Urkye Review - Dwulicowa Tuba and Groszki latte!

Hello!

It's been a while since my last post – I've been really busy with schoolwork. Those papers aren't going to stay up until dawn writing themselves! I wasn't sure whether I should still review some of the older Urkye shirts, since I recently bought new ones, but I figured that since they're still in stores (and since they're awesome), I might as well.

I'm going to review two shirts: the Tuba and Groszki latte. I'll start with the Tuba:

As you can see, I picked the red version. It's a size 34 o/oo. Alright, I'm dying to say it: I adore this shirt! The fit is perfect and comfortable, the colour is a great saturated red, and like a good little garment, it stays put where it's supposed to. That means: no peaking bra straps (which is amazing for a tank top), no bunching up at the waist, and no surprise-party for my cleavage.

I like that the straps can be worn in various styles using the two strips of sliding fabric. The one pictured below is a nice alternative, where the strips are slid to the back.

I must warn, though, that if you are between bust sizes or at the lower end of oo/ooo, you might want to size down. I originally purchased this shirt in green, size 34 oo/ooo, and although it looks alright from far away (as pictured below), from close up there was just too much loose fabric. As you can see, sizing down to o/oo solved this problem very nicely. However, my other Urkye purchases in 34 oo/ooo have been fine in the bust, and I'm the equivilent of that size in Biubiu clothing, so I think only the crossover cut has this issue. My next purchase shows the same problem.

 

I got the Groszki latte in size 34 oo/ooo, and I deeply regret this. It could have been a great shirt in the o/oo. Unfortunately I listened to my friend who insisted I kept it (I have got to get a mind of my own), only to find that I ultimately couldn't stand the fit issue.

Once again, from far away, it looks fine (though the bunching fabric at the bustline makes my chest look larger than usual). The shirt itself is gorgeous – I love how delicate and feminine the style is. I love how the belt emphasizes the waist. I love that the belt can be worn multiple ways (I'm a sucker for versatility). I especially love how pyjama-soft and breathable the fabric is.

Alright, I'm done my love poem to this shirt. I guess we were destined to be star-crossed lovers. The 34 o/oo is sold out.

Sizing down may also have helped resolve the issue of cleavage peak-a-boo. The fabric at the bust slides down a bit after a while (a little more than shown below, but I felt silly wriggling around alone in my bedroom for more than 10 seconds). I can't really say for sure if this was a problem with the shirt itself or just due to incorrect sizing, but judging by the staying power of the rest of the fabric (at my stomach and hips), I'm going to assume it's the sizing factor. 

In general, I do love these shirts. I must add, though, that when I wear them I feel as if my bust is highlighted. The cut draws attention to its shape and size - especially in bright/light colours which have a maximizing effect.This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your taste.

If you prefer a less “fierce” look, I'd suggest some of the other Urkye styles, which I will be reviewing very soon!

On a side note, I had to reorganize my blog, so I lost the few comments I had on my posts. I'm sad because I enjoyed the comments, but Blogspot is a bi - ...big, complicated website that needs some figuring out.

I hope this review has helped! I have two more Urkye items to review, as well, so stay tuned!

Urkye Review - French Blue and Guilty Purse

Hello! Today I am doing a review of two articles of clothing I purchased off of the Polish clothing website, Urkye. I am reviewing them because their sizing system is curve-friendly: they take into account both your bust measurement and your waist measurement to produce clothing that sits properly and comfortably on your individual frame.

My entire order consisted of four items, but for now, I will concentrate on the French Blue shirt and the Guilty Purse dress, as they are very similar.

French Blue

The French Blue features a rounded neckline, puffed sleeves, two verticle seams curving up the front, and quite thick fabric. Overall opinion: this shirt is pretty awesome. It is very simple and versatile, I love the dark blue colour, it conforms to my shape excellently, and the thick fabric makes it fairly trans-seasonal.

Now let's get into the messy stuff. There are certain pet peeves I have about clothing that I know many women share, and I judge the quality of any item I find by how much it pisses me off by the end of the day. Well, here we go!

Free-Spirited Fabric?

The shirt does not travel very much. It gathers up in the torso a tiny bit after you've moved around enough, but it still maintains its shape very nicely!

Crafty Cleavage?

I think that the rounded neckline is amazing. It does not show noticeable cleavage from a frontal view, but is still low-cut enough to flatter a large bust. When bending over, there is obviously visible cleavage, but it is very understated compared to many necklines I've come across. I am very pleased with it.

Wasted Waist?

The shirt is obviously form-fitting. It certainly does not obscure my waist. I'd also like to note that the thick fabric seems as if it can smooth over tummy bulges, which is a bonus.

Uncomfortable?

Unfortunately, this is where the shirt does not come out totally unscathed. Don't get me wrong, it's comfortable to wear – but when it comes to putting the thing on or taking it off, that's a whole other story.

Basically, when I try to pull the waist of the shirt over my bust, is it very tight and has little elasticity, which causes it to become a bit stuck. I think that this would mainly be a problem for those who have a large difference between their bust size and waist size: those closer to the ooo on the Urkye sizing chart.

I did eventually discover how to carefully remove the shirt without as much struggle, but I still worry that the waist will eventually stretch out because of this. So far, so good, though! I will update if anything changes.

Overall, I love this shirt. It is very flattering, and I think that it can be worn in many situations –both where modesty is called for (because of the neckline), and where sexiness is called for (because of the form-fitting shape). I find that the puffed sleeves add a nice balance to the hourglass figure (though they are perhaps a bit too pointy for my taste), and that the colour is neutral enough to suit pretty much anyone. This is something you can definitely dress up or down.

Basically, it is a great purchase from Urkye!

Guilty Purse

Like I said before, I chose to review this dress and the French Blue shirt first because they have obvious similarities. Basically, the shirt and the top half of the dress are identical in cut and style: they both have the rounded neckline, the puffy/pointy shoulders (though the dress's seem a bit pointier), the vertical curving seams, the snug fit, the thick fabric, etc. It is essentially as pleasing as the shirt, save for a bit of extra fabric that tends to bunch at the sides of the bust, near the ribcage.

Then there is the skirt portion of the dress. This aspect is quite unique – I don't think I've ever owned or even seen a skirt with a cut like this. As you can see from the profile shot, it sort of flares out at the back, and at the front it bags a bit mid-way due to its pockets before tightening against the legs. It's a fairly subtle shape, making it unique but wearable.

Honestly, at first I couldn't decide if I liked the pockets. The wrinkles sort of threw me off. Then I discovered that I rather enjoyed being able to put my hands in them; made me feel super cool ;). But if you need a slightly less ridiculous reason to like them yourself, I've also read in other blogs that they are a genius solution to the issue of most Jersey dresses, which cling to and emphasize your belly. In any case, I've become fonder of the wrinkles.

But alas, the dress is even harder to take off than the shirt. When the waist gets stuck on my bust I get lost and flustered in the additional fabric (yes, I do look silly enough for you – and my boyfriend – to have a laugh at my expense). I almost returned the dress for this reason, but my friend convinced me to keep it, insisting it was too flattering and versatile to give up. Nevertheless, I really think that dresses with thicker, stiffer fabric like this in the ooo range could benefit from a zipper.

I still worry about the waist stretching, and the shoulders are, again, too pointy for my taste, but overall, I think this is a very nice dress. It is as trans-seasonal as the shirt, it's simple enough to be versatile, and I think that the colour is particularly nice for fall/winter - maybe with dark mustard tights and brown boots! I included a picture of it with a belt, which I think it looks quite nice with. I love dresses that are flattering with or without a belt! Options galore! (Well, at least two.)

For now, I'll leave off saying that I'm very happy with Urkye – and as a bonus, their customer service is fantastic! They are very prompt and helpful, but even better, the designer actually listens to her customers and makes clothes with us in mind. Check out their facebook page, and her blog.

I'll be back soon with the second half of the review!

Introduction 2 - My Clothing Experience

Hi! I'm back for my second post!

This time I'm going to be talking about my experience with clothes, and how difficult it can be to dress the curvy hourglass figure.

I mentioned in my last post that at the age of 16, I had a growth spurt of the bust almost overnight, and because of that, my entire wardrobe no longer seemed to suit me.

Not only was it no longer functional (buttons popped open, dresses would not zip up, shirts would squish me or not pull down all the way), it was also no longer flattering.

The styles in my closet which had once suited my more slender hourglass figure, now made me look heavier than I actually was, or - to my horror - even bustier!

A turtleneck sweater-dress that had fit me like a dream only one year earlier suddenly made me look disproportionately top-heavy. Not only that - it was suddenly too short! And I mean, Britney-Spears-Coming-Out-of-a-Limo short. I hadn't gotten taller. No, still a 5"2 munchkin. What had actually happened was that my chest took up extra inches of fabric, making the hem of the dress about 3 inches shorter. And trust me, 3 inches can be the difference between a cute little dress, and a cute little butt peeking out of that dress.

As for clothes that added pounds, looser tops and dresses that had once draped over my figure, now only draped over my bust, adding inches of empty space to the front and sides of my stomach. My torso looked like a perfect square.

Over the years, through a lot of research (and trial and error), I began to understand the shapes and cuts that worked for my tricky figure. Unfortunately, these things are difficult to find in mainstream retail stores.

That is why my upcoming blogs will give tips on what to look for, where to go, and what alterations to make for the curvy and/or hourglass figure (and perhaps the petite figure, as well!)

My next few posts will be reviews of two excellent online stores based in Poland. Biubiu and Urkye both have a phenomenal sizing system which takes into account both your bust measurement and your waist measurement. In my opinion, it is far superior to the S, M, L system typically found in mainstream retail, which assumes that if two women are a Medium, they have the exact same waist and bust measurements. Ridiculous, non?

I also plan to talk about thrift shopping, which can be surprisingly successful!

Here is a dress that I found at Value Village:

I will explain why this dress (and a few other thriftstore items I've nabbed) are flattering in an upcoming post!

Introduction - My Bra Experience

Hi! My name is Ally. I'm 21 years old and I'm an aspiring artist.

To be honest, I've never really blogged before, save for when I was 11 years old and my best friend and I slapped together a couple of beauty sites. Still, we ripped everything off of Cosmogirl (ahh, the days of innocence).

Ten years later, I'm taking another stab at it, except now I have both personal experience and a thorough understanding of plagiarism :P.

Let me elaborate on the personal experience: it all started in the 12th grade, when I had a localized growth spurt. Where was it, you ask? In my bra. Suddenly I was "well endowed".

I was still wearing my sister's C-cup hand-me-down bras when it became evident that something was wrong; I was uncomfortable and spilling out of them. I figured that I needed new bras that weren't stretched out, so I went to a lingerie store near my house named Change. As fate would have it, this store specialized in larger bra sizes.

When I approached the salewoman, she asked me if I knew my size. I confidently answered, "34 C". She looked me up and down, smiled with sheer amusement, and replied, "There is no way you're a 34 C, hunny". 

I ended up buying a 30 F bra that day. I was stunned - how could this have happened? Why was my size so abnormal? I had never heard of anyone having a 30 F cup in my life. What's worse, they warned me that I really needed a 28 band, which even specialty stores did not carry in my cup size. Not only was every mainstream, relatively cheap bra store like Victoria Secret or La Senza off-limits to me, but even the expensive stores that specialized in uncommon sizes could not help me.

I tried to console myself with the knowledge that my 30 F bras still fit, and that after all, it was just a number/letter - albeit an expensive one.

But soon I grew even larger, and the F cups just didn't fit anymore. I also began noticing that the 30 band didn't seem to be supportive enough for my comfort or my appearance. I began looking high and low for 28 bands in larger cup sizes, but no store seemed to carry them. I couldn't even find 30 bands in sizes larger than an F.

Desperate for a bra that - at the very least - fully encased my breasts, I bought a few 34 DD's at La Senza. Because the bands were so incredibly loose, though, the straps had to take on full responsibility for supporting the weight of my chest. Obviously this caused a number of problems, from shoulder pain to a sagging silhouette.

Feeling frustrated and isolated, I began my search for a better bra again. I ended up finding a 30 FF at a high-end specialty store, which I shelled out around 200 dollars for. The band was still too loose, but due to my lack of options, I wore the bra practically every day.

Obviously, the straps and the band quickly stretched out, and the bra looked awful on me. 200 dollars for one month's worth of a kind-of-okay bra? Screw that.

I pretty much gave up on high end stores, and ended up wearing the same stretched out bra - the only one I owned that was vaguely comfortable and flattering - practically every day for a year.

Then one day, during one of my google-browsing sessions, I came across Bravissimo. Bravissimo is a reasonably-priced bra store in England that targets women with larger busts, while also carrying smaller band sizes. I quickly ordered off of their website (they ship worldwide), and excitedly awaited my order.

Through some expensive trial and error (shipping prices there and back), I found my size: 28 G.

I was ecstatic and relieved to find cute bras (my other ones looked like the kind your great granny might give away to charity), which actually felt secure, fitted, and comfortable. I looked way better in my clothes, I felt a lot sexier in my underwear, I didn't have to worry about embarrassing pop-outs, I did not have aching, sore breasts by the end of the day, and there were no more wires scratching me.

After feeling disregarded by the lingerie industry for so long, and dealing with the consequences of ill-fitting bras, I feel it's important to help other women who are struggling with the same issues. We all deserve to feel confident, beautiful, and comfortable.

That is why I plan to write about my experiences and knowledge in this blog, which will hopefully help other women find their perfect bra.

 

Me in a my favourite bra: Deco by Freya (I was too cheap to buy the matching undies - but these pink and grey ones kinda work!)

                                              
                                             
I won't lie, it feels weird to put pictures of my body online, especially because I recently recieved some pretty nasty comments about my bust size. But the lovely, confident women of Thin and Curvy and The Curvy Kitten have inspired me to be happier in my own skin, and I'd like to do the same for others.


Stay tuned for an in-depth review of the Deco Bra!