This bra was The One for me. When I put it on, I didn't have to wonder if I was okay with too-wide wires, or a weirdly angled band, or a little bit of quadding at the top. It was, and continues to be, The Perfect Fit.

You can definitely tell that the Anna Pardal bras are high quality when you hold one in your hands. The stitching is tight and the lace on top of the cups is very luxurious-feeling and doesn't crinkle or move separately from the foam cup (my Ewa Michalak S bra does this, and I'm not a fan). ... I'd compare the quality to that of Masquerade, and all up I paid about $95 AUD for this bra and the matching panties - the average Masquerade in a boutique store in Australia will go upwards of $100 AUD just for the bra. I'm very happy to pay this as full retail price for a set that is high quality and fits well (seriously, I am a grad student and will always buy cheap/bargain if I can get away with it), and would highly recommend saving up for one of Anna's bras if you need narrow wires and deep cups.

Prior to this bra I had never encountered wires that were narrow enough for me post-tissue migration - even the aforementioned Ewa S bra, which is my next best-fitting bra after this one, had wires that extended past where my tissue ended. The wires on this bra contain me perfectly with no extra room. The gore is a soft tack on me rather than firmly pressing onto my sternum, but I'm OK with this as it doesn't compromise the fit or support in any way and it's quite uncommon for gores to tack on me in any case. My male partner was actually the one to notice that this bra is the only one I own where there isn't any gapping near the straps. After thinking about this, I think this is possibly due to my very tall breast roots (the Comexim plunge cut, which this bra is constructed on, is known for having tall cups and a common modification to purchased bras in the large cup/small band size range, according to Anna, is a reduced cup). This feature of the construction, which apparently is at odds with so many other people who buy Comexim/Anna Pardal, seems to work very well for my (somewhat unusual) root height, which is nearly up to my collarbone. If you try this cut for the first time and have a very tall root like me, I'd definitely recommend trying the base design without any cup reduction.

I'd like to talk about the band as well. When choosing a size to order, I followed the advice of Erica from A Sophisticated Pair and went with a band and a cup up from my closest UK size (preferably Panache). I used to be a diehard Panache fan and wore 32H across the board in their styles, but have been leaning more towards needing a 30J after an increase in breast volume due to weight gain and a developing preference for firmer bands. I decided that I'd rather risk the band being too small than too big, so I ordered a 32J (up from 30J in Panache, equivalent to 70M in Comexim sizing - Anna Pardal bras have the sizes converted to their equivalent UK size). I didn't feel any discomfort from the band at all, and it sits in a much more comfortable spot on my back than my UK bras do (lower down, more perpendicular to the apex of my boobs as opposed to angled up). I think this is related to the cut of the band (the angle at which it's attached to the cups) as well as its firmness, and I love it!

To conclude: this bra was the nail in the coffin for UK bras, for me anyway. I probably won't be buying from any of the British brands again, just because Anna Pardal seems to 'get' my boobs and my body in a way no other brand ever has. I find the designs so much more appealing too, for both AP and Comexim - the big British brands seem to all swing between the extremes of 'too girly' or 'too matronly'.

Addendum: I should describe the fit of the panties too. I bought the 'tap pant' in a size 4, and I'm usually around 12/14 in UK panties. They come up a little higher on my tummy than I'm used to, stopping just shy of my belly button, but they seem to fit that way on Anna's model too, so I didn't mind too much. They're really soft and comfortable, and easy to take care of (I machine-wash mine in cold water). The elastic doesn't dig in around my hips at all, even though I've got more weight there now, and they have enough coverage around the crotch for me to be comfortable wearing them under jeans to work, etc. The back is see-through, though - I know a lot of CK customers didn't like this about their undies, and it's not obvious when you look at the pictures on the AP website - I think they only show photos from the front. They're not crazy sheer though - think the amount of transparency that some bra band mesh types have.
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Updated on Jul 19, 2015 Flag this