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Japan, Tokyo
1 Level
745 Review
51 Karma

Review on Belle Poque Collar Girls' Office Blouses in Tops, Tees & Blouses for Enhanced SEO by Brad Arthur

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Sigh.Belle Poque upper chest/arm/shoulder width so wrong. ONCE AGAIN.

I don't have this problem with most ready-made blouses. I wear size XL mainly because of my 38DD bust, but I also have a little more muscle and a little more fat on my arms than most women, so sleeve width/length is important to me. I carry this extra bulk on my arms right at the triceps, so shirt sleeves that reach there or above just make me fatter. I love the sleeve of the short sleeve shirt that fits my biceps. It makes me slim but allows me to wear short sleeves in summer. I was hoping this shirt would do it. But my god, this is a sizing/cutting nightmare. It's not even possible to fix it. Belle Poque has some great prints and designs that are genuinely vintage without being slutty which is so antithetical to the 1950's and the waspy good girl image that was true back then. However, if you are petite or xs then you will probably have a good fit if you are proportionate. It's like Belle Poque starts with a tiny size, then tries to go bigger for other sizes, increasing the width of the chest and shoulders, but not the length of the bodice, and the armholes (armholes) are ridiculously large. Although I have somewhat large arms and chest, the armhole circumference does not match the chest size. I believe this applies to most women with large breasts, with the exception of very obese women who can have fat in most places. Belle Poque can't justify such a gargantuan armhole size - it's just weird. My shoulders are 15.5 inches wide and the size XL, which I take for my bust size, is about 17 inches wide. I have big breasts, I'm not a jealous woman. I understand if it were a little wider to accommodate more women, but 1.5-2 inches is too much. Now let's move on to Armscye. It's gigantic with an armhole when I relax for a size at the bottom of the bra strap. Worse, that means the sleeve is now only 1 inch in the inseam where it attaches to the sleeve, which pulls the sleeve weirdly and then makes the back stick out in another weird way, like I'm Quasimodo. This sleeve issue is what is at the root of the poor fit of this blouse and I find that the issue with it increases exponentially with size so it's less noticeable on smaller sizes. I want the sleeve to be properly proportioned and I would take a military braid and pin the sleeve in place, but the way they did it I have little or a lot of extra material and I think trying to get a military braid will arise unintended problems elsewhere. . Ordinary Belle Poque, don't you have big breast women to test this material?

Pros
  • Grown up. Slim fit and vintage
Cons
  • The cuffs of the shirt are too tight, which is uncomfortable for people with large wrists.