Fatshion Faceoff - Underwear as Outerwear

THis weeks post at first instilled a deep sense of dread in me as I it something I would never wear I was getting myself all het up about it!

I have been in not such a good place in the last few weeks but my mojo is slowly coming back and a couple of days ago I realised that I needed to calm down and relax, and I thought sod it! this could be fun!

In the end my outfit made me think of the 80's and it was a blast, but I have to admit I still do not think the underwear as outerwear trend is going to be for me.

However for today its all me!!!

Do excuse the slightly blurry picture, but this is my underwear it is the Fantasie Susanna Basque in antique gold.

I teamed it with my new ASOS jersey trousers and my Clothing at Tesco Jacket.

My shoes are Evans (past season)

I feel very sassy in my outfit!

Go and take a look at the other gorgeous Fatshion Faceoff ladies in there undercrackers I know they will look stunning!

Dani: DIY Fatshion http://www.diyfatshion.com

Hanna: The Wardrobe Challenge http://thewardrobechallenge.co.uk/

Mouna: Brussels Fatshion http://www.brusselsfatshion.com

Olivia: Wait Until The Sunset http://www.waituntilthesunset.com

Mhairi

xxx

Do you wear your underwear as outerwear?

Feeling Fabulous in Fantasie

Before Christmas the wonderful Eveden team sent me this wonderful Fantasie Susanna set to review for them, and I had hoped to show it as a fabulous gift idea for christmas from a partner or to yourself.

Between being ill for weeks and then the craziness of christmas I just didn't manage to get it done in time, but now that the dreaded or loved date of February 14th is on its way I thought it would be a perfect time to show it off.

This set is stunning the antique gold lace is sexy, soft and just beautiful to look at, but it is such a fantastic shape that it is suitable for everyday wear or a sexy little date number.

So weather you are with someone or happily single, this set will make you feel amazing!

It gives a lovely shape under clothing

The straps are a lovely width and are ridged so you I haven't had to deal with any annoying straps loosening on me and slipping down.

It has 3 hook and eye fastenings with 3 rows.

The basque is stunning it is sexy comfortable and easy to wear.

I am also excited to see that Fantasie have just launched the Susanna Bra in a new colour way called petal which can be seen in the image below.

Fantasie is a pretty popular brand and can be found in most department stores and online in place such as figleaves but if you want to find a stockist near to you the Fantasie website has an excellent Store locator which shows stockists worldwide and can be found HERE

Swimwear Challenge - Eveden Fantasie Valetta Tankini and Briefs

For our final challenge the amazing team at Eveden offered us the chance to select swimwear from their ranges, if you are unfamiliar with the name Eveden, they encompass Freya, Fantasie, Fauve, Elomie, Huit and Goddess.

Now with our ample assets we are out of luck in the Huit and Fauve ranges but I can shop in the Freya, Fantasie, Goddess and Elomi Ranges with ease and I love all three, but as Elomi is well known in plus sizes and freya is a popular brand I decided to give something from the Fantasie side a whirl and I wasn't disappointed!

A Fantasie bra was the very first bra I was fitted correctly in about 9 years ago, I have always made sure I am in a correctly fitting bra as it means less back ache, better shape!

With bikinis and swimsuits I prefer one with an inbuilt bra as it helps keep my rather large assets under control, and it just gives me more comfort and support in general.

So onto the review the set I went for was the Valetta - Persian Blue Tankini £59 and the Fold down Briefs - £26.50

The colours are amazing, so vivid and cheerful! 

The cups fit well, but think I could have gotten away with a cup size down in this 38H as it is fairly generous!

Bra hook and eye fastening, which I find so much more secure than plastic bikini clasps!

 Fully adjustable straps, which are a must for my tiny short shoulders!

Fold down brief detail!

My thoughts

Appearance - The pattern of this tankini is bold and vibrant not really for some but for me I really loved it and I am not normally a flowery sort of girl (just realised I am typing this in a floral dress!) but it is so pretty and sunny it can't help but give it a good score here. 4/5

Fit - The overall fit is excellent, although I could go down a cup size it isn't obvious and it is not gaping all over, its just a feeling I have but the briefs and the body of the tankini have excellent space and I can fault them on that! 4/5

Comfort - superbly comfortable, for someone who isn't at the 100% body confidence stage I feel I would be happy to wear this at the beach or swimming pool. 5/5

Performance - I haven't been swimming in this one yet due to major crazy decoration sprees but it has been for a test in the shower and had the full giggle and bounce tests, and I have to say it held up beautifully! 5/5

Value - With the tankini coming in at £59 and the bottoms £26.50 this is at the top end of the majority of people budgets but in comparison to the other suits I have tried during this challenge, the material thickness and the bra shape and support have been outstanding in this suit so I feel you are getting what you pay for, though the high, high cost is going to mean a lower score in this.  2.5/5

Coverage -  The coverage was excellent, the cups encompassed my breasts with no spillage and the tankini was a good length on me. 5/5

This has been my favourite from the whole challenge with the Evans swimsuit coming in second and the Panache from Tesco last, I am hoping to visit a lovely spa with my best friend soon so will be taking this little beauty with me for the day!

We hope this series has helped some of you ladies to find something suitable for your holidays and swim sessions.

If you want to look back at the other swimwear challenges you can click the links below

TESCO - EVANS 

Also go check out the other fabulous ladies in there swimwear Becky - Gina - Sara

Thank you Becky for inviting me to take part in this, it has been fabulous and challenging! 

Mhairi

xxx

Out of curiosity, do my Lingerie and Swimwear type post appeal to you, I am hoping to add a couple of new fantasie sets to my collection in september/october and if they are of interest I will happily post about them here for you.
the two I am looking at are 

Susanna - this antique gold set makes me so happy, its just so pretty, I have been obsessing about it since the press day.

Nicola - this lovely seal set is just so pretty!

So would you like to see them reviewed if I ever get my hands on them, finances permitting!

Eveden AW12 Press Launch

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of spending the day with some amazing bloggers, all thanks to Caroline, who is possible one of the most beautiful and lovely women I know.

I was so excited to attend the AW12 launch from Eveden as I am a huge fan of most of the brands under their name which include Freya, Fantasie, Elomi, Fauve, Huit8 and Goddess.

I certainly wasn't disappointed with what was on offer this coming AW12 season.

The venue was the Swarovski cafe, which is upstairs from the main shop opposite liberties, the shop was divine!

Prior warning this will be photo heavy as there was so much to see but it is worth it to lust over the pretties!

The first thing I saw coming up the stairs was the Fauve display it was very pretty to look at and all the scattered crystals were supper pretty if you are between a D and a GG cup you have some very beautiful choices on the way

My Two favourites were the beautiful Midnight Blue Marla Which should be available in July, and the lovely Dominique which can be seen behind the Marla which is due out in August. 

This nightwaer caught my eye too, so petty and sexy the back detail was gorgeous! 

Freya as usual had some gorgeous offerings, it still makes me sad that they don't quite work with my shape, but I will forever keep trying!

Freya speaks for itself in the beauty stakes, the patterns and colours are always beautiful and I want just about every set :) 

This one really caught my eye the butterflies were so subtle and pretty The Martha, but I am utterly devastated to see it stops at a G cup!

Elomi had some very pretty offerings but by far my favourites were the Valentina and the Paloma, the Valentina has such a pretty vibrant red the petals are super cute! but the paloma is so sexy in the luxurious purple colour with the metallic thread, this is one I will have to try when it is released!

Huit8 had such stunning style that made me think of art deco era with sexy shapes and colours, the size range seems to go to a DD cup, so no good for me, but stunning if you fit the range.

These caught my eye!

Finally in the lingerie section I want to show you Fantasie, who I genuinely love, they are one of my favourite brands as they were the first bra I ever owned after I was fitted correctly for the first time! 

I havent had anything from them in a while but having seen what is on offer i will be remedying this as soon as possible!

This has to be mine the black lace over the gold was just diving, I need this in my life! 

This one also really caught my eye and may just have to find its way into my underwear draw!

To be honest the whole range was stunning to me, it is simple sexy and I just love it!

OMG look at this set, the green colour is just beautiful I was so excited to see this is is super super sexy!

There are lots of gorgeous new swimwear sets coming out too and I need to find something that fits my ample bosom fast!

There was a selection of nightwear which looked gorgeous!

And the Freya active rang which includes a new swimsuit and a sports top with built in bra!

So that was everything, it was an amazing day and so much fun was had, I even got to go see Ghost the musical thanks to the very lovely Caroline and Natasha, but I think I will blog about that later. xx

Hope you survived the crazy amount of photos, but there was just so much to see and I wanted to share it all. 

Mhairi

xxx

Freya Active - Sports Bra Review

Now  this is NOT a weight loss post, this a health post, as far as I am concerned plenty of Fat girls love to go to the gym or walk/Run, and I firmly believe a good sports bra is important to us all.

For me it is important as I have a large bust and find exercise painful if I am not correctly supported, so I have begun a quest to find my perfect sports bra.

The wonderful Katie from the Eveden group who produce the Freya, Elomi, Huit, Fauve, Fantasie and Goddess ranges offered to send me a Freya Active sports Bra to try.

Now this post has been delayed quite a while so thank you so much to Katie for being patient and allowing me time to let my back heal before I got stuck into my health kick.

Ok the one I choose to try was the Freya Active Red Underwired Sports Bra, and the Active Shorts, now a little advice, at the time I ordered I went for the 38GG but think I could really do with the 38H for a perfect fit, so if you have the opportunity, make sure you visit a decent fitter and try them on to get the perfect size for you.

The colour of the bra is beautiful, which isn't important to us all but for me I love a good colour, so this was a bonus for me.

It is a very rich red/pink colour and the black piping is a nice contrast.

It closes with a good 4 hook and eyes which is brilliant for supporting my ladies.

Little bit of detail, not the most exciting but still.

The material is nice and non scratchy which is important to me as my skin is sensitive and gets irritated quickly and while I could have done with the 38 H for better side coverage it is actually not too bad a fit, but as I find with all my freya bras, I cant get the central gore to fit flush against my chest.

I also found that it gave me a very madonna in the 80's pointed shape, which for exercising isn't a huge deal but if you really hate that shape, this wont be the bra for you.

I tried to give the bra a good testing and ran about and jumped up and down, there was some movement but it wasn't jarring or painful like I experience in a normal bra.

Over the next few weeks I will put this through its paces and give you an update on how it copes, and hopefully I might get to try some other brands out as I want the best possible bra to stop the pain and suffering :) 

Have you found a sports bra that works for you, if not I would say definitely give freya active a try but go and get fitted into it so you have the best possible support and fit. 

The Bra can be purchased from around the £30 mark and if you look here you can find a stockist near you, also if you need larger than a 40" back give elomi a try they go to a 46"back. 

Mhairi

xxx