Limited edition sets from Playful Promises

When I announced a Playful Promises Design Competition, I wondered what gorgeous creations the winners would come up with to tie in with the “Paradise Lost” theme. In January of this year, I featured each of the three winning designers on Rarely Wears Lipstick – Eva Lai, Carli Pullinger and Pippa Davidson – and was kindly promised one of the sets to review by the lovely folk at Playful Promises. After some frustrating production delays, these three stunning Limited Edition sets are now in stock, and I received my bra and knickers at the weekend.

The set I chose was designed by Eva Lai, who has since gone on to become one of my favourite lingerie designers thanks to her own label, eLai. When designing this set for Playful Promises, Eva took inspiration from the 1950s using used a nude and pink colour palette with a hint of lime green for detailing. Eva was understandably thrilled that the Playful Promises team managed to keep most elements of her design and still produce a wearable set which is something that must be extremely tricky when producing lingerie for the mass market.

The pin tuck bra and open back brief arrived wrapped in tissue paper and tied up with Playful Promises ribbon, and they were just as beautiful in real life as I’d hoped. The pink satin is a gorgeous vintage shade and the green bows are such a pretty contrast, but not so dark that they would show through clothing. The lower part of the bra cups are padded and stitched to give an almost shell-like effect, with the top finished in mesh to keep you from accidentally spilling over. Sadly, this made taking photos for the review rather challenging, so I have had to cover my nipples in a rather modest fashion (come on, I don’t know you all that well!). This also means that I’ll probably find that my nipples show through my clothes when it gets a bit colder, so I think I might only wear this bra under very specific outfits. Ones made of thick fabric! Of course, do remember that not every woman’s nipples sit in the same place in a bra cup, so what seems cheeky on me might be rather modest on you. Other than that, the bra has a nice neat fit, and the straps are fully adjustable, which allows you to tweak the fit perfectly for each cup. I’m usually a 32E in large cup brands, but the Playful Promises 34DD seemed to work fine on me.

The briefs, however, were something of a revelation as I’m so used to pretty bras coming with a rather skimpy set of matching knickers which divide my ample belly in two. The Eva open back briefs were an incredibly comfortable fit, high at the front with some impressively tough yet soft powernet being put to good use across the bum. I went for the large size and the decorative strap at the back (which you can see in a couple of the promotional shots) did dig in a little on my size 14/16 bottom. However, it also sat at my natural waist which is where all my skirts and trousers sit. This means that it wasn’t uncomfortable and wouldn’t leave a visible bulge through my clothes. Other similarly sized but differently proportioned ladies may not find them as flattering though but, in the smaller sizes, this probably doesn’t matter at all. Overall though, I just couldn’t get over how comfy they were. The elastic didn’t chafe at the tops of my legs, and the sizing was spot on.

If you’re tempted by the Eva, Carli or Pippa Limited edition sets, all three are currently available via the Playful Promises website.

DISCLOSURE: I was sent a Limited Edition Eva bra and briefs, free to review by Playful Promises.