So I’m one of those people who follow BuzzFeed on Facebook, and this list recently caught my eye:

25 Awesome Places To Shop In Your Late Twenties And Early Thirties

Feeling too old for Forever 21 but too young for Ann Taylor pantsuits? Here’s a guide to some great clothing stores aimed at people just like you.

Many of the places mentioned were new to me, so I browsed most of them online. My clothes are mostly from Wallis, Pepperberry, TJ Maxx and Marshall’s–the latter mentioned also on this list as “perfect for when you are trying to emphasize quality over quantity in your wardrobe”.

Here are my reactions to my picks from the list.

(Also, if there are Nordic readers or our lovely readers in general who would be interested in a review for bust friendliness of our common brands like Gina Tricot, VILA, Filippa K, Tiger of Sweden, Andiata, Gerry Weber, InWear or even Marimekko, just let me know via Hourglassy email or in the comment section! Would be happy to help out there.)

Mod Cloth:

There seem to be a lot of dresses that I could wear as sundresses or out for a brunch with friends but only very few that I would consider wearing to a corporate office. Our Hourglassy columnist Leah has reviewed finds from this website (boob-friendly dresses and hits and misses), so I suppose there are options for the bigger busted in their collections?

Fashion to Figure:

OMG! What vibrant colored, curve cut dresses! Many are party dresses but there are a number I would wear to work with a conservative jacket. I actually really would like to order two dresses from here, but I have a slight reservation:  even though they say they make fashion for women from size 12 up and in Taharari and Camuto I do mostly wear a size 14, my one and only venture at Macy’s to size 1X and above made me realize that those dresses were too big for me. So are their 1X sizes a good fit for a narrow hipped, small bummed size 12-14 high street woman? All their gorgeous models have a killer hourglassy figures so it’s hard to tell.

dotdress
Fashion to Figure
dotdress2
Fashion to Figure
Fashion to Figure
Fashion to Figure
stripes2
Fashion to Figure

All Saints:

In general I do like their clothing very much but a lot of it is too trendy even for a tech corporate job. But having had a closer look, there are some interesting pieces that might just work at least for my personal wardrobe and could be made to work with a bigger bust with some belt accessorizing.

All Saints
All Saints

Boden:

Quite British with styles resembling Pepperberry and a hint of Orla Kiely. Plenty of pieces that would be suitable for office wear, especially outerwear. Simple classic styles as well as patterns that probably suit retro-inspired women. Did not really inspire or wow me personally.

Zara:

I reluctantly even mention southern European brands as they are NOT designed for broad shouldered Nordic women. The reason I mention it now is that much to my surprise I’ve seen Zara on some curvier US bloggers that I follow. I would find wearable things from Zara to work if they fit me, BUT their size M is for size S women (at least here in Finland) so I simply can not fit into their clothes. I’m now assuming Zara sells different clothes in the US than here and I’m jealous! (Or I need to venture into Zara and see if something has changed here, too, as I’ve not stepped a foot into a Zara store in four years.)

New York & Company:

Plenty of corporate friendly clothes here, though not sure how well they suit bigger busts? Any readers who can shed some light on this? I’m loving jumpers at the moment, and they’ve got a few that could go to my tech office but possibly not to the corporate HQ if I have meetings there.

New York & Company
New York & Company

COS:

According to Buzzfeed, it is good for crisp trousers and architectural tops, and that it most certainly is! This is one example of a style I love–on others. It’s so clear and crisp. But those boxy kinda tops or dresses, well, they don’t ever look so boxy on us big- bosomed ladies, now do they? So while some items might be surprisingly nice, it’s not the intended shape.

COS
COS

Arizia:

Good for: army jackets and minimalist workwear or schoolwear. I am sold. Such effortlessly cool clothing! Their coats especially are amazing. Again, a brand I had never heard of so no idea of the bust friendliness of this brand, but usually at least stretchy items do work.  I am obsessed with this trench coat both in this color and the solid black version of it.

Arizia
Arizia
Arizia
Arizia

I’m always searching for new places to shop as this world is full of brands we don’t know of yet!

P.S. I came back to this post to check what I wrote last week and now I’ve gotta confess that I am absolutely totally obsessed with that Arizia coat . . . as if I needed another one, but, but I want it . . . .