Sacha Kimmes Lingerie

Just a little PSA: I'm no longer editing my nipples out of blog photos so if nipples offend or arouse you, get lost.

Do you gals follow me on twitter? Do you gals even exist (are you there readers? It's me, Lamb). Sometimes i get the distinct feeling i'm talking to myself and even i'm bored of what i have to say. Anyway, i digress, if you do follow me on twitter (or happen to have conceded to giving me your phone number without realising the extent of my neuroses, sorry Amélie) you'll have witnessed my very public break down with regards to receiving this lingerie.
Now i'm the first person to seethe that any adult who has pondered upon and chosen a favourite colour must be vapid and in need of an extra job to keep them busy. But colours that make you feel physically ill? Well i have one of them and it's un-surprisingly, the colour purple. The most offensive shade of purple, being lilac. Unfortunately my utter hatred for purple goes beyond being socially acceptable, as i've refused to associate with people once they've worn purple in my presence. Sometimes sacrifices must be made; it's me or the purple, choose wisely.
So imagine my surprise and disdain when my much anticipated parcel from Sacha Kimmes arrived, containing the only lilac set (and one of the very few non black sets) they do. There were crocodile tears and foot stamping and whines were heard across all social networks but i got over it. I'm a trooper, i put up with adversity and hard times so i can reap the benefits of cotton lace trim. Once i saw that trim, well i just couldn't bring myself to send the poor lingerie away. I reasoned i could learn to love it, in spite of it's revolting colour. No, no, don't claim me as a selfless God and erect a statue in my honour, i am but a humble human being.
And so begins the story of how i came to be in the loving possession of the Lilac Helena Set from Sacha Kimmes.

The Helena Bralette came to me in an XS, a pretty failsafe size and it fits. So no worries there. Something i'm huge on at the moment, is any non padded bras that don't make me look pointy. I've developed a big hate for being reminded that i am mostly nipple and my nipples may well be disproportionately large (when you take photos in lingerie you suddenly become hyper aware of all these tiny flaws that usually no one sits and stares at for like an hour at a time), so i like to avoid anything that makes me look like i'm wearing the world's smallest bullet bra. Luckily this bralette kind of flattens my bust into a nice rounded shape, which i am totally digging. The straps are fully adjustable and there's no fastening at the back, it's a bralette that you put on over your head, so keep that in mind just in case your shoulders are greatly larger than your underbust (although the polka dotted fabric has a great deal of stretch).

The matching Helena knickers arrived in an XS, a size i'd usually think long and hard about before ordering because i usually fall somewhere in between an XS and a S. Generally, i find it's nicer to have a little extra room than lose a cheek due to lack of circulation, but going by the size chart on the Sacha Kimmes website, XS seemed to fit my measurements. However, i wish i'd sized up. My arse is doing its very best to eat as much of this fabric as it can and i either have my arse crack peeking out of the top of the waistband or suffer with quadrabutt (it's a thing and it's not pretty). They're by no means uncomfortable, but they are unflattering in this size, alas my arse must be too large for XS because they fit my hips just fine. So maybe i won't roll them out next time i want to look my best in my skivvies (still working on it, but i am perpetually alone) but as an everyday pair of knickers, i am down with that. Another big plus is that the little bow embellishment and the overlap of the lace trim is perfectly central, i could probably take a tape measure to it and only find a minimal deviation and that to me shows that real care has been taken when constructing these.

Something i always like to do, when i'm reviewing a bralette and knicker set is put them to the ultimate test. I'm an irritable sleeper and for some reason i can't sleep fully nude but yet i can't wear anything more than a certain style of knicker, without being kept awake. So i wore these for a nights sleep and i actually got some sleep. It were as if i hadn't deviated from my usual bedtime attire. So even with the knickers being slightly too tight, they didn't keep me awake and i didn't feel the need to shimmy out of them at some obscene hour. This is a fact that should be taken as a true compliment, even the comfiest of pyjamas or babydolls usually end up traded in for a pair of cheap knickers at 4am when my discomfort has become too irritating to bare. 

I do love Sacha Kimmes lingerie, i want everything they make in black but i'm open to other colours too. Will i be adding more lilac into my lingerie collection? No. But i adore this set, It's cutesy without being sickly and it's different. A real pleasure to own. 

If you want to purchase some Sacha Kimmes lingerie or buy your own little slice of lilac heaven/hell then pop over to the official website

*These items were sent to me free of charge to review. All opinions are my own

I Can't Live Without You: A Social Experiment of Sorts

I posed the question, "What four pieces of lingerie can't you live without?" to women on my social media and this is what happened. 19 women, across 5 countries, spanning 17 years of age and 76 pieces of lingerie that mean something to someone. Compiling this has been completely fascinating and it's been a big eye opener to the kind of relationships that can be had with a lingerie collection.  

A big thank you to everyone who took part and gave up a small portion of their time to show off their collection!

Let's Talk About Agent Provocateur

In the history of this blog i have done only two reviews on Agent Provocateur and i wouldn't advise you to go and look them up. It's not that i don't love AP or that i don't own many pieces. My AP collection exceeds my Mimi Holliday collection in size, it contains my most beloved lingerie and is the collection i am the most proud of. If you ask me at any given time what my dream set is, it'll be from AP. But i'm partial to their AW collections and my dream set gets updated every year, i even have some of their AW13 campaign framed on my wall. However, i just don't particularly want to review any of my collection on oflambsandlace, why?

For anyone who is well versed in buying and owning AP, the construction does not justify the price. Does there exist a single AP set with a bow embellishment that isn't sewn on about 50,000 miles from the centre? And is there any way to comment positively about the fit continuity without it being a bold faced lie? The size availability is appalling and you take your life into your own hands if you consider buying anything with a lot of strap/harness detailing. You could wait 30 hours for your lingerie to arrive or you could wait 3 weeks, there's really no telling and sending it back? Well you could fit their size 1 in multiple sets but you won't fit it in all.

I own waspies that curl up at the edges, knickers that give me terrible quadrabutt, bras that don't fit and are up for sale, bras that i've had to take a pair of scissors to and remove parts, bras that need to be tailored, bikini bottoms that will never meet their companion top because it doesn't come anywhere near my size, bras that do come in my size but fit weirdly, bras that will never make it out of the bedroom, suspender belts that are slightly too big for my waist AND i've had to send back countless items because they were too big, too small and most importantly, constructed so poorly you'd have to have an exact body shape in an exact size to fit.

But then i also own bras that i wear 3 to 4 times a week and full sets that make me feel elated when i wear them. And so for some reason, i overlook any niggles (some of which aren't particularly minor) and i'm always excited about AP. 

Agent Provocateur is younger than i am and yet for a lot of us, it is the ultimate in luxury lingerie.  Well established luxury lingerie brands have been completely leap frogged by AP and somewhere along the line i've been peddled a lifestyle which i've totally bought in to, with no intentions of changing my mind. And c'mon, i know i'm not the only one. I knew about AP before i knew about any lingerie, when i was young enough to fantasise about being an adult with a sizeable collection and a man fancy enough to match (still working on both). My first major lingerie purchase was my AP Maschina set (and whilst it doesn't fit, i just can't part with it yet) and when i work extra hard in a month, i browse AP before any other lingerie to spend my disposable income on.

So here's my ode to AP; you have me hooked but this blog is no place for you. You're not a brand for the smallest busts, you're not a brand for reliability or quality and you're not a brand for a low budget (sale or no sale) but you are exciting, fun and you consistently put out unique designs that deliver a good feeling. Whilst this blog is a personal folly, i do try to keep it from becoming truly self indulgent. So if you're ever in need of a review of a set that you know i own, then it'd be best to get in touch. Because this will be my last blog post about AP (unless something ridiculous happens) but not my last tweet or instagram.

Let me know your relationship with Agent Provocateur in the comments. Love or Hate or both at the same time? A pipe dream, a beloved collection or too cliche?

Brands for Small Busts: Bella Petite Lingerie

I was genuinely too lazy to edit out my nipples in this post so if you're easily offended then look away

So a while ago i was contacted by Bella Petite Lingerie and educated on their mission statement. The founder Stephanie Ballard has also suffered all the growing pains of living with a small bust and aims to give other small busted women the option of lingerie that isn't oft made in our sizes. She's set out to break the connotation that a small bust only exists within the early stages of maturation and thus only belongs to adolescents. Bella Petite Lingerie seems to want to produce lingerie designed to be "sexy" and appealing to the fully matured crowd. To give us all options so that we too can own the more frivolous pieces of lingerie and have it actually fit around the bust. Stephanie and I sound very similar, as, in learning to love our own small busts, we have both also wanted to help others too, so i am very impressed to encounter a kindred spirit who is actually making her way in lingerie business.

I was sent the Holiday Collection Sheer Chemise (pictured above) in an XXS and the Holiday Collection Sheer Babydoll (pictured below) in XXS too. As these garments are pretty free sized in the skirts, the sizing corresponds to the band size, with an XXS being made to fit those who wear bra bands between 26"-30".

For starters the Chemise is my favourite piece and it genuinely makes me happy when i wear it. It's the perfect length, just skimming underneath my bum (i'm 5'4 with a pretty average length torso) and moves in a really fluid way. I've been throwing it on as soon as i get in from work and using it to prance around my flat but it's definitely a piece that i'd be happy to wear within a bedroom situation too as even i can see that it does give a certain sex appeal (and i'm not easily attracted to myself). On the practical side, with the straps being fully adjustable and the band across the bust being fully elasticated with enough give, i find this exceedingly comfortable. However, i think i could have probably used a larger size, or larger cups as most of my breast mass actually sits outside the lace and this has a kind of flattening effect on my chest. Cups that extended a little further towards the armpits would encase more of my breast and probably give them a little more lift.

The babydoll sits a little further down the thighs but is equally as fluid in movement. One thing i'm not too sure about is the capped sleeves, they remind me a little of those overly girly nighties, with care bears or unicorns on the front, that my friends used to wear at sleepovers (i didn't like them then, not too fond of them now), i personally think this piece would have benefitted from thick straps, so i might enlist my mother and her sewing skills to alter that for me so i can really appreciate the adult appeal of this piece. I also found that the elastic hemmed around the neckline has twisted on one side so a few small stitches to stop this from happening will also be on my list. I feel the cups on this piece sit a little too high and so there's a little of my breast mass sitting below/underneath them. But other than that, an XXS seems to be a perfect fit for me. The fit is truly comfortable and i've worn this piece to sleep in a few times and, considering i'm someone that can only usually sleep in knickers due to finding everything else too restricting, i didn't experience any discomfort.

On both these pieces, the little bow at the centre gore is noticeably offset towards one side, which is something i often encounter on big brands like Agent Provocateur, but for pieces with more of a handmade feel, it's a little disappointing. As these pieces don't necessarily need this embellishment, it seems silly to include it only to have it detract from the whole piece. So i might remove or re-position them, if i find the time. 

Bella Petite Lingerie definitely have my attention and what i'd like to see from them in the future is an expansion of their own ranges to include more styles (that i can prance around my living room to R Kelly in and y'know, if i ever manage to lure another man my way...) and possibly matching knickers for each style to really complete the look.

If you'd like to purchase your own Babydoll or Chemise you can do so at the Bella Petite website or their etsy.

Just a heads up to EU residents, both i and Marielle who reviewed Bella Petite Lingerie here were hit with pretty substantial customs fees that we weren't expecting so if you want to add some Bella Petite Lingerie to your collection, make sure to factor in customs fees for your country, so you're not caught unprepared.

*These garments were sent to me free of charge (except customs fees) to review and all opinions are my own