Maison Lejaby is one of those brands that I have been eyeing for quite a few years; first in my teens when I had no money to even dream to buy a set, then in my early 20’s when I thought I had grown out of their size range. Take note in the word “thought” as when I first tried a set of their lingerie at a London lingerie boutique Mimi & You (that’s a whole another post for the future!) I was smacked in the face with a reality: I could literally, actually, REALLY fit my usually-30H bust into a Maison Lejaby 32F or FF. I stood in front of the fitting room mirror, my mouth in a round “o”-shape, that blown-away I was. A couple of days later I rushed to the Maison Lejaby stand at Moda and was ready to learn all about this wonderful brand I had been avoiding all those years for no reason.
The Full-bust line Elixir: Roxane, La Gourmande, Attrape Coeur & Theodora
Maison Lejaby consists of three collections: Premium (including core sizes A-D, with some exceptions going up to E), Elixir (including sizes C-G) and Couture (even more of a luxury line, sold exclusively in Maison Lejaby Couture Salons). I myself was jumping up and down when I saw their Elixir collection for AW15 as the designs were so pretty and sophisticated – to sum it up in one word, very “French”. The Elixir collection consists of seven different ranges which each offer a couple of different bra and bottom styles to choose from. There are also multiple colourways on offer; usually black, beige and/or white with changing fashion colourways each season. This upcoming autumn season was all about petrol and blue which seems to be a big trend among several brands in the lingerie industry.
Elixir includes sizes C-G but as I mentioned before, the cup sizes run quite big (bands are fairly true-to-size). This always makes me happy when I have prepared myself to cry for not being included in a certain size range (and this my dear readers, has happened with so many brands including Lepel and Gossard which are my current favourites!). The cups run at least two cup sizes big, so don’t throw your ax in the well (as we Finns say) if you think you are way out of the Lejaby size range. You might just fit into it!
Premium Collection (sizes up to D): Petra, Marani, Divine Guipure in White and Tan, Crystal & Passion
When it comes their A-D offering, I did find some absolutely gorgeous pieces as well – some made me want to me to swap my boobs to a D in a heart beat (haha, not really, just kidding)! What Lejaby seems to be doing exceptionally well is what I call the Marie Antoinette cut, more well-known as a bandeau balconette. I had the pleasure of trying their Attrape Coeur in both the full-cup and the balconette and it seems in both the construction is truly impeccable and well-fitting, even with the larger sizes (I fitted a 32F with the full-cup and 32FF with the balconette, which was also padded so it explains the size difference). The bandeau style was one of the strongest styles in the Premium collection as well and I absolutely adored it!
If I’d have to pick favourites from the collection, I would say Attrape Coeur really stole my heart and it was also the first style I ever tried from Maison Lejaby. The style is made in scarlet red for this spring season and in lovely Imperial Blue, Lily and Black for this upcoming autumn season. Another favourite was the Passion Red Theodora with its massive centre gore bow and fabulous cut (very similar to Ewa Michalak SM shape so fans, take note!). From the Premium collection Divine Guipure was definitely a stand-out piece and I would love to see it produced in bold fashion colours and bigger sizes as well.
All in all, I am super impressed with this huge power house and their attention to detail which absolutely blew me away. I hope to be sharing a lot more about Maison Lejaby this year so stay tuned for any future reviews and news regarding them! In meantime, do tell me what you think of the collection or their fit, if you have tried ML before! What is your favourite piece from them? Let me know in the comments! xx
