No posts from me for a while! I have been flat out with work and school, leaving no time for posts, just half-baked comments on other peoples’ blogs.
And this week I have some kind of horrible bronchitis. The lurgy!
I ordered some clothes from B & Lu, in anticipation of it being as deadly hot as usual, and my package arrived today. So here’s my review of the items I got. I’m an Australian 22-24 on top and a 26-28 on bottom (which is around the same as US sizes these days in my experience) and 5’1″ tall.
The ‘Cora’ top, $38Made of a light but not too lightweight cotton knit with lace trim. I got this in ‘burgundy’, and it’s a brownish burgundy rather than maroon. It’s about hip length on me and the fit is great – I got this in 3X. I will make two alterations, though. First, sew a little bit of fabric behind the rather deep cleavage line as it is quite low indeed on me. Possibly it’s meant to be layered but like hell I’m layering in 40 C/110F weather. Second, get some matching lace and fabric and make the sleeves a little longer. I’m not concerned about displaying my arm chub to the world, but I am concerned about my extremely pale skin that gets burnt and crispy – especially on upper arms and shoulders where I’ve had awful burns before.
The ‘Priscilla’ top, $32Similar weight cotton knit to the ‘Cora’ top, and a bit of a more snug fit (but also a 3X). It will probably ‘relax’ after a couple of wearings as this kind of fabric does. Sleeves also too short for UV-protecting purposes, will add a bit more. The neckline is really nice, however if you have large breasts you’ll probably need to order a size larger or try it on and possibly return it: I’m only a B-C cup and the bodice area was threatening to ride up. It’s a pretty cute top all things considered. Also, is easily gothed-up. Heh.
The ‘Wrap’ top, $43OK, this one took me a while to figure out how the wrapping actually worked. It seems you put the cord in one side and bring it out the other on both sides, unlike the other wrap tops I’ve had where you only do that on one side. Same fabric as the ‘Priscilla’, and, hooray, the sleeves are long enough. What’s also long enough are the wrap ties. I hate it when a plus-size top seems to have the size 4 ties sewn on, but this one has plenty of room to wrap around and make a nice bow. The overall fit is good, this is also a 3X. I’ll probably wear this one to work, and make some big faceted jet crystal beads into a necklace to match.
The ‘Freedom’ skirt, $39Made of a heavier-weight cotton knit with a drawstring waist. The description says ‘hits below knee’, which is probably true if you are 5’8″. I am not, so this is almost ankle-length on me! I may well detach the yoke waistband from the skirt and cut a bit off the top of the skirt and re-sew, as hemming from the bottom will ruin the print, which is a ‘rock chic’ kind of thing that’s a lot more tasteful than most of those things. The fit is a little tight around my belly but the fabric will relax.
The ‘Lotus’ skirt, $48Same medium-weight cotton knit as the ‘Freedom’. This is ankle-length on me! It looks fine at that length though so I won’t try to fix it. Also a wee bit snug around my belly but again, will relax after a few wearings. The embroidery makes it a very cute skirt, and the waist ties are a nice feature too.
The whole package, including international postage, cost me less than what it would cost to buy similar yet less cute and more matronly items from somewhere like Autograph (formerly 1626). B&Lu have a better plus-size fit than a lot of places, and much better style. I can see myself buying more, because Australia has a very long way to go to catch up to North American plus-size fashion. There are some stores and lines that make decent stuff, but it’s all “Oh, that’s nice…” rather than “Wow, that’s an awesome skirt/top/dress”. We definitely need more awesomeness.
(…aaaaaaaand there goes my brain effort for today.)
