SHAPE: round, projected, even, close set, tall roots, on the narrow end of average root width.

THE TAKEAWAY: excellent for projected, even shapes with average to short roots. If you're very FoT or have tall roots, the top cup edge will cut in, wrinkle, or cause quadding. If the Blake fits you, this probably will too! Cup fabric is quite stiff with no stretch at all. Conversely, it has a stretchy band, so sister size down if you're in the bottom of your current band size.

DETAILS: Ugh, I love this print so much. And those matching high-waisted bottoms! This has been on my wishlist a looonng time, so I'm disappointed that the fit is not. quite. right.

As a heads up, I think the closest sister cut to this is the Blake, which also wasn't a perfect fit for me.

First, the good:
- The print is gorgeous, and I love the little contrasting flat bow in the gore. I don't think I've seen a flat bow like this before: it's a bit more modern and less frilly/girly, which is right up my alley (I gushed endlessly about the modern lace print in the 30F - Fortnight » Ivy Longline (673-11)).

- The fabric is thicker than most unlined bras, so it has a nice smoothing effect - very little of the seams are visible under t-shirts. The thick fabric also minimizes prominent nipples (if that's something you're concerned about).

The not-so-good:
- Stretchy band alert! I purchased this both in 30E - Cleo » Della Balconnet Bra (9111) (my usual size in Cleo/Panache) and 28F because I'd run into stretchy bands in previous new Cleo styles & colorways (30E - Cleo » Marcie Balconnet Bra (6831) and 30E - Cleo » Blake Balconnet Bra (9151) ). Looks like the stretchy band issue is still a problem in this colorway, so if you're on the lower end of your regular band (my snug UB is ~29.5"), I encourage you to sister size down.

- The thick fabric doesn't feel particularly good. It's not like the Blake's fabric at all, which is SO SOFT and comfy. It's quite stiff. For some reason, it looks really stretchy and smooth in photos, but that's not the case in real life. There's no stretch in the cup fabric *at all* so if you find you're in between cup sizes, or if you have pronounced asymmetry, or if you're very FoT, you will get gapping, wrinkling, and/or quadding.

- I have an even shape, and I _can't quite_ fill the top of the cups out. It's not so bad on my larger side, but it's noticeable on my smaller side. My usual trick to deal with my slight asymmetry is to tighten the strap on the smaller side, but unfortunately that doesn't help with the gapping/wrinkling in this bra.

- And here's where I think the primary fit issues are: my roots are taller than this bra expects, so the top of the cup wrinkles where the edge tries to cut in, and I'm too close set and center full while this bra wants more tissue towards the sides. It took me awhile to sort this out because I inexplicably have wrinkling in the cup right at the wire near the gore, but I think that's the result of an overall shape mismatch. The fact that the usually narrow Cleo wires are further into my armpits than others that fit me well was a big clue, as was that I get a tiny bit quadding over the cup right above the gore.

Floral print colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Nov 23, 2016 Flag this

• 1

  So beautiful bra but when I see your photos I think it would be too close on top for me because I have tall roots.

• AbracaBra I've revisited this review and updated it with a few notes advising against picking it up if you have tall roots. At the time of the original review, I didn't even notice that it was my tall roots that were causing the cup wrinkling at the top edge!

• 1

  Thank you for this review. I'm trying to find a bra that works with my shape and I'm having a heck of a time. Your review helped me cross the Della off of my list.

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