Monthly Archives: November 2012

Pick of the Week: Gold Reindeer Tights by Hose Tights

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Hose Tights is a new brand to me, but I can’t think of a better way to kick off the holiday season than with these amazing gold reindeer screen printed tights.

Image via the Hose Tights Facebook page

It’s easy to stock up on interesting lighter weight stockings, but some days you just can’t beat a nice pair of black opaque stockings. These would have all of the winter comfort of your favorite opaques with a fun holiday twist. I love that the reindeer are classic instead of kitschy as well.

Image via the Hose Tights Facebook

I’m really excited to try out some Hose Tights in the future! I’m totally in love with these plum/grey paper plane ones too.

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Full Bust Clothing Review: the Urkye Dzwonek and Kieska!

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I wrote about Urkye in this designer interview, but it’s taken some time for my first order to show up. I’ve been waiting eagerly for my clothes since I’ve heard such great things about this brand, and I’m desperately in need of more casual clothes. I tried both a long sleeved shirt (the Dzwonek) and a 3/4 length sleeve dress in a gorgeous orange color (the Kieska). I was really excited when the postman showed up on Friday with my package! I managed to snap some quick pictures yesterday, since I’ve gotten lots of questions about Urkye and what the clothing is actually like. Please excuse the slightly wonky hair — it just wasn’t working for me yesterday.

The Dzwonek: 

This top is a 42o/oo, but Ula assured me that it would fit. She was right! It’s made out of a light jersey material, which flows nicely but also creates a great shape for the shirt. It’s hard to find this color green, so I’d love to see Urkye make more than just one shirt in it.

This shirt feels very open up top, although not in terms of cleavage. It’s strange to feel like you’re showing a lot of collarbone, but I did the first time I put it on. Now that I’ve worn it out to run some errands, I can see it being my go to casual shirt. I’d also like to try it with some skirts for meetings and other slightly dressier occasions. The sleeves are fun and flattering without feeling full on Ren Faire, and the top is even slightly slimming. It doesn’t really get cold enough for me to stock up on long sleeved shirts, but I’ll definitely be back for the shorter sleeve version of this (and maybe even another long sleeved one since it’s just so pretty). I haven’t washed it yet, but I’ll come back and update the review once I do.

The Kieska:

This dress is a 42oo/ooo, so one bust size bigger than the shirt. Lots of people have been ordering this dress lately, so I’ve been seeing tons of pictures of it on other people. I know for some people it has been hit or miss, but I love it on me.  When I pulled it out of the box, it looked huge. However, once I put it on I fell in love with it. The pockets are a fun detail, and the princess seams help create a slimming look. The sleeves also make your arms look tiny, which is a bonus in my book. This color is perfect for this time of year, and I can see wearing it lots of different ways. Urkye has a short sleeved version as well, which I will be stocking up on for the summer.

The material in this dress isn’t as thick as some jersey or knit fabrics, so I don’t think it will keep you warm during a snowstorm. However, it’s great to layer with tights or scarves for some extra warmth. I also think it would look great with boots, although I don’t own any right now to test it with.

My entire order came to just over $60, which is a pretty amazing price for pretty clothing that fits. I will definitely be ordering from Urkye again as soon as they restock and recommend it to anyone else who is on the fence about trying a new clothing company.

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Friday Roundup Bravissimo Satine in Cobalt Blue and a Shopping List

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I know some of you are going to read this and go, “Oh no, that bra again?!” but today we’re featuring yet another gorgeous version of the Satine. It’s new to Bravissimo as of yesterday! I’ve absolutely fallen in love with these bras, and everyone else seems to feel the same way. For more detailed information on the fit of this bra, check out my previous review here.

I’m not really into the whole Black Friday madness, but I did want to point out a few items that will be on sale today and are worth purchasing if you’re full busted. I haven’t reviewed some of these yet, but I’ll be putting them up in the next few weeks.

Image via Pinup Girl Clothing

This Deadly Dames dress is one of my all time favorites. It’s comfortable, works for all kinds of occasions (even family friendly ones) and really makes the most of boobs and curves. I have the dark green version, which I wear the hell out of during the holidays but I find a little limiting during other times of the year. It’s sold out, but get more milage out of this awesome dress by getting the black or rusty rose version. It can be found here.

Image via Pinup Girl Clothing

This Erin dress in Plum sold like hotcakes, so limited sizes are left. However, if you are lucky enough to catch one of the sizes left on sale you should go for it. This is my go to dress for most occasions. It’s flattering, gives you a great shape, and works for a wide range of occasions. Get it here.

Image via Modcloth

When you need something casual but slightly Parisian chic, this is the dress to get. I’ve worn my orange version everywhere! Get it for $23.99 on Modcloth today.

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The Holidays Are Almost Here….Is Your Lingerie Marketing Ready?

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I love Christmas, but this year I’ve joined the crowd that is ignoring it until Thanksgiving is past. That said, if you’re a lingerie retailer you know that planning ahead is crucial to helping you survive the holiday season profitably and with your sanity intact. I don’t do tons of advertising for my copywriting services on the blog, but today I wanted to put up a quick post about some of my most popular offerings that can take a ton of holiday marketing stress off your plate.

Product Descriptions: Retailers frequently add lots of new products around the holidays,  but each product has to have a description. Lots of retailers use what the manufacturer gives them, but the Google Panda update is now down ranking websites with what they see as “copied” content. Make your customers and the Google crawler happy with some original (and professional) product descriptions that increase your sales and your website ranking!

Newsletters: Newsletters are a great way to generate extra sales around the holidays, but they take time to write. I can create a newsletter that gets results while showing off the personality behind your brand. In the meantime, you can get back to doing…well, whatever you want to be doing!

Gift Guides and Ghost Blogs: Blogs and gift guides seem like the easy part of holiday  marketing, but they can become a huge time suck. They can also sap your creativity, or take you away from helping customers in your physical store. Leave it to the professionals (yours truly) and make an appointment with me to talk about ghost blog content and gift guides. I’m the secret mastermind behind lingerie blogs large and small all over the world, and can create content that you and your customers will love.

To find out more or to make an appointment to get on my schedule, email me at holly@thefullfiguredchest.com!

If you are planning way ahead and want help for the holidays and for Valentine’s Day, check out my option for discounts through retainer packages here.

To see what my clients have to say, go here.

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Full Busted Bra Review: The Bravissimo Bettie Mae and the Moonlight In Paris Bra!

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Image via Bravissimo

Bravissimo’s new winter collection is out! I was so excited about some of the new stuff that I put my order in during the early morning on the first day. My whole order consisted of the new Bettie Mae bra, the Moonlight in Paris bra, and the Lola Luxe Basque in blackberry. I’m going to be reviewing the basque separately, since it’s very different from the other two items.

Image via Bravissimo

After having fallen in love with Bravissimo’s Satine bras, I wanted to give the Bettie Mae and the Moonlight in Paris a try. I knew that theoretically these bras should be the same shape and sizing as the others, which made me hopeful that they would work just as well for my breasts as the others.

Image via Candy Land Wikia

I tried taking tons of pictures of the Bettie Mae, but none really did justice to the color. The trim is a deep purple, with purple polka dots over a bright pink fabric. I love girly lingerie, but I was slightly afraid that this bra would feel more like something out of Candyland. While I still think that Princess Lolly would feel at home in this bra, I love it on myself as well.  I love that Bravissimo didn’t go with the typical hot pink and black colorway for this bra!

I went with my normal 32J in both bras, and they both fit well. I think these bras work well for women with denser breast tissue and close set breasts. The gore is reeally low (which I love), but I think if you had soft breast tissue then you’d find yourself falling out the middle. These bras aren’t nearly as full coverage as an Ewa Michalak plunge, but they do give a more natural look that I love. The padding in the Bettie Mae is just enough to give you a great shape without adding any bulk.

The Moonlight In Paris Bra is the unpadded version of the other plunges. My Kris Line black bra finally died, so I needed a replacement. I liked that this bra was decorative and practical all at the same time, which is the category I like my lingerie to fit into. The Moonlight In Paris bra has a little more stretch in the cups than the Bettie Mae, but otherwise fits the same way. I’ve seen some people referring to this bra as a bedroom bra, but I’ve been wearing it as an every day bra very happily.

I would love to see Bravissimo expand the range of this plunge shape up to a K cup! The J cup is a tinge smaller than some of my other bras, but I’m happily willing to do some adjusting every four hours or so for the incredible comfort and shape that these bras provide. If you haven’t tried one yet, you need to do so immediately.

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Full Busted Fashion Interview: Meet Urkye!

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The full busted clothing landscape has really picked up in the last year or so, but I’m excited about Urkye today since they present something genuinely missing from the market. Lots of full bust clothing companies focus on fancy dresses and fun pieces, but Urkye makes youthful casual clothing in comfortable (and washable!) fabrics. I was lucky enough to get to talk to Ula last week about the vision for her brand and her early successes in reaching a new part of the market. As a side note, this is yet another company based out of Poland that caters to full busted women worldwide! One of these days someone will do a study about why Polish companies are so ahead of everyone else. 

Image via Urkye

Holly: What motivated you to start Urkye?

Ula: I  have bigger bust than standard and I had a lot of problems with finding clothes in high street shops. Fortunately my mum tought me how to sew, then I learnt on my own how to construct clothes and finally I was able to sew clothes for myself that fit perfectly over bigger boobs and still underline waist. I noticed that I’m not alone with this problem and that shops that offer clothes for women with bigger boobs are quite expensive for polish girls or offer clothes that do not fulfill their style. My husband – Wojtek – who is an economist, noticed that creating our own brand could be an excellent adventure :) I love sewing and constructing, my husband knows how to run companies, so possibility of creating clothes for wider range of women was so thrilling that we couldn’t resist it :)

Image via Urkye

Holly:  How is Urkye different in style from other clothing companies for busty women?

Ula: We’re young and we sew what we like. We don’t follow trends in 100%, we always try to give something else, something what describes our style. Our clothes are sewn from the best quality materials by polish sewing company. Our clothes are unique, they’re not produced in huge quantities.

Our clothes are sewn in 3 (or 2) bust sizes for each waist size. What is also quite interesting about our clothes is a fact, that we also add more room around hips.

Image via Urkye

Holly: What age range is Urkye popular with?

Ula: We noticed that our clothes are generally popular with young woman and girls. But not only – we receive feedback also from older woman who are delighted with our styles :) So there is no rule – I believe that it depends more on character and personal style, not only on age :)

Image via Urkye

Holly: What have your most popular pieces been so far?

Ula: Definatelly Kieska dress. For Summer we had version with puffed sleeves, now we’ve prepared for our customers version with 3/4 sleeves. This style, due to pockets and french seam, can create an excellent proportions on each type of figure – and our customers love such magic! :)

Holly: What kinds of pieces are you planning to add to the Urkye line in the future?

Ula: Generally we’re still young company and we haven’t sewn all styles that we want to sew. Now we’re working on shirts and blazers, we have several new ideas for tops and dresses. We want to add coats, but rather it would happen within next year.  We’re also thinking of sewing maternity and nursing clothes for women with bigger boobs, because we know how hard it is to find nice fitting clothes for women in this special time. Finally, we’re also planning to sew dresses for women who have bigger difference between hips and waist.

But to be frank – we have no idea when we’ll be able to implement all these styles to our shop. But we’re optimistic and we believe that it’ll happen soon. Time will tell :) )

Have you tried out any Urkye clothing yet? Which piece is your favorite?

 

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Six Great Full Busted Lingerie Choices from ASOS

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ASOS contacted me a few days ago about writing a post about their lingerie selections, which was actually pretty neat. I’ve bought several bras (and more than several dresses) from ASOS and always had a good experiences there, and I’ve mixed lots of their pieces into previous blog features. However, I realized I hadn’t done a piece on their D through J lingerie options!

While I’m a huge supporter of small brands and boutiques, the international nature of ASOS allows them to stock lots of stuff before other smaller boutiques and lets them showcase brands that don’t normally make it over to the states (I love you, Evollove and Pleasure State!). I bought my Meg bra from there when I tried it because they were one of the first retailers to carry it. Sadly, it didn’t fit — which is why you haven’t seen a review here.

A note about buying bras in larger cup sizes on ASOS: if there’s something that you really want, buy it quickly and buy several possible sizes. By the time I returned my Meg bra several days after I received it, all of my other possible sizes were sold out.

ASOS also offers free shipping and free returns, which gives you license to have fun and try stuff you wouldn’t otherwise.  It’s also a great way to access international brands without the crippling return postage if a bra doesn’t fit. Their H-K options are more limited, but if you’re in the D-G line then ASOS is your lingerie playground.

Without further ado, these are my six favorite pieces on ASOS right now:

1. Bird Song Contour Balconette Bra by Evollove
Evollove is the newest Bendon brand, who also own Elle Macpherson Intimates and now Pleasure State. While Elle Macpherson is readily available in the US, ASOS is the only retailer I know of who offers the other two brands stateside. I’ve had a crush on this Bird Song bra ever since the promotional photos came out. Snap if you’re a D-G cup!

2. Meg Balconette Bra by Cleo
This is the bra that got away. I ordered a 32J, and for once in my life found myself swimming in it. By the time I returned it, the 32HH was gone. It’s a gorgeous bra and Cleo remains one of my favorite brands, but it sadly wasn’t meant to be. This is a great buy, but do be prepared to try multiple sizes to get the best fit.

3. Polarize Plunge Contour Bra by Pleasure State
I’m going to be honest — I’m a Pleasure State fan girl. Their offerings are always beautiful and inventive. Even better, they don’t dumb their designs down for their DD-G line. Were I to drop several cup sizes, this is the first brand I would buy one of everything from. It’s hard to find plunge bras that are this gorgeous and have this much detail. Bravo to ASOS for bringing this brand to customers worldwide.

4. Juliette Chiffon Satin Kimono by Dirty Pretty Things
I love robes, but kimono style robes are my weakness. They’re also flattering on a wide variety of body types, and this Juliette Kimono is another great one to pick up. Dirty Pretty Things is definitely a luxury brand, but the current sale may help you justify the splurge.

5. Swan Lake Balconette Contour Bra by Pleasure State
I took ballet for years, and this bra embodies the quiet feminine strength of ballerinas perfectly. I don’t dance anymore, but I’d happily wear this while watching videos of Gelsey Kirkland and pretending to be her.

6. Natasha Balconette Bra by Cleo
I’m not always a fan of the whole animal print trend, but this bra is cute and colorful enough to make me get over it. It’s on sale now, so it is an extra great deal if your size is still there.

Have you bought lingerie through ASOS? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments!

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Five Full Bust Friendly Formal Dresses for Your Holiday Party

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Yesterday I published a piece on The Lingerie Addict about gorgeous full bust friendly shapewear, so I felt like the week wouldn’t be complete with the companion article on formal party dresses.

Party dresses that work for full busted women can be tough to find, and going through dress after unflattering dress in a department store can make you want to give up fast. Luckily, the internet has lots of great options for us. I have a few quick rules for dresses that I follow when I’m looking for a great fancy dress:

a) The perfect formal dress shouldn’t require a strapless bra.
b) A great formal dress shows off your cleavage without turning you into a cartoon or making you feel self-conscious.
c) Since most people don’t have a ton of formal events to go to each year, the dress you buy should be classic and work with lots of different accessories and purses.
d) When in doubt, go for dresses made out of comfy stretch fabrics.

All of these dresses meet my requirements and cover lots of different styles, body types, and occasions.

1. Ava Dress in Plum by Pinup Girl Clothing
I own this dress in teal and love everything about it. It isn’t as boob friendly as some Pinup Girl clothing is, but pair it with a good plunge bra and you’ll be good to go. It’s flattering, wearable, and a nice nod to traditional kimono shapes. If you have trouble with the sash, check out this helpful YouTube video!

2. Siren Plus Size Dress in Burmese Ruby by Igigi
I love the look of off the shoulder dresses, but I hate strapless bras. This dress gives you the look while letting you stay comfortable in your favorite bra. The velvet waistband is a nice luxe touch, and the skirt is flattering to almost every figure.

3. Film Noir Dress in Green Velvet by Pinup Girl Clothing
This dress is inspired by classic film stars and is one of my holiday favorites. It’s one of the few dresses that my mother has asked me to wear on multiple occasions, which makes it both flattering and family appropriate. It comes in several colors and is great for colder weather. Go down a size for a sexier fit or follow the size chart to the letter for a flattering but looser fit. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

4. Long Marilyn Dress by Alice by Temperley
This dress gives you all the comfort of jersey with the look of satin. It has glitz while remaining classic, and features the ever flattering faux wrap dress style. Even better, it comes in purple or black.

5. Constance Dress by Trashy Diva
Trashy Diva makes fabulous dresses, but the back detail is really what takes this from plain black dress to showstopper. Check out all of the amazing covered buttons! This is the perfect dress to pair with sky high heels and an intricately beaded clutch.

Which dresses on this list do you love? What are you planning on wearing to all of your holiday parties?

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