collection on the Marisota site:

Dyeing the George at Asda Moda Printed Jersey Dress

A little while ago I wrote a review of the gorgeous Moda Printed Jersey Dress from George at Asda.  I LOVE that dress - it works perfectly for me because it is made from stretch fabric and hugs my curves in all the right places. 

We Love Colors Hosiery

Since I started wearing dresses and skirts around two years ago (yes, I really had spent the vast majority of my adult life wearing trousers as I believed that skirts did not suit/would not work for me), I have been a fan of tights.  I would wear black or natural shaping tights under my maxi skirts and dresses, but as I did not wear skirts any shorter than ankle length I had never considered coloured tights before now.

However, all that changed when I was at Plus North last month.  I had the opportunity to try out a few different items from the wonderful We Love Colors range, thanks to the gorgeous Toni, and I leapt at the chance.  We Love Colors sell tights, fishnet items and socks for women, men and children.  They have a specific section for Plus Size Hosiery which comprises tights, footless tights and fishnet pantyhose.

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

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

Curvy Kate Rio Ruffle Bikini

I have already reviewed the Curvy Kate Caribbean Curves and Bondi Breeze bikini tops and shorts on here and my final review of CK's gorgeous 2012 swimwear is the Rio Ruffle.

Image courtesy of Curvy Kate

Curvy Kate Bondi Breeze Bikini

I have already reviewed the Curvy Kate Caribbean Curves bikini top and shorts on here and next up in my review of CK swimwear is the Bondi Breeze.

Image courtesy of Curvy Kate

Curvy Kate Caribbean Curves Bikini

A little while ago I won three Curvy Kate sets because I was the winner of their 'Name The Bra' competition for their 'Smoothie' bra. Initially, I tried the three Showgirl sets (Tempt Me, Thrill Me and Tease Me), all of which were gorgeous undies but sadly all the bras were far too small for me in the cup.

Curvy Kate very kindly let me try some swimwear this time around and I was able to test drive the items on my recent holiday to Spain.

Now, if you regularly read my blog, you will be familiar with my struggle to find a CK bra that fits me in the cup. It appears that a 32KK or even L would be the best size but even if they made these sizes – they go up to a K cup, amazing! – I think the wires would be way too wide as the cups are unfortunately not deep enough for my boobs in smaller sizes. Despite this, I was keeping everything crossed that the bikinis would work for me.

A while back I talked about bikinis and how I find I can often size down because the material is far more stretchy than that of regular bras. I even just about managed to cram myself into a 32H Freya bikini recently!

The first set I wore on holiday was the Caribbean Curves bikini top and matching shorts.

Image courtesy of Curvy Kate

Freya Lacey Bra

A few weeks ago I visited Leia Lingerie at Bluewater with the wonderful Georgina of Fuller Figure Fuller Bust. We had a great time trying on lots of lovely bras and I came away with three new ones, courtesy of Leia, and the one I am going to review here is the Freya Lacey.

Image courtesy of Freya

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

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 Charlotte

The Royce Charlotte is another soft cup bra which I reviewed back in the early days of my blog.  I tried it in a 36H but found it to be completely unsuitable for me.


The Charlotte is available on Bravissimo in sizes 28DD-J and 30-40DD-K (also available in a nursing bra).  It's a great selection of sizes and the promotional picture suggests good support and shape.

Image courtesy of Bravissimo

Ewa Michalak CH Perelka

I already own the Ewa Michalak PL Perelka and love the fact it's a new, very feminine take on the nude bra so when I saw it was available in the CH (halfcup) style, I was keen to try it out.


I had already added the PL Violet to my shopping basket on the Dopasowana website so it made sense to throw the CH Perelka in there as well as I'd be paying 27 zlotys for postage regardless of the size of my order.

Image courtesy of Ewa Michalak

Ewa Michalak PL Violet

ORIGINAL POST PUBLISHED 7/1/2012:

Over the Christmas break I clearly had too much time on my hands as I went on an internet search for Ewa Michalak bras.  I was fortunate enough to find a Polish website called Dopasowana and spent some time searching their listings.


I could not believe my luck when I spied a PL Violet.  I had seen it on Ewa Michalak's Facebook page some months ago and hoped they would put it into mass-production (as much as they mass-produce any of their styles...) but sadly it seems to be one they made samples of but did not take any further.  I was beside myself with excitement when I saw they had a 34/75HH available and immediately added it to my basket.


EDIT: Ewa has said that this bra will be available on the website soon!  Yay!!

Image courtesy of Ewa Michalak

Kris Line Jasmine Bra

When ordering the Kris Line Queen Body from Brastop recently, I decided to see what other offerings they had from the brand on their site.

As Kris Line is a Polish brand, I was hoping that they would manufacture to the same quality and standard of fit as my favourite Ewa Michalak.  My reason for looking elsewhere is that Ewa Michalak do not do unpadded bras in my size range and it would be great to have a lacy number or two on hand for appropriate occasions.

I happened upon the Kris Line Jasmine bra and was bewitched by its beautiful colour and design.

Image courtesy of Brastop