eLai

The eLai "Back in Time" collection is truly one of the greatest lingerie collections of all time in my opinion. I was enamoured with the lookbook the moment it appeared on my radar but alas, i somehow never got around to purchasing a piece from it for myself. This collection embodies how fun and exciting lingerie can and damn well should be. So i was over the moon to receive a little eLai made gift from the moon of my life, my sun and my stars, Amélie in our biannual lingerie care package swap. I do go backwards and forwards on eLai, it's something Amélie and i agree on, as they have a couple of incredibly inspiring collections but no lack of pretty dull, un-innovative pieces too. So when they're good, they're beyond exceptional but when they're bad, it's hard to believe all the pieces come from the same designer. It's not an out and out negative, as everyone has different tastes in lingerie and many do prefer the simpler basics but i'm a sucker for new and exciting details.

This peterpan collar playsuit in blue is now sold out, but it was the first piece that sold me on eLai as a brand, way back when this collection was first released. I'm a sucker for light blue for sporting reasons, with this being a shade or two shy of my team colours. And a broderie anglaise collar on it's own would have sealed the deal but the choice of sheer fabric and elastic strap detailing (connected by an o ring at the belly button, what a majorly pleasing design feature) goes above and beyond, "shut up and take my money." So yes, it is surprising i've shown so much restraint. 

Amélie picked out this playsuit in an XS for me, and as usual (with almost all XS knickers) it fits perfectly across my hips but there is apparently too much junk, in my trunk, and we get a nice bit of quadrabutt making an appearance. It's something i'm used to and i've learnt to love my quadrabutt. So whilst the XS is perfect for my hips (they measure approx 32"), the strap detailing around my mid torso and waist (which falls just over my lowest floating rib and is approx 24") is not ideal. Alas these straps are unadjustable, a "one size fits all," job but they are just too large for me and won't stay put. It's not the end of the world, the straps look just as cute when they're kinda pooling together and i could easily add a little stitch in the back to adjust them to fit properly. 

The collar is fully adjustable and damn cute, it's currently making appearances all across my summer wardrobe (where white babydoll style dresses reign supreme when i can bring myself to brace the heat). It's a nice little touch that makes this "playsuit" a playful piece of outerwear too.
One minor negative is that i, personally, prefer a cotton gusset as it's a breathable, hypoallergenic fabric that all in all is better for vaginal health. But since this isn't really an everyday piece of lingerie, i can survive without it. As far as the construction goes, i am very impressed, all the seams are finished neatly and there's no loose threads/wonky stitching.

 My love for eLai has been reinspired and i'm hoping to get my hands on the Anglaise set when i'm not sodding poor and hopefully before it sells out or is discontinued (although it might be a while as my current priority list is: rent, bills, Mimi Holliday, food, anime figures, train fare to visit my family and then eLai, in that order). But i'm interested to see if the bras are the smallest of small bust suitable so y'know, maybe family and food can wait...

As ever, if you'd like to purchase your own eLai you can do so from their official store here where you can find all their collections, including previews of their upcoming Constellation collection (which looks amazing and i am devastated to say i was offered first dibs with a decent discount but couldn't afford it at the time so hopefully will be living vicariously through other bloggers).

What Lamb's Wearing Wedesday

As you can see, my wardrobe doesn't get any more colourful come summer time. A folly of my youth was to cut deep plunging sides out of my favourite hand-me-down DFA1979 shirt. It now means that half the day i have at least one tit out and about, if not both. So it's a job for either something exceptionally architectural and exciting in itself, or something that covers my nipples and isn't too boring. I opted for the second option and went with this simple bralette that was gifted to me by Amélie. The leather cat head applique just about covers my nipples if i position it correctly. Since i don't own matching underwear for this bralette and i'm all about matching right now, i opted for these cheap eBay (although they're possibly originally from Primark) leopard print knickers that have high rise lace back to them. The, almost thong, lace back is a good match for these definitely inappropriate, booty shorts that don't cover half the arse. It would look pretty ridiculous if my knickers had fuller coverage than my shorts...

I usually throw a big plaid shirt on when i'm wearing these shorts, to cover my bum as we don't yet live in a world where males understand that wearing revealing clothes does not mean i am consenting to having my body sexualised. I wore this outfit to go for lunch and drinks with some Uni friends, it was comfortable and with the big shirt, modest enough for my activities and naturally it was well ventilated so i didn't feel overly hot (praying summer will end soon). 

Kawaii Asian Lingerie

Pictured above can be found here for £6.90 and here for £5.89.

Aliexpress.com is a total treasure trove of adorable lingerie at some scarily cheap prices. From what i've gathered, Aliexpress works like an asian ebay where, as opposed to individuals, factories sell their mass produced wares direct at wholesale prices. It's a completely legitimate website and you as the buyer are protected from any potential scams or fraud but i thought i'd put together a little guide to make sure you're getting the best out of the website with regards to purchasing lingerie.

Pictured above can be found here for £7.03 and here for £7.58.

First off lingerie is situated under the intimates tag in the "Apparel and Accessories" category and if you're looking for the sets like those pictured in this post then you need to ensure you've clicked on the "bra & brief sets" sub category however just browsing through the entire intimates section can yield some great knickers and bras on their own. As per all sales websites, there are options to change the currency and to customise your search to narrow down the results. I like to put in a price range then sort the results with price low to high and then have a good browse. Just a heads up, there is the option to search by size but i've found it completely useless and it's really best to just set aside an hour to really have a thorough look through all that's available.

Pictured above can be found here for £5.84 and here for £5.68.

My best advice to you is that once you've found a set you really like, shop around, there's a good chance there's another factory selling the same set at a cheaper price. To shop on Aliexpress you have to make an account but once you do you have a wishlist option which i've found to be very helpful in saving listings to so i can compare prices later and not clutter up my browser window with open tabs. Some of the sets pictured and linked here are not the cheapest price i found but i chose to go for the listings that had AA cup as an option.

Flat out, don't fall for paying more for an AA cup, or in fact any cup size. It appears to me that most of these bras are a B cup as standard and really it's only the band size that varies. However, those with A cups up to C cups in each band size (and all the sister sizes, yes) can fit into these bras. It just won't be a perfect fit. Seemingly in the vast majority of asian designed bras, there's a truly champion amount of padding so they're either going to be slightly too large and gape or give you one hell of a cleavage. 

Be aware of the shape of bra that suits your bust however, if you don't fill out balcony bras in western lingerie then you're still not going to fill them out in asian lingerie. The plunge styles personally work best for me and any real fit issues i've had with these bras has been the ones in styles that don't suit my shape. 

The knickers that come with each set are only in one size, i would place it around a UK 6/8, and i've yet to find a listing for a bra & brief set where the buyer is offered a choice in the size of the knickers. It's worth remembering that these factories design and create this lingerie with an asian market in mind and so not to get upset if you do find the knickers a poor fit. These are great prices even just for the bras!

If there are reviews for the items available then check these but don't take no reviews as a sign of a bad product or seller, sometimes the listings are new and you can check the sellers complete feedback on their page.

Pay attention to shipping prices, most shops offer free shipping but lots will list an item at an impossibly low price and then set a higher shipping price to try and make a profit.

Pictured above can be found here for £3.91 and here for £6.21.

Once you've made your purchase, there's a few things you need to know. Make sure you opened your Aliexpress account with an email address you check often and a password you will remember. You need to familiarise yourself with your account on the website and make sure you know where and what everything is. 

In order to protect the buyer Aliexpress has a few rules in place. The seller is only given a finite period of time to process and dispatch the order and if the item hasn't been marked as dispatched in this time then the order will fail and you will be fully refunded. You as the buyer can extend this processing time if you feel the seller needs a little bit longer, although it's always advisable to contact the seller and enquire first. 

An email will be sent to you, once your item has been marked as dispatched and the seller will provide you with a tracking number which can be found if you click on the "view detail" option on your order and with this you'll be able to tell when the item is in your country and also when it has supposedly arrived at your address. 

Once the item has been received you need to click the "confirm order received" option and follow through with the feedback process to complete the transaction. If for any reason you don't receive your item and all communications with the seller have failed, you are protected for up to 39 days after the item is dispatched and you can open a dispute and apply to get a full refund. Aliexpress has a very comprehensive and easy to understand help section which explains all of this in more detail, should you need it.

All in all, if you're precious about your money or you only want to own lingerie that fits like a glove, doesn't have a few loose threads or lace that won't sit flat, then Aliexpress lingerie isn't for you. For the price, what you're getting is phenomenal especially in quality but it's not perfect and you have to be prepared for the occasional dud that just doesn't fit at all. 

Personally i love these additions to my lingerie collection and i have plans to continue buying. These are just too cute and i cannot resist.