*Disclaimer: This bra is not remotely near my size but I have set the fit anyways to get the bra to 100%. I received this bra for my grandmother, who measures 27-28 inches in the ribcage with wide, empty breasts or extremely full on bottom.
This bra is utterly gorgeous! It fits my grandma quite well on the tightest hook. The cups are too narrow though, but the top portion isn't empty. I find it very interesting how close the cups are placed on this bra, without much space between the cups. I would imagine that a true 32A would have breasts set quite far apart so there's less band on the side showing from the front view while wearing it, but I'm not sure. Perhaps this is why a lot of bras are scaled so poorly. The proportions are just kept the same while the band is lengthened.
I bought this bra entirely because Sweet Nothings recommended it on her blog, and I was not disappointed. It is incredibly comfortable. I had been looking for a soft cup bra to balance out the beginnings of my collection and this bra definitely does that for me. I love that it has 3 hooks because the band feels so much sturdier. The garnet color is incredible as well. I wasn't expecting such a rich, deep red but it's gorgeous. This bra is definitely an airplane flight bra.
I bought this because the 34G Mauve Dessous from the Fall 2012 season (right before this one) fit me so well in the cups. I'd planned to alter this down to something more like a 30-back to fit me, just like I had with the Mauve Dessous, but its cup structure isn't nearly as good for me.The cups seem to be too large, but only on the sides, causing wrinkling in the mesh. This actually means that the bra is more true to size in the cups than the previous season Dessous, which is great for the company, but not for me.
This bra is a little shallow for me even though I usually wear 28F. I am even and perhaps evenly shallow/projected as well with wideish roots. I like this and do wear it but quad just a tad. It does have seams that sort of show through thin shirts.
I thought maybe going up a band size (and thus cup volume) can solve the quadding near the gore and shallowness issues; and was planning to alter the band. But nope. Brazillion times nope. This bra and I are just not meant to be.
The straps are remarkably stretchy, I don't think I've ever come across such stretchy straps. Obviously, the band is way loose and the cups are way shallow. I don't know what I was thinking.
I discovered that the Claudette site had deep sale prices on their Encore section. The trick, though, is that there are no returns, and I'd never worn this brand before. So made a $27 tester purchase of this bra, using all the advice the internet had to offer. I'm between band sizes (34F in Panache and 32FF in not-Panache is my rule of thumb), so I ordered the smaller band. Then I sized up in the cup, since that seemed the internet consensus. Hence, the 32G.
I generally prefer a wider gore, and my breasts are only a teensy bit FOT, otherwise pretty medium-shaped. I'm too big for any ...32F I've ever tried, but tend to be either at or just shy of a 32FF cup.
Verdict - OMG comfortable! And it kind of fits! That is to say, my issues with the fit can only be noticed when I'm not wearing a shirt. This was mind-blowingly comfortable, though, so I went back and ordered three 32FFs. I wore it all day and came home without immediately ripping it off.
Cups - First, the good. The wires hit me perfectly under the arms and tack all around my front. The fabric is feather-light and as sexy as neon yellow can be. No poking, no rubbing, no pain. On to the issues. The transparent material makes it obvious where the wires don't quite follow my curves. There is some empty cup at the bottom near the gore and at the very top of the cup, near the strap. I had to hike the straps up to feel supported, though it's not at all cutting into my shoulders. It is, however, flattening me some front-to-back (almost minimizing, really), without also side-supporting me forward. The net effect is a very round but not very projected look. Unlike the dark days of my add-four-inches-to-the-band 36DDD bras, though, it's not so bad as to make me look like I should be serving beer in Valhalla to bearded men who call me "Wench!" Or living a double life by night as a Mesopotamian fertility goddess. In other words, it still shapes my bosom so that my waist doesn't get lost and my breasts don't dominate the frontal view. Rather, it's just a silhouette that's hourglassy from the front and hemispherical from the side - sometimes you want that! This will look fantastic in a sheath dress.
Band - Oh lordy, here's what made me buy three more (just a cup size down). It's soft, and at first I thought that meant it wouldn't support. But that's not the case! My ribcage and the skin thereon is sensitive, and even bras that fit well often hurt by the time I get home from work. I'm looking at YOU, Panache! This somehow manages to hold me just right, tightly enough to support, but not tightly enough to pinch. Three hooks! THREE! I think that's got something to do with it, since Freya's bands are similarly soft, but still pinch at the bottom. This holds more evenly, and not even the ric-rac edge gives me friction burn. I was tempted to wear it on the middle hooks, and you can do that right out of the gate, but I found that wearing on the last hook still worked fine. The gore still tacked, and nothing budged.
Take away - Don't necessarily size up a cup. If you're not all that FOT, your normal cup might be your best bet. Do either size the band down, or opt smaller if you're between sizes. Read more 482 more words
Very pretty bra. The top section disappears with my skin colour and it looks very nice. I think the cups are a little bit big, despite not having any gaps or wrinkles. They are quite tall on me and the straps are too far apart, so perhaps a 28F would suit me better.
Surprisingly better fit than the 30FF. Doesn't rub my underarms, but the mesh is pretty rough and the elastic can be irritating. Empty space near top/armpits and wrinkling. Yet I can't stay away from Dessous... it's exactly what I want in a bra's design... :'(
The cups on this are obviously too small for me, especially on my larger breast. I'm getting quadboob on both sides and a ton of tissue pushed into my armpit on my left side. The band is great, in my opinion. When I first looked at it in the packaging I thought it looked way too small, but it has a good amount of stretch. Normally I'd find that much stretch to be somewhat of a problem but because of the 3 hook closure it actually feels very firm and supportive.
I have pretty soft breasts that tend to sink down to the bottom of bras (even though ...I have pretty even fullness, I think) so I was somewhat skeptical of this bra because it looks so sheer and flimsy. The fabric is actually stiffer than it looks and because it's a pretty full cup coverage I was pleasantly surprised by how supportive it actually is.
This bra is gorgeous. And it seems very comfortable, even in the wrong size. I only had it on for a short time, though, so I might not be the best judge of that. The quality seems great, too, but again, I have no idea how well it holds up. Read more 98 more words
So, I bought this bra via the recent Claudette Encore sale. I live in the UK but managed to find a wonderful lady in New York who was happy to place orders on my behalf, then receive the parcels and send them on to me.
I have wanted to try the other Claudette bras (eg not Dessous as I have already experimented pretty substantially with this range) for as long as I've known and loved the brand so was sooo excited when they had the Encore shop open. There were none of the other En Dentelle colourways in my size, so I opted for this Cameo ...Blue as I've been getting into lighter colours in both underwear and clothes of late, and thought it was gorgeous. I've read as many reviews as there are out there of this bra, and expected it to have a band that was tight (possibly too tight) and to be uncomfortable.
When it finally arrived from NY I was delighted that on first try on, it definitely wasn't too tight! Phew, there's that worry out of the way.Yayyyy, a three hook and eye band! The cups are a good fit depth wise and width wise - wires are perfect for me. The material isn't very soft and is slightly scratchy/harsh on my skin - I might wash this one sooner rather than later in the hope it might soften up a bit.
Where this bra isn't great is the width of the straps - they're set VERY wide (and actually, I did notice to Claudette's credit on their website they do say something like "extra wide placed straps" or something to this effect) so was concerned, as most normally set straps could be considered technically a little wide for me. These are v. wide, meaning the straps are almost halter style (eg / \) in a straight line from armpits to where they sit on my shoulders. On wearing the bra out today I realised that although the cup fits, it almost doesn't CUP - so it provides no lift, no support, no rounding and no shaping whatsoever. I don't know if this is because the straps are unable to provide a proper tension and this affects tension in the cup meaning it just kind of sits around my boobs rather than smushing them upwards/rounding them.... odd. Maybe this is considered east-west? Thing is, it's not seperating my boobs as such, just allowing them to rest where they normally would when not in a bra (both in terms of east/west and north/south positioning! HA!)
My boobs don't really need lots of support, but it was odd to recognise that they both looked and felt the same as my boobs do when I'm not wearing a bra....
I get a small bit of wrinkling at a certain point in the top of the cup, again I think due to the positioning of the straps on me. The bra is definitely not too FOT for me, if anything it's lacey cup edge is very restrictive and I think ideally I need a taller cup that doesn't cut me off in the way this one does.
So verdict: Still reasonably happy with this bra as technically fits quite well, just doesn't DO much! It's very attractive and has allowed me to continue my bra education and test out another model that I've been interested in for a long time. I can see myself wearing this bra in the summer when it's hot and I want something light and cool and easy to wear. Read more 494 more words
I have this in the Mauve color in 30E and it fits the bottom half but not the top. Considering ordering the next size down and inserting a wider wire because these bras run narrow imo.
This bra is too small for me. I think it would be perfect if it were a cup size or two larger, but I bought it through zulily so I'm stuck with it unless I can donate it or get someone to buy it from me. I've worn it for a grand total of maybe three minutes, it's still got the tags on and everything. Nice color, though.
I love the idea of this bra, so sexy and fun! It fits well enough that I could keep it for when I'm not planning on wearing clothes, haha, but with a short on my bigger breast quads enough to be noticeable. I also feel like it doesn't lift and makes my shape kind of wide. Also the bow feel off the first time I tried it on so...quality???
I purchased this purely because Claudette was doing a sale on their older styles. I went with the leopard (black strap) Dessous colorway in a 36G (no GG https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_confused.gif" alt=":s" />adface:https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />. I LOVE how this bra looks but I wouldn't leave the house in it because it's really not for my shape. The wires are pretty narrow which is awesome but they are SO flexible and weak. I feel like I'm trying to hold my boobs up with coffee stirrers. The cup comes up fairly high (from what I've been reading the larger cup sizes where smaller sizes ...get a more balconette look) but I really don't mind the look of it. Also note the band is pretty stretchy and the cups are obviously a bit small for me but by no means uncomfortable. This style is much too shallow for me, so combine the flimsy wires, stretchy band and shallowness and my boobs are just like "NOPE!". On the up side, the straps are very adjustable so I can tighten them all the way and gain some additional support from that and the material is really nice. This bra is really quite comfortable and I know I'll rock it but inside...where I can proudly semi-sag lol. It's also got a nice sexy look to it, so it has that going for it too https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" /> Read more 134 more words
I bought this in a size that is much too wrong for me right before I began the search for properly fitting bras. Therefore I can't comment much on fit, support, etc.
I love the colors that this bra comes in. It's one of the first bras I found that is unpadded even in smaller sizes. I agree with others that this bra is transparent, so if you want coverage, this is not the one for you. The quality is good, it has held up quite well.
The fabric is scratchy. This does reduce with washing and wearing to where it isn't bothersome for the wearer, but this bra does not at any time become soft/touchable.
This is how I want the Claudette bras to fit. Why must the cups be so tall on me?!?