Hello ESB,
So.... I have the boy (6’3’ beard, glasses), the venue (English country house), the menu (cucumber sandwiches, cake and sloe gin.) and a truly amazing dress.
However the dress at the heart of my current quandary: It is beautiful, a 1920s champagne silk crepe, which lands just below the knee and make me very very happy. I don’t have a picture as its shut in my mum’s closet, 100 miles away at the moment, but the shape is a bit like this.
The problem is that it has a lovely low V back and I have what one of your other readers referred to as a sweet rack. The rack in question is a UK 32E/F (US 32DD/E) and I am a British 10 (US 6). As the crepe is clingy I wanted to wear some kind all in one underneath to create a smooth line. So since November I have been searching for a body or corselette in my size that isn’t eye achingly hideous and that I can wear stockings with.
The first thing that comes up is always ultimo’s backless body which aside from being a quite exceptionally unpleaseant colour is padded and really I do not need help that department. The only remotely decent thing I’ve found is this.
It's ok but I was hoping to find some thing a bit more special seeing as it’s my wedding day. Budget £200?
Thanks
Ms. Knickers
*****
You can have "special," or you can have a smooth line, but you can't have them both at the same time.
Yes, that backless body thing is hideous, but the unpleasant color is meant to be NUDE (i.e. invisible under your crepe dress), and it looks to me like the padding you describe is not so much padding as "secret support," which is designed to do some lifting.
Your boy will barely take an instant to register what you've got on under the dress, trust me. What you look like in the dress is much more important.
definitely with esb. you're going to drive yourself nuts trying to find some pretty little thing to work miracles. i've convinced myself that in life you can either have bodacious tatas, or be an A-B cup & fit into those impossibly small little lace whatnots. win/win. Yay for you having the tatas.
ReplyDeleteBesides- it'll be UNDER your dress & is MEANT to be invisible. Take your searching energy & pick out something gorgeous to slip into after the partys over
Pretty sure that terrible underwear is the trade off for great dresses. You may have to wear lame underwear to get the fit, shape, coverage that you're looking for.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be a miracle if I don't end up in spanx.
Sometimes we cope to look hotsexyawesome.
I like hk's idea. Suck it up and wear the ugly undergarments, but get something lovely to change into for the wedding night. Your hubby never even needs to know about the nude spanx!
ReplyDeleteAs long as the dress looks good, who cares what you're wearing under it - just buy something pretty to put on when you change out of the dress.
ReplyDeleteYou can also do the switcheroo for the wedding night, cause the dude won't notice a little rumply, even if you want him to take the dress off of you! ;)
ReplyDelete(6’3’ beard, glasses)
ReplyDeleteeither 1) this letter's missing a comma or 2) i can say with confidence that no one will be focusing on your chest in this scenario.
lol at lauren's comment! well played.
DeleteI thought the same thing!
Deletealso, since we're being pedantic, it reads 6 inches, 3 feet. It should be 6'3"
DeleteLOL, i thought the same thing ! EXTREME WEDDING BEARDS !
Deletehow lucky for all of you that i was lacking coffee when i posted this!
Delete:-D
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deletei was so excited about having a legitimate opportunity to link yet again to the world beard and moustache championships that i nearly misspelled them. off my game today.
Deletemrs. knickers' figure description sounds a little like mine, and I have to say, that ultimo shaper had me salivating. Not cause it's anything to look at, but because it would make so many of my backless dress dreams within my reach. Honestly, anything that looks pretty on its own is not gonna do the job under the dress. Totally with ESB on this one.
ReplyDeleteYeah, dudette, definitely go with that ultimo shaper. Much better to look BALLIN in the dress (so EVERYONE can be jelly of how spectacular you look), and slip into a slinky something special after hours.
DeleteME TOO! I want it!
DeleteYep! Wear the shaper!
ReplyDeleteFunny story about adhesive undergarments:
As a barely-B cup, I wore those stick-on
chicken cutlets (in lieu of a bra) under my wedding gown. It was really hot on that October day, and I was sweating a lot. After the ceremony, while en route to take photos with our wedding party, one of my cutlets fell off! A groomsmen was like - "um, something came out of your dress... look!" - and held up the cutlet, HA! (photo here)
hahaha, too funny!
DeleteMade my day.
Delete:) I love it.
DeleteAfter our wedding, I snuck into the bathroom in our hotel room and removed my shapewear from under my dress. Came back out in just my dress and husband never had to see it.
ReplyDeleteI think this is what fancy garters were made for. I too was reluctant to wear oogly shapewear on a day that I was trying to feel hell of elegant, but I was also trying to do a strapless dress in D cups. Since you have a big budget for lingerie, spring for a really beautiful garter and you'll feel like at least one thing under there is really special and ladylike.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I wore under my 1940s style backless number and I looked fucking hot
ReplyDeleteI LOVE you for having this up today - thanks to ESB I recently went down a band size, up a cup size and have had to conclude I'm too big to go without decent support in my rather wonderful dress in a couple of months.
ReplyDeleteI have just spent hours trawling the internet looking for anything to save me from a bloody hideous spanx/very low backed bra combo and came to the conclusion that I'm going to stick with the hideous undies but splash out on this little beauty for the after party: http://www.net-a-porter.com/product/174793. I think I'll get way more wear and pleasure out of that than a bridal corset anyway.
This does mean I will have to negotiate spanx's utterly vile wee-flap on my wedding day. Sexy? I think not.
get a dude's approval before you buy that romper. just saying.
DeleteIt is better in person but will give it another think. Am also well aware that a good nights sleep is about all I'll be looking for immediately post-wedding.
DeleteBy the way are your fancy links instructions still around somewhere? I have looked but haven't found...
over on the right ;)
DeleteRigby and Peller are worth a shot. I got a low back strapless bra from there which was shaped but not padded and did the trick. Also properly fitted and no where near the £200 mark. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi there, Ms. Knickers,
ReplyDeleteI got married in a backless dress with little structure of its own. I'm a 34D, UK size 8 or so. I wore this underneath:
Va Bien Ultra Lift Low Plunge Shaper
Not sure whether it can be shipped to the UK, but maybe from a different seller.
I kinda liked it! And it did its job, day of, more importantly. Also, you might be surprised at what your husband finds sexy.
Totally agree with ESB. I didn't wear a bra (yay awesome boning!) and wore bikini briefs from costco. You know what the Hubs noticed? That I wasn't spending the entire wedding picking the wedgie that my fancy undies I'd bought gave me. Wear the shaper, if it's that important, it's easy to change into your sexy skivvies after the party.
ReplyDeleteI wore an ugly nude shift under my dress, took it off at the reception and no one had to know :)
ReplyDeleteI found this Flattering Me Bra and love it. It would probably work great with your dress (and your rack). Looks sexy, feels sexy... It comes in white, black or nude. And at £55 you'll have money left over to buy some sexy knickers.
ReplyDeleteIf you are wearing silk crepe you need a slip!
ReplyDeleteStatic cling may cause the dress to stick to your legs, not doing that beautiful dress justice.
Try something like this this
This is what you may be looking for http://www.whatkatiedid.com/products/lingerie/88-glamour
ReplyDeleteSexy shapewear- bingo!
Hello All,
ReplyDeleteSorry for taking to long to respond to all you brilliant advice and grammatical corrections, I have been in self-imposed exile from the Internets all week while I work on my PhD. The internet is truly the enemy of successful doctoral study.
I think you are all totally right, I need to focus on something that makes the dress look awesome and get over my fear of underwear the colour of surgical stockings. I'll definitely order the evil Ultimo number and try it on.
Did anyone have an opinion on this http://www.whatkatiedid.com/product/517-l3007-glamour-corselette ? It's a bit closer in colour to my woefully pale skin.
Also if you wore a slip what sort of slip did you choose?