Getting Ready for that Honeymoon: Bolero “Margarita” Dress Review

Hi everyone! Only 1,5 weeks until the “big” wedding! I am so excited, needless to say. I am sure you understand that is why I have been a bit absent lately 😉 It takes a superwoman to plan a wedding, finish your uni essays in time, plan a burlesque event AND go to work everyday, so I have been too busy and exhausted to blog recently. However, I managed to fit in a photoshoot with my trusty friend and photographer Perttu Luomala, to create this review for you guys!

I received my latest Bolero Beachwear dress months ago, but sadly it was too cold already in Finland to wear it over the autumn and winter. You may not believe it, but we still actually have a bit of snow here and it’s almost mid-May! Our temperatures here in Oulu climbed above 0 C only a few weeks ago. Now it’s full-on spring and we are enjoying our generous +10 C almost everyday 😉 I am so happy, as I couldn’t wait to wear my new Bolero beauty – the Margarita dress – that had been sitting in my closet for months with no wear!

Thank you also to our wonderful photo location Mango Discobar for letting us have our shoot there! Great place to take some tropical shots of a tropical dress 😉

The Margarita dress is a flowy summery little number with a knee-length hem and some versatile “puff”-sleeves. I personally like the sleeves off my shoulders as it shows off the cleavage area nicely. All in all, I am happy that the dress even has sleeves, as many summer dresses are designed to bare the arms – which is not something I prefer with my body personally. Don’t get me wrong – I love my strong arms! But I do find my figure more balanced when they are covered even just a little bit.

The dress consists of a black peasant-style top and a flowy, circle-skirt like printed bottom which meet at my natural waist with an off-the-centre black sash that is attached to the dress. I like this detail as it accentuates my waist but also is practical being attached to the dress and not falling down or rolling around my waist while moving! The skirt part of the dress is not a full circle nor does it need to be – I think your could wear it with a short petticoat but I actually like the relaxed look without one! However, the choice is yours depending on your style. I have had many compliments about this dress already and I’ve only worn it for a few times because of the weather! The colour combo is fresh yet stylish – I like my clothes colourful but classic, so they fit many occasions.

This dress is a size Small and it fits my roughly 40-29-40″ measurements well. Bolero sizes are very forgiving, as their garments are made of stretchy yet high-quality materials that can take a bit of size fluctuation. This is a rare combination in my opinion, as most regular high-street brands do offer stretchy clothing but their clothes also become a bit shapeless after some wear. This does not happen with Bolero dresses – my Bolero “Erica” dress is still my go-to dress for almost any occasion except for formal events. It is my most worn dress for teaching burlesque workshops – I have literally rolled on the floor wearing it, and it is still perfect with no signs of wear on the fabric.

The Margerita dress is made from a similar fabric to my Erica dress, which is why I have high hopes for its durability as well. Can’t wait to wear this in my future workshops! It’s pretty but still practical which is the combo I need while teaching. The top half of the dress is double-lined as with all Bolero dresses and it fits my 32GG bust in it easily. I would imagine this dress could fit even a couple of cup sizes more if needed! My suggestion for the bra to wear with this would be the Curvy Kate “Luxe”, which you can read a review of HERE.

Once again, I am trying to come up with some constructive critisim on the Margarita dress, but I really have nothing to complain about. The usual little issues I have – too little bust room and a too-high waist seam – shine with their absence! Once again, the Margarita dress is designed truly with curves in mind. Even the sleeves fit well for someone as muscular as me and have plenty of stretch to accommodate movement.

As regular readers know, I am also a big fan of companies that manufacture their products where they design them. This allows for a more transparent manufacturing process and both the designer and the customer know that these clothes are ethically made. Personally, I only buy vintage and ethically-made (read: no child-labour, stolen designs or dangerous chemicals involved!) vintage-style clothes these days. I want to support small businesses, so we can build a better fufure for our planet and economy. If you want to do the same thing, check out the Margarita dress (sizes XS-1X) here for $140 at the moment.

Introducing Bolero Beachwear – Dresses for Busty Pinup Gals!

I love reviewing lingerie – it’s my passion, obviously – but I do have a great love affair with pretty dresses as well. The thing with pretty dresses though is, that not every dress I try fits me that well – not even half of them! I can rarely zip up UK size 10 past my boobs which is why I usually result in buying a size up and then cinching the waists with a belt. When I heard about Bolero Beachwear and saw some lovely fellow bloggers rocking their dresses, I decided to chat to Patricia, the owner of this lovely brand.

Bolero Beachwear started out when the recession hit the USA in late 00’s – many women were left without jobs and so was Patricia, as the beachwear company she was working for had to close down because of the owner’s cancer and customers closing down their own businesses. Patricia, the wonder woman behind Bolero, decided to start a business of her own and so she ended up founding Bolero Beachwear and designing her very own beach cover-ups. After consulting with a busty customer, Patricia decided to make additional dresses and other items for us well-endowed women, as she wanted to accommodate her customers’ needs. Today I am reviewing two of her DD+ clothing collection dresses – Erica and Carmen! *These dresses were gifted to me by Bolero Beachwear. All opinions are my own! Photos were taken by Nina Tulilahti Photography. *

The Erica dress – named after Erica from the fabulous “Sophisticated Pair”!

Patricia was super excited to send me the dresses as she knew how much I would enjoy styling them with my pinup way! Both of the dresses are full circle style with deep pockets (!!!) so they can definitely be worn with or without a petticoat (I am wearing them with one in each pic), whatever suits your personal style the best. I really enjoyed both of the styles and opted them in basic colours, black and white, which makes them both perfect staples in my wardrobe.

The Erica dress is a 1/2 sleeved wrap-dress style which I loved the most of all Bolero dresses. It comes in a sweet polka dot print, but also in basic black and another, more modern monochrome print. I haven’t owned any polka dots in years which is why I wanted to be a bit nostalgic and try to style them to my current taste. Patricia was so kind to send a couple of different sashes along my dresses, and I paired the Erica with the classic red sash you can see in the pictures. I think it goes perfectly with some red lipstick and a hair flower (from Sophisticated Lady Hairflowers) which look quite Christmassy together!

Carmen dress + the signature black bolero!

The Carmen is a more feisty little number which could easily work as the little black dress in any woman’s wardrobe, especially in the summer. As I live in Finland, I need a cover-up for this particular dress as it’s sleeveless, but luckily Patricia had included a lovely little black bolero in my parcel as well – the perfect pairing with anything sleeveless or even strapless! I rarely wear any boleros actually but find this style particularly flattering and simple enough to please me.

When it comes to the style of Carmen, I would prefer it with some small cap sleeves even, as I am a bit self-conscious about my arms. It’s probably a bit silly as I have worked hard for my biceps (lol!) but I do find them a bit masculine with my pretty dresses. So to conclude, I do like my dresses with sleeves as they soften out my features a bit. However, I can imagine this dress being perfect for anyone who lives in a warmer climate and does not like her armpits getting damp!

When it comes to sizing, I found the dresses to run fairly true-to-size in the waist area. I went for my regular non-vintage-reproduction size (as repro usually runs smaller than high street) Small and was very happy with the result. The Small is perfect for my 28-29″ waist and even though the bust is meant for 36″, I can easily fit my 40″ boobs into it without any fabric pulling or distorting the polka dot print. Both dresses fit similarly and are really easy to get over your head and wear casually. The sleeves of the Erica dress are also roomy enough for my big guns (hehe) and the fabric is overall wonderfully stretchy. As a huge plus,s these dresses feature a reinforced back (an extra layer of fabric at the back part of the dress), meaning your bra bands are less likely to show through (I wore a tight Polish band in the shoot so you need to excuse me!).

What I wear my Bolero dresses most for, is everyday situations when I don’t want the hassle of closing a difficult back zipper or I know that I might get messy at some point. These dresses are really easy to clean, as you can just toss them in a washing machine and even if you spill something over yourself (don’t get me started on ketchup!), these materials are super easy to just rinse clean. I would say, if you work with kids and still want to stay fancy – you really need these dresses in your life! Another upside is that Bolero dresses don’t wrinkle whatsoever, so they are perfect for those active days, even while travelling.

All in all I am very happy with my new Bolero dresses and regard them as a lovely option for anyone with a fuller bust and interest in a more casual pinup style. The Bolero garments are designed and manufactured in USA which adds up the awesomeness of the brand even more.

If you are interested in getting something from Bolero, they are having a sale right at this moment so go and snatch up a lovely wardrobe staple of your own! You can get free shipping and 20% off with a code HOLIDAY20. The Erica dress is now on sale for $140 and the Carmen dress for $120.

What are your go-to clothing brands for a fuller busted figure? Let me know, I am always open to any good tips on how to dress my boobs! xx

Introducing Bitter Lollipop: Tailored Fashion for the Full-Busted

When Kelly, the owner of Bitter Lollipop clothing, emailed me some time ago, I had not heard of her brand and was delighted to be asked to review something from their recently launched AW14 collection. Of course, I knew I had to give Kelly’s baby a big shout out as there are not that many brands making tailored clothing for us full-busted gals. I am not usually a fan of most companies that make full-bust appropriate clothing as they usually come up a bit dull with their designs (with some exclusions of course) so I was smitten to see some nice prints in the Bitter Lollipop collection.

The first dress I tried from the brand was their lovely Riley which appeared to be a bit too big for me. This was the time when Kelly and her tailor were still figuring out the sizing, so I just sent the dress to a fellow blogger so she could try it on. A few weeks later, Kelly asked if I wanted to try either of her New Year inspired dresses and of course I said yes!

Bitter Lollipop designs come in UK sizes 8-16 and two different fits – Busty and Buxom. To determine your size, I would recommend taking a look at the brand’s own size chart. The first time I tried the Riley dress I went for a size 12 Buxom as that was the size the chart put me into. Unfortunately, the sizing was a bit off back then and the dress seemed to fit better someone between UK sizes 12 and 14. However, Kelly quickly fixed the sizing to be more true-to-size and here I am, prancing around in my lovely new Emma dress, size 10 Buxom.

The size 10 Buxom should fit someone with a waist around 27″ and a bust of 38″ but I can tell you that there is a bit of room for size fluctuation with this dress. My waist is currently around 27,5″ tightly measured and the size 10 feels very comfortable and not tight at all. Also the bust part has plenty of room to it and can accommodate my 30H bust easily.

The dress feels incredibly well-made and that really makes up for the price (£129), which can seem a bit high at first. Bitter Lollipop products are handmade in UK which really adds up the value as well. You can literally see that this dress is lovingly crafted by hand and well-though out to suit a curvy body type. It’s lined with a stretchy cotton all the way which makes the dress quite heavy but also really comfortable against skin.

Usually the Bitter Lollipop dresses are about knee-length but this particular dress along with the Isabel fit-and-flare dress are made a bit shorter to make them more appropriate for New Year’s celebrations. I usually wear knee-length dresses but it’s good to have an option. Also, the Emma dress certainly makes my legs look super long! As the style is meant to be festive, I paired it with some red satin pumps (some old YourFace collection), a vintage belt and a feather-y hair clip from H&M. I also added some red lip gloss for extra sparkle 😉

All in all I am extremely impressed with the quality of Bitter Lollipop and it’s safe to say that their designs are a long-awaited addition to any busty girl’s party or work wardrobe. The necklines and hems seems to be appropriate for office and the cuts perfect for a curvy figure. Also, listen up gals! Bitter Lollipop has a FLASH SALE for two days now so you can snatch up your very own Emma dress (or something else as well) with a mighty 50% OFF. That means you’ll only pay £65 for this beauty! The items are made-to-order so it usually takes about 3-5 days to finish the product.

So lovelies, how did you like my Emma dress and the Bitter Lollipop? Also, do check out my lovely friend Sarianna at “the Sweet Vanity” -blog. She was kind enough to take the pics for this post! The makeup and hair is by yours truly 🙂

Suomeksi: Meillä kurvikkailla naisilla ja tytöillä ei ole aina ihan hirveästi valinnanvaraa mitä vaatetukseen tulee – usein napit sinkoilevat paidoista jo heti kättelyssä ja mekot harvoin menevät kiinni vyötärön yläpuolelta. Olinkin siis todella mielissäni kun Kelly “Bitter Lollipop” -nimiseltä merkiltä otti minuun hiljattain yhteyttä. Bitter Lollipop on myös minulle ihan uusi merkki, joten oli mukavaa päästä kokeilemaan heidän uusinta luomustaan, Emma-mekkoa!

Bitter Lollipopin mekot tehdään käsityönä Briteissä ja ne on suunniteltu erityisesti rintaville naisille. UK-kokoja löytyy 8-16 eli EU koissa nämä vastaavat 34-42. Istuvuutta löytyy kahdenlaista, rintavalle sekä todella rintavalle (Busty ja Buxom). Itse kokeilin vaatemerkin uuden vuoden rientoja varten suunniteltua Emma-mekkoa koossa 10 Buxom, joka tuntui olevan juuri oikea kooltaan ja istuvuudeltaan.

Mlyös laadultaan ja mukavuudeltaan Emma tuntuu olevan huippuluokkaa, mikä sitten näkyykin hintalapussa. Onneksi voin kuitenkin todeta, että mekko on todella hintansa (£129) väärti! Jälki on todella siistiä ja mekkoa ryhdittää joustavasta puuvillasta tehty valkoinen vuori. Tyylikin on kohdallaan: Emman kangas heijastaa mukavasti valoa ja näyttää upealta vaikkapa punaisten korkkareiden kanssa!

Jos oma tissiystävällinen mekko kiinnostaa, kannattaa Bitter Lollipopin sivuille suunnistaa NYT. Nettikaupassa on nimittäin meneillään tästä päivästä huomiseen iltaan asti FLASHSALE, jonka aikana valikoiduista tuotteista (mukaan lukien Emma!) saa alennusta 50%. Nyt Emman saisi siis 65 punnalla 😉 Mitä mieltä muuten olet tästä mekosta ja asukokonaisuudesta? Käypä ilahduttamassa minua kommentilla!