First off i'd like to say a big congratulations to the winner of my Bravissimo giveaway: Tamalyn!
My commiseration's to all who didn't win or were unable to enter due to geographical or size issues. Hopefully the next giveaway i host will be open to more.
My commiseration's to all who didn't win or were unable to enter due to geographical or size issues. Hopefully the next giveaway i host will be open to more.
I am super excited to be going on my first proper, international beach holiday, with my Ram, during the second week of April. So finally my hordes of swimwear will be put to proper use and naturally i couldn't resist picking up a few new pieces for the occasion. Rather than do a series of posts or one extra long swimwear post, as i'm sure you're all tired of my ever growing collection, i decided to showcase only two, of my recent purchases, ones that had a special quality.
When i saw this on the shop floor in H&M i did a mad dash to pick up the size closest to mine and into the changing rooms. The paneled bandage style structure of the top and the abstract pink print (contrasting with the ivory) are details that make this look ridiculously high end, definitely not what you'd expect from the UK highstreet (which can verge on tacky when it comes to swimwear). I really adore the whole silhouette this bikini gives and love how luxurious it looks and feels. Also it does wondrous things to the derriere.
This bikini can be purchase online here and here for a grand total of £21.98
However the top is extra tight, tending to completely compress the chest (hence my funky cleavage), and the side strap of the bottoms does highlight any extra hip weight you're carrying so i'd suggest ordering a size up or popping in store to try on before you commit to buying.
I recently made an online Matalan order (which can be seen here) consisting entirely of swimwear. Unfortunately one of the pieces turned out to be lilac, rather than the pictured blue, and having a serious aversion to purple meant i couldn't keep it. Luckily I was able to exchange one bikini for another very easily in store (to avoid paying the postage fees to do so online). I love the classic style of the monochrome and the sweetheart cut of the top (Quite reminiscent of Dior no?) but what really makes it special is the durability. I wore the bikini top underneath a sheer shirt for a 6 hour lab day in which i did a lot of moving about. As with all strapless garments i expected to have to adjust this at least once an hour, if not a lot more frequently, so it really did take me by surprise when i didn't have to adjust once. In fact when i got home i did a few jigs up and down just to really illustrate the staying power of this top. Having inspected the garment fully the only conclusions i can draw are that the slightly tacky rubber strip along the top of the cups and the moulded structure of the cups themselves are responsible for this gravity defying act.
I genuinely believe i could play some sort of energetic beach sports (Volley Ball maybe?) confident my modesty would remain in tact in this piece of swimwear. That's pretty damn special for a bikini that costs practically nothing!
This bikini can be bought here and here for a grand total of £13.
As with all of Matalan's clothing that is sized in accordance with bra sizes, the cups run small (I am a 30C and this 32B top fits like a glove) so i'd suggest trying on in store before buying if you're not willing to take a risk. The bottoms however fit true to size
Are there any bikinis you're lusting after that you think are extra special? And also what do you think of the photographs in this post? I got sick of being jealous of those with much better blog photos so i tried something new and would love some feedback!
Lamb