Larger ladies and vintage lovers alike have been swooning since last Friday when the inimitable George of Fuller Figure Fuller Bust announced a second collaboration with Lady Vintage London.
The first was last year, when she designed the wonderful Estella dress for them (see my reviews here). The Estella was a run away success, and my first introduction to a brand I am now thoroughly devoted to.
So last Friday it was revealed that George and Lady V had actually collaborated together on a whole new line - Lady Voluptuous! Even the name is perfection. I actually happened to have the day off work so I pretty much spent it monitoring my social media feeds for updates and perving at the designs. I can think of few other ways I would prefer to spend my day off!
The new line was launched with three different designs - the Lyra, the Medusa, the Cosette. Their were 12 dresses in total with items available in UK sizes 16 - 32. Praise be to the plus size fashion goddesses!
I held out until Sunday. Pretty good going. I was torn between several of the designs (and I intend to put in another order on pay day) but I had one dress left in my budget before pay day, so I decided to go for the Lyra in teal. I am a real sucker for the wine one too, but I have a flotilla of red dresses and Teal is my favourite colour. Also, as this quite a green teal it goes just beautifully with red hair - another bonus. The style of the Lyra is such a classic Hayley dress that that was an easy decision.
Shoes - Primark
(An unusual pic of me in my glasses - I only really wear them for work)
Lady V have got the bust line just right on this for me. When not pinned it sits without gaping and does not reveal my bra (although I might pin it for work for the sake of modesty) and fits comfortably across the bust - although there is a lot of stretch left in the jersey so would still fit bustier readers.
The Lyra is the perfect length on me, as it sits just below the knee on my 5'8" frame. And as I am on the tall side this is good news for any shorter ladies who like things a little longer. I usually order a size 20 from Lady V as I find their 22/24 comes up too big on me, and the Lyra was no exception. A perfect fit. I fall between a size 20 and 22 in most brands, so if you fall between sizes like me I would suggest sizing down.
This dress is just all round wonderful. So often brands roll out plus sizes that are basically just bigger versions of their already established lines which means that the fit can end up being all wrong, but this clearly is not the case with the Lady Volup range. It has very obviously been made with plus size bodies in mind. George knows what us plus sized ladies want, and you can see that in this collection. These are not dresses just for George. This start to her collection is made up of the wishes of the plus size community. These are dresses that represent what we say we love in our blogs, in comments we leave on social media, when we talk to each other.
I love the fact that every picture that has been posted so far of these dresses is of women beaming with happiness and positivity. I believe that not only is this because they are wearing things that looking bloody fantastic on them, but because they feel listened to and designed for. Because, for us plus sized gals this is still a novelty.
I'm going to hark back to darker times for a moment now. I am old (well, I'm 30) so I remember a time when if you didn't fit into the sizes in high street stores (which used to pretty much go up to an 18 if you were super lucky) you were at the mercy of the demented ideas a few twisted designers had of plus size "fashion". There were a few places doing us proud, but mainly it appeared plus size basically meant tunics in black, tunics in that season's hottest shade, things made of chiffon, chiffon tunics, oversized t-shirts with cartoon characters on (wtf?!), elasticated trousers and tracksuits. That was your lot. Better hope you love a good old tunic.
But now, in no small part thanks to bloggers like George, plus sized collections are fashion forward, sexy, edgy, exciting and quite often better than their regular sized counterparts! Designers and manufacturers are listening. They are watching us vote with our purses for brands that don't churn out the same old recycled nonsense and call it fashion. They are responding, and so at this moment we have more choice than we have ever had (don't get me wrong - I still want more!!) and it feels good.
The Lyra is a gorgeous dress, as are the Cosette and the Medusa. Whether you are a 6 or a 26 these are undeniably gorgeous dresses. (I know it's not nice, but damn I was a little pleased to see girls below a 16 lamenting the fact that these dresses are not available in their size) It's a covet-able dress. It's the sort of dress people are going to ask you about when you are out and about, looking hot, all high on your own confidence and sass. They'll ask you where you got it, and when they do I hope you proudly respond that it is a special plus size brand, made by a special plus size lady, especially for ladies like you!
(And there's more to come - George says this is only the beginning. What would you like to see in the Lady Volup collection next? Let me know in the comments...)
You absolute sweetheart, thank you so much for your lovely words and gorgeous photos! Lyra suits you!
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Lovely George! Somehow I missed your comment (ungrateful cow I am). Love my Lyra, already worn her again. Muchos loves <3
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