Introducing: Tutti Rouge

Recently, there has been a stirring amongst my fellow lingerie bloggers. Images from trade shows and press releases have been shared of a brand that is due to start hitting stores next month. I have seen images of laughing smiling models, wearing brightly coloured gorgeous sexy lingerie that appears to be available in larger cup sizes. Models that are slim and slender with curves, with smaller and larger back, augmented and natural breasts. Who is this magical brand? The answer…

“We would like to introduce you to a cute, curvaceous, fun, flirty and frilly lady ‐ Tutti Rouge.

Tutti Rouge will get the party started with one of the most exciting brand launches of the year, offering a stunning, fuller bust collection of coordinating lingerie available in DD – HH cups with 28” ­‐ 38” backs. The range has been lovingly created by lingerie designer Jessica Prebble. Previously Jessica has consistently delivered best styles for selected European brands and High Street retailers.

Tutti Rouge has already successfully trialled in several independent and online stores in the UK for AW12. The SS13 collection will debut with lingerie leader Bravissimo.

The emphasis for the brand is on fashion, fit and affordability. As Jessica says ‘Tutti Rouge will break a few hearts, but she won’t break the bank’.

Tutti Rouge calls to curvaceous, vivacious, fashion-­forward girls with attractive price points of £26 -­ £32 for bras and £9.50 – £17.50 for co-ordinates. Complemented by a vibrant marketing campaign, the word on every girls lips will soon be Tutti Rouge.”

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some Tutti Rouge lingerie!
Luckily, my wish was granted by the arrival of a gorgeous looking box some weeks later. The ‘Tutti Rouge’ label on the packaging made me instantly rip the parcel open, and inside was the most gorgeously presented box of lingerie and goodies.

I had been sent the ‘Liliana’ set in a size 36H/XL and she was gorgeous! And who can resist a stick of rock and some lip balm!?

I hurriedly tried Liliana straight on, marvelling at the fact that it was a gorgeous pretty pink PADDED bra in my size – yippee!

The set fit me almost perfectly! The cups were spot on with no bulging, the 3 hooked band was nice and snug, the fully adjustable straps with the cute heart adjusted didn’t dig in painfully. My only qualm was that the knickers were a bit too small. An XL roughly translates to a size 16, and these hips aint no 16! However, the soft stretchy material didn’t create too much of an unflattering silhouette, and they are certainly wearable. Fingers crossed that once the company launches and becomes popular they will consider introducing larger sizes.

The bra does give me a gentle cleavage. It’s not an overly projected shape, making it perfect as a more casual bra, or as a prettier bra to wear out under a fancy dress. I wore it to work underneath my white shirt, and I was very comfortable in it as I moved about during my 6 hour shift. I didn’t experience any digging in under the arms, any movement or any other discomfort.

Pink is not a colour I tend to favour, however, this softer bubblegum pink is undeniably gorgeous and very suited to my colouring. I love the white lace details seen on the cups and briefs, as well as the beautiful bows.

As I mentioned, the shape the cups give me is gorgeous. The bra is made out of a three part construction, and I find that even with padded bras that can sometimes give way to a pointy shape. However, Liliana keeps my boobs looking perky, rounded and gorgeous.  The top part of the cups is unpadded, which helps it lie against the bust rather than cut in.

The bra band is not overly rigid, meaning it was easy to fasten and nice and snug. I found that the sizing of the Tutti Rouge Liliana reflected that of Panache.

Tutti Rouge will start to hit stores from May onwards, so keep an eye on their Facebook page for more information, and more product photos. They will also be launching their website at around the same time.

I am excited to see what the future hold for Tutti Rouge. They may not stock as many sizes as full busted women would like, but give them time and I am sure things will change. To start off with 28 bands and padded bras up to an HH across all the band sizes is amazing, and I feel sure that they will soon become a favourite for many large breasted women who are crying out for flirty fun bra styles.

What do you think of Tutti Rouge and the Liliana bra? Will you be trying them out for yourself? Let me know in the comments 🙂

A Review Of The Meg Bra By Cleo

It’s safe to say that Cleo by Panache’s Autumn Winter collection is bloody gorgeous! And their Meg bra is no exception.
Bird prints get a huge thumbs up from me and I was so happy to get my hands on this bra. The red detailing and scalloped edge cups are quite unique, and I especially adored the swallow charm on the central gore. The cups are made out of a fairly thickish material that still manages to be sexy and sheer. I initially tried this bra in a 36HH but found the cups a little too baggy, and so this is a 36H.Sadly, no matter how much I tightened one strap over the other I was somewhat lopsided in the bra as you can see. It may have been because the cup construction thrust me very much forward and pushed me in at the sides.
However, I was left with some puckering of material at the very tip of the cups, although it was spot on elsewhere. The shape that I was given was very rounded and projected, as I mentioned, and I felt very secure in the cups.The back band was firm, almost to the point of being too firm which is no bad thing, but I would have preferred three hooks and eyes.

In conclusion, sadly Meg is not for me. The wrinkling cups show slightly under my clothes and I am unhappy with the overall shape it gives my breasts.  It is a stunning bra and one that I wish came out in of the padded balconette styles that Cleo do so well.  But I can’t have them all, sadly!

Click here for a review from Invest In Your Chest, and here for Undiegamer’s review.

Losing It With Lauren

This post has taken me some time to produce as I have been going through a bit of a body battle recently.

Those who follow me on my Facebook page will know that I have started to feel fed up with my size and appearance. And so I have started to embark on a weight loss mission. I am eating better and have joined the gym in a bid to trim the fat, as it were. I don’t want to go too far, but I’d like to lose a bit of the wobble I have gained slowly over the last few years – a happy relationship and contraceptive pill are surely to blame!

As you may have noticed I have recently been cutting my head out of photos – this is due to my not being happy with anything I saw on the camera display and often sucking my gut in so hard that my face scared me! I would take hundreds upon hundreds of photos and often give up completely. I fell behind with a reviews a bit as I grew frustrated with my body.

However, I am pleased to report that the gym and healthy eating are going exceptionally well and today I was able to review a bra I have had for almost a month and the only thing that annoyed me about the photos was the fact that this new camera seems to make everything blurry and I don’t know how to fix it! I don’t want this blog to start to become all about weight loss, but I do think it is important to feel happy with yourself and I was not happy. The photos I post here have been carefully vetted and do not truly represent how I look and I no longer took pleasure in what faced me in the mirror. I now am starting to feel happy again and I am looking forward to a sunny holiday at the end of the year and hope to have a bikini body worth flaunting.

And so onto the review!

At the recent Eveden press event I had a fitting and received a free set. The lovely lady fitted me as a 34J and the set I received was the Freya Lauren Balconette in black.

If you follow my blog closely you will know that I often go for 36H in bras and so the idea of me leaping down a back size and up a cup size may seem baffling! However it is pretty much a normal size for me in Freya. I find that the bands come up a little looser than some other brands, and the cups a wee bit snugger. A 34HH is the cup equivalent to a 36H, so a 34J is just one cup size up.

The Lauren is a bra that I have tried on before and discarded. I found that the central gore was too wide and instead of lying flat like it should it would twist and pull away from my body. I think I tried it in a 34HH and just assumed that the shape was wrong for me. However, the wire in the 34J sat flush with my skin and just goes to show that, as with all items of clothing, some things need to be tried on in a few variations before making a purchase.

The Lauren bra is very comfortable, I have worn it a lot recently and have not felt like ripping it off after a few hours. It is firm and supportive. The shape it gives me is not quite as rounded as some non moulded bras give me. It gives me nice modest cleavage but slightly flattens my boobs on the top and points them downwards somewhat. It fully contains my sideboob without poking my armpit which is slowly improving my migrated breast tissue. It feels supportive with it’s three hooks and eyes, and the comfortable fully adjustable straps sit nicely on my shoulders. It has cute little bow detailing on the central gore and at the bottom of the straps. The bra has quite a retro look and feel to it and the matching briefs are equally gorgeous. My only gripe with the bottoms, as ever, is that they only go up to a size XL – the equivalent of a UK 16. I would need at least an 18 in these to fit my derriere and hips in comfortably.

Freya Lauren is a great basic bra with a cute twist. It comes in several different styles for different sizes. Why not check them out on the fabulous Leia Lingerie.

For CurvyWordy’s review of the bra click here.

Purple Reigns

I recently purchased two new sets which incidentally happened to be…purple! Hence the tedious link!
The first set was the stunning Emily in lavender by Curvy Kate.

I tried this bra in blue for the Star In A Bra photoshoot and I was so impressed by the shape and style that I have been toying with the idea of getting this purple version ever since. As proven by this wonderful post by the Brastop blog the Emily bra gives fantastic support at every size. It is sheer enough to be sexy and covered enough to wear under most tops. It has fully adjustable straps and three hooks and eyes meaning it gives optimum comfort and support. I found the band to be a little stretchy and think a 34HH would have been as good a fit on me, so if you are between back sizes you could go down one. The colour is just divine and looks great against most skin tones. The size 18 thong was a good fit around my hips but a tad baggy elsewhere, a 16 would have been ok but probably cut into my muffin top a bit too much and so it depends on how you like your pants to fit as to whether you want to go for your lower or upper size.

The second set I got was the new Rhea by Masquerade in mulberry and slate. As I have the other two Rhea sets I knew that this bra was a fab fit and style for me – and I was not disappointed!

As with all Panache bras the band comes up quite snug and so this 36H was perfect for me. It gave me that fantastic rounded shape that is perfect for sweetheart necklines and high scoop necks. The straps are half adjustable but fairly short and did not even need to be moved. It has two hook and eyes which is ok but I do prefer the firmness of three. The colour is perfect for winter and although it has a little lace detail it tends to not show underneath anything unless it is very thin. I always feel very secure in this bra and often wear the pale pink one all day at work. The matching briefs are a size 18 and are a perfect fit – which is standard Masquerade sizing for me. I hope they keep bringing out new and gorgeous Rhea sets as they make me feel indescribably sexy, give my boobs a shape to die for and last for a very long time.

Pleasantly Surprised By Shapely Figures

So Simply Yours do padded bras up to a H cup – amazing! I had to give them a go…

All I can say is wow! I got the bras in my upper size of 36H and I am glad I did as the band was very very snug! However, once I had wrestled the 3 hooks and eyes closed I felt secure and supported and above all comfortable. The spacious cups encased me completely and I didn’t bulge out or feel like I was about to fall out and I had the most magnificent uplifted effect! The pretty trim gave the bras a girly twist and chocolate brown and baby pink are some much needed colours to slot into my lingerie drawer – let’s be honest, I pretty much have every other colour combo!
So all in all these gorgeous basic bras are a must have, I am so chuffed to have something so supportive in an H cup, Simply Yours, today you have excelled yourselves!

Hermione Works Her Magic

As I have to wear a white top to my new job I have been desperately looking for a pale bra that doesn’t gibe me too much ‘oomph’ and doesn’t require any ‘adjusting’. I had pretty much given up on ever finding a moulded bra that fulfilled my criteria…until I stumbled across the Hermione set by Elomi. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that it went up to a HH cup AND was moulded! And so I had to give it a go…

Granted it’s not the sexiest of sets, especially not for a thong lover like myself but it is extremely comfortable, practical, doesn’t give me a distracting cleavage and is a fabulous colour. The moulded cups are slightly thinner than I am used too and so there is some slight nipple poking going on but it is still far better than a non padded bra. The pretty detailing on the side just helps give it that girly twist to turn a staple bra into something a bit more fun. I bought this bra in a 36H and I am glad I went for that size rather than 34HH as the band feels snug and secure with a three hook fastening and fully adjustable straps. I could possibly have done with going for a 36HH as I am spilling over ever so slightly but this is something that may rectify with time, wear and stretching. The full briefs are really not my thing at all as I find them to be extremely unflattering – but wow are they comfy! So these will be kept for those lazy days off work when I just lounge about on my sofa recovering from being on my feel all day every day!
All in all this set is unlikely to stop traffic but that’s not why I bought it and so as a basic day bra I give it full marks, now if only they could create a sexy evening bra up to a HH (and beyond!) that gives the girls a sexy boost and shape…

Parting With My Padding

I really love moulded and padded bras and they are pretty much all I wear, but I do realise that they are not for everyone and not available in everyone’s sizes. So with the aid of some slightly unflattering professional shots and a few home posed ones I will showcase my small foray into the non padded world…

This is the Curvy Kate Emily bra in aqua and ivory, which you can find at Brastop. I have been tempted to buy this bra so many times as I was very impressed by the shape and lift that the 36H bra gave me, but I know that I wear padded bras so little and that it would most likely go unworn and so I have had to stop myself! It is so delicate and pretty and comes in several gorgeous colourways, one of my favourite being the flame coloured bra, as modelled by the delicious Sophia Jenner. I found the bra to be true to my upper size, 36H, despite the fact that in Showgirl I am a 34J. The size 18 briefs were also spot on and all in all it is a flirty girly sexy set.

I also tried the Angel bra:

This was also a 36H and although I was not as impressed as I was with the Emily I found it to be a very comfy bra and one that gave a fantastic rounded shape.

Some non padded styles I have tried seem to struggle to contain my boobs and give me an ‘east and west’ puppy dog-eared shape, but I am very impressed by the way that Curvy Kate not only cater exclusively for D+ women, but also do it well and do a lot of research and trials. I was lucky enough to trial a 34J Tease Me and a Tempt Me at the photoshoot. The Tease Me was amazing and I do hope that Curvy Kate release bras in that size very soon, but the Tempt Me couldn’t quite contain my boobs and I could see that a lot had gone into making such large cupped bras and that Curvy Kate would not release anything that jeopardized giving women that gorgeous lifted look.

I did find that the size 18 Angel briefs were spot on, but unfortunately I wore a size 16 in the black set and as you can see my love handles came into their own!
Here is the behind the scenes video from the photoshoot – complete with Sophia and I having a bit of boobie poking fun!

One non padded bra that I will admit to wearing is my Freya Jolie bra.

Again, I am so impressed with the shape and uplift that this bra gives! The day that I bought this I must have tried on about 8 non padded Freya bras and I became increasingly disheartened until I popped this bubblegum pink creation on…and wow! The lift, separation, shape and, of course colour just blew me away! I bought it in a 34HH which I find to be my ‘Freya size’ and teamed it with a size 16 thong. Magical.
My final non padded offering is my 34HH/16 Bestform Rebecca bra.

When I first saw this bra all I could think of was ‘sports bra’! I seemed so dull and matronly. But then I put in on…and not only was the shape perfect, but the little details like the mesh and cute little buttons just gave it that feminine unique twist and I couldn’t believe that it was the same bra! The whole set is a perfect fit and so I would compare the sizing to Freya bras where the band seems to be a tad more generous.

I will try to review more non padded bras but I am wary of wearing them for a multitude of reasons, mainly the fact that a large and heavy chest often doesn’t fare well shape and support wise. However, these four bras have been spot on in every way and as they can all be found at bargainous prices at brastop I would recommend giving them a go if you haven’t already!

The Answer To My Bra Prayers

So you may have seen in previous posts that I love turquoise, long for larger cupped moulded bras and have recently become a fan of purchasing items from Poland.
Combine these things and you have…the appearance of my favourite set EVER!
I have been hearing of Ewa Michalak/Effuniak for a while now, namely due to my fellow bloggers Brittany, Sophia and Cheryl and also from some large breasted friends. I found it amazing that they made Brittany some smaller banded bras to fit her petite ribcage and I was incredulous at the fact that they seemed to make padded and moulded bras beyond a GG cup! I also LOVE the way they use different size models, including one who I can really relate too as she is very busty and voluptuous. After working out what kind of fit the bras were  and if they were generous/small cupped I settled on ordering some 80H bras, which translates as being a 36H. I had heard that the backs were very firm and so that put me off trying a 75(34). And so the bras arrived…
I opted for a plunge style and a balconette, just so I could get the feel of the bras. I unwrapped my ‘presents’ and instantly fell in love with the gorgeous girly designs.
The first bra I tried on was the CH Miętus. I liked the fact that both bras had fully adjustable straps and three hooks on the back. The bra was gorgeous on, however, I felt like it was a tad small and that the weight of my breasts were a bit of a strain on the dainty straps. Still, it gave me a great lift and shape and I would order this style again, although maybe in a 80HH/J.

The other bra I bought was the PL Turkus. I ordered this bra because…well, it was turquoise and came with retro high-waisted briefs.
Oh my goodness…I cannot fault this bra set! The lift, the way my boos stay in even when bending over (take that as you will, just like me :p) the comfortable supportive three hooked band…I could again have done with going up a cup size as I have slight side boob but again, it works well for me!  As you  can see from this photo the bra the perfect tightness, hence the slight back fat!
So all in all a fairly successful haul! I have learnt my lesson with regards to my size in EM, I have discovered that plunge bras DO WORK in larger sizes and I think I need to visit Poland!!!

Feeling Peachy In Panache

One of the bra companies that I admire the most is Panache. They really listen to their customers and are always trying to make changes to suit them. They are quick to reply on their Facebook page, and recently asked whether there was a demand for sub 28 bands – and having read and seen Brittany from Thin and Curvy’s struggle I was quick to reply yes! I really hope that they start to do this as so many smaller women must be in agony in 28 and 30 backed bras.
Another thing I love is that they make padded and moulded bras up to an H cup – such as the Lula Mai bra. They realise that not all large breasted women want non padded bras and they cater for that demand with their brand Masquerade. I think they would do well to make even bigger sizes padded and moulded, and I hope that this is something that we will see in the future.
One bra that I have seen for ages and simply had to try was the Anise. I decided to go for my usual Masquerade size of 36H/16….and wow! I love it! It is the tightest bra I have ever worn and I wish I had managed to locate a 38H, but nevertheless I just love the set! It is a divine colour, the lace overlay is just exquisite and it makes my boobs look incredibly perky! I have yet to find a fault with Masquerade and I hope that panache keep on listening to their customers as they will start making waves in the industry before long and hopefully be at the forefront of many new and exciting developments with regards to sizing.