Elegant Moments Leopard Print Chiffon Halter Style Babydoll

November 26th, 2014

Leopard Print Babydoll
$15.93 - $29.99 from Amazon

It might be cliche, but I just love animal print. The subtle brown leopard print in this babydoll by Elegant Moments drew me in. After a string of misses, however, this might because the past piece of lingerie I try for a while.

I recently discovered a term that I like quit a bit: inbetweenies. It refers to people of my size who border plus and regular sizes. The term is great, the sizing issue isn’t so much. I find fewer options available to me. Typical sizes run too small, and extended sizes tend to be too large as was the case with this leopard print babydoll.

When I put it on, there simply seemed to be an excess of fabric around my stomach and hips. There was no cute “peekaboo” effect at all because of how it overlapped. It’s a shame that this didn’t fit as I’d hoped because I really do like the cut. You so often see flyaway babydolls that are simply two pieces “curtains” together at the empire waist, but the cut of fabric is more like an upside down U shape. It seems like the cut is more modest in the plus sizes than the other sizes, which I missed when looking at product images. I think it would better hide tummies if you’re worried about that as your problem area.

If the chiffon portion of the babydoll fits, you’ll be able to adjust the top thanks to the halter tie, which you can adjust behind your neck. The animal print cups have no elastic, however, so they might not look exactly stunning if your breasts are either on the larger or smaller size for the triangular cups. as a 40B/C, I felt as though my breasts might have been a bit on the small size, but my ribcage curves a lot so they need more support from the side to come together. The fabric cups offer little in the way of support, though. Women with larger breasts will no doubt experience more stress because of the weight of them and the halter, of course.

Another consideration is the decorative circle/buckle on the empire waist. I typically like to get lingerie that is comfortable and practical enough to double as sleepwear, but I wouldn’t wear this babydoll to bed because of that piece, which is made of a hard plastic. The plastic is textured to look diamonds from far away, but it looks a little cheaper up close.

Decorative details on the babydoll

Decorative details on the babydoll

Like most lingerie, the included thong, which is made of the same material as the cups of the babydoll, is too large for me. I tend to wear a smaller size underwear than my bust and waist size, however. Like the cups. there’s no stretch, so this will either fit you or it won’t.

The lack of stretch is a theme around this entire piece, in fact. The waist band — which is a satin-y material styled to look like a belt but is only in front of the babydoll — has absolutely no elasticity to it. I think it would feel better if it did stretch a bit, and it would look better if the “belt” wrapped around the entire waist. Indeed, an adjustable belt might be a better option altogether if the plastic circle functioned as a buckle.

The only bit of elastic in this babydoll is at the back, which runs below your shoulder blades to show off your neck and shoulder. This isn’t enough in my opinion. The rest of the back is a continuous piece of chiffon that wraps around and falls well below my ass on my short frame.

Overall, this piece seems fairly well made. I noticed no loose threads or other defects in the craftsmanship. The chiffon is silky and and smooth and this would likely be comfortable to wear if it fit you well.

The 1X size does seems to run a bit larger, however, so keep that in mind when shopping.

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Elegant Moments Purple Mesh Burnout Babydoll

June 12th, 2014

Oh, how I wanted to love this babydoll. I wanted to wear it with confidence until someone tore it off. Alas, a happy relationship wasn’t meant to be.

Because it looks like a sexy flyaway babydoll with interesting burnout details and comfortable, underwire cups but it’s really just cheap and disappointing. Like some of my dates in the past? I don’t know.

The mesh burnout part is actually fairly nice. It features viney scrolls. They’re visually interesting and interesting to the touch. The mesh is breathable and light but covers up a bit in front and the entire back, so you won’t necessarily feel exposed. And on the right body, this will look amazing I am sure. The empire waist won’t look good on everyone of course.

The same material makes up the front panel of the G-string, which was far too large for me in the X1. This is often the case, so I expected nothing more or less.

However, that’s really all I can check off in the “pro” column. My main complaint is with the cups in this piece, but those really make up the most of the workmanship and visual detail. Yes, they’re underlined but the padded fabric is sewn it flat and not curving outward the way any decent bra does. Instead of allowing my breasts to “spill” into the cups, which should support them, this pushes the entire cup — fabric and wire — and the front of the babydoll awkwardly away from my body. The center ribbon and bow just sort of hovers there, wondering what it’s supposed to do or look like. Perhaps on a wider rib cage without any extra space, my breasts would push out the cups instead.

And the ribbon doesn’t match the rest of the babydoll at all. It annoys me a ton. The satin cups almost perfectly match my Liberator Throe and it looks good with the burnout mesh, but the ribbon is just ugly. It’s obviously thrown on there to hide the front clasp, which would be sexy if it wasn’t made of plastic — just like the hardware on the straps. By the way, one of the straps on mine is sewn on twisted. And this clasp means you can’t adjust the waistband, which is quite loose for an XL. It’s going to fit up to a 45 inch bra band, I’d imagine.

And maybe I would be able to live with this if the babydoll was designed with a thick, stretchy empire waistband to balance out the awkward cups, but that’s not the point. In fact, the waistband is just a thin piece of elastic that runs along the top of the back side of the babydoll and connects to the sides of the piece at the end of the underwire — about midway up from the cups. However, a supportive waistband should be at the base of the cups. Because of its location, my breasts push the cups out and the bottoms sit sort of exposed.

I hate to be repetitious but “awkward” is the only word that truly explains how this babydoll feels. And awkward does nothing for confidence, which few people would argue you need to strut your stuff in lingerie or even in the nude. This piece gives me none. In fact, I wouldn’t ever want to wear it in front of another person.

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Deep V-Neck Polka Dot Baby Doll

October 1st, 2011

Deep V neck polka-dot baby doll

Deep V neck polka-dot baby doll

The most recent addition to my lingerie collection is the Deep V-Neck Polka Dot Baby Doll by Elegant Moments, a manufacturer whose designs have really attracted my attention. They strike me as super cute and feminine, as opposed to just barely there. It’s a baby pink, with poolk dots, babydoll that flows and has a medium pink ribbon that ties in a bow and falls delicately down the front. The epitome of femininity.

I do suspect that the images have been photoshopped. You do get an idea how sheer it is because you can see the model’s nipples through it but the pink is so light that the polka dots don’t contrast as much as the publicity photos. This isn’t bad.. it just is.

The piece is made of a super-stretchy and light polyester. It feels cool against the skin. The hem along the bottom edge and sleeves is done so it’s a little ripply, not straight. The ribbon is satin and all the edges are finished and the bow is sewn in permanently. It’s only attached from one side in the front to the other; it doesn’t extend across the back. However, the way it’s sewn makes the empire waist the tightest part of the babydoll.

All the stitching seemed secure until I tried this one, for the second time, and I realized the ribbon was doing that fraying thing away from where it was sewn on both sides. Because it’s sewn along the top and bottom edges, too, it will stay on but it’ll bug me forever

Fraying ribbonFortunately, or unfortunately, for me, I’ve been losing weight. The result is the XL that I ordered is actually too large for me me. The babydoll is designed so that the V-neck will sit at the widest parts of the shoulders, revealing most cleavage, than closer to the neck. The cut of the neck is quite low and dips well below where the bottom of my bra would sit, especially because my shoulders are not broad enough. It seems to me that the XL is intended for someone with at least DDs but then it’s so stretchy that it really offers no support.

This babydoll is designed with long, ruffly cap sleeves and I guess I could do without quite so much material. It doesn’t look bad on the model but, on me, I felt as though the sleeves were ginormous. It could just be because I need a smaller size but then I worry that the waist would be too tight on me because that was the snuggest part of the outfit… but the model for the plus-sized version doesn’t look all the appealing in it either, to be honest. It definitely seems like there’s far too much fabric for even her well-endowed top side.

Included thongOn the other hand, I do like the thong even though it’s got an interesting aspect. The front consists of the same fabric as the babydoll with a darker pink trim. There’s contrasting stitching that’s pretty adorable. The strange thing is that the back of the thong actually loops around the waistband and is movable from side to side, along the waistband. Also, the tag is sewn to the back piece which is just plain odd. Usually, with thongs, it’s sewn to the front panel. You’ll definitely have to cut it off. Still, it’s cute.

Ultimately, the sizing issue still would have resulted in an okay review from me because I do like the feminine design, the ribbon and the cool, silky feel of the material. But it’s obvious that the quality is lacking and the manufacturer just didn’t know how to make this fit a variety of body shapes and sizes. Even if I loved it, there’s no way I’d pay MSRP for it and this makes me hesitate buying from this manufacturer again.

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