A Review Of The BiuBiu ‘Portofino’ Top

I am very much a flouncy dress person, but sometimes I do like to rock an outfit that doesn’t blow up with the slightest gust of wind! And I have the ideal skirt from New Look, but it can never hurt to have a few more tops to go with it…

One perfect top has to be my 44BB/BBB BiuBiu Portofino top.

I have tried many a BiuBiu top in the past, but I’m always happy to add a few new styles to my wardrobe!

The Portofino top ticked many many boxes for me. The length was perfect on my longer torso, and the clingy fit was flattering enough to show off my shape without being too tight.

The way it ruched across my stomach was fabulous, as that is an area that I struggle with when things are too tight.

The v neck was cut rather low, but the fabric crossed over in such a way that meant that that top was still very modest. I could easily have sized down to a 42BB/BBB or maybe even a 40BB/BBB, and in those sizes I may have found myself spilling out a little more. But this top fit me well, and I liked the way the neckline sat.

This top does come in several more colours, and ideally I would go for something a little more stain friendly. But I do love the way the white looked against my skin tone and hair.

The sleeves were perfect. Loose enough to not give me sausage arms, and tight enough to not add extra bulk.

This top will go perfectly with jeans, trousers and skirts, and with the right layering (probably another BiuBiu top underneath it!) this top will be perfect during the cooler seasons as well. A big thumbs up from me!

In these photos I paired my top with an old skirt from New Look, my trusty Maidenform shapewear, a plunge bra from Ewa Michalak and my old Marks and Spencers high heels.

Special thanks goes to the beautiful patient CurvyWordy for taking these photos for me.

Something For Everyone

It’s no secret that I love BiuBiu.

I fell in love with this dress, went onto find the perfect work shirts and versatile tops. I have always been impressed by the quick shipping, great communication and helpful service provided by BiuBiu. I am also astounded by Kinga, the founder of BiuBiu’s kindness and generosity. They are still a fairly new brand and yet she is quick to reward us blogging folk with generous freebies.

I recently placed an order for some new work shirts I decided to go a 46BBB Vanity Fair as they cater a little more for larger hipped ladies.

As you can see it is a great fit across my hips and does a good job at hiding a black bra. It is a little baggy over my middle, but for me it works well as I wear an apron at work and that hides my tummy. The thing I love best about these shirts is that they do not need ironing at all! I hang them up when they come out the wash and they are good to go for work the next day. Perfect or what?!

Kinga had included four 46BB/BBB tops in the parcel and it felt like Christmas had come early!

Two of tops were patterned. One in the same style in the current Porto tops and one new style with a scoop neck – the Azulejos and the Provence.

I do love patterns, however I must confess that neither top really worked for me as these were a little too busy. I actually gave them to my Grandma who is in love with them! I have sewn up the neckline on the blue one as it was a bit low for her and they really suit here – she even had my Mum and I go through her wardrobe to check she had enough matching trousers! The unlikely clothing exchange led on to me telling her all about my blog as I had to wave her offers of payment away! Her favourite is the blue one as she is Estonian and it is blue black and white, just like her flag. She has made it quite clear that she will take anything else that doesn’t suit me! My Mum was a bit disappointed that my Granny liked them so much as she had hoped she might get to keep them. However as she is a 12SC in Pepperberry she did find them to be slightly bit, so maybe it was the best outcome. She is certainly keen to try some of the styles out soon, especially given that they are such a good price.

I was not willing to part with the other two tops in the parcel!

They are both empire line and the coral has a little tie at the back to help bring in the waist a bit more, the navy blue is as seen. I really like the neckline on them and also like the fact that they are not tight and can be worn with jeans. I know a few of my friends and readers have commented on a photo I posted on my Facebook page saying that it is not a great shape for apple shaped women, but I have a fair old midriff and thought I looked far better in them than in some tighter tops. I suppose it’s all about trial and error and personal preference – as my has Granny proven!

I hope that there will be many other tops in the scoop necked style for sale in different colourways as I have worn mine to death recently! I may have to get the lilac one as well. They also do not crease easily and are very soft and comfortable.

If you have not yet tried BiuBiu because you are unsure then drop me a message, or, even better, ask on the Facebook page. Kinga was so helpful when I bought my shirts and she will no doubt be able to assist with any enquiries.

The Space Librarian recently did a guest post on the fantastic Braless In Brasil and has also reviewed some current tops.

Topping It All Off

Recently I have been wearing my 44BB/BBB BiuBiu tops a lot – they are so versatile!

I have worn them out partying, to smarter events, casually…they are literally amazing!

The empire line cuts in under my boobs therefore making the most of my shape, and then flows nicely over my tummy.

They are quite low cut but to me they flatter my boobs and give me a great shape – what are you waiting for, go grab one in every colour like I have!

Biu-tifully Done Once Again

My manager recently decided that he wanted to smarten us all up at work and so invested in some smart white shirts for us all. I was instructed to go and buy my own before one of my shifts – presumably due to the fact that even he had worked out that the ‘one size fits all’ shirts would probably exclude me. I had little luck doing this and the best fitting shirt was a size 24, reminding me horribly of my school days:

I had to have that oh so awkward conversation with my manager where I pointed out my not so obvious points and the fact that me wearing a high street shirt would become the opposite of smart if I had to encase them fully. I promised that I would purchase some ‘speciality’ shirts and he looked baffled but agreed to this.
I already owned three Bravissimo shirts in 16SC but I found the far spaced buttons to gape slightly, it to be baggy around my waist and as I am 2 inches taller than their target woman I found them to be a tad indecent. And so I decided to once again return to Poland (virtually speaking!) in search of some more booby friendly garments…from BiuBiu!
I decided to contact Kinga, the owner of BiuBiu, to try to determine which would be the best size to go for in the white shirts, as I know how garments can fluctuate slightly depending on the cut and fabric. She offered to send me three sizes, 46BBB (rather like 18SC) 46BB (18RC) and 44BBB (16SC).
I wore a Frida Deco and some jeggings under the tops I am modelling in this post, I hope this helps give an idea of thickness and fit of the items (and yes, I do wear my jeggings that high!!!!):

So here are the 3 shirts:

The first thing I have to say about these shirts is that they are just beautifully soft – I may ask Kinga to start making bed sheets as I just felt so comfortable and relaxed with the shirts on. They are ever so slightly stretchy and I found I could pull them on over my head which is fab for someone like me who is always in a rush! They felt feminine and amazing and were fairly thick, not enough to conceal the pattern of my bra completely but enough that I know I could get away with pale ish bras. I found the 46BBB to be a good length, a touch long in the sleeves but nothing that would get in my way. It fit perfectly across my chest but bagged slightly across my stomach. The 46BB and the 44BBB were a pretty perfect fit across the chest and the 44BBB was amazing and flattering across my waist, but slightly small over my hips. Ideally I would love to have this shirt in a 44BBBB but overall I was impressed by just how well they all fit me in their own ways and what a beautiful creation the shirt is. I also love that it comes in a large range of colours and so would be perfect for any busty business woman’s wardrobe as they are so smart, feminine and well fitted. I would probably go for a Vanity Fair style next time as they are cut to suit a more hourglassy (read ‘large bottomed’) figure.
Having read this review by Invest In Your chest I would also love to try a Campbell&Kate shirt.

My parcel also included two more casual tops.

This Fuego Jade top is a 46BB/BBB. I was a bit worried that the empire line would make my boyfriend start to worry that he was about to get a mini-me but it is an amazing fit, covering my wobbly gut and skimming my shape. It is quite low cut but nothing that a Deco won’t partner up with beautifully and I found it to be a fantastic length. BiuBiu do this top in a few other colours and I hope that they bring out even more as this is a great staple top for the wardrobe and could be dressed up or down depending on the occasion.
I also tried on this 44BB/BBB long sleeved more fitted version:

I utterly adore this style! I think I will wear it to death during the colder weather. Again, it is so flattering on lumps and bumps and a perfect length for me to pull down, as I like to do with tops.

So once again I have to hand it to BiuBiu for doing what they do and, so far in my experience, doing it very well! As with any company you order online from you have to try a few sizes to get your fit but believe me with this company it is really worth it!

Four Tops, Three Looks, One Girl!

So today I was feeling a little miserable and under the weather and ended up calling in sick to work and re-entering my cocoon. I was awoken some hours later by the postman bearing…gifts! Some tops from Evans! I had been looking forward to them for days as I had had bad luck with my Pepperberry sale tops due to them being quite short on my long-ish torso. And I was not disappointed! These were the four tops I went for:

This gorgeous black and white butterfly top.

This stunning colourful butterfly top.

This beautiful floral cape top.

And this pretty leopard print top.

However, the real test when it comes to a new item of clothing is it’s versatility. There is nothing worse than buying a new dress or pair of shoes and only thinking of one way of wearing them. However, not only were these tops simply stunning but also extremely versatile. Using just a few staple pieces from my wardrobe to accompany them I will show you how I created three looks with each top – Casual, Office and Party. I apologise for my headless images, the flu was not kind to my temperature!

So here are my ‘casual’ looks:
As you can see ‘casual’ for me basically translates to ‘jeans and no heels’. With all of these tops some sort of belt or jacket/cardi at the waist was needed but that doesn’t make an outfit look dressy, just flattering. These tops are all quite lightweight and girly and so are perfect for most types of weather.

These are my ‘office’ looks:
A fitted pencil skirt (incidentally, Evans skirts from a few years back) can make the world of difference to any outfit.  And of course tucking the tops in is not only figure flattering but also very smart.

 

And these are my party looks:These are my party looks.  Yes, a tad similar to the office ones but that is what’s great about these tops – they are the perfect ‘office to bar’ look as it doesn’t take much to smarten them and then dress them up further.

All in all a fabulous quad of tops – bravo Evans, funky gorgeous fashionable flattering tops, long enough to fit me, trendy enough to suit me and perfect with my trusty belts 😉