This bra model is one of my (few) long-lusted-after loves, although I held off getting myself one for many many months. I STILL absolutely adore it and I am therefore slightly gutted that it doesn't seem to work all that well for my shape ... I'm not giving up though https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" />
Bra description:
This is actually one of the more interesting bras I've encountered so far. The combination of the lovely and soft, partly floral lace, the 'pinstripe' centre gore bow and double straps just speaks to me: it's super feminine but with a business-like, tomboy sort of nod, if that makes any sense. ... Oh, and it is a half cup -- what is not to love?! https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" />
Anyway, the cups and band are all made of the soft, floral lace. The cups are of the two-part, vertically seamed kind. The outer parts of the cups are backed with a fine, rigid, very sheer black mesh. The inner parts of the cups are not backed and therefore have a little 'give'. A narrow band of elastic very lightly 'gathers' the cup edge to make sure it stays flush with the skin. The band consists of a single layer of the same lace and is not backed by anything, but the result is less stretchy than it would seem. The closure is of the standard two hook, three position kind. The centre gore does not come up as high as the wires and cups, which gives it a somewhat 'lighter' appearance. A satin ribbon bow decorated along either edge with a running stitch in contrasting thread adorn the centre gore. The straps are not fully adjustable: a double strap consisting of two narrower bands of elastic adorned in a similar way as the centre gore bow, i.e. with a running stitch in contrasting thread, connects to the cups. The adjustable part in the back consists of a single width of plain black strap elastic. All findings on this bra, including the hooks and eyes, are silver-coloured metal. A silver-coloured metal tag with the brandname 'Chantelle' is sewed next to the closure.
Bra fit:
This bra is not a good fit on me. I'm not sure whether it's simply too big, or whether there's some sort of shape mismatch going on. Anyway, I'd say this bra runs generous in both the cups and band, compared, for example, to the 70D - Chantelle » Rive Gauche T-back Spacer Bra (3282) . I don't fill out the cups by any stretch of the imagination and they come up quite a bit higher on my chest than I expected. The wires are as good as perfect on me though and they seem a good deal sturdier (hurray!) than the wires in the T-back, which make me fear that the 70C I have ordered as comparison will not fit either, but we'll see. I'm not THAT easily defeated https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" />
The band fits reasonably well at the tightest hooks, but it definitely rides up on the loosest hooks. Compared to the T-back that fits me well band-wise, this band really runs almost a full size larger. Part of the reason for that may be that unlike the T-back the lace in this Demi isn't backed with anything, part that the band is really very narrow and part that unstretched the band actually DOES measure larger than the T-back. I'm not too bothered by it as it does fit me well enough on the tightest hooks (I don't like my bands tight) and it's an easy fix to shorten the band once it stretches, but still. Sizing inconsistency of any kind is just plain annoying.
Having said all that, I must say that this bra DOES deliver shape-wise: even though the cups are too roomy, the shape I get is lovely and round. Not as centred and projected as what I get, for example, in the 65DD - Ewa Michalak » Hm Gold (267) (which under my current measurement actually is about equally roomy in the cups), but therefore maybe more comfortable for me. It's the reason why I did decide to keep this bra: it's y comfortable and it looks reasonably good under clothing. And who knows, my size my fluctuate upwards again, at some point https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" />
Conclusion:
I decided to keep this bra, probably against my better judgement: it isn't nearly as good a fit as I would have hoped, but it's a lovely, comfortable, reasonably flattering, unpadded half cup and I don't really have many of those at the moment, so there you have it https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" /> I'm going to try it in a size down as well, so keep posted https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" />
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Updated on Apr 16, 2013 Flag this