Undies Mondays: Ann Summers 'In Control' sexy shapewear

If there's one thing Ann Summers doesn't do, it's frumpy underwear, so when they decided to launch a range of shapewear, a lot of thought was put into making it as sexy as possible.

The result is the In Control range, a set of five pieces (bra, suspender cami, shorts, thong and high-waisted knickers) in a silver sparkle-shot black powermesh that'll sculpt and smooth your body for maximum curves.

I was lucky enough to be given a chance to try the Cami Suspender (£55) and brief shorts (£12) and couldn't wait to pop them on under a party dress.

First up, the cami (which is essentially a suspender dress with built-in bra). This is the hero of the range, a seriously supportive powermesh number that really pulls everything up and in. It's definitely got the looks - the front panel is embroidered in a spiderweb of silver thread while the back is mesh with a 'sling' support around the bum to give a lift (it works - wow). The cups come with removable 'inflator' pads which you can pump up for an extra lift. My bust is big enough already so I promptly removed these, but for A - C cups it's a nice addition. The idea of the shapewear is to take you down a dress size and up a cup size, and the combined powermesh and cup boost definitely work towards this goal.

Sadly, I didn't look properly at the sizing advice before I ordered this, and blithely went for my usual band size of 34. Because this is very strong powermesh, it just doesn't stretch and fit like a bra, so while I could get the dress on, I couldn't get the back zip up at all no matter how much I breathed in and yanked!

This is my own fault. As it turns out, Ann Summers does have very detailed sizing advice on the website that suggests you pick a band size to coincide with your dress size and adjust the cup to suit, rather than just picking your usual bra size. So as a size 14 ish I would need this product two band sizes larger and a couple of cup sizes smaller to fit perfectly. As far as I'm concerned, this is quite a big design error - surely the sizing shouldn't have to be explained in such detail and it should fit like everything else? However I only have myself to blame for not reading up before I ordered. If I had a bigger size, I have no doubt this would now be a wardrobe staple, as from what I could tell trying on, the shapewear gives an amazing shape whilst looking great, and the bra section is supportive and lifting. The suspender straps are detachable, and the dress has rubber around the hem to stop it riding up - a big problem with a lot of shapewear dresses I've tried.

The bottoms fared nuch better - I went for a 14 which fit well, though they're snug because of the heavy elastic waistband. Overall, they run true to size, so I think the high-waisted briefs would be the same. However, if you're between sizes I would definitely recommend going up, not down.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the quality of the shapewear - the mesh is strong and supportive and it really does smooth and lift, creating a killer hourglass figure. I just strongly advise anyone purchasing takes heed of the sizing advice - if in doubt, go up 1 or 2 band sizes and down a cup!

Here's a vid of Ann Summers' models giving the cami suspender and high-waisted briefs a go

s that the glow of a pregnant woman I see? Sienna Miller is positively radiant on the cover of Vogue UK's April issue. The mummy-to-be has officially confirmed with the magazine that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Tom Sturridge later this year. "I'm feeling fine," she said. "It's all progressing nicely and it's very exciting. It's nice to start a new decade."

She also revealed that although she is in her second trimester, she is "under strict instructions not to say anything as it would completely defeat the point of everything I've tried to achieve in the last eight years."

The British actress has fought long and hard to retain her privacy throughout her career. This was recently challenged again after she was dragged into the News of the World phone-tapping scandal.Speaking of Hack-gate, she told Vogue: "I feel totally removed from it all. It's interesting, especially now they're going through deleted emails. They had everything, every detail of my life - although I don't want everyone to think what they read was true, because it wasn't."

As for what it was like to turn 30 last year, she added: I didn't have the freak-out which I thought I would have. But maybe it's because I'm the youngest of all my friends - so that lessened the blowSienna Miller street-style 2

In This Photo: Sienna Miller, Tom Sturridge
Sienna Miller and her boyfriend Tom Sturridge take a romantic stroll together. The lovebirds visited an art exhibit at Petit Palais then took photos and did some window shopping.
(December 29, 2011 - Photo by Bauer Griffin)

In This Photo: Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller steps out to celebrate the "135 years of French Legerete" party for the Lancel store on the Champs Elysees.
(November 25, 2011 - Photo by Bauer Griffin)

In This Photo: Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller is seen at the Royal Courts of Justice to give testimony to the Leveson Inquiry about media ethics in the UK. The inquiry is being lead by Lord Justice Leveson and is looking into the culture, practice, and ethics of the press in the United Kingdom. The inquiry comes in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that saw the closure of The News of The World newspaper.
(November 24, 2011 - Photo by PacificCoastNews.com

Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge hold hands and look very much in love as they walk through St Mark's Square and along the canals while on holiday.
(November 3, 2011 - Photo by Bauer Griffin) more pics from this album »