Online shops for Australians.

As an Australian that loves lingerie, my options are limited. I can pay $70-120 for a bra here from a limited amount of brands, which have a limited amound of styles and an even more limited amount of sizes in stock.... or I can buy online (which I do). 

I thought I would post my favourite websites to purchase lingerie from (and others that I haven't used), that will ship to us Aussies.

Tried and tested (and loved) websites

Figleaves

Probably my favourite. They have quite a large range and if you sign up to their mailing list, you are given promotion codes fairly often. Their sales are good, and their customer service is fantastic. Shipping is £5.50.

Bravissimo

Another UK website. They have a great size range and some exclusive styles. Shipping is £7.95.

Large Cup Lingerie 

 Also UK. They don't have as big a range as the above, but they have great sale prices, good customer service and free worldwide shipping!

BraStop

This one is quite well known and very popular. They have a large range of brands and styles and really good prices, but they often don't have all sizes available and the shipping is steeper at £14.95. If you spend over
£100, it is free, though.

Heavenly Curves

A lovely Australian lingerie store. Their full-priced items are a little steep (despitebeing RRP), but their clearance section is awesome, as is their customer service. I recently purchased two Curvy Kate Tease Me bras (RRP $89.95) for $20 each!

Untried and non-tested (but promising) websites

Belle-Lingerie

They have a great range and really good sales prices - I plan on ordering from them soon. Delivery is
£4.95 (Airmail) or £11.95 (International Signed-For).

Love Bras

Having the same layout as BraStop and almost identical stock/sizes, it looks like their sister store.

The Big Bra Bar

Ewa Michalak stockist. They also stock some Panache and Comexim. 

Bras and Honey

I usually look here if I'm looking for something I can't find anywhere else or to check if it's cheaper. Postage to Australia is £5.95.

Killa Curves

Terrible name aside, this place looks like a great Australian stockist of Masquerade and Freya (as well as some Fauve and Elomi). They seem on the expensive side, but they have a good range of sizes in stock if you're after a particular style that has sold out.

Bras To Go 

Another Australian website. They have a great range of Panache/Cleo/Masquerade and their clearance section is a must - it is a lot cheaper than many UK sale prices! I plan on ordering a few things from them in the next few days.

Charlie Girl Lingerie
Good range of styles and sizes, their sales aren't as good as I've seen elsewhere but I always double check before I buy something! Postage to Australia is only £3.95.

Lingerie Please 

I found this site while searching for stockists of a Kiss Me Deadly girdle, but they have a fair range of G+ bras as well, which is worth a look. Postage is £8.

 Bella Forma

 Australian online lingerie stockist. It's not the best site to navigate, but there are some good sale items if you're willing to take the time to browse.

 More Than A Handful

Another Australian online stockist. They have a wide range of brands and their sale prices are quite good. They don't always have all the sizes, though, but definitely worth a look for a bargain within Aus!

Brava Lingerie

And another Aussie site! Brava Lingerie has a wide range of brands and styles, but their prices can't really compete with UK websites. However, if you live in Melbourne, they have stores in in Prahran and the CBD that you can physically go into and try on plenty of styles.

JM.x

Beautiful lingerie I wish was made in my size.

I love fashion. I work in fashion. But there is something about lingerie fashion that leaves me in awe. I think it's because lingerie design is relatively new in the fashion world, compared to outerwear. 60 years ago, there were iconic fashion styles when it came to women's clothing. But lingerie? I daresay the only fashion trend for lingerie was the shape of the bust.  

But now, we live in a time where the lingerie market is bigger and better, and ever-growing (hopefully it also grows cup-wise). As someone with a bust that was probably a 30F when I was 14 (I wore a 32DD) and grew into a 32GG/H while I was still in my teens, I used to think there was nothing out there past an E cup for me except "old lady bras" - conservative white/beige/blacks with a full cup and pointy shape. But now, at 25, I find lingerie shopping a treat. Granted, it's mostly done online, but I love it all the same and I can't wait for the new season to be released. 

I've long been a fan of luxury lingerie. I love that something that is a necessity can also be what I consider a piece of art, and I can't wait for the larger-cup market to grow even bigger. Below I have posted and linked to several lingerie pieces I have fallen for (but have been sized out of). Why post bras that I can't wear, you may ask? Because you might be able to wear them, and even if you can't, designers won't make larger cups unless they feel they have the demand. 

Pleasure State is one of my favourite growing brands. I used to wear their 34DD when I was 19/20. They now go up to a G cup in one of their collections and although the prices are steep, they are a great investment and lovely company to deal with. Last year, I sent an email about their bra fitting calculator (which was wrong), and the HR dept contacted me wishing to speak on the phone - what ensued was a really lovely hour-long chat about bras and fitting and their offer to send me a free bra for more feedback. I was also made aware by the company that larger cups are in the works! HOORAY!

 

Couture Liquid Rose Balconnet bra

 Unfortunately, this bra doesn't even go beyond a DD cup and only between a 32 and 36 band. It's a shame that such a lovely bra has such limited sizing.

VIP Deco Fan Underwire Bra

This one has a better size range, with 30-38 band sizes and DD-G cups. Sometimes I can get away with a 34G on the tightest hook (I may have to invest in a rixie clip...), but I'm 99% sure the edge of the cups would cut into my boobs.

New Made by Niki:

Membranes Plunge Bra

This one may look odd, but once there's boobs in this bra, I think it looks quite stunning. I like the juxtaposition of the feminine soft silk tulle and the buckles on the straps. I'm not as bothered that this bra doesn't come in my size, as I'm not really sure the tulle would add too much volume to work with bigger busts, but I think it is beautiful nonetheless.

Beaujaus. OH, BEAUJAIS. Please, just one more cup size! I understand that lace cups can only support so many cubic centimetres, but really - we are not looking for cleavage up to our chin nor enough support for a full day at work. As a bedroom piece, I wouldn't mind if it gave me a more relaxed, rounded shape, so please, please bring this out in larger cup sizes, even if the lace has to be reinforced...

Sweet Nothings balconnette bra in Teal

 This bra comes in a few other colours and is just absolutely stunning. It is available in these sizes: 28DD-H, 30D-GG, 32D-GG, 34D-G and 36D-FF. It offers a better size range than Pleasure State, but it still excludes anyone with more breast volume than a 32GG/34G/36FF (all sister sizes).

Oh, Gossard. I have been lusting after you for so long, but

you only go up to a G.

Gossard Ooh La La Corselette

Size range: 30-38 bands, A-G cups. 

Parfait by Affinitas Charlotte underwired padded bra

For this bra, the size ranges from 30-40 bands D-G cups.

 I adore the simple, classic styling of the Charlotte contour bra. It's pretty, also a bit sexy... but I would still wear this to work.

Wonderbra Ultimate Strapless

Size range currently available: 32-38 bands, A-G cups.

Probably the most practical bra in this whole post. No matter what size I've been, I've always found that I haven't had the right support in a strapless bra, and I think it's because it needs to be akin to a longline bra to get the right stability. I think this bra is a fantastic and innovative piece - instead of padded or boned cups, it gets it shape and support from concealed polycarbonate hand-shaped structures within each cup. Brilliant.

Hopefully, with the success of this style, Wonderbra will incorporate smaller bands and larger cups.

My sister has ordered a 32F in this, so I eagerly await to hear what she thinks.

JM.x

Review: Freya "Ivy" and "Marina" balcony bras

 I've had my eye on the Ivy and Marina balcony bras since before they were released, so I had to snap them up from figleaves when they were both on sale. I went with my usual size, 32H.

I hadn't tried Freya unpadded underwires before, only their half cups (and some swimwear), so I was going in somewhat blind (I couldn't try them on at Myer first as they only stocked the half cups).

The bands (for both Ivy and Marina) measure 27/28 inches unstretched, 34-36 inches stretched. If you like a comfortable band, your usual band size should be fine, but if you want it to be snug and get a longer life out of your bra, I recommend going down a band size.  Both of these bras do up via 3 sets of 3 hooks.

Also, though I didn't take a picture of it, the patterns continue around to the wing and the back of the bra, which is always a nice touch!

THE "IVY"

 

The centre gore is quite narrow, which is great, but it does come up fairly high for me.

  

My boobs just look sad in this bra. It's plain awful on me.

 There's both quadboob going on and wrinkling at the bottom of the cup (also some wrinkling on the seam, which you can kind of see on the left boob in the photo below).

 

 The centre gore won't sit flat. The cup is clearly too small (but too big at the bottom where I get the wrinkling). Going up a cup size isn't really an option as it would make the wires too wide. Despite usually wearing Cleo bras, I don't find these Freya bras that narrow.

The picture post scooping and swooping is just so horrible, I can't post it. :( 

The centre gore sits ON the breast tissue. This picture makes my breasts look bigger than they are, probably because of the quadboob going on in this picture, but it's pretty clear that there is no salvaging this one - It's probably two cup sizes too small, but I couldn't go any wider in the wires, so any other size would still be an awful fit.

 

Along the top seam, I had that wrinkle. No matter how I fidgeted with my boobs, I couldn't get rid of this wrinkle.

THE "MARINA"

The Marina is just so lovely. I adore purple and the print on this reminds me of a watercolour painting's brush strokes.

Since the Marina and the Ivy balcony bras have the same 3 part construction and are made of the same material, I had the same issues with both bras. Quadboob, centre gore poking out, wrinkling at the bottom of the cups and that odd centre wrinkle that started from the strap and ended on the other side of my nipple.

 The centre wrinkle is apparent in this picture.

This is the worst bra I have ever tried on. This is not to say it won't be awesome on someone else, but for me, this is a terrible fit and style and I was really just hoping for the best as I really love the colours.

This style just isn't right for those with full-on-top breasts. Even if I went up a cup size for a 32HH or 30J in these, the wires will be way too wide and not give the front-and-centre look that I get with my Cleos. These two bras are definitely more suited to full-on-bottom breasts. 

The Ivy balcony bra is back up to full price on figleaves, but the Marina is now on sale for £18.   

$20 sale on Tease Me bras

So I kind of fell in love with the fit of the Curvy Kate Tease Me - it's such a beautiful bra and SO comfortable, I've been trying to find other colour ways apart from Cherry/Blush. To be honest, I'm a little late to the Showgirl party. I've always lusted after them, but never actually tried until recently, and although I've been looking to buy one for a while now, my size is always sold out or full price. Then I found them for $20... IN MY SIZE. And even more surprisingly, at an Australian lingerie store. The store is called Heavenly Curves and I've been to the site a few times before, but always found it overpriced when I could buy the same bra on ebay/brastop/figleaves for much cheaper. From now on, I'm checking our their clearance section more frequently! 

These are the Tease Me colourways currently on sale for $20:

  

I know these colours are out of season, but it seems to be quite hard to find any colour in this style on sale that is bigger than an E cup. There are quite a few options here, though, including a few F/H/J cups. I ordered this one in a 30J.

 

I'm not as in love with the silver, to be honest, but how often am I going to find a Curvy Kate Tease Me on sale for $20 in my size? The silver can be found here, and probably has the most variety in sizes still available. I ordered this one in a 32HH.

Unfortunately, the wine (which is probably my favourite colourway out of the above three) wasn't available in my size. There are still plenty of sizes available here, just nothing above a GG.

I'll admit, Heavenly Curves' shipping charges are a bit steep - $15 and it's not express postage?! But, $55 for two Tease Me bras including shipping is a steal. I've paid more than that for a single bra that didn't even fit properly, and it's my 25th birthday tomorrow so I'm treating myself.

JM

Review: Miss Mandalay 'Paige' in Lemon/Vanilla

I think coral is such a lovely colour, so when I saw this review by Miss Underpinnings, I just had to get one. I could only find the coral on the Miss Mandalay website, and I didn't want to pay £36 + £15.95 shipping for a bra that didn't even fit. Large Cup Lingerie also stocks the coral, but not in my size. So, I purchased two Paige bras in the yellow on sale at Bravissimo for £21 each, a 34GG and a 34H. I am usually a 32H, but I had heard that the Paige ran small in the band, and small in the cup for fuller on top girls.

Miss Mandalay "Paige" (from the Bravissimo website)

 The bra itself is very pretty. The colour isn't as bright as the Bravissimo picture. I was expecting something a bit more like my Cleo 'Lucy' (which is more of a canary yellow), but the Paige is more of a soft yellow, almost pastel but not quite. 

 

I didn't even notice the detailing on the straps until I took it off, but it is very pretty.

I liked the centre gore; it's not too high like some of my balconnettes, but not too low like some plunges that make me feel less secure. It sat completely flat and is just over 3 inches high. The back had 3 hooks as well, which I like in a bra.

Now for everything that was was wrong.

Now this could be a positive or a negative, really: The material is not very soft... it's actually pretty stiff. The band stretches to about 34 inches, if I pull as taut as possible, I get it to 35 inches. A 32 band, although it would have fit, would have been quite uncomfortable. The Paige also makes my boobs sit a little too far outwards for my liking. I generally prefer them to be a tad more front and centre, but not too cleavage-ey.

  This is my right breast, which the Paige fit.

 Extra fabric at the bottom of my left cup (happened on both). I fidgeted around with the cups to try get it to fit better, but it just wouldn't work. I'm not very full on bottom, so even though the volume of the cup itself would have been fine, it just wasn't the right shape.

 The wires are also quite high and weren't the most comfortable. They were alright when trying on, but I could tell that they would end up poking and causing discomfort.  

All in all, it makes me sad this didn't suit me, as I think it has potential... just not for girls with full-on-top breasts. It's pretty and I think the stiffer less-stretchy fabric could be a good solution for girls with smaller back sizes that find it hard to find firm bands. The stiffer fabric also helps retain the cup shape quite well, given that it's quite sheer. If any of the problems were fixable (such as making the centre gore narrower like I did for my Cleo Lucy), I would keep it as a nice, feminine, everyday bra... but it's just not for me. I'll be returning the bras to Bravissimo.

Review: Curvy Kate Tease Me in Cherry/Blush

Firstly, I'd like to mention that Curvy Kate is now stocked at David Jones! I'm over the moon about this. David Jones has stocked Fantasie for a while, but I'm not a huge fan of their shape and they only stock up to a G (I think). Myer stocks Freya, but only up to a G cup. I'm hoping Cleo by Panache makes it way to David Jones soon, as well.

I can't recall which Curvy Kate styles I saw at David Jones, but I know it includes the Smoothie, a couple of unpadded underwired bras (I think the Princess and Angel) and the Tease Me, which I made a beeline for.

 

The Tease Me retails for AUD$89.95. I purchased one last week, but even with staff discount, it was expensive... it came to around $70. I noticed that not every size was there, only up to an H cup. I purchased a 32H, as that is my size in a lot of the Cleo range and I hadn't tried Curvy Kate before. I had heard it ran small in the cup, and, alas, it's true. I may add a photo of it later, but there is a bit of quadboob, mainly on my larger left breast and the bra wasn't quite wearable. I could also do the band up on the tightest hook quite easily. This means I would probably need a 30J, which, to be honest, is a little scary for me.

 

I think my camera phone colour corrected it a bit, as it really is more of a cool-toned cherry red than the orange-red it seems in this picture! 

  

The inside of the cups is a super soft foamy material. So comfortable!

 

 

 You can see in this picture, the breast on the left side (my right breast) isn't that bad, but the breast on the right (my left breast) overflows a tad. My breasts are very close-set and full on top but my left breast is bigger than my right.

 

 Sorry for the bad image quality with this one (I have one mirror in my room and it's small!), but hopefully you can see here that the centre gore isn't sitting flat. It wouldn't bother me as much if it fit my left breast a bit better... if I wore this out, I'd constantly have to be fixing my left cup. A cup size up would be a perfect fit.


Having said that, the band can be pulled out quite a bit so I need to go down to a 30 (so really, I need a 30J), which is kind of scary. If I stretch this 32 band against my tape measure, I can get it up to 35-36 inches!

I could get away with this size as a bedroom set, but it's not well-fitting enough to wear out and about under clothes.  The good news is that this 32H bra is easily refundable and now I know what size I need. I purchased a 30J today on Amazon UK for £19 (about AUD$30), where most places online bra retailers are still selling it for £29 (about AUD$45).

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