Sivutyöstä täyspäiväiseksi naisyrittäjäksi: Lumingerien 10 vuotta – From a Side Job to Full Time Female Entrepreneurship: 10 years at Lumingerie

Suomessa alusvaateala on aina ollut marginaalissa: jokaisella suurella kaupungilla ja joskus jopa pienemmälläkin pitäjällä on oma pieni putiikkinsa, jonka kapasiteetti usein riittää tarjoamaan kokoja n. G-kuppiin asti, ja vuokrien ollessa kalliit ja tilojen pienet kivijalkakauppiaana alalla on vaikea menestyä. Alusvaateverkkokaupat ovatkin olleet monen isorintaisen pelastus: kokoja löytyy huomattavasti enemmän ja merkkivalikoimasta löytyy paljon muutakin kuin perinteistä Primadonnaa.

Ensimmäinen suomalainen alusvaateverkkokauppa, johon itse blogiurani alussa (eli n. 5 vuotta sitten) tutustuin, oli omassa kaupungissani Oulussa varastoa pitävä Lumingerie. Lumingerien valikoimassa itselläni sykähdytti tutut nuorekkaat merkit kuten Curvy Kate, Freya ja Cleo by Panache, joita pääsinkin jossain vaiheessa blogiarvostelujen merkeissä testaamaan Lumingerielle. Yhteistyöstä kehittyi ystävyys, ja jossain vaiheessa myös työpaikka, jossa pääsen tänäkin päivänä toteuttamaan omaa intohimoani asiakaspalveluun ja alusvaatteisiin.

Lumingerie on monelle edelleen alusvaatejälleenmyyjänä uudempi nimi ja moni yllättyykin, kun kerromme asiakkaillemme, että yritys on ollut pystyssä jo aika lailla tasan kymmenen vuotta! Haastattelinkin Lumingerien perustajaa ja omistajaa Merviä yrityksen kymmenestä vuodesta ja siitä, minkälaista on ollut olla naisyrittäjä alusvaatealalla Suomessa.

English: The Finnish lingerie market is a tough one – many small boutiques don’t have the capacity to cater for bigger cup sizes than G as the rents are high and store spaces are small. 

I became familiar with a Finnish e-commerce shop Lumingerie in the beginning of my lingerie blogging career and instantly fell in love with their vast selection of young and fun D+ brands. Even better, the storage was located in my town, which meant after a couple of blog collaborations with the company I was invited for tea and to see what the whole thing was about. I was so excited! That very summer in 2014 I got my summer job at Lumingerie and since then, I continue my story with them today as a CS for the company.

Lumingerie was founded exactly 10 years ago, which is a great achievement for lingerie retailer in Finland! Today I have interviewed the founder and owner Mervi about her success as a female entrepreneur in the industry.

Mervi Modan alusvaatemessuilla Birminghamin NEC-keskuksessa / Mervi at Moda lingerie exhibition in NEC-centre, Birmingham.

Mistä lähti ajatus verkkokaupan perustamiseen ja miten yrityksen perustamisprosessi eteni? / How did you start your business and what was the process like?

-Kirjoitin pro gradu -tutkielmaani vuoden 2007 lopussa ja lähdin samalla yrittäjyyskurssille kotikunnassani Lumijoella. Pääaineeni yliopistossa oli tietojenkäsittelytiede, mutta ideaa alusvaateverkkokaupasta pyöritellessäni päätin kokeilla verkkokaupan perustamista sillä idealla, että jospa tätä voisi tehdä sivutyönä opiskelujen ohessa. Tein Lumingerien yrityssuunnitelman yrityskurssin päättötyönä ja itse verkkokauppa aukesikin jo vuoden 2008 alussa. Tein tuolloin lähes kaiken itse, ja jopa verkkosivut väänsin omin pienin kätösin. Eiväthän ne hääppöiset olleet, mutta jostain piti aloittaa. Myöhemmin puolisoni Mikko onkin auttanut verkkokaupan kehittämisessä koodaustaidoillaan.

Odotuksena oli, että pari hassua tilausta kun viikkoon saisi, olisin tyytyväinen. Yllätyinkin kovasti kun ensimmäinen tilaus tuli todella pian verkkokaupan avautumisesta, ja tilauksia alkoikin tulla oikeastaan joka päivä. Jossain vaiheessa heräsikin ajatus, voisiko tästä lopulta ihan täyspäiväinen työ.

I was doing my university dissertation in 2007 and took an entrepreneurship course in my home town Lumijoki at the same time. In university I studied computer science, but wanted to try out my idea of a lingerie e-shop as a side job. I crafted my business plan at the entrepreneurship course as my final dissertation and soon in the beginning of 2008 I launched the e-commerce shop. I did almost everything by myself, even the layout of the website. It wasn’t the best layout ever, but I needed to start somewhere. Later on my husband Mikko has helped me a lot with the coding.

My expectations about the shop weren’t too high at first and I would have been happy with just a couple of orders a week. However, I was surprised to find out that the orders kept coming almost every day and it made me wonder whether this could be something I could do full-time.

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Tempastiin ja hankittiin kaikille kotimaiset @sievishoes jalkineet tepasteltavaksi varastolle. Nyt on hyvä pakkailla useampikin tunti putkeen 👌 #sievi #kotimaisetjalkineet #kotimaisetkengät #shoppailureissulla #lumingerie #lumingerie10v #juhlavuosi #lumingerienvarastolla #alusvaatteet #kurvikkaille #rintaliivit

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Miten päädyit valitsemaan verkkokauppasi kohderyhmän ja millä perusteella valitsit ensimmäiset merkit kaupan valikoimaan? / How did you set your target market and choose the first brands to offer in your selection?

Olen itse isorintainen nainen (tällä hetkellä käytän UK-kokoja 70-75 J-K merkistä riippuen) ja koin, ettei kokoiselleni löytynyt Suomesta erityisemmin valikoimaa – erityisesti pienen ympäryksen ja ison kupin yhdistelmä on haastava! Päätinkin siis, että Lumingerie keskittyisi erityisesti D-kuppia isompiin kokoihin ja tällä hetkellä valikoimassa on kuppikokoja D:stä aina UK K-kuppiin asti. Muuten en ole lähtenyt kohderyhmäämme määritelemään, vaan asiakkaidemme yhdistävä tekijä on tarve D-kuppia isommalle liiville.

Ensimmäiset merkit, joita otimme kauppaamme, olivat Kris Line ja Adore Lingerie. Nämä merkit ovat sittemmin jääneet pois, mutta ne valikoituivat alunperin sillä periaatteella, että molemmilla oli hyvä kokovalikoima ja he olivat halukkaita tekemään yhteistyötä pienen verkkokaupan kanssa. Nykyään yritämme valikoida mukaan merkkejä, joilla on kohtuullinen valikoima kokoja ja hinta ei päätä huimaa. Suomalaisessa alusvaateverkkokaupassa luksusmarkkinat ovat vaikeat, joten otamme valikoimaan liivejä, joita on matala kynnys tilata kotiin kokeiltavaksi.

I am big busted lady myself (I wear a UK 32-34 J-K) and felt that there weren’t enough retailers catering for my size – especially the big cup, small band market was lacking. I decided that Lumingerie would focus on cup sizes above D-cup and now we cater up to a UK K-cup. There is really nothing else that defines our customers – just a need for a cup size bigger than D.

The first brands we took in were Kris Line and Adore Lingerie. These brands are not sold at Lumingerie anymore but they were selected in the first place for their wide size selection and willingness to do business with a small e-commerce shop.These days we try to select brands that have a decent size range and a price tag. The luxury market is very difficult for an online-only business, which is why it is something we haven’t really wanted to try.

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Scandicissa katsomassa porukalla Wacoalin ensi syksyn mallistoja. Wacoalin edustajana toimii ihana Sari, jota on aina ilo nähdä! @wacoaleurope #wacoal #freya #fantasie #newcollection #aw18 #autumntrends #collectionpreview #lumingerie #lumingerie10v #sneakpeek #kurvikkaille #alusvaatteet #rintaliivit #lingerietrends #lingerie

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Kertoisitko jotain Lumingerien kehityksestä yrityksenä näiden kymmenen vuoden aikana? / Please tell us something about the progress at Lumingerie over these 10 years!

-Lumingerie on kasvanut tasaisesti ja varmasti näiden kymmenen vuoden aikana. Jo perustusvuonna 2008 työ muuttui päätyöksi vuoden lopulla ja keskityin täysillä Lumingerien pyörittämiseen. Varasto oli aluksi suhteellisen pieni ja siksi pystyin pitämään sitä kotona Lumijoella vuoteen 2010-2011 asti. Muistaakseni vuoden 2010 lopulla kaverini Digitarvikkeelta vinkkasi varastotilan heidän varastonsa vierestä Oulun yrittäjäkylästä, ja päätin tarttua ehdotukseen. Ensin varastoja oli vain yksi, mutta nykyään tilamme ovat jo kolminkertaistuneet.

Vuonna 2014 otin yritykseen ensimmäisen kesätyöntekijän (toim. huom. eli minut!) ja vuonna 2015 muutimme toiminimen osakeyhtiöksi puolisoni kanssa. Tuolloin Mikko tuli myös töihin Lumingerielle ja hän toi yritykseen erityisesti teknistä tietämystä aiemman koulutuksena ja ammattinsa puolesta.  2015 ennakoimme muutenkin yrityksen kasvua ja palkkasimme vuoden aikana kaksi uutta työntekijää mm. markkinoinnin ja kirjanpidon tehtäviin.

Vuonna 2015 valikoimamme muuttui niin, että mukaan tuli myös miesten tuotteita. Miesten verkkokaupalla onkin ihan oma nimensä HerMan’s, joka tulee Mikon toisesta nimestä Hermanni. Ajatuksena miesten kaupan nimen takana oli myös se, että Lumingerien asiakkaat olisivat mahdollisesti voineet ostaa HerMan’silta alusvaatteita puolisoilleen – tämä ei kuitenkaan mennyt lainkaan niinkuin ajattelimme, vaan miehet ostavat alusvaatteensa oikein mielellään itse ja tilaajat ovatkin HerMan’silla lähes poikkeuksetta miehiä. Hyvä näinkin! HerMan’s onkin enemmän Mikon vastuulla, jolloin molemmilla meillä omistajista on myös omat kiinnostuksen kohteensa mukana työssä.

Lumingerie has grown surely and steadily over these 10 past years. In the end of 2008 my job at Lumingerie turned full-time and I decided to give my all to it. The storage was quite small at first so I could have all my stock at home in Luminjoki until 2010. If I remember correctly, it was in the end of 2010 when my friend at Digitarvike suggested I rent a storage right next to them at business village in Oulu. I grabbed the offer and first rented one storage unit, and now Lumingerie takes up three whole units!

In year 2014 I took in my first summer assistant (editor’s notes: that was me!) and 2015 we founded the Ltd with my husband Mikko. Mikko came in to work with me and brought some valuable technical know-how into the company. We also wanted to predict the company’s growth and thus hired two new employees to take care of marketing and book-keeping.

In 2015 we also took in some men’s products and named the men’s store site HerMan’s according to Mikko’s middle name Hermanni. We also imagined that HerMan’s could be a place for women to buy underwear for their partners – little did we know that HerMan’s whole customer base would basically be all men! This suits us perfectly fine though. HerMan’s is more Mikko’s responsibility and this way we both have a focus in our work and something interesting to work on.

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Panachen uudet AW18 mallit tulivat meille tänään hipisteltäväksi! Mervi ja Tiina peukuttavat 👍 @lovepanache AW18 collection arrived at the storage for a preview – Mervi and Tiina approve! #aw18 #panache #panachelingerie #lovepanache #autumntrends #lingerie #lingerietrends #lumingerie #kurvikkaille #rintaliivit #fullbustbras #collectionpreview

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Mitkä koet suurimmiksi saavutuksiksesi yrittäjänä ja mitä haluaisit vielä saavuttaa? / What are your biggest successes as an entrepreneur and what would you like to achieve in the future?

Ylipäänsä se, että tästä oli mahdollista tehdä kokopäivätyö itselle on iso saavutus. Pidän myös itse siitä, että Lumingerie on perheyritys. Varmaan kuitenkin isoin saavutukseni yrittäjänä on mahdollisuus tarjota useammalle ihmiselle työpaikka yrityksessäni. Tänä päivänä Lumingerie on myös kansainvälinen yritys – lähetämme tuotteitamme Eurooppaan ja myös rapakon taakse viikottain.

Tulevaisuuden suunnitelmia ja haaveita on paljon, enkä ihan vielä aio niitä paljastaa 😉 Yhtenä esimerkkinä voisin kuitenkin sanoa omien liivimallien suunnittelemisen juuri meidän kaupallemme – haluaisin tarjota jotain uniikkia asiakkaillemme! Pyörät tässä asiassa ovat kuin ovatkin jo lähteneet liikkeelle ja Lumingerien 10-vuotis juhlamallin Lilahin olemme suunnitelleet yhteistyössä alusvaatemerkki Gorsenian kanssa. Malli tuli myyntiin tällä viikolla ja se on suunniteltu Lumingerien väreissä koko työtiimin mielipiteet huomioon ottaen.

It is amazing that I could make this my full-time job so that is an achievement in itself. I am also happy to say that Lumingerie is now a family business. My biggest achievement though would be being able to offer jobs to other people as well. These days Lumigerie is an international company as well, as we ship to European countries and also beyond the pond weekly.

I have a lot of plans and dreams regarding Lumingerie but I am not sure whether I want to reveal them just yet! Something I could tell you is that I would like to create more in-house designed styles just for Lumingerie and this way offer something unique to our customers. We started this journey already and are now offering a 10-year anniversary style Lilah in our e-commerce shop. This style has been designed with our whole Lumingerie team in collaboration with a Polish lingerie brand Gorsenia. 

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Tässä on Lilah, Gorsenian kanssa yhdessä meille suunniteltu uutuus, joka juhlistaa meidän kymmenvuotista taivalta. 😊 Parhaillaan tuotannossa, tulossa helmikuussa! #lumingerie #10vuotta #juhlavuosi #anniversary #vainmeiltä

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Kiitos Merville haastattelusta! Jos haluat lukea arvostelun Lilah-setistä, pysyhän kuulolla huomiseen asti 😉 / Huge thanks to Mervi for the interview! If you would like to see Lilah reviewed here on the blog, please stay tuned until tomorrow 😉

Lingerie Review: Ewa Bien B151 “Maruni” in 70J

Hey loves! How is spring treating you? Mine has been busy busy busy, as you may have noticed from my absence here at the ol’ blog. Today I am bringing you some goodies from Poland again: Ewa Bien sent me these lovely things a few months ago and I am “a bit late” with introducing you to Maruni B151, which is a new semi-soft full-bust style from the brand. This bra style goes up to Polish L-cup, which is a rough equivalent to UK HH-cup. I asked for bigger cup sizes and that is what I got! Here’s how I liked the style…
The Design: I chose Maruni as my B151 design as it spoke to me with its beautiful colour and lovely embroidery. There is nothing juvenile or “too” girly about Maruni – it is something that will probably speak to women who are past the cutesy period of buying ruffles and bows (however, some of us are never over it!) and want something that makes a statement. Maruni reminds me of a beautiful jewel with its design and thus it takes its place is my “better” underwear drawer.

The shape of the B151 is a regular semi-soft style, which is something Polish brands are proud of and will keep as their staple cut in many collections. I know exactly why: many women enjoy the sturdy feeling and shaping of a padded bra but the fit can drive you crazy, if the cut is not perfect for you. Enter: seams and non-padded top part. The thinner layer of fabric usually conforms to ones breast shape better than stiff padding and will suit a plethora of breast shapes. This particular bra has a three-part cup construction with a rounded shape and a balconette-style cut.

The Fit: I asked for 70J as it seems to be my regular size with Polish and other EU-sized brands, and I had worn it with Ewa Bien bras in the bras. As you may remember, I reviewed one other bra of theirs a few weeks ago, which was in the same size and fitted very well.

This was no exception: the size was pretty much spot-on, regardless of the band fitting a tiny bit smaller than with my other Ewa Bien bras. I would personally not size up with it, but I would say the material is a bit more restricting so take that into consideration if you are between sizes and want to stay comfy. I like my bands on the stretchier side as I do not wear my bras out easily and want them to feel comfy from the get-go. However, if you don’t have tons of bras like yours truly, you may prefer a more rigid band material for some extra staying-power.

The cups are a really good size for me and the semi-soft style ensures that the bra fits my upper breast tissue with ease – however, the material is not very stretchy so if you are more full-on-bottom, there may be some looseness if you are between sizes for example. As the fabric is very thin, the looseness wouldn’t show as much as with a fully padded bra though. The cups are quite deep but also on the wider side, so I would imagine this could be a great bra to someone both plus size and big-busted.


Comfort: The B151 seems like a great basic style for full-busted women who want some extra bit of luxury to their everyday lingerie. The materials are excellent quality and the set is overall pretty comfortable, depending on whether you like your bra bands stretchier or not. Personally I would have felt comfier in a stretchier band that would have been a smidge wider as well. The common trend in Poland seems to be that even full-bust bras need to look as dainty and elegant as possible, hence the lack of wider bra bands and full-cup options. This is fine by me, but I do enjoy a wide band in my everyday bradrobe as well. The straps are strudy and 3/4 parts adjustable which is a bonus; however, they could be a bit more closely placed in my opinion.

The bottoms of this set, which I received in C410 short style and size M, were quite practical and comfortable. The sizing is true to Polish brands and thus a bit on the smaller side for us used to UK-sizing. The M is a rough equivalent of size Small in UK, and still a bit skimpy. This particular style was cut rather low so I would compare it to size 10-12 Cleo hipster panties (hope that makes sense?). Overall still, great style for everyday wear for those who like their panties cut low!

If you would wish to give this style a go, it’s now on sale at the Ewa Bien online store for 139 zl for the bra (sizes 65-100 B-L) and 68,60 zl for the short bottoms (sizes S-XL). Still plenty of sizes left so do snag a set for yourself as well!

Lingerie Review: Katherine Hamilton Intimates “Louise” in 32GG

Many of you might remember me introducing you to Bosom Galore a couple of years back – Katy, the owner of the brand, has been super blogger-friendly from the get-go and thus the brand name spread through the lingerie blogosphere rapidly. Quite soon after the launch Katy decided to re-brand Bosom Galore and named it Katherine Hamilton Intimates, a brand with a stronger look and even more luxurious vibe to it. The relaunch of the brand took a while – but we all know that anything that’s good is worth the wait. A couple of months back Katy sent me a set from her new collection and I was delighted to see the brand had definitely grown into something bigger and better – the unsure teenager had become a strong independent woman. *Disclosure: This set was sent to me for review purposes by Katherine Hamilton Intimates. All opinions are my own!*

The Design: The first moment I saw Louise, I was sold. Who doesn’t like strappy designs? Well, I do! The idea behind the black strappy is not something particularly new, but I like how Louise does it is its own sophisticated simple way – there is only one strap going over the upper boobage and the magic of the bra is really the amazing shape and comfiness it provides.

The cups are constructed of three parts and they form a subtle plunge shape, even though the actual gore of the bra is on a balconette level. The centre gore doesn’t have any bows or ruffles on it which is why I don’t even mind it peeking from my shirt necklines. The cups are lightly padded but it is a cut-and-sew bra still, it provides a much better fit than most moulded padded bras. The shape with the Louise bra is also round and uplifted, which reminds me a bit of Ewa Michalak PL bras.

The Fit: I am always a bit skeptical when it comes to padded bras, for the reasons mentioned above; the padding usually tries to mold my breast tissue to the shape of the bra, not the other way around as it should be. With KH Intimates the road has been long and Katy has wanted to make everything on-point as her price tag is a bit higher than with some of the biggest full-bust brands. It’s definitely a luxury brand, so mishaps are a no-no.

The wait was long, but now it seems KH Intimates has got it right – the sizing seems pretty much on par with other UK brands with the exception that the Louise band seems to be running on the snugger side. I went for my second most used size 32GG and it is the perfect size for me. The cups run true-to-size and there is much more depth than with most other – especially new – British brands. The underwire reaches under my armpit so it’s a bit too wide for me, but this doesn’t cause me any discomfort. The centre gore tacks my sternum and the cups are deep enough at the bottom which prevent the cups from denting and collapsing under my breast tissue.

Comfort: When I first put the Louise on, the band was on the tighter side for 32 and reminded me more of a 30-band. However, it has since stretched out a bit and I can now comfortably wear the bra on the loosest set of hooks. I have even had this on for a whole night of dancing and partying and never once did I regret that choice! The materials are sleek on the outside but the lining inside the bra is 100% cotton as with the previous Bosom Galore bras – this is fantastic for us girls with skin conditions!  The straps are bit on the slippery side so I would perhaps think about the material choice on them, but otherwise the bra is pretty much spot-on when it comes to comfort.

I surprised myself with opting for the thong this time – as you know, I never ever wear thongs! However, the bra is a bit sexier so I figured it would be nice to have something skimpy as co-ordinates. I went for the size 12 and it fits me really well and I actually think it’s quite flattering too. You can never have too many strappy panties, I think!

The Louise set is available on the KH Intimates website – the bra retails for £78 and the thong costs £34. The size range is especially kind to those with a smaller band size – the band sizes start at UK 26! The whole size range with Louise bra is 26-36 D-HH and the panties UK 6-16. What do you think of KH Intimates and the Louise set? xx

Moda Lingerie Preview: Tutti Rouge SS17

Hi everyone! Today I need to start by being completely honest with you even if it hurts just a bit to admit that I haven’t lately been that inspired to blog anymore. I don’t know exactly why, perhaps it’s a combination of so much time spent on the computer already doing my uni essays but also because I have so many samples to review (which are lovely and I am grateful for them!) that I don’t have time to write anything else. This is why I wanted to take a break today from the reviews and start showing favourites for the upcoming spring season. Luckily, I am going to the Salon de la Lingerie in Paris just next month, so hopefully I will gain some inspiration there for my blog as well! I would also like to write more about vintage reproduction brands that are suitable for a fuller bust, so if you have an opinion on that or a brand you would like reviewed, please let me know in the comments.

Also, if any of you have any suggestion for blog post topics, I would be more than willing to hear your ideas. Also, if there is something YOU would like to write about here on my blog, don’t hesitate to email me! I always accept thoughtfully written guest posts unless it’s a company trying to get free ad space. I don’t have money to compensate you but if you have a blog of your own, I am more than happy to link to your blog here as well. Without further a do though, let’s dive into the new spring collections as I am so sick of this winter and most of all, winter blues! Today I’m bringing you some sunshine in a form of the new Tutti Rouge collection, “the Birds & the Bees”.

Sukki & Lexi, both up HH-cup

Tutti Rouge collections are still rather small but what they lack in size, they patch it up with a good dose of sweetness. The first thing we encountered at the Tutti Rouge stand was the lovely new colourway of the Sukki, a style inspired by a pinup model and a burlesque diva Sukki Singapora. I am a big fan of the lady herself but regardless of the inspiration, I truly love this set a lot. The past season colourway of black and cream was something a bit too obviously sexy for my taste but I am now head over heels in love with the new blush colourway. I love the combination of the sweet colour and the naughty (detachable) strapping and I would love to wear this with a crisp white summer dress. The style also looks perfect for us ladies with a little extra fullness at the top of our breasts, so I am really looking forward to trying this style!

Another option in a similar style minus the strap detailing and padding is the new Lexi bra. The Lexi is a true half-cup shape which is rather rare in the full-bust market. It has one seam going vertically in the middle of the cup and re-enforced side panel which should bring your boobs more to the centre instead of giving an east-west sort of look. The style looks promising but I haven’t seen it on anybody yet, which makes me wonder how Tutti Rouge managed to make the fit right for us fuller busted ladies. Here’s hoping the HH-cup fits as well as the F-cup!

The Chloe is a style that makes me really happy just looking at it – the bright lemon-y yellow gives me life and makes me want to jump into spring already. The pink bows add a touch of cheeky contrast to the set and I am absolutely in love with the lacy half-longline addition to the bra band. The shape of the bra is similar to other half-padded bras of Tutti Rouge but I do have to say Chloe looks just a tiny bit more uplifted and centred when it comes to its cup shape.

My only gripe with this set are the panties. I used to love TR pants so so much but lately, I they haven’t been that much to my taste anymore. I like my high-waisted pants HIGH, like up to my belly button so this trend with the middle-rise panties is killing me on the inside. I frankly think it’s one of the most unflattering rises you can wear, for me at least, so I have been pushing designers to make them higher. Let’s see what happens next season, I hope my wishes have been granted! Another interesting panty choice in the collection was the high-legged brazilian knicker. I don’t know what has got into people but these seem to be super on-trend right now in the lingerie industry, and I am not digging it. Don’t get me wrong – I have seen some babes ROCKING them with their wide hips and all but my narrow hips would probably just look very sad in them.

Amelia, Nichole and Liliana in their pretty peachy tones, all up HH-cup

The Amelia is a new style in the TR product family and it’s based on the older Betty shape which is their signature padded balconette bra. I have been a fan of Betty from day one and the one I tried from the ss16 collection was absolutely fantastic. I have high hopes for this bra as it is super pretty and looks very promising fit-wise too! The back of the bra is especially beautiful, as the straps feature a wider lace detailing which reminds me of the trendy smaller bust bras we see on the high-street. The comfort factor of the bra seems to be getting an A+ as well, as the inner material is made of the softest cotton that caresses my skin like no other.

Nichole and Liliana are the staples of this collection but I was happy to see them clad in lovely vibrant shades of the red and peach. The particularly fun twist of the Nichole is the sweet leopard print adorning it all around – in recent years, leopard prints have grown on me more and more and this particular one is very girly and not tacky at all.

This is the set that I reeeeeaaaally wanna get my hands on next spring. It is called Pixie and it’s a whole new style and shape for Tutti Rouge. If you are a fan of the Jessica bra WITHOUT the cookies, just like me, I would suggest looking into Pixie. It is a non-padded plunge bra adorned with the Tutti Rouge exclusive print “Birds and Bees” – something super girly and young yet I still would love to wear this as a 24-year-old. The corset detailing at the centre gore, the cutesy print and the practical shape of the bra makes me go all grabby-hands and I am sure to get this bra for all those low-cut summer dresses. Just perfection!

How did you like the new Tutti Rouge ss17 collection? Any favourites? Please, let me know in the comments so I can take your opinions straight to Jessica in January! The collection will launch in January according to the brochure, but I would say TR usually takes a bit of time with their launches, so I would be ready with the shopping money in February. Hope you are having a fantastic Sunday and I will write again soon! xx

Moda SS15 Lingerie Preview: After Eden & Signature

Hiya booboos, I’ve missed you! I started to think about what to write about next and realised I still had so many nice SS15 previews to do. I will also have some awesome reviews lined up for future, featuring some of my favourite brands such as Gossard, Kris Line, Avocado and Chantelle. Chantelle has never been featured on 2COP before so I am really happy to have their new full-bust line Superbe reviewed on the blog soon!

Today however, I will get back to my collection previews for next spring/summer season and I wanted to feature a brand that I have been eyeing for a while now. The brand in question is called After Eden and since they are launching their first full-bust line called Signature and I would love to introduce them to you as well!

From top to bottom: Brigitte, Toulouse, Florence, Lourdes & Anna

I had my first encounter with After Eden a couple of years ago in a local department store which still sells After Eden for their A-DD customers. I used to look at the lingerie longingly and just pass them like a defeated warrior, as they would obviously never fit me. As we browsed the Moda stands with Anna, I noticed After Eden and wanted to see what they had on offer. I was so excited to see they had finally extended their size range – not massively but a start is always a good thing and who knows how they might keep progressing. Many brands try their first full-bust line with a rather modest size range, usually going up to either F, FF or G. This does not help my poor boobies but is a great start and makes the lingerie more approachable to eg young people who don’t fit into their D’s anymore.

As you might have guessed by now, the new Signature line doesn’t carry a huge array of sizes, to be accurate they include UK sizes B to F, with band sizes ranging from 30 to 44. Signature is this way also targeted at fuller figured customers as their band sizes do go up to 44. I think there is definitely a market gap for this young full-figured customer so I will keep my fingers crossed that the line will do well and the After Eden team will extend the cup sizes even further!

The look of the collection is very age-appropriate and cute – I think the Signature customer would be someone in her very early twenties or even teens with a fuller figure/bust. The line is very padded-bra focused but there are still some lovely unpadded options as well. The colours are nice and juicy and the fit of the bras looks decent to me by first look, though I would be very interested to see the final product on one of my friends for example. Even though the lingerie feels a bit too cutesy and young to me, I found a favourite I would be glad to see in my size too – the lovely Toulouse with its moulded cups and lace overlay. Also the geometric prints look fun and great for everyday wear and the materials are well-chosen for a young customer.

Here are some of my favourites from the After Eden collection. Most bras go up to UK D-E and start with 30 band so this is definitely a brand for you smaller busted women out there! I can so see my lil sis wearing most of these bras and loving them to death. After Eden has created a lovely ss15 collection with an array of peachy and violet tones that will no doubt steal their young customer’s heart. I would have taken many of their styles to my collection in a heartbeat too, so if you fit into their size range, I would suggest you take a look at their offering.

What is great about After Eden is that their also offer the option of extra padding so whether you’d like a single, double or even triple boost, this is the brand to turn to. I have friends that are absolutely in love with a little extra padding and after you have crossed the C-cup barrier, it can be hard to find some extra oomph to add to your own boobs.

So this was it for this time, what do you think? Would you be willing to buy Signature or After Eden if it came in your size too? How does the new full-bust styles look? Let me know, I always appreciate the feedback 😉