CG DATING: August 2015

I've recently been receiving a lot of hits from a reddit discussion about an article in which the author claims the strappy lingerie trend is on it's way out. Apparently my post on the Creepyyeha Ravish Me set epitomises this trend, hence the traffic. However the strappy lingerie trend will never die for me. I adore it and when i find good pieces, they become a staple part of my wardrobe, making appearances as outerwear just as frequently as they are as underwear. However i am mildly fatigued by the influx of the same, uninspired designs coming from both independent brands and from large companies, so i've only recently purchased a few pieces from independent designers (read: Creepyyeha and Hopeless who are both killer at innovative, unique designs and keeping this trend alive), choosing to stick with my faithful Agent Provocateur instead. Enter Clementine Lingerie.
I've recently been ALL about contour graduates. Coming from an education in the academic sciences, i can only assume that art based degrees are all about originality and innovation (those Fleur of England bralette knock offs aren't going to impress anyone there) so it stands to reason that contour graduates are churning out the freshest designs in their final undergrad collections and hopefully in their own storefronts afterwards. So i was pretty thrilled to find Clementine Lingerie (not to be confused with a few other lingerie brands with the word Clementine in their name), a UK based, recent graduate making designs and shapes that were truly exciting to me. At the time of my purchase, only three other sales had been made and Clementine had only been open for a few months.
I quickly identified three pieces that were an immediate lust at first sight and set about contacting the designer about sizing. The listings stated that they came in very particular sizes but upon enquiring i found that she will happily make each piece according to your measurements so I gave the designer my underbust, waist and hip measurements for these pieces. Not only that but the time it took to make and dispatch three pieces was about a week, so exceptionally quick considering. The wait times for any store offering custom pieces will increase depending on the volume of orders the store has to process at that time but it's nice to know that Clementine Lingerie works quickly and efficiently on each piece.

The Cut Out Wired bra caught my attention as the lace reminded me of the Agent Provocateur Sandra but with a completely unique shape. The bra is a halterneck that doesn't unfasten, and so needs to be put over the head, and has three rows of hooks to fasten the band. The cups are constructed from two separate pieces of lace, one overlaying the other. The bulk of my breast mass sits in the bottom layer of lace that is slightly more taught and provides most of the support. Anyone with fuller or more top heavy breasts may find that some of their mass sits in the top layer of lace too and maybe might be more accustomed to a more supportive garment (although if you've tried on AP Annoushka, Cassia or Gloria and been okay with the support them you'll be fine with this! And yes, all my references do seem to come back to AP). If you're a sticker for symmetry then the point where the straps from the lower layer of lace, meet in the middle of the bust, might drive you mad as all that hardware in one place does tend to clash and look a bit off centre. As a wholly asymmetrical being, this does not concern me but i know a few people who it might. All the elastic used is satin and so there's absolutely no rubbing or chafing with prolonged wear, thank god. Did i ever tell you about the time i ended up with lesions on my neck from a harness that didn't use elastic with a satin finish? It was grizzly.
There are two minor niggles with the bra, that really don't matter much to me but may to others. One is that the hook and eye closure on the band is actually backwards. Conventionally the hooks lie on the right wing of the band, and the eyes on the left. On both my pieces from Clementine this was reversed and oh boy, am i not dextrous enough to be able to do that behind my back. It's certainly a little more challenging putting this bra on, but it might actually be beneficial to people who are left handed. The other niggle is the underwires on the cups run a little too high on the outside for me. I've had to do a little gentle bending to make it sit more comfortably but with repeated wear this will sort it's self out. It might just be a case of my bra size being too small for the size of underwire used, or that i have a particularly firm, protruding ribcage.
As i'm becoming a stickler for matching sets, i had to get the Lace Cut Out knickers too since both used the same lace and had such interesting cut-out features. I also asked for the hardware to match on both pieces just to make doubly sure i could wear them as a set. All the straps are fully adjustable using sliders so there's very little chance that you'd ever have fit issues with either of these pieces. The top layer of lace, with a scalloped hem, used to shape the bra cups mirrors the lace design on the knickers that have this triangular panel on both the front and back so they are the perfect accompaniment for each other.

The construction on both pieces is almost flawless, with the odd piece of thread coming lose from me vigorously adjusting some straps, and the sheer amount of design that has gone into putting all the components together, and having them work harmoniously is so impressive from such a new designer.

The Harness Soft Cup Bodysuit was a complete, "I don't need this, nor should I be spending any more money, but I have to own it now I know it exists." But i wasn't 100% sure what to expect as the photos in the listing all show pieces with slightly different hardware. But i was pleasantly surprised and pretty pleased to see mine with GIANT silver hardware contrasting against the delicate paisley lace and the overall feminine shapes of the bodysuit. If there's one thing i love more than strappy lingerie, it's giant 'in your face' hardware. The top of the bodysuit comprises of a halterneck that doesn't unfasten, like the bra, and two un-wired bra cups with a lace overlay. This overlay is sewn to the cups but hangs down freely over the top of the rib cage. The cups are slightly too large for me, but can be super easily rectified with a couple of basic stitches (in fact for the purposes of these photos, i had the small bit of excess fabric just tucked under the bottom of the cups. So definitely not a problem).

The bottom of the bodysuit is shaped just like the knickers, with two triangular panels of lace held together with adjustable leg straps. There is no fastening at the gusset however, so for the purpose of bodily excretions, one would have to remove the halter strap, undo the bra strap, loosen the waist elastic and pull it down. So maybe not great for long periods of use but i can totally get why it would be hard to put in poppers or a fastening on such delicate lace (oh and both the knickers and the bodysuit are lined with a cotton gusset for vagina happiness, if you own a vagina that is).

As with the bra and knickers, all the straps are adjustable, even the one running down the middle of the torso, so a good fit for all torso shapes and sizes is almost guaranteed if you ask for it to be made to your measurements. I'm currently trying to lean up a bit so i'm very happy that these pieces are wearable through all my weight fluctuations.

Unfortunately Clementine Lingerie is closed for 3 months as the designer is away so the timing of this review is poor (i swear, she went away before my lingerie had arrived, i'm not just sitting in my clubhouse feeling superior) but this blog needed a bit of love and it's rare nowadays that i'm so inspired by lingerie i feel the need to bash out a review post haste. If you're interested in Clementine Lingerie's designs, and want to own some yourself, then be sure to favourite her Etsy shop here and sign up for email notifications for when she gets back. I'm really hoping that she gets the support she needs from customers to continue designing and producing lingerie that i can then add to my collection.