I originally ordered this bra on Amazon US from The Lingerie Outlet in January with a few Freya bras to be sent to my friend in LA, where I was headed to in mid February. For whatever reason, it got cancelled and refunded and I never got it with my order. After I had been back for a month or so, I saw it was on sale in the Canadian Amazon store for a really good price, so I snapped it up and ordered again from The Lingerie Outlet. I had a few more communication mishaps with them because they kept confusing the previous US order that my husband had placed for me in January (which was returned for a refund) and the one that I had placed in the Canadian store, but I eventually got it. And I was happy.

I have had this bra for 3-4 months now, but have only just gotten around to reviewing it. This is because my original pictures were meh because I took them at home when I got it, which was after work one night, and I was losing natural daylight pretty quickly. I got rid of the original pictures, but then I never got around to retake them again until today, while my husband was yakking away in the other room for a podcast he does. I *think* I might have overcompensated a little bit on the pics because I took a lot! I posted most of them too. Because it is such a dark navy colour, with monochromatic detail, it was still a bit challenging to get the best pics from the mirrored closet doors reflection with the light from the windows behind me and have the details show. So I propped my phone up against my copy of Goblet of Fire that's on my nightstand and used the 3 second timer delay timer for a few alternative pics with better lighting, only the camera is slightly tilted because it is leaning against the book to be hands free, meaning that I don't have completely accurate shots, or they look a little bit funny at the slight angle, but the better lighting highlights the bra better, I think. The wires are easier to see. Anyway, I'll move on to the fit portion now...

A bit about my boobs first...

I have deflated tallish so functionally short and narrowish roots that are center full and even to full on bottom. My tissue is pretty soft and malleable as well as pendulous. I need immediate projection, but only average apex projection or else I have a pointy shape because my soft tissue just sinks into cups like pudding. Wherever there’s space. Cue Envy and Jasmine on the pointy...

Also, hooray for the small bit of a tan I have going on right now!

When I got this bra, it was tight! I could do it up, but I knew from the experience with the Ellace that I would not be able to wear it that tight all day, or for more than an hour or so. I looked at it and it looked just like the 28 bands from the Jasmine and Envy bras I tried on at my local store with the hook end looking short and stubby. It actually only measured 28.5" stretched! So I was very thankful that I had an extender, and popped that puppy on asap! Here's the thing though. From a technical fit perspective, I think that the band tightness and tension are actually pretty good because I had a good fit in the cups and wires. As soon as I added a few rows of eyes from the extender, the cups began to wrinkle some, more on my small side than the larger side. However, under a shirt, this wasn't (isn't) noticeable, and the comfort from the additional columns of eyes was (is) worth it. I started out with the middle set of eyes, relaxing it to the loosest ones after work when I was reclining against the pillows in my bed or on my couch, since the posture changes affect how my band and gore fit. I'm now on the tightest hooks on the extender (one extra row) generally and, while it's snug, I am able to do a full day at work like this. Occasionally I have moved to the middle again, if my sternum is sore or I'm pre-period swollen. All pics are sans extender though...

As I said above, the cups fit best with no extender. That said, I have a very small amount of room in the cup in the lace portion, but I don't think it's enough to size down. The lace does lay flat against my tissue when I am in a neutral position. As I am even to full on bottom, I am assuming that it is just a minor shape mismatch as this bra is more open on top for fuller tissue than I have. It just wants a little bit more boob than I can give it. I think that it's evident from the side view, as it's quite round on the lower 2/3 (3/4?) of the bra and then a little bit flat or sloped on top against my tissue under the lace bit. I don't think that this is a huge issue, and I seriously doubt that the average person I run into will have any idea or give a shit, you know? Especially under my work shirts (I wear one under the other as an under shirt to help keep the uniform shirts in better condition over time).

My biggest problem with this bra is the gore. It's a little bit too tall for me. And it just presses into my sternum and hurts! I think that if it was not as high, I might have been able to tolerate the tighter band a bit better/sooner. It's also just a tiny bit too wide. My boobs want to push the wires together and it overlaps some, as I show in one of my pictures. It's not that huge of a problem, and the wires seem like they are not on breast tissue (barely). My gore bow twists a little bit because of my closeness, I think. Again, it's trivial and only an issue to me.

All that said about the band tightness and gore, I really do love this bra in many other ways. I adore navy, and it's been somewhat easy finding underwear locally that matches well enough (sometimes it's hard finding the particular shade locally I'm looking for like the latte shade of my Ellace...it's equal is elusive locally!) I like that the straps are a little bit thinner. My bust is only minorly large (mediumish?), so I don't have a problem with the support from the thinner straps the way larger busts do/might have. I like the lighter mesh and lace of the cups, especially in the warmer weather (when it decides to show up here) and is forgettable under the uniform I wear for work. I also like how tall the sides are. I feel like I have a little bit more support. However, it's just shy of encroaching into my armpits...any higher and it would be uncomfortable. It's possible that it's also the mesh of the band that gives me the feeling of support and not entirely the height. And of course, it would probably not be as high if the gore was not as high, so a tradeoff from the evil high gore. The wires feel like they're a little bit too wide, but wire marks when I take it off do follow my roots pretty well. This is probably the widest cup width I can do though.

The best thing about this bra for me is...

wait for it...

THE POLKA DOTS!!! AAAHHHHHH!!!!

I freaking love polka dots (Cleo Mimi is on my wish list). I love the subtle polka dots on the lower mesh portion of the cups as well as on the contrasting red bow.

I'm hugely torn about this bra, and also whether I want it in more colours (I just saw the khaki/olive green and dusty pink shades that are coming, and the current new cornflower blue shade...more love!!!). I mean, I know that I *want* it in more colours, but can I do the gore in multiple bras? I don't know...

Anyway, sorry for the delay in getting the rest of the profile complete with the pictures and my usual novel of a review. Thanks to the troopers who made it to the end of the ramblings. Smoochies...you're the best! 😘

Navy colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Aug 04, 2018 Flag this

• Show all comments (11)
• 1

  I think you actually beat me in the amount of photos taken for a single bra, & I wouldn't have thought that was possible, haha! More photos are way better than not enough though, right? :D
  Same goes for the long reviews-you can never have too much info, as each tidbit is helpful to someone at some time in the future!
  So, great job all around! :-)

• 2

  Great review. The bra is very pretty! It is so fun to find one that you really enjoy. I have had that feeling with a sternum on a particular bra before, and I wondered if it was because that band was pretty tight. Does the sternum feel better when you wear the extender?

• 1

  MamaPagan lol! I usually like to have some on me, in clothes, and some details. It adds up. I actually cut some of the ones that I took, believe it or not. No one can ever tell me that I am not thorough. Right?

  veggiechic it is better with the extender but still a bit of a pain sometimes. I will eventually forget about it during the day. So right now it's all about balancing the band tension and comfort.

• 1

  Great review. I saw this bra on your your profile and always wondered, how it fits you. Hope this doesn't sound creepy, haha.

  It looks good on you. Too bad it's not comfortable. Did you try to bend the gore away from your sternum? Also don't be afraid to test a 30E or 32DD as well. Especially in Cleo / Panache bras I always get that gore pain your describe if the cups are slightly too large. This is the main reason I wear the Marcie in a 28F even thought the cups are a little small. In the 28FF it feels like most of the tension from the band is used to press the wires against my chest, where the 28F distributes the tension across the cups which is more comfortable and gives me an even rounder shape.

  But to be honest, it's still really uncomfortable to slouch or recline in most of my Cleo / Panache bras. So I just switch to a loose wireless bra or no bra at home.

• Thanks aboobaccount , and I don’t think that it’s creepy. When we follow others with similar sizes, it’s only natural to see what others have and how they feel about them.

  It’s mostly comfortable. At some point, I forget the wires and the snugness. As for other sizes, I actually first tried a Marcie in a Bravissimo store in London when we were there for our 20th anniversary trip. I’d asked for a 32DD as that’s what I was wearing then (but not swooping and scooping until that visit) but they didn’t have any, so I tried the 32E. I was told in a fit check earlier this year when I was reevaluating my size and shape that the 32 was the wrong band size because it was not pulling enough on the side at the wire from band tension. I was told that it also looked a little bit big, but I think that we determined that the loose fabric at the top was partly from not enough band tension at the wire, but also from my softer tissue leaning towards full on bottom. In person, I have had 2 fitters tell me that this is the right cup size, but just a slight shape mismatch. I have been told that the nude shade is a little bigger in the cup and band, so I might be able to take it in a 30E. I’m curious to whether or not the new colours will have stretchy bands. I’m not in a buying position yet, so for now, I’ll see if anyone reviews the new ones.

  As for trying to make the gore better, I tried the cotton ball but all it did was make it tighter. I lightly tried to bend the gore, but I didn’t really know what I was doing or if I was doing it right. I really don’t want to break one of my better fitting bras, you know? It’s also pretty flush in the channels, so not much wire to work with shifting it around.

• 1

  Hey aboobaccount ... here are the only pics that I took of the Marcie in 32E when I tried on at Bravissimo in London. I wish I had taken more, but I didn't. I'd already picked up my Lepel Lilly at the Birmingham store, so this visit was to try on lots of styles and make notes for sizes for future reference. I specifically picked styles that I knew were core styles do that I know would fit if it was a different colourway or print (or so the intention was). I wanted to have some notes and ideas for when I was able to place an order from home. It was always on my mind to get this one when sometime later after I got home, but it just took a lot longer than I was thinking it was going to be. Probably for the best, because I had only the one bra in 30E and I was not really aware of breast shape or anything then anyway. And I had a year mixing in the 30E into my routine. I have considered a 32 Marcie for a more relaxed fit if it is cheap enough.

  https://imgur.com/a/nTKO43b

• Ah, that's very interesting. I agree with their assessment regarding the loose fabric under your arms. A tighter band generally helps with this by pulling the wires wider and therefor stretching that fabric. You see the same effect in the Curvy Kate Ellace, where the elastic between the wire and the strap is actually too long by design (in my opinion): It get a lot of wrinkling on the sides in the 30F http://bra.pe/XYt0/ but not so much in the 28F http://bra.pe/XY3C/.Of course it's a different cup volume as well, but I'm sure you would also see less wrinkling in a 28FF. The big difference is that CK uses more flexible wires. So the 28 band actually pulls them too wide. Even though the band is relatively loose, stretching to 77cm http://bra.pe/IiGq/ compared to the Marcie's 74cm http://bra.pe/Ihc0/ where I can literally only get two fingers under the back but the wires are perfect for my wide roots: http://bra.pe/IkT1/ , http://bra.pe/IkT2/ . So I really need tons of band tension in the Marcie. A 30E is better in terms of breathing- and eating room but the tips of the wires dig into my boobs so much that it's less comfy overall and a 30F just gives me too much wrinkling.

  However that doesn't have to be the case for people with narrower roots or less wide set breasts. The wires of the 32E fit you pretty well, even with the loose band. I think more band tension will make them too wide. And you also say

  “This is probably the widest cup width I can do though. “

  about the 30F.

  Maybe you can get away with a 32DD because the cup elastic near the wires will be shorter. The cups also won't be as high. And they look slightly too high in the last imgur picture. But definitely also try the a 30E. The navy version is my second tightest colorway, after the black one. My Bluebell and Tangerine ones are stretchier and could be perfect in 30E.

• EDIT:
  Somehow broke a link and can't edit my comment.

  28F Ellace http://bra.pe/XY3C/

• I get the same fabric tension problem with my Ellaces and, when I had it, the Florence. The bands on all of them are/were really tight. So it's not a tension issue with those. I agree with you that it's a design flaw with the fabric.

  I will definitely consider a cheap 32DD or 30E in a colour that is known for being stretchier. I worry that the cups will be too small but it never hurts to try.

• You could try sewing the gore together. It’s going to make the band just that might tighter. I really like Marcie and Lilly and another one with stretch lace I can’t remember the name of... but the gores are all a bit tall and wide for me and end up poking over time because the tissue tries to push the wires together. I have never gotten rid of my Lilly though. I don’t wear it every week any more, maybe not even once a month, but I still keep it lol

• I could, yes, but as you say, it will be tighter in the band. And it’s already too tight. More than anything, I just need a shorter gore and less snug band.

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