Sugar Lace Lingerie

Does anyone remember my extended hiatus last summer (y'know when i somehow got my favourite lens stuck on my camera and had to wait 2 months to get it removed)? Well if you hadn't run for the hills over my inactivity, you'll have vague recollection of this post wherein i introduced Sugar Lace Lingerie and made some vague comments about pieces i'd seen on her instagram that i was obsessed with. Well look! I finally own those pieces and my gosh, they were worth the wait. 

Something that really really attracted me to Sugar Lace's designs is their originality. To be frank, there's only so many sheer triangle bralettes with floral applique feature that a girl can see. Everyone seems to be doing the same thing, be it taking inspiration from Fleur of England's bralettes or Agent Provocateur's Annoushka and it's getting a little old. I feel like independent designers doing something truly interesting that i (personally) haven't seen before are far and few between. So seeing this design crop up and go through development was a really exciting experience for me.

The Peach Dream bralette and matching knickers are now available for sale and Sugar Lace were kind enough to offer to send me them to write a review on and it was definitely a high point in my blogging career. This set lives up to the hype that i gave it and on top of all of that, it photographs beautifully, both laid flat and worn. 

I gave Sugar Lace my bra size (28C/30B) and dress size (UK4/6) and she sent me both pieces in an XS.

The fit, for me, is perfect. The knickers sit so nice and comfortably, none of the elastic digs in and the cut is super flattering on my bottom heavy frame. I'm usually not a fan of full bum knickers because i feel they just cut my arse in half and make me look flat/unappealing but the sheer fabric and the slight high rise of the legs appeases me and whilst from behind will never be my best angle, i feel cute in these and my bum feels cute in these.

The bandeau bra measures approx 23.5" and stretches up to 31.5" around the band so the stretch around my 27" underbust gives me a firm, secure fit. The cup size is also just right for small busts, i'm not swimming in them and the padding gives the perfect shape. Sugar Lace mentions that orders are best completed with a note stating your bra size but i would hazard a guess that if you happen to lie in the small band/large cup or large band/small cup you might have fit issues with the cups on this bandeau style. Although personally, i find that bandeaus are the most forgiving and flattering of all styles for smaller busts so, i'm biased towards myself and my babes and i ain't even going to attempt to think about or discuss the fit issues larger busts might have. 

The construction is f.l.a.w.l.e.s.s. Not a single ruffle or thread out of place. The embellishments are firmly sewed into place and the marriage of peach and baby blue needs to happen far more often: a match made in lingerie heaven. The halterneck ribbon is doubled up for a little extra support, and extra long so you could easily cut it to your desired length (remember to cut across the ribbon at an angle to stop it fraying) or just tie an oversized bow. I am not good at tying bows behind my back so be thankful my hair covers my poor attempt. I will practice. The ribbon itself is made from a soft, non starchy satin material with the only downside being that it does tend to crease slightly, as with all ribbons of this nature. I think i'd like to see this design with a much thicker ribbon, just mostly out of personal preference but i can easily source one in the right colour from a haberdashery and try that out myself as the ribbon is looped through clear hooks that detach from the bra to leave it strapless.

Maybe not the greatest set for everyday wear during the winter months but come summer (if that happens at all) it'll be such a comfortable and pretty statement piece to wear under sheer clothing or deep cut vests. I am already eyeing up the other sheer coloured fabrics that are appearing in Sugar Lace's etsy store and thinking about starting a small collection. Watch this space.

*Items were provided free of charge for the purpose of a review. All opinions and writings are most definitely my own. No one could be quite as obnoxious and opinionated as i.

Brands for Small Busts: Bluebella Take 2

So after my last post on Bluebella wherein i maybe, possibly, slightly bemoaned the time constraints that their e-voucher had, i was contacted by Bluebella themselves and offered a very generous offer as a gesture of goodwill over my little gripe. I was given the chance to receive a piece from their, at the time, newly released 50 shades of Grey line. As i'm anti everything that franchise is and stands for, i had to begrudgingly decline even though there were some pieces i adored (i am stubborn and very outspoken in my opinions so even in the face of incredible lingerie, i shockingly stick to my guns). Instead i was allowed to pick anything from their other collections and i just about blew up in happiness. 

The item i picked was, at the time, out of stock in my size and seemingly very popular so i was asked to pick a backup piece instead. Lo and behold, a few days later on a day/week when i was having the worst time, both my chosen pieces arrived with a sweet little note. Needless to say, it really made my week (and possibly my month). 

I cannot stress how incredible Bluebellas customer relations/service is and how thankful i am to have been afforded this generosity. I was in no way asked to review these pieces but due to this being my newest, and current favourite brand for small busts, i really wanted to share some more of their designs with you. 

First up, the Julianna slip (it's a chemise on the website(?) but i wouldn't call it one) in a UK 8. A sheer lace piece with a scalloped hem that reaches mid-thigh, is a halterneck and has a deep scoop back. Yup, it ticks all the boxes alright. I would say it fits pretty true to size, slightly large on me as i'm a UK 6 but i prefer styles like this to be slightly looser for comfort. The lace is quite starchy and rigid so has a tendency to ride up/bunch in strange ways occasionally but this does mean that the slip retains it's shape really well, especially with the scoop back. 

I really do adore this slip, i'm on a bit of a boudoir wear kick at the moment but it seems such a shame to reserve this purely for myself. I think at some point i'll have to wear it over a bandeau bodycon for a night out.

Of course the biggest reason for this post, and the set i fell in love with even though it was sold out in my size; Nova.

A little bit of backstory, i've been enamoured with the idea of ouvert bras ever since the launching of a particular UK brand (not naming any names but i'm sure the more seasoned of us lingerie obsessives will know who i'm talking about) happened to lead me to an ouvert bra that i coveted so hard, it was painful. Even now the product page of this bra states that due to the ouvert design, they would be unable to make it in "certain sizes" and so i resigned myself to the notion that us sub 32B ladies would just have to go without and almost convinced myself that yes, maybe an ouvert bra would never actually be able to fit us anyway. 

And then along came the Nova bra available down to a 30B. Surely it wouldn't fit me though right? Often bras aren't graded properly for small band/small cup sizes and it would gape somewhere because our unique fit issues had not been considered, right? Oh oh no my child, Bluebella have done something magical and shown all those high end designers and brands who continuously make strappy, architectural pieces but refuse to go sub 32B/C, that these styles can be graded for the small busted. And i'd just like to applaud them for trying and succeeding.

Nova fits me like a dream (for reference, i'm a true 28C but wear a 30B most of the time), my breast mass fits nicely in the cups and the applique does sit level with my nipples. I get a really lovely rounded elevation (this nicely flattens my natural, and hated, pointy shape) and the straps sit close enough to my armpits (i usually have a problem with the straps lying too far inwards in this size so i am super pleased at the width of this bra). One thing i would mention is that the three strap design of the shoulder strap is quite delicate and i managed to snap one the first time i tried this on. It was easily remedied with a few little stitches but it's always good to remember to not be as heavy handed and clumsy as a sodding newborn lamb (pun intended).

The Nova thong in a UK8 is just as open and daring as the bra, with matching applique panel just about covering a tiny slither. The big downside with this one is that it runs huge, and not around the hips. Around the hips (i'm 32") i would say this is a tad large on me but certainly not uncomfortably so, nor impractically so. No, the thong runs large from front to back (we're talking 17' and for the purpose of these photos i actually had a good wedge of thong fastened in a hair bobble at the back), like i'm pretty sure no one has a vagina/arse crack that long (never taken a moment to consider if this is a variable length though). It's so easily remedied due to the strappy nature of this design but if you're not comfortable cutting bits of your lingerie and reattaching them at a shortened length, then maybe try the Nova brief? 

I am so pleased, as i've said before, that Bluebella are designing mature and exciting lingerie without excluding some of the smallest sizes. It's something reassuring considering the influx of brands that are moving away from producing bras for small busts due to the ever growing and lucrative full bust audience. We have a very small voice and it's often silenced by the quick blow of our needs supposedly just not being widespread enough to make our sizes an economically viable venture. So having young brands, from very early on in their lifetimes, recognising us and catering to us as just a part of their wider audience (and not some special niche who need beige push up bras) means a great deal and i will continue to support Bluebella. Hopefully they will also be able to continue to support us in return.