The long-awaited (or not lol) Cleo Atlanta review. I've worn it twice now for full days of work, and I have so many things to say about it, so buckle in!

First of all, I need to tell you, I shortened the band because I had to. I saw that Secrets From Your Sister in Toronto had gotten this bra in, but only in my sister size of 30E. So I knew from the get-go that I would have to alter it to make it work. The fitter was a little taken aback, but I assured her that I'm handy with a sewing machine. So, I (conservatively) shortened the ... band. I realized after I wore it that despite shortening it to an appropriate length, the band still had to be broken in, and this resulted in the band stretching out to the point that it's back on the tightest hooks for me lol. I guess this is preferable to shortening it too small in the first place though. I can shorten the band again, no problem.

So, with the band shortened once, this is how it fits. It could be a little more snug in the band, but like I said, I can fix that (again). So let's move onto the cups. The two most noticeable features are that the cups have a side sling, and they have a thin strip of elastic sewn onto the edge to prevent gaping. Let me say first that I'm very impressed with the design of the side sling, because it doesn't cut into my tissue at all. It just helps gently shape. The elastic, however, may very well need to go. I'm pretty full on top, moderately full in centre, and my tissue is quite firm. The elastic cuts into my tissue, but with the plunge shape, it's not actually noticeable when I'm wearing clothing. The bulging is all along the inside edge, towards the gore. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that it gets worse as the day goes on and the bra settles onto my body. So I may have to take a leap of faith and remove the elastic (it's only sewn on with a simple zigzag stitch, which would be easy to rip out without damaging the lace over top). My only concern is that the lace may not have enough structure on its own, and may gape if I do this. Having said that, the cups give a wonderful shape under clothing. Rounded and lightly peaked. Just lovely.

Next, let's talk about the wires and gore. I'm very happy with the width (it doesn't seem too wide), and the gore is nice and short, and doesn't bother me personally. The wires still seem pretty stiff, if you're wondering. The sides of the cups (between the wires and the straps) don't seem to dig into my armpits, and don't seem to bother me.

Lastly, the straps. Oh, the straps. So beautiful, and so finicky. The straps are attached with the usual leotard-back style at the band, and are attached more close-set at the cups than the usual Cleo balconette bra. This is aided by the fact that the straps are attached to each other at the upper back using strap elastic attached perpendicular (horizontally) and a strong magnet. This is all great news for those who struggle with slipping straps. The straps have symmetrical lace panels running vertically from the upper back to the band, starting wide at the upper back and tapering down to very narrow at the band. (See my pictures if the description is unclear). The biggest problem with this is the height/length of the lace panels. I'm not sure if the problem is exaggerated because I bought a sister size, or if I just have a somewhat short upper back (or rounded shoulders), but the lace panels tend to ride up to my neck. Most of the pictures of this bra show that the lace ends around the same line as the shoulders, but when I wear it, the lace creeps up to my neck, almost to where a halterneck bikini would sit. I was wearing it at work the other day, and my male coworker pointed out the lace peeking out above the back of my uniform shirt (it's a v neck t-shirt). I told him not to worry about it (don't worry, he's very kind. He was just confused by it). This problem is exaggerated by the fact that I currently have to wear it on the tightest hooks. When I am able to wear it on the loosest hooks (like when I first altered it, before it was broken in), it allows the top of the lace (the widest part, with the magnet) to lay flat, and it prevents it from riding up too much. But when it's on the tightest hooks, I feel like the part where the straps attach to the band is narrower, or closer together, than the width of the top of the lace, so it kind of gets pushed together, and the slack rides up. My only potential solution for this would be to shorten the length of the lace panels, which I could do one of two ways. Either I could rip out the stitches at the bottom of the straps (there's a metal connector there) and pull the strap and the narrow end of the lace through the connector and sew it shorter, but this may result in some bunching of the lace. Or I could stitch rip the horizontal strap elastic off at the top and replace it lower, folding under the excess lace as needed.

Lastly, the lace panel drastically shortens how much the length of the straps can be adjusted. So if you need short straps, this may not be the bra for you. I'm currently on the tightest setting, and it's working okay for me. I can shorten the straps from the front if needed.

Quick thoughts on the matching brazilian panties: Why are these in style?? Also why are British panties so much larger than their US counterparts?? I got a Small pair and I realize now that they're just too big. Also they're meant to be worn high on the hips, so they have such a looooong crotch gusset. Once again, I am a short person, and I do not need such long gusseted underwear. I would be interested to try these in an extra small.

Final thoughts: I think it would be worth it to try the Cleo Atlanta in my closer sister size of 28F. This may or may not fix some of my problems with the scaling of the whole thing. But aside from that, I'm pretty darn happy with the wearability of it right now, and I know I can still adjust if/when needed.

PS. I have a bunch more photos if you go to the bra info page on my profile! All the pictures on here currently are from before I shortened the band.
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Petrol colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Dec 09, 2019 Flag this

QUALITY:
The quality was excellent as usual. All of the seams felt solid and smooth, the fabric looked nice, etc. The magnet clasp was pretty smooth as well, and I didn't feel like it was a weak point in the bra. It had edges made so it wouldn't slip and unhook. The whole bra felt solid like Panache bras usually do.

DESIGN:
This bra is just ridiculously cool. I just love the design so much! Which is why i was heckin disappointed when it didn't fit anywhere near wearability for me. Absolutely love the design. All the fabric was strategically placed and the stretch lace had a really nice pattern. ... The overall bra impression is nice, I really like how it looks, the color, the fabric, the structure, everything. Especially the style of the back with the lace panels was really cool! But this also makes the straps not fully adjustable, which might be an issue for some people.

FIT:
I ordered this in a 28G and when it arrived I had just measured myself to a 30F, so I had to use an extender to try it on. It wasn't a great fit - my shape is very round, narrow, full in center and on the sides, even vertical fullness. I need bras that have a fairly high cup edge and a very rounded shape with a lot of immediate projection.
I don't remember accurately what the immediate projection was like in this bra, but it was definitely a shape mismatch. The Cleo Atlanta has much more of a Plunge style shape than a Balconette style shape, but this wasn't really specified anywhere as the bra was really new and didn't have a lot of reviews or talk in the bra circles.
Plunge styles generally don't work for me, the bottom of the cup wrinkles and i spill out the front. That was the case for this bra as well. Stretch lace isn't' really that helpful as I've come to realize over the years, and it was of no help here. The cups didn't have enough of a round, uplifting shape so my boobs were resting in the bottom of the cups and pushing them out from my body. In the side pictures you can see this happening.

The straps when clasped over the shoulders weren't super comfortable, and while they weren't directly UNcomfortable, it just wasn't super comfortable. The clasp was easy enough to clasp I think, but it was harder to unclasp than I'd thought.

Thoughts: Was really bummed out that this bra didn't fit since it was so incredibly cute in the photos. A good bra, but not for me.


Some custom measurements:
Strap length at max: 21.5cm
Strap length at min: 12cm
Lace panel length: 17cm
Magnet clasp strap: 18.5cm
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Chilli colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Oct 27, 2020 Flag this

Me: Tall, vertically shallow roots, not narrow. Center full/close set when supported. Soft tissue, relatively even.

This bra: A perfect fit except that the cup cuts in on both sides! It's common for me to have a bra that cuts in on my larger side for a mild quad-boob effect, but unusual that it's both. May be due to my root height or something about the elastic they used on the cup edge. I like the magnetic clasp back piece - it feels like it adds a touch more support. My shoulders are probably about average to slightly on the narrow side relative to my frame and boobs (god, ... isn't trying to objectively say facts about your body relative to the average hard??).

I also love the front-adjusting straps. The straps feel nice, not too stretchy. The interior of the bra has the side sling, plus that same soft mesh-type material on most of the cup and the band is comfortable as well.

Basically a great-looking bra, probably best for people who are about even tissue-wise. Not ideal for tall roots due to the elastic band thing along the edge of the cup. Might also not work for very FoT.

Edit: I'm considering buying this bra again and seeing if it would be a good candidate for removing the elastic on the cup edge (saw this trick on /r/abrathatfits), after checking the overall fit more closely.
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Petrol colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Feb 06, 2020 Flag this

What a pretty bra ! It's very trendy looking with its pattern and its deep autumn yellow color that photos can't quite show. The strong magnetic clasp on the back is another nice element that helps a little bit with strap support and that can be used for line drying the bra. I personally have fine motricity issues that force me to hook bras on the front and rotate them, but the magnet had no difficulty catching its opposite part all by itself on the back.
The band is true to size, but cups are a bit on the smaller side especially for Cleo. This is partly due to ... the inner mesh sling bringing breast tissue to front, and also due to the very firm elastic making cups very closed on top. Tall roots, full on top, and shapes that are both close set and center full might get a lot of quad boob with this bra. The elastic is great for my full on bottom and short roots though. I also have narrow roots, but the side sling helps keeping boobs firmly in place, so the pretty wide wires aren't a problem for me. The cups have a pretty good amount of immediate and apex projection.
The fabric is pretty but the lace is a little bit scratchy. The straps are only partially adjustable, and for this reason I think sister sizing probably wouldn't work with this bra.
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maple colorway

Updated on Jan 28, 2022 Flag this

Huge fan of this bra - it's a nice supportive plunge and racer back clip is really easy to do up and doesn't cause neck pain for me (frequent complaint for other convertible models).

It doesn't fit me anymore, but when I was a 30HH/32H, this was a great fit with the exception of the band which was really stretchy and a bit looser than other brands. 30HH would have been flawless but alas not available (model only goes up to H cup) so I made do with 32H.

Updated on Mar 06, 2024 Flag this

meet my favourite bra of 2019 - the atlanta plunge from cleo by panache. reviewe

https://thelingerieprincess.com/2019/12/11/review-atlanta-cleo-by-panache/

Petrol colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Oct 24, 2021 Flag this

I have this bra in red in a 28G, and I love it. I wear it with an extender so I thought the 30FF would fit perfectly. Undfortunately, I have to hook it in the middle column, so I'm sending this size back. I highly recommend this bra, though. I love the other one I have.

Petrol blue colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Jun 25, 2021 Flag this

I love this bra! (Technically, I should be wearing a 30FF, but I wear the 28G with an extender.) The stretchy lace makes it work, covering up small differences in size and also hides the fact that my FOB breasts might not fill up the top otherwise. The low gore is fantastic for close-set breasts, and my center-full breasts are also comfortably encased. I wish it came in more colors. While I like the magnetic clasp a lot (it's a very strong magnet), I'd prefer to have this bra with a more normal back/straps, so that I could wear it with everything (I'm not in my 20s, and probably should not be showing my bra straps!).

Chili colorway

Updated on Sep 04, 2020 Flag this

Fantastic bra. This one is a little too small in the cup for me. I'm going to keep the 28G I got & wear with an extender. (30FF would be ideal for me.) The stretch lace makes this so comfortable. The red is very pretty, and the back is gorgeous. The magnet is NOT hard to clasp, or you can just put it on over your head w/o unclasping. A winner!

Chili colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Aug 29, 2020 Flag this

Fits like a 30F (I originally purchased a 30F and sized up). I have tall roots, soft tissue, moderate projection and average root width. The underwire dug in hard with this bra, which is a common fit issue for me. I am guessing it is not quite projected enough. It's a gorgeous bra! Bummer.

Petrol colorway

Updated on Aug 15, 2020 Flag this