The Chantelle Haussmann T-Shirt Bra is SO COMFY, I can hardly believe there are underwires in it. The wires are thoroughly hidden in FOAM PADDED CHANNELS. The center gore is too high for me, 2" high. I need 1.5" gores so they don't rest on breast tissue. In addition, I'm pretty sure the space between the tips of the underwires at the center gore is too big,. A center gore more than 1.5" high should ideally have overlapping wires at the gore.

However, the wires are so thoroughly cushioned, I can't with certainty say how wide apart the wires are at the gore. I can't feel the underwires under my arms, where they are possibly a bit too narrow, or at the too-high gore. The band is soft and cushy. There's no hard, tight elastic at the edges to press into your skin. The hooks and eyes are embedded in cushioned squares of fabric. The partially adjustable straps barely adjust short enough for me, but the non-adjustable part is cushioned.

This is a convertible bra. I can wear it cross-back. I got the Navy color, which may be better for me than beige, since I wear lots of dark tops, to downplay my upper body.

There is too much side tissue not contained in this bra for my taste. It's less pronounced if I wear the bra on the loosest hooks. Since I'm sister sizing a band up and cup size down, I tried it first on the tightest hooks. I think I can get away with wearing it on the loosest hooks, though. The wires don't seem to narrow too much on the sides.

The paper tag and labeling on the bra:
FRA 85F
EUR 70F
ITA 32F
UK 32E
USA 32DDD

There is a subtle diagonal seam in each cup. I tried the bra under my thinnest, clingiest tops, and the seams don't show. Hurray!

The cups are molded foam, not the push-up kind. The foam feels denser and less flexible than Chantelle and Fantasie spacer foam. The stiffer material may mean there is more lift than in spacer foam bras.

The cups are low coverage for a T-shirt bra. I kept looking at myself in the mirror and feeling the tops of the cups. I couldn't believe there was a T-shirt bra that was lower coverage than, say, Fantasie Rebecca, most Chantelle T-shirt bras, the Masquerade Amor...I've tried so many. Being a petite person, I want as low coverage cups as possible. Just because my boobs completely fill a Fantasie Rebecca spacer foam bra doesn't mean the bra will work under my tops. I don't even wear low-cut clothing, for the most part, but I've avoided many of my tops because of difficulty finding bras that will stay hidden. This means more than a short center gore. I also need short cups. I never expected to find a lowish coverage T-shirt bra in the Chantelle collection. I now have plenty of Ewa Michalak 3D bras with super low gores and low coverage cups, but they all have seams that show under some tight tops.

To sum up, I'm not sure this fits well, but it's super comfy. I bought this from Nordstrom Rack only intending to enter its measurements into Bratabase, but I'm considering keeping it to wear on days my body needs a rest from firm bras or on days I need an invisible, seamless bra.

Edited to add:
I did return this bra the next day. As comfy as it is, I can't ignore how it doesn't leave my close set cleavage area alone. Since center gores above 1.5" high can't help but rest on breast tissue, it makes no sense to keep this. I have many bras with super low gores, and there's no way I can alter the Chantelle Haussman's gore to be narrower, what with its incredibly cushioned wire channels and all. If this had 1.5" center gore, I would buy it in every color. I would also buy backups and store them for the future. Foam padded wire channels, people. The next frontier for bra lovers.

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Apr 20, 2014 Flag this

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