Category: Nightwear

February 2, 2018

What’s real?

I think I would like to live in a log cabin by water with honest furnishings and the simple things in life. But there’s always the nagging thought – does life just look greener on the other side? Are you taking for granted the bits of urban grime that really make your heart sing? Or is living in the big smoke an assumption we all buy into?

Money is an assumption. It now has no actual value other than the fact we all believe in it. Take this dress – except that’s an assumption too because it’s really a nightie. Are you prepared to accept that without questioning?

(All pics Toast)

These could all be multi-functional, year long investment buys – nightwear in the winter, day wear in the summer. The only barrier is what you’ve been told. Or not.

Laters, Kate x

May 16, 2016

Posh Toast x

Cotton pjs for summer..

(All pictures from Toast and Pinterest)

Because you know it makes sense.

Laters, Kate x

January 22, 2016

First Step..

There was a brilliant article in the Evening Standard last night about our insatiable appetite for stuff, it described a worker in a plastics factory in China laughing at the crap products being churned out for the international market..only to see the order tripled the following week. It’s all around us..look through a Lakeland catalogue and see some brilliant ideas..but also some entirely superfluous ones, designed just because we think we need them..or (because we always have to show progression) over-engineered designs of something that already worked perfectly fine. But hey, that’s more money for the ~~fat cats~~ economy..particularly when you add in the modern power of build-in-obsolescence..with any luck it’ll break…and we’ll buy it twice!

I’d love to see a move away from vapid accumulation to less is more, quality over substance..and the best changes start at home. The wardrobe is having it’s first attack today…

All nightwear is heading the way of charity or cut up for rags, leaving just two pairs of pajamas and a dressing gown.

It’s a start.

Laters, Kate x

August 21, 2015

Curtain Call x

If I wasn’t part of the Curvy Chick’s Club, this is where I would buy my lingerie.

At Rose Fulbright. Because I love the sense of an iron fist in a satin glove – that nostalgic, firm silhouette and structure that begs to be paired with soft, pink maribou feathers, Parisian boudoirs and exotic perfumes.

The fact that the Company is run by a 26 year old woman, Rose Fulbright-Vickers, and is manufactured in the UK with a strong ethical conscience is a further Brucie bonus.

But it’s the up-front bra-fastenings that ‘ve really caught my eye.

I wrote a blog post back in Dec. 2013, a cry from the heart about the need for decent nightwear for big-busted beauties. In a nutshell, I wanted to find a company that sold bra-sized nightwear that would halt my girls from rolling under my armpits at night, which didn’t involve primary coloured cotton elastane but instead celebrated a girl’s primal desire for satin, silk, bows and just a little bit of frou frou. All these years later, these bra’s are the closest lingerie I’ve seen to that dream..all they need are the appropriate sizing and a skirt on the bra to transform them into a camisole top..(and then the addition of some slinky french knickers/matching pajamas) (and a monogram please)(and all in pleasing pastels) and we’d be there..

It does seem incredible that all this time later, fashion is still ignoring boobs, despite the average UK size being 36D. That’s a huge market waiting to be tapped. Until things change, I’ll just have to admire the aesthetic of Rose Fulbright from afar, my nose pressed up against the candle-lit, handblown, lust-loving glass.

Laters, Kate x

December 14, 2013

Just a little something pour moi…

One for them, one for me..wasn’t that what we’d agreed??

Which is how this little vintage beauty slipped into my clutches (What was it Oscar Wilde said?..I can resist everything..except temptation? Wise man)..Perfect for Christmas morning and generally wafting about in. Tied at the waist the volume still hides a multitude of sins till I can find my perfect sleep-wear..

(I think I may now have to decorously retire to my velvet chaise complete with satin eye mask and marabou sippers to contemplate whether Christmas Martinis should be shaken or stirred…)

(Yep. Hungover…Please explain to my kids what a ‘Do not disturb’ sign is as they don’t seem to notice it…(Darlings, the lights are on..but no-ones at home..))

Laters, muuuuch laters, Kate x

December 2, 2013

Move Over Darling..

( From Down that little Lane)

I’m hosting Christmas this year so I’m hands to the grindstone already planning ahead (all the veggies are going to be cooked this week and as a new, radical never-done-in-this-house-before decision – frozen in large throwaway aluminium tins – probably not ecologically sound but hey, I can assure you, mentally it’s a winner.)

But equally as important as the prospective banquet is preparing for the inevitable – that a large portion of Christmas will be spent in PJs in full view of visiting rellies.

(From Poplin)

And this is where the crux of the problem lies for me…I’m a big boobed girl and given the time I’ve been on the planet, I still haven’t found any chic nightwear that ticks both the elegant and the support boxes AND can ‘carry’ me through to loungewear/chats over the toaster with whoever happens to be in the kitchen/carol singers at the door/heading up a chimney..without having to wear a bra.

Despite the average UK size being 36D the sad fact is that Fashion (with a capital ‘F’) has ignored boobs for decades. From a ridiculous lack of anything over a cupsize D (how did women manage?) things have improved in the last ten years and more and more companies are appearing specifically catering for larger boobs in underwear and swimwear…and not surprisingly merchandise has been flying off the shelves.

Figleaves has a ridiculously great bra and swimwear DD+ section (although I’d still like to see them photographed on a truly wonderful, voluptuous model. Is it too much to ask?) And it’s refreshing to see they have a separate nightwear section BUT the majority of what is on offer is based on CLOTHES SIZE rather than BRA SIZE which is about as much use as a chocolate teapot when you’re large in front with a small back.

The closest to the holy grail: the Lepel Georgina satin Cami with matching pajamas from Figleaves..but why only red? I don’t like red nightwear..where’s the soft shell pink? baby blue? or buttermilk cream??

I thought Bravissimo would be my knight in shining armour with their specifically bra sized nightwear…

But cotton elastane? In floral purple? How’s that ever going to satisfy my inner Marilyn? So can we please get up to speed with sleepwear? Pretty please? (with emphasis on the pretty?) I don’t want to be the forgotten whale stranded on the beach of t-shirted non-elegance with my girls still getting lost under my armpits.

I want lush, sleek, lace, silk, soft muted pastel colours, satin, silk, ribbons, bows, frills, teddies, negligees, robes, frou frou and iconic boudoir beauty. It can be done….