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Luxury Lingerie Reviews: FYI by Dani Read, Lascivious & Jenny Packham

Who can resist the January sales? I most certainly can’t. Here’s just a few of the bargains I snapped up from last season and my thoughts on them!

All images by Karolina Laskowska unless otherwise credited

FYI by Dani Read ‘Despote’ bra and briefs

The ‘Despote’ set, image by FYI by Dani Read

FYI by Dani Read is one of the brands that I’ve been admiring from afar for a while now – after all, leather and spikes are right up my street when it comes to design aesthetics! Unfortunately, I faced the usual issue of student budgeting and could only dream of owning a set.

Imagine my glee then when I spied the ‘Despote’ set at the Coco de Mer sale for a fraction of its original price… Filk chiffon paired with patent leather caging and black spikes? Yes please! I snapped it up and waited impatiently for my order to arrive. I ordered a 32C bra and Medium brief, the closest sizes to what I usually wear. The bra retailed at $156 and the brief at $108. Whilst the bra is sold out, the brief is available here.

Unfortunately, I was left feeling a little deflated by the garments that arrived. Whilst the set still looks a damn sight cooler than most of the lingerie out on the market, I just didn’t feel the quality or fit were quite up to scratch. The leather cage structure doesn’t offer much adjustment and seems to follow a very straight shape, leave an unattractive bulge in the back of the garment. Considering the set as boudoir pieces, I’m able to forgive the less than perfect fit on the bust – after all, with those spiked shoulder straps I don’t think I’ll be fitting any t-shirts over this bra any time soon!

The leather strapping on the briefs has a an elasticated panel and adjustable gold sliders, whilst the strap placement is particularly flattering for those of us with larger hips, sitting on top of them instead of cutting into them. The cut of the briefs at the back is a little off though – I couldn’t get the material to sit flat and so had to make do with it bunching together!

Overall I was a little disappointed by the set, though I suppose my issues are always a danger when ordering over the internet without actually seeing the product in person. Nevertheless, it’s still a very striking lingerie set, and most certainly incredibly different to most of other luxury brands on the market – for all its faults I’m sure it will still be making many an appearance in the bedroom!

Lascivious Lila bra and Isla briefs

The ‘Isla’ set, image by Lascivious

Lascivious‘ classic Lila bra has been a part of my collection for quite some time now – and I’ve been looking out for matching briefs ever since! The Isla briefs were another lucky steal at the Coco De Mer sale and go almost perfectly with the Lila bra. I purchased a 32C Lila bra and M Isla briefs.

The Lila bra is an open cup with sheer gathered mesh detail above the bust. The Isla briefs are made of powernet, with similar gathered mesh details on the hip panels, with patent eyelet tape and elastic details. There’s silver hooks and eyes going down the centre back of the briefs and removable suspender straps. The bra retails for £86 here and the briefs for £112 here.

For a cupless bra, the fit is very good – the wire encases the breast well whilst the underband is comfortably tight and the mesh detailing is flattering. Obviously for a bra of this style support isn’t an issue!

Overall the briefs are a good fit, with the mesh detail on the hip sitting flatteringly high. The high-waist also means that the suspenders actually keep your stockings up, making this the very first pair of suspender knickers that do what they’re supposed to!

My only issue with these briefs is the hook and eye fastening at the back. There’s no delicate way to put this, but itreally hurts. The hooks are surprisingly sharp and there isn’t any layer between them and your skin, so wearing these for more than a few minutes because incredibly uncomfortable. I’m a little heartbroken about this – these are truly gorgeous knickers and I’d been hoping to wear them on an everyday basis but it’s just not feasible! Luckily the set’s gorgeous enough to qualify as boudoir-only – where, let’s be honest, comfort isn’t completely necessary.

Edit (06/03/13) – I’ve since been informed that the Isla knickers that I purchased had a manufacturing fault – the hooks that had been causing the discomfort had been sewn in the wrong way round – they should have been facing away from the body.

Jenny Packham silk & lace robe

Lace trim robe by Jenny Packham, image by Harrods

Jenny Packham is one of those designers whose lingerie I’ve often admired from a distance – whilst many of her designs are beautiful, the price tags can make the eyes water somewhat. I was very lucky in acquiring this robe – as a current season piece it still hasn’t reached the sale, so it was a chance ebay find that led it into my posession. It’s a simple enough piece, made of silk satin with a lace trim along the neckline and sleeves.

The robe that I managed to get is a size Large (I would ordinarily opt for a Medium), however as a piece of loose-fitting loungewear I don’t feel it causes any major issues. The bra retails for £739 and can be purchased here.

Funnily enough, I don’t feel that there’s much I can really say about this robe. Overall, it’s very pretty – there’s a lovely lace trim along the sleeves and neckline. The kimono style sleeves and full skirt are fun to swoosh around in and the tie waist is flattering But that’s about all I can say about the garment. It’s pretty, but it’s not special. It’s not made by artisans and finished imbeccably – the lace appliqué is machined on and it is made in China (this isn’t a knock at China – I’d just expect a garment at this price point to have more expensive labour costs).

As with most premium and luxury lingerie, you are paying for the name rather than the lingerie itself. There’s nothing wrong with the robe, but I just can’t see how it justfies the £739 price tag. For that sort of money I would personally want something unusual and impeccably crafted – though that’s just not the way that the industry works.

Readers – did you manage to catch any bargains in the sales? Have you tried any of the designers above?

Karolina

Student at De Montfort University's world-renowned Contour Fashion course. Makes many knickers in her spare time.

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Lingerie Reviews: Autumn Acquirements From Maison Close, Lascivious, & Lacing Lilith

Disclaimer: The Soie Cherie set was kindly provided MemeShop. All other garments in this post were purchased by myself. Lascivious and Lacing Lilith are not affiliated with these reviews in any way. All opinions are my own.

I’m constantly shopping for new lingerie – I have a terrible habit of justifying it as ‘research’ for my lingerie studies! I’m forever trawling the internet, sample sales and ebay in case I manage to uncover a bargain. Here’s my lucky finds from the last month and what I thought of them.

Maison Close’s Soie Cherie bra. Image from MemeShop.com

I’ve encountered the brand Maison Close only briefly in the past – they’d always appeared to me as being highly erotic and boudoir wear focused, with lots of garments featuring naughty cut outs and straps. The Soie Cherie set was therefore quite a pleasant surprise – it’s much more girly and not quite as obvious as the brand’s other offerings. Featuring a soft bra (£60) and detachable-suspender brief (£55), the set is made in a stretch fuchsia silk with delicate black stretch lace inserts. Sizing comes up very small in Maison Close’s designs, so I would fully advise going up a size in any order. I ended up ordering a Medium bra and Large briefs when I usually wear a 30D bra and UK 10/12 briefs.

My first impression of the set was that Maison Close use utterly gorgeous packaging – each garment comes in its own purple and gold branded box and is wrapped in tissue paper. The actual set is very flirty and feminine – the combination of delicate lace and soft silk gives it a very luxurious feel.

Unfortunately it does appear to be a bedroom-only set. As with most soft styles, the bra doesn’t provide any major amount of support, though it does give a flattering shape to a smaller bust. I also had some issues with the knickers – on their own, they are utterly fabulous, being both comfortable and flattering. However, the problems start with the garters straps: the fact that they are silk makes adjusting them quite tricky, whilst the small clips can get quite fiddly and make it rather difficult to actually attach them to stockings. My real problem with them though was the fact that they don’t actually hold your stockings up – take a single step, and you’ll find your stockings actually start pulling your knickers down! This is unfortunately unavoidable for any suspender straps that come from the hips and not the waist. If you are considering buying them, I’d simply advise ditching the suspender straps and pairing the briefs with some lace hold ups.

I can’t deny that I’ve been eyeing up the Midori bodysuit (£198) for a while now – I adore Lascivious’ aesthetics, and as part of their ‘Classics’ range, this garment has simply been taunting me every season. I was lucky enough to find this bodysuit in a sample sale a couple of weeks ago and so avoided breaking the bank! Featuring sheer net that drapes across the body, elastic strap detailing, satin ties around the bust and neck and suspender straps, it’s a hugely flattering piece for all sorts of body shapes. The satin ties can be worn according to your preferences, whether you prefer them crisscrossing across the body or wrapped tightly under the bust.

Unfortunately I have once again encountered some trouble with Lascivious’ sizing – I’d previously purchased knickers and another bodysuit from them in a Medium, only to find that they were too short for me in the torso. With this playsuit, I took a bit of a risk in buying it in a size Large. Whilst it fits perfectly on my bottom, this time it’s a little too long in the torso, with the draped mesh falling a lot lower on my body than in any of Lascivious’ product shots! Nevertheless, I think it still looks absolutely gorgeous when worn so I don’t have any real complaints!

Latex can seem like a pretty scary material for most people – with its obvious fetish connotations , the average lingerie lover is going to deem it as just a little too S&M to incorporate into their lingerie drawers. Nevertheless, latex has been rather prevalent in the high fashion world recently, perhaps making it a little more socially acceptable! I’ve previously only dipped my toes in the water by buying latex stockings and fingerless gloves (the perfect accessory to toughen up any lingerie outfit – trust me!), but decided to take a jump when I saw this Lacing Lilith corset sample (in my size would you believe it!) on ebay. It’s a lot more extreme than my usual lingerie tastes but I still have no regrets – latex is a fabulously forgiving material and it’s bound to make an impact wherever you wear it. I bought this with the intention of wearing it for Hallowe’en but I haven’t quite decided how I’ll be styling it! Either way, I have plans of making this corset at home with the rest of my lingerie collection – I wonder how softening the look with some lovely lacey pieces would look?

1940s and 1950s bras

Finally, my occasional perusing of Vintage shops resulted in my finding these two vintage lingerie treasures: a 1940s and a 1950s bra, both in amazing condition. Most surprising of all though is the fact that they both fit! They both feature delicate lace inserts, pale satins and intricate stitching and boning. Both bras use liberal amounts of boning for their support (instead of the underwire that we are all so familiar with now), with the 1950s bras’ being so effective it is in fact strapless. They both have the rather pointy bust shape that was so popular at the time – unfortunately this renders them a little inappropriate for daily-wear, though the collector in me says this is irrelevant!

Readers: What do you think of my most recent lingerie wardrobe additions? What have your most recent purchases been?

Karolina

Student at De Montfort University's world-renowned Contour Fashion course. Makes many knickers in her spare time.