Freya, Fantasie, Fauve, Elomi and Huit 8: Autumn/Winter 2012

Eveden Lingerie Group

I was absolutely thrilled to be invited to the Eveden Group Press Event, showcasing their upcoming Autumn/Winter collections out later this year. They had lots of eye-catching new lingerie, activewear and lounge wear to show, from brands Freya, Fantasie, Fauve, Elomi and Huit 8.

Surrounded by beautiful Swarovski crystals, the lingerie looked stunning. Eveden stated that the collections ‘took inspiration from the mesmerising hues of the Northern Lights, where ice cold skies of frosty blue and arctic mint green merge against warmer strokes of purple, red and gilded gold’. I couldn’t agree more, it was a wonderful display, which unbelievably, included a lingerie ice sculpture!

Freya and Fantasie are two of my favourite brands, so I was especially excited to see their new collections.

Freya:

Freya – Ginny

I liked the mix of blues, browns and whites to create a more vintage feel.

Freya – Carys Longline

Freya – Piper Longline

I was really pleased to see more longline bras, similar to the Nieve in their collection last year.

Freya – Piper

Freya – Taylor (this time in charcoal and teal!)

Freya – Rosie

Freya – Marina

I adored the colours on the Marina bra, it’s definitely one I found myself wanting to take home. This is the balcony bra which goes all the way up to a K cup! There will also be a half cup padded version available up to a G.

Freya

Freya – Gem

Freya – Dionne

This cute leaf print on the Dionne is going to be absolutely perfect for autumn. I can’t wait!

Freya

Freya

Freya – Deco Hatty

Freya – Martha

Freya

Freya – Deco Honey

I fell in love with the Honey Deco at first sight. The bright fiery red (which actually has a slight orange hue to it) matched with the delicate lace really adds something extra to a favourite staple bra. This is also the bra they chose for the ice sculpture, and it looked incredible.

Deco Honey Ice Sculpture

Deco Honey Ice Sculpture

Freya – Patsy

Freya – Ivy Longline

Another longline; the Ivy bra has a very autumn feel to it.

Freya – Ada

Freya – Ada

I LOVE the Ada bra. It has a really fun tattoo design with a ‘Freya’ motif, and goes up to an H cup. Definitely one for my wish list.

Freya – Deco Soft Cup

You’ll be very excited to hear that Freya have now brought out a soft cup version of the deco, and it comes in a 28 band. It might seem like a soft cup won’t give you that stunning cleavage that the deco is so well-known for, but check out their model wearing the Nude version. There’s plenty of cleavage there, and she mentioned it was one of her favourites to model.

Freya Active:

Freya Active – Underwired Sports Bra – Black Samba

Freya Active – Performance Wear – Sports Top and Capri Pant

As well as their ever popular sports bra, Freya Active have brought out their own Performance Wear now too. It uses a special polygiene technology that keeps the clothing odour free!

Freya Swim:

Freya Active Swim – Soft Suit – Ultramarine

Freya Swim

Freya Swim – Phoenix

The Phoenix was my favourite of the bikinis, the colours just look fabulous together, not to mention there is a matching kaftan.

Freya Swim – Kansas

Kansas is the perfect name for this style; it looks like Dorothy packed up her things and went on a tornado-free beach vacation!

Freya Lounge:

Freya Lounge Wear

Freya Lounge – Marina – Long Sleeve Top & Pant

Freya Lounge – Piper – Cami Top & Short

Fantasie:

Fantasie – Josephine

Fantasie – Susanna Basque

I adored this new Susanna Basque from Fantasie. It is an absolutely beautiful design with a sexy black lace overlay.

Fantasie Swim:

Fantasie Swim – Mauritius

This Mauritius set is especially versatile because it has all sorts of mix and match bikini briefs/tops/tankinis to go with it – both in black or the lovely bold dot print. It also has a sheer black (with dot print sleeves) matching Kaftan.

Fantasie Swim – Costa Rica

Fantasie Swim – St Lucia (left) and Trinidad (right)

Fauve:

Fauve

Fauve – Marla

Fauve – Coco

Fauve – Evangeline

The Evangeline set looked wonderful – the red and nude lace together works beautifully. It comes in both a padded half cup, and a moulded plunge bra too.

Fauve – Emmanuelle

Fauve – Sabine

Fauve – Marla

Fauve – Veronique

Fauve Lounge – Genevieve

A sexy lounge set from Fauve!

Elomi:

Elomi – Maggie Babydoll

Elomi – Maggie

Elomi – Valentina

Elomi – Paloma

Elomi – Briony

The pinks in the Briony are just lovely.

Elomi – Betty

Elomi Swim – Fiora

Huit 8:

Huit 8

Huit 8 formerly only catered up to a DD cup, they have now expanded their size range to an E. Here’s hoping that in the not too distant future they reach to G, and maybe even all the way to K! We can dream anyway .

Huit 8

Huit 8 – Equivoque

Huit 8 – Rumeur

Huit 8 – Rumeur

Huit 8 Swim:

Huit 8 Swim

Huit 8 Swim – Pepsy Pretty

Huit 8 Swim – Tropic Toffy

I am very excited about the upcoming collections, and impressed with everything on display. Freya do offer a little more than the other brands, but I loved the new Fantasie and Fauve lingerie too. Elomi caters specifically for the fuller figure which makes them both popular and unique, whereas Huit 8 is a timeless French style usually more suited to a slimmer figure.
It was also great to see that Freya are expanding their Active range even further, especially with the olympics coming up, it’s bound to be a big hit. It was a pleasure to meet the team behind the brands, (and they looked after us so well, I was especially fond of the cake!) and great to catch up with fellow bloggers; Fuller Figure Fuller Bust, Undercover Lingerista, Curvy Wordy and Lily Bo Bombs I’m sure we will all be saving our pennies to purchase some of this lovely lingerie later this year.

Love

Sophia xxx

Top Bikini Picks for Summer

During my very short and sweet holiday, away from cloudy England and on to beautiful higher climates, I got a chance to test out my new bikinis.

The First bikini on my list, is the Freya Zodiac. Unfortunately, since I bought it earlier this year, my size has increased, and it is now to small for me. So, the only picture I have to show you, is one I took after I first bought it. Sadly, on holiday I couldn’t bring myself to wear something that was too small (not in front of others anyway!)

Freya 'Zodiac' Bikini

However, I did go for a quick dip in the pool with it very early one morning, while no one else was around. I can safely say that it water tested very well; it didn’t try to slip off and was comfy to swim in. Not only that, but it has a lovely pattern with bunnies and cats on it, which I love. The bikini briefs also have a flap that you can fold down, or pull up to cover your tummy if you so choose. I found it quite true to size, I tend to wear my bikinis in 32 rather than 30, as I don’t want too much squidgy-ness when in public.

The one down side that I find with most Freya bikinis, and in fact, most bikinis in general, is that there is a very limited size choice for briefs. They come in XS, S, M, L and XL. Knowing how unlikely I am to fit into most bikini briefs, I always opt for XL. I can tell you that these are the equivalent of a size 14-16..which is not very big at all for an XL. I really wish companies would expand their swimwear, not only in the brief department, but over G cups as well! I have many frustrated H, J and K cup friends who really struggle to find decent swimwear. Fantasie is one of the few brands that do – good on them!

This however, this is a small downside for a very lovely bikini. I would definitely recommend it.

My next review is for the Pour Moi Azure bikini. As  beautiful as I find it with its striking cobalt colour, and as much as I want to give it a good review, I just can’t. When I first bought this bikini, I found it huge in the cup. I immediately sent it back for a smaller size because it swamped me. On getting the correct size, it was a better fit…in the cup at least. The problem is, the back does not give any support whatsoever. I ordered a 32, which near enough makes no difference, as it is a tie back bikini, and even the 32 didn’t have that much extra tie -up material. No matter how tight I tied the back (and I had help from someone tie-ing it as tight as possible), I could still, every time, manage to pull the front of the band inches from my chest. I took a good look at the design of this bikini, and saw that the tie back straps and the band were separate pieces of fabric feebly stitched together. Because of this join, the back half cannot pull the front half any tighter.

Pour Moi 'Azure' Cobalt - Unsupportive Band

What a shame to have such a huge design flaw in what would otherwise be a fabulous bikini. I went in the sea with this on, swam for about 5 minutes; on my way out, my other half had to run over and adjust me, because everything had already fallen out underneath!

Pour Moi 'Azure' Cobalt

The top appears fine in the picture, before you start to move around or swim in it. If you plan to stay completely still the entire time, then that is the only time I would recommend this bikini.
I really did like having the option of tie-side briefs though, because that can work for so many different sizes. 

Next, is one I wouldn’t normally go for, but I took a risk anyway. A La Senza bikini. Generally I’m not a fan of La Senza bras, their sizing is usually off, and anything above a DD cup appears to be badly designed, or designed by someone who does not have a larger chest. They also incorrectly measured me; never a good sign.

However, I’m more open in terms of their swimwear, and spied a very pretty bikini, the Marbella, which I was pleased to discover came in a GG. I actually really liked it, and even though it had a similar build to the badly designed Azure bikini, because this time it had a clip-up band and not a tie back, it wasn’t a problem. It’s lightly padded which I liked as it gave me a little added support. It was also very uplifting, but without huge amounts of in-your-face cleavage.

La Senza 'Marbella' Bikini

At the time I couldn’t afford the briefs as well, so I made do with a pair of white tie side briefs that I found on ebay for £2. I quite like mixing and matching bikinis, I’m not really a person who tries to match their underwear either, so for me, anything with a complimentary colour will do.

La Senza 'Marbella' Bikini - Ebay Briefs

Last but definitely not least my favourite bikini of all; Freya’s Pier bikini. For a while it only came in red, green and black, all very lovely colours. However, I opted for the new pink pier! I have trouble resisting something sparkly and new to the lingerie/swimwear scene, so I pre-ordered it as soon as I could. It has not let me down. I love the way it’s made; it gives a little bit of cleavage, whilst being very supportive and comfortable. It has a clip back, which is always my preference, and the cutest ruffles on the edge of the bikini top, and on the sides of the bikini briefs. Again, the only downside is that I need to order XL briefs again, and they didn’t have my preferential tie-sides. I actually wore my Slinky Dip bikini bottoms (mentioned in a previous post) with it, just so I could feel a bit more relaxed in the briefs.

Freya 'Pier' Pink

I spent most of my holiday in this bikini, and I found it very comfortable to swim in. Not only that, but because of the wonderful support, I found that even though it lacks padding, when I untied the neck straps and wore it as a bandeau bikini, it worked perfectly!  The one thing I cannot quite understand though, is why Freya can’t make this in bigger sizes. I’ve been looking at the design of it, and it seems more than feasible. I tell you Freya, the sales you would get if you brought this out in something bigger than a GG!

Freya 'Pier' Pink

This is a thoroughly worthy bikini, and a staple swimwear item for any larger cupped woman. If you don’t already own this bikini, you should go get one now!

One other bikini that I tried on in store, and loved, but couldn’t get in my size, is the Freya Waves bikini. It is really bright blue and beautiful, but in store I couldn’t find anything bigger than a G. I felt that bikini ran small as the 32G was so tight on me in the cup; in the correct size, I have no doubt it will be fabulous.

Freya 'Waves' Bikini

Hopefully this will be useful to anyone searching for a good bikini this summer, and if you are looking for some entertaining summer reading, I very much recommend Caitlin Moran’s ‘How to be a Woman’. Beckie over at Busts for Justice recommended it to me, and it had me laughing out loud for a great deal of my holiday!

Love

Sophia xxx