Sundry bra reviews
posted by Colleen Shirazi
on
Saturday, May 30, 2009
at 7:59 PM (Pacific)
Happy Saturday! Oh, this really cheeses me off:
This is from the Vanity Fair "Private Collection," exclusively at Macy's (but is carried in a couple other places; try a Net search). It's a fantastic bra...comes in ethereal greyish blue, cream, nude-toned mauve, and black, and it's affordable.
What ires me: the smallest band size in this style is 36. I rifled the rack at Macy's, cursed them for not stocking my size, then went home, did some Googling and realized the dang thing doesn't come any smaller than that. Whaaaaat???????? I would have bought some, otherwise. Who says full figure has to start at 36 band size?
Tried this on, while I was at it:
...the Maidenform "Meant-to-be-Seen" Lace Cami Bra...as a possible less $ alternative to the Natori versions. Ugh. The lace so does not lie nicely as it does in the image. It just sort of...doesn't do anything. I'm not even sure it would look like a camisole at all, it just seemed to cover the lower part of the bra, which you wouldn't want to show anyway, and it doesn't lie flat.
I'd like to give the Natori Zen one a try--annoyingly enough, they didn't have it at Nordstrom, much less Macy's--but the thought occurs, it might be just as easy to make one yourself. Couldn't you take a regular bra and finagle a piece of lace over it? In fact what would be even better, would be something like the top of an actual camisole...a piece of lightweight cloth with lace sewn at the top, rather than (see-through) pure lace, or at least some kind of opaque lace fabric.
I'm a sewing clod, unfortunately...as a skill, it would be priceless these days...but I like small projects like that.
Wacoal's "Embrace Lace" bra. Loved this; it doesn't look like much, but it supports as well as those much bigger-looking bras. And the drifts of flowers are enchanting. I tried the nude one under a white shirt...it's well to wear a white top while bra shopping...looked fine to me.
Random bra advice...I read somewhere to try on adjustable bras using the biggest hook setting. The logic is the bra will stretch out with wear, then you can use one of the smaller settings, and then go smaller. I'd add it might depend on how stable your weight is. If it fluctuates, it might be better to go with the middle setting instead. (Likewise, you should be able to tighten the straps later on.)
The band should do most of the support, not the straps. It took me a long time to figure that out. If the back rides up, and you're shortening the straps a lot, the band is too big.
Since this version got yanked from Youtube--and doubtlessly will be yanked from Guba, eventually--you might as well watch it now. My favorite part involves driving on the Golden Gate Bridge (who hasn't wanted to do it that way?). (Edited, now that you can embed the Youtube version.)
Hermmm...years after sulfate-less shampoos became a miniature rage, L'Oreal cranks out their line of same. I haven't tried 'em, though I suspect they are good (L'Oreal being eerily adept at haircare); I've long used health food store shampoos to avoid color-fading ingredients (you will need to read product labels, if that's what you're after).
Sundance Catalog's Madeleine dress
I saw this in person today. It's not as mellifluous as pictured...the colors seemed a bit harsh. Whilst this looked prettier than in the image (ah, my obsession with white shirts):
Mmmmm...
posted by Colleen Shirazi
on
Saturday, May 16, 2009
at 12:32 PM (Pacific)
Don Henley - The Boys of Summer
...you can tell Don Henley is a drummer, more than a singer. I like that, though, in the sense of the background coming to the fore, the foreground receding...ideal for this song.
Sundry thoughts
posted by Colleen Shirazi
on
Monday, May 11, 2009
at 7:40 PM (Pacific)
Oh, get outta here with that crinkled, no-iron, washable silk tank. I've actually tried this on; it's not worth the retail price imo, buuuuut...it just looks so darn useful.
Even the shade pictured--it's deeper in real life, more to the ecru than to the cream--you could pair it with so very many different skirts and slacks, and the deeper colors and reasonable arm-holes mean less sweat-stain worries. You wash it, squash it, hang it to dry...it works tucked in or worn loose, thanks to the nifty lace at the hem.
Am I talking myself into buying this thing? Eh...but I am up for something similar.
What caught my eye here was the sprightly, many-hued print. The all-is-made-in-China world o' apparel is ruled by prints of only two colors--much as pockets and extra fabric in the seams have bitten the dust.
This looks like something I could totally not wear, but you never know.
I love this unexpected duet. Michigan's Iggy Pop, better known as the Godfather of Punk, a shirtless dude jumping around before Anthony Kiedis (but after Jim Morrison), singing a love song with...Kate Pierson? half of the glamorous side of the B-52's (ask your mother). Yet, it works.
Mmmmm...love a Southern guy who keeps his accent. :) This song in particular evokes a slew of things I miss, in the almost 24 years I've been a Southern expatriate. You can hear the grits in this music, and the red clay and kudzu, and the people sipping iced tea from their screened porches.
Brushpicks! My mil turned us on to these. They are essentially plastic toothpicks, but with a tiny brush at one end and a curved pick at the other.
These are sturdy enough to be washed out and re-used many times...but the genius lies in the brush end. When you're totally knackered at the end of the day, and feel like doing nothing so much as brushing your teeth and falling into bed, you can use the brush end of this thing to quickly floss your teeth.
Woolite Dark Laundry, revisited.
Recently repurchased my dual Woolites of regular and Dark Laundry (though I have sighted Woolite for All Colors at Costco). So two Woolites last me almost four months.
It's a bit difficult to say at this point whether Dark Laundry is better than regular Woolite on darks. I have a black linen dress which now shows the most minimal signs of wear, but the thing is legitimately old. The newer darks look pretty good.
Dark Laundry costs the same as regular Woolite, is as mild, and smells nice. If it works even nominally better on darks, you haven't lost anything. I'll probably have a better feel for it after another four months or so, though.
