Hettie is a bra that I fell in love with the moment it was first announced last year, but was wary about, due to all of the conflicting info about what cut it'd be the most like. As a result, I missed out on the cobalt blue one, only to learn that it should be almost perfect for my shape. Sigh.

My shape: very narrow, very projected, very short roots. I need all of the space imaginable near the wire. UK bras generally cannot accommodate my shape well. Hettie doesn't do so perfectly, but it does do a damn admirable job at it, enough where I'm putting it at my best UK fit.

The bra itself is gorgeous, and the quality of the materials is surprising for a Cleo bra. The inner lining is very soft, not scratchy at all. The outer mesh is very smooth and shows just enough of the hot pink to make this lovely deep magenta color. The straps are lined with a thick, fleecy material. The stretch lace on the top has a subtle but pretty pattern that reminds me of crochet. The metal hardware is the same hot pink of the lining, and the bow on the gore is black and hot pink. All in all, it creates a very striking look, and is very comfortable to wear. It also looks a lot more grown-up than most of Cleo's offerings, and that's with it being hot pink!

The fit on me is not 100% perfect. I'm disappointed that Hettie wound up being wider than I had expected. That said, basically every UK bra is too wide for me, so I don't really count it as a huge deal. The gore is just a bit too wide and sits on breast tissue; I may narrow that at some point. While the cups are very closed in on top (excellent for me!), I do get a bit of gaping in the top near the gore. Not enough to be visible through a shirt or for me to really care, but it's there. Again, something I can probably alter to fix. The band is surprisingly stretchy for a Cleo band, but not enough where I'd want to size down. It still feels nice and snug once on, on the loosest hooks.

It does, however, sit in my IMF. I cannot stress how big this is for me enough - I have an extremely hard time finding bras that can do that, due to the fact that my boobs just demand *so much* room at the bottom of the cup for them. No UK bra I've tried, not even my precious Elomi Etta which was, previously, my best UK fit, can do that. Only my Comexim 3HCs can reliably stay in place. But Hettie can do it. And Hettie will stay there all damn day. I am incredibly impressed. And that makes me willing to ignore all of the other minor fit issues and decide this to be my best UK fit.

The shape is a bit on the pointy side, especially on my smaller breast. But I'm not surprised by or disappointed by this; I've seen the bra described as a mix between Envy and Jasmine, so I expected some pointiness. This is also a description that I'd say is 100% accurate - it's got the bottom depth of Envy with the shape of Jasmine, just compressed into a shorter area. I could probably get a more rounded shape if I sized down a cup but...ehh. It's not terribly important to me.

The one thing that bugs me about it is the lining and elastic on the stretch lace that's present in the GG+ cups, and hence in this one. I feel like it's probably unnecessary (I say as someone at the top of Cleo's size range), and that without it the top of the cup could probably conform to my shape better. It also hides the pattern on the lace. But, ehh. It's not a dealbreaker. It's just a small annoyance. Also, as ever, I wish that Cleo would do three-hook enclosures in larger cup sizes, but two still works okay.

Basically - love this bra.

Pink colorway

Updated on Sep 28, 2016 Flag this

• Show all comments (7)
• 2

  Wow that bra really holds you up! The colorway is super vibrant too.

  Hettie... well Cleo, really, hasn't been on my radar because the 2 hook aspect really turns me off. It was one of my biggest annoyances with Freya Deco, as well. I'm in your camp; 3 hooks feels more secure! I'm a big fan of Jasmine and Envy tho', so if a Hettie colorway excites me I know it's probably a good bet. Thanks for the review. :]

• 1

  It looks great on you! I'm looking forward to the spring release (greenish/teal) and I'm probably going to get one and cut the elastic away. This also makes me wonder if I'm less short rooted than I originally thought.

• I think this is just reeaaally closed off on top and I'm unusually short, haha. Bardot also wasn't quite short enough for me. I also don't have as much inner fullness near the top of my breasts even though I'm pretty close-set.

  I so need that spring colorway, the dark teal and purple just work so well together and those are my two favorite colors.

  bliz - the lack of three hooks is annoying but I do feel like it doesn't make much of a difference; it's still comfy and supportive. I'd just love for it to have an extra hook for the band to be a bit wider!

• 2

  It looks great on you and that color is fantastic!

• Amazing on you!!!!

• So glad it works for you <3 and appreciate your thoughts! I don't think this bra is *quite* right for me but I might be swayed by sales or the spring colorway!

• Looks great on you!

---

add a comment

Use @ to mention users, brands, models and more

You need to sign in to comment