The new Fraulein Annie lines coming next year!

As promised, here is the picture of the new Fraulein Annie lines to come. The lines “How To Marry” and “Sei Lieb Zu Mir” will be released next year and I myself am particularly fond of the new pale pink version of the last-mentioned. 

Here is what the designer has to say about the lines:

Sei Lieb Zu Mir (Be Nice To Me) is an alluring, sensual range and another homage to a song by Marlene Dietrich. Its almost transparent, fine and light embroidery featuring an art-deco-arch design is combined with satin details and a statement grosgrain bow.

It comes in a seductive jet black and an enticing rose colourway. Styles include an unpadded balcony bra for smaller busts, an unpadded fuller bust bra up to a G cup, a short and a thong with keyhole detail in the back. Both can be worn with the shaping suspender belt. For ultimate support, there is the waist-cinching panty that flattens the tummy, waist, hips and lifts the bum.

 

• 2COP’s comments: SLZM (a short version of the name, pain in the ass to write it over and over again!) is an elegant everyday set with a sophisticated touch. The materials are well thought-out and the colours classic as always with Fraulein Annie designs. I love the blush which will suit pale skin tones as a “nude” bra and will be most likely invisible under light coloured clothing and thin materials. I am particularly fond of the suspender belt which is a guilty pleasure of mine each time I see one.

How To Marry is designed for the vintage bride and made of a romantic jacquard satin with a floral bow pattern and a shimmering, light mesh that is ruched in places. The range comes in a mother-of-pearl shade and has padded, strapless bandeau bras from A to F cup, a short and a thong with an arched keyhole in the back. The tummy flattening waist cincher with removable suspenders, a garter and a flirty suspender belt complete the range.

 

• 2COP’s comments: I love how this range features an elegant version of a bandeau bra – a shape that is often overlooked but very practical for weddings. So many wedding dresses feature a strapless neckline these days which requires a balconette or a a bandeau shaped bra under it. I think this set is a lovely option for those with a little less padding on the bust area though Frauke has mentioned extending the size range if the demand meets the supply nicely when the line launches next year. Hopefully, by the time that I get married (which will probably not be in the next couple of years) this style will be available up to G or GG!

How do you like the new Fraulein Annie lines? Which one would you like to snatch up? Let me know in the comments! xx

Lingerie adventures in London part I: Fraulein Annie Lingerie

Hiya lovelies and thank God it’s Sunday! I have started with a new job this week which is super fun, lingerie-related but also requires a lot of hours in a bus and standing on my feet. So no wonder I slept almost 12 hours last night. I have started to miss blogging more frequently so this month I’ll be having a goal of writing at least two posts a week. Literally, I have to since my review pile is getting pretty big and I don’t wanna be all late with them! Also I still have so many awesome things planned for you guys and I hope to have them black and white this month. So fingers crossed!

Today I wanna tell you about a little trip I made to London about couple of months ago where I met two amazing ladies – Eva from All Undone Lingerie and Frauke from Fraulein Annie. They were both so lovely and I learned a lot about making bras, indie brand marketing and also the difficulties of producing and selling bras. This was all very interesting and today I want to share the best bits with you.

First I met up with Frauke at a lovely small restaurant called The Secret Tea Room. The place was like from my dreams – charming old furniture with a delicious menu and amazingly pretty waitresses. We decided to go for a tomato and mozzarella pie which turned out to be great. The whole place is completely vegetarian which scared me a bit as a devoted meat-eater but the food was so good I actually started thinking I could try out some more veggies in my own diet.

In addition to the food I absolutely adored Frauke. As a Finn my journey with English and American people hadn’t been too uncomplicated which meant me being very at ease with a fellow Europian (Frauke is originally from Germany but now lives in London and travels a lot to China as well). I have a general feeling that us Finns and German people do get along really well so the afternoon was definitely a blast, a laid back moment of excellent lunch and fun company. 

When it comes to lingerie Frauke definitely knows her stuff and is very passionate about the industry. She talked a lot about the quality and the accessibility of her lingerie and also the question of supply and demand. Lingerie industry is not the most easiest to break into, to say the least. 

Fraulein Annie Lingerie seems like something pretty special – the kind of thing you put on a special date or even your wedding day. It’s classic and beautiful and speaks to a variety of age groups and tastes. Also the tag luxury has been attached to Fraulein Annie in so many cases. But what does the designer herself think about this? She would respectfully like to disagree.

Fraulein Annie is first foremost designed for every woman. Beautiful lingerie should be a necessity – not a luxury. Frauke and I talked a lot about the luxury tag and the price point of quality lingerie which raised a lot of problems when it comes to smaller indie brands. FA’s price point is a little higher than your average Panache but many of us have no idea what is put behind it. There are years of working with the patterns, re-doing the models and trying to find the right fit. The fit does not come out of thin air; it’s lovingly crafted over years (full-bust bra can take up to two years to get ready for the market!) to make the best bra for all women out there. This is the philosophy behind Fraulein Annie – quality lingerie should be something for everyone to enjoy without compromising the fit or comfort.

I cannot bear to tell you that I don’t have anything new to show you from FA’s collection but I do have something to tell you! Fraulein Annie is a brand that doesn’t follow the traditional industry seasons but tries to put together a timeless collection which is now and then revised with new equally classic pieces. I was eager to ask Frauke to tell me about the new lines she has come up with and boy there is some pretty exciting things on our way.

First of all there is a new line called “Sei Lieb Zu Mir” which features amazing embroidery and also a new bridal range up F-cup. I have seen pictures of both and promise to post them here when I have my hands on them! At this point you just need to trust me on them being absolutely breathtaking. There is also other winds of change blowing when it comes to Fraulein Annie – there is a very possible chance of their size range getting bigger sometime in the future. This however happens most likely first to the smaller end of the size spectrum including AA-cups. The first smaller sized unpadded cups are in a design process now but also the other end of size spectrum is taken into consideration – as growing bigger Frauke has planned to possibly include HH-cups someday which is great news for us full-busted gals. 

This was it for today but as I told you also met up with the lovely Eva from All Undone and will share my discussions with her some day soon! Have a lovely weekend and hope life is giving sunshine to you all 🙂 xx

Review Time: Falling in Love with Fräulein Annie

Hiiii! A bit too excited?? Um, yap but it’s all for a good reason. I have been so eagerly waiting for to give you some review time lately and now it’s finally happening!

Recently I was a given a chance to try out some lovely Fräulein Annie lingerie from Large Cup Lingerie and now that the whole set has arrived (I had bit of gamble with the sizing and styles) I’ll proudly present to you: “Falling In Love” set.

As some of you may remember Fräulein Annie has been on my wishlist for some time now. Frauke, the designer and founder of FA, has an unique vision of lingerie design and I love how she combines unexpected colour combos to classic and feminine, yet sexy styles. For me at least it sometimes feels there is not much “sexy” going on in the full bust lingerie world and this is why Fräulein Annie strikes a chord with me; it provides something breathtakingly beautiful without forgetting the impeccable fit and comfort. If you want to read more about the brand and the lovely lady behind it CLICK HERE. Onto the review…

Design: This style screams 50’s vintage romance yet is completely wearable even as an everyday set (minus the suspender belt, perhaps). The colours are very much “nude”-like (I know some of you hate that word… but it’s there now!) with their almond/cinnamon shades and combine perfectly together. What I personally loved most about this set’s looks is the beautiful lace on the bra and the knickers. All the materials feel extremely luxurious and the whole set is clearly made out good quality fabrics.

There is basically nothing I wouldn’t like about the design; even the interior parts of the bra (read: cups) are crafted beautifully. What I also like about the cups is how the vertical seams are left shown and accentuated; a feature I am a sucker for.

Shape-wise this bra gives me quite a rounded shape with a hint of natural curve. It does not give me drastic forward-projection or cleavage but for a sexy piece like this one, it’s not really necessary. The lift however is just right for me; not up my neck but not droopy-looking “sad boobs” effect either.

Fit: When I first put this bra on I was like “Aaah.” A big deep sigh and then a scream of joy as I had been suffering from bras that had started to rebel against my upper-fullness a short while ago. Plus I had gained a cup size so this was a heaven after a few weeks of squishing myself into 30F’s. I opted for size 30FF (I’m now hovering between 30FF-30G) and the size was spot on. The stretch lace makes this bra a good choice for many women and for me it was a saviour for my bigger boob. I can notice some slight looseness under the lace on the side but it’s not visible under clothing and does not bother me. So I would actually say this bra runs a tad big in the cups! A good feature on a bra that goes only up to G cup (size expansion, plz? I know there are FA fans out there how are past the G cup).

The band on the other hand was on the smaller side of a 30. I have a 29″ ribcage which meant it was just right for me but someone between 30 and 32 might want to size up for comfort reasons. When it comes to straps some really petite girls might get disappointed: they’re only half-adjustable (it’s a look thing, I suppose). To me this wasn’t a problem though and I didn’t even have to adjust them a lot like with my Tutti Rouge bras for example.

The knickers felt quite true to size for me and I opted for size 8. They sit beautifully on my recently curved butt (yeah, I’ve been working out lately! …aaand eating some chocolate) and don’t dig in at all. The suspender belt on the other hand felt to be a bit on the smaller side: make sure to ask sizing advice from Frauke herself if you’re unsure which size to go for. I chose randomly a size S since it’s the most common dress size I wear but felt it to be a bit unflattering for my waist. BUT that’s due to that chocolate, can’t help but to hit the gym today. So I think in the end of the month I’ll have to re-evaluate the fit of the suspender belt, keep checking for that! 😉 It just feels a bit unfair to review it properly at this point. Looks-wise though, it’s an amazing piece of lingerie and I sooo want it to fit me better some time soon! (Zumba, anyone?)

Comfort: Absolutely. Stellar. No other words would be needed but I will tell you why. First of all, this beauty has amazing cotton-lined cups that prevent my skin from irritation. And second of all, it does not have any itchy lace in inconvenient places, on the contrary, the lace is divinely soft and comfortable.

What gives a huge plus to this is set is they the knickers are made to feel and look. I personally have just started to think about how panties can affect my comfort level during the day and I tell you sistas, there’s a lot to consider. I could wear pretty much anything before I started to do squats but now that I have a real arse, it’s getting more complicated. These panties just do the trick for me: they hit just the right spot on my front AND my back. There is also this wonderful stretch lace where my hips meet the panties and it’s saving me from a lot of booty bulge.

All in all this set is made for a Woman with a big W and I can’t help but to feel like one while wearing it. It’s definitely a welcomed addition to my lingerie wardrobe and I am even considering to snatch up some more Fräulein Annie goods in the future. (Bye Bye, Mein Herr, your mine when I have the money to buy you). I want to thank Frauke for making such lovely lingerie and of course, Large Cup Lingerie for being amazing with me and other bloggers as well!

Til tomorrow and I wanna warn you already; it’s RANT TIME. Cause I’m furious (well maybe not that much, just a bit bummed).

Disclosure: These items were send to me for review purposes. All opinions, good or bad, are my own and remain to be so.

Pre-Weekend Interview Treat: Fräulein Annie

 

First time I laid my eyes on Fräulein Annie on Invest In Your Chest I was absolutely stunned by the sheer beauty of the collection. The colours, the gorgeous high-waisted panties and luxe materials spoke to my inner temptress and I fell in love immediately. It has been a while now but Fräulein Annie stuck in my heart and I’ve returned to her time after time just admiring the stunning styles and the amazingly feminine brand from a far.

 

Finally today I have the opportunity to present this wonderful lady to you my dear readers, here she is: Fräulein Annie. This brand is founded by the lovely lingerie designer Frauke Nagel who was born in Germany and has been creating her own unique styles in the city of London from 2010. I approached Frauke for an interview to find out what is Fräulein Annie all about and discovered all the passion, love and hard work that has been put into this most special brand. All the pictures are from her current collection and sizes vary between 30-38 A-G (bras and basques) and 8-18 (co-ordinates) depending on the range and bra style.

 

 2COP: How did you come up with the idea of starting your own business in the first place?

 

Frauke: I was designer and product manager in the lingerie industry for several years when I had to reflect and decide how to proceed with my working life. I was mainly working for large brands and chain stores and needed a new challenge. In my opinion, the market was missing a premium range that thinks of the woman who wears it first and foremost: something not only gorgeously looking but also great to wear and that is figure enhancing. All the premium brands at the time were mostly provocatively sexy and ran up to D cup and not further. Larger cup brands looked rather sensible, less sensual. I was doing an awful lot of fit sessions for other brands at the time and knew that women come in all different shapes and sizes. I thought there needs to be a premium brand that comes in sizes beyond D cups. Likewise panties, there were either the sexy little numbers or the heavy frumpy shapewear pieces in nude and black.

 

 I remember I went bra shopping with a friend of mine who had 3 children, she was a 36DD and could find the bras alright but the skimpy briefs didn’t do anything for her. She needed a high waisted supportive brief to hold in her tummy but there was nothing apart from the traditional awful looking shape wear. The product concept was born, I just had to find the name and brand identity.

 

 2COP: What was the hardest part of launching your very own brand? What about the most fun part?

 

Frauke: At the beginning, everything is hard because you have no track record and have to convince people that you are serious about this. Retailers didn’t want to know because the brand was new. I had to wait and to further develop my product range. I spent almost a year in fit sessions, it was mad! I was dreaming about bra constructions and was welling over possible solutions. Until my first retailers came back to me happy because their customers loved the product and fit and that they wanted to reorder 🙂

 

The most fun part was to get inspired and to create the story behind the brand. I was thinking of all the things that I liked and that meant something to me. I was watching films that I remembered from when I was growing up and listened to music whilst I was doing my designs and patterns. In particular chansons by Marlene Dietrich, that’s when Fräulein Annie hit me!

2COP: Who is Fräulein Annie designed for?

 

Frauke: It’s for all women who like to dress well to feel good. Women who appreciate great quality, attention to detail and who are romantics at heart. It’s to dress for yourself and to get dressed.

 

2COP: There has been some guessing on how your bras actually fit. What advice would you give when choosing one’s size in Fräulein Annie?

 

Frauke: Every woman is unique and not every bra fits every woman. Fits vary from brand to brand and even within one brand, you cannot guarantee that you can wear every single style. It depends on the shape and material of the garment. I always compare it with shoes: you have to try before you buy.

 

The best is always to head to your next store and ask for it. That’s what stores make take on new brands, they want to know that the demand is there. I am saying this because I sometimes get complaints that FA is not available in many stores to try on. It’s up to you to create the demand 🙂

 

If you order online, just drop me an email at info@frauleinannie.com and I’ll lead you to the size you should try. I’ll also tell you if there is a store next to you who stocks us.

 

What only few know, I run regular events where I advise women on how bras should fit and where to find the correct bra for them. It’s something I feel very passionate about as too many women wear the wrong size. It’s very rewarding to help women to feel good about themselves.

 

2COP: What was your inspiration for the AW13 collection and which one of the styles is your personal favourite?

Frauke: For AW13, I went back to the roots of my inspiration and the film ‘Cabaret’ with Liza Minelli is definitely part of it. The range ‘Bye Bye mein Herr’ is named after a song of this film. We shot the photos and a video with 3 singers and dancers from London’s West End theatres to model and to perform a gritty, dazzling routine inspired by it.

My favourite style is the Bye Bye Shaping Brief, it holds in the tummy and hips and is very comfortable to wear. The special construction of the fabric prevents the VPL effect. The fabric of this range is super smooth and light despite being a powerful shaping fabric.

2COP: Your website mentions the comfort aspect of lingerie in the “About” section. What does comfort and proper bra fit means to you?

Frauke: Everything! Comfort is often misunderstood as baggy, old worn out cotton bras and panties. That doesn’t do anything for you! The comfort I mean is smooth, soft, silky micro fibre with a high content of stretch. This material hugs your body, holds you in without squashing you. I use cotton in cup and gusset linings. I pay a lot of attention to the inside of the garments making sure that everything is soft and smooth. Comfort also means to wear the correct bra shape and size for your body. (Editors note: Thumbs up for this! I hate it when something beautiful causes itching..)

2COP: How do you choose all the materials, patterns and colours for the collections?

Frauke: I constantly source materials with my suppliers, I just came back from the fair in Paris where I found great materials and inspiration for next years collections. I also design my own embroideries and prints (the high-kicking sailor print of the swimwear for example). For the colours, I follow my gut instinct and draw inspiration from outerwear.

It’s important to focus on what the brand is all about and don’t get sidetracked. I did some storyboards when I started in order to visualise the core values of the brand. It helps.

2COP: What is the most difficult part of creating the perfect bra?

Frauke: Funny, I was asked this question just recently for the new book by Laurie Johnsson ‘The Anatomy of the Bra’. Here’s my reply:

Most challenging is to bring the many aspects and requirements together that need to be considered when designing a bra. I start planning a new design by deciding on the right style and pattern for specific body shapes and sizes.

The material I select needs to meet the specific function of the garment in terms of stretch or non-stretch, weight, modulus etc. We call this ‘fit for purpose’.

Not every bra has the same requirements on its material. This very much depends on the shape and on the sizes you are planning to run. To avoid unnecessary wastage, the fabric, lace or embroidery should be used in the garment in a way that utilizes it most efficiently.

Only when I can tick all these boxes, I can be happy with the concept idea and start developing my new bra.

 2COP: You offer several co-ordinate options for each style. What is your favorite panty style to design and/or to wear?

Frauke: My favorite panty styles are the shaping ones. I personally like to wear the shaping brief that ends in the natural waist. But also the waist cinching panty that ends just underneath the bra is very popular. It really depends on women’s body shapes, not every woman can wear every panty, similar to what I said about bras.

2COP: Can you reveal us a bit what is store for Fräulein Annie in the future?

Frauke: Oh yes, I’m working on very light, transparent, non padded bras for the next year. I currently have padded bras mainly for smaller cups and women told me that they like to wear non padded also in A and B cups. I also expand the options for smaller backs. And I’ll do a very romantic bridal range. (Editors note: Yey! I would LOVE to see a brand like this expanding their size range!)

Many thanks to sweet Frauke who is one of the most passionate and genuine people in lingerie scene I have ever talked to! To find her pieces here are the online stores with the largest Fräulein Annie stock and international deliveries!

http://www.hepburnandleigh.co.uk/

http://www.fusspotlingerie.com/

http://www.largecuplingerie.com/

http://www.largecuplingerie.com/ (Will have some more in stock asap!)

Five brands I lust for

As I entered the world of lingerie I found out about brands that I had never even heard of. I completely adore it when lingerie designers do something completely unique and make a girl feel like a princess. Here are some vintage-inspired brands I’d die to wear someday, even if some of them don’t make my size yet.

1. What Katie Did

I love love love this Marlene set besides the fact that I’m not a fan of bullet bras and the bra does not come in my size. Anyways, what I could try is the gorgeous girdle (64€) that could go fantastically with my Cleo Marcie in red. I’ve always loved red in lingerie so I would probably go for the seamed stockings as well. 

2. Kiss Me Deadly

Another brand that don’t make my bra size BUT look at that Amelie suspender belt (£36)! Kiss Me Deadly makes amazing vintage-inspired lingerie that makes my stomach turn around for excitement. What I especially love about this brand is how some of their online store pics are created to imitate well-known children stories in a dangerous twisted way. 

3. Playful Promises

Why, OH WHY, some brands only go up to DD? That bra is design-wise a gem but again that Paradise garter skirt is the one I would personally go for. I’d probably wear it with my CK Elegance or Smoothie since it’s such an easy to piece to match with any other black lingerie. This beauty is for 25 quids so for independent lingerie design piece it’s a real bargain. 

4. Fräulein Annie

Fräulein Annie is relatively new brand offering amazing luxurious lingerie with a pretty good size range (UK 30-36 A-G). That means I won’t fall out of their size range for once, yey! However, with a little use of Google I couldn’t find that many online stores carrying the brand, so feel free to inform me if you know where to get your mittens on these lovely underkrackers. The picture above is featuring their wonderful Falling In Love set in Pearl which is available in a cinnamon-almond colourway at LargeCupLingerie.

5. Parfait Affinitas

I found about this particular set at another curvy girl blog Warning – Curves Ahead which reviewed this lovely set by Parfait. I absolutely love the fact that this one comes in my size and boy, those high-waisted briefs are to-die-for! I have not tried Parfait yet but it’s definitely on my to-do-list when my financial situation gets better (if it gets better, sigh..).

Have a happy Thursday, lovely readers! I’m gonna bake some brownies today and probably watch movies since it’s a lazy day ahead of me today. Enjoy yours, xx