MY SHAPE: round, projected, even, tall roots, close set, on the narrow end of average root width.

THE TAKEAWAY: Marcie shape + stretch lace = a winner for those who are even/FoT/or tall-rooted. Those who are FoB or have short roots might get a pointy shape with this. Comfortable and smooth interior cup fabric and stretch lace; good for those with sensitive skin. Band is stretchy; consider sister sizing down.

DETAILS: Stretch lace is love. Stretch lace is life. I can see why this comes recommended as a starter bra for those beginning their ABTF journey! I get a lovely rounded Marcie shape in this but with the added benefit ... of stretch lace, which is perfect for 1) dealing with a touch of asymmetry 2) my tall roots and 3) monthly size fluctuations. Other than the band running a bit loose (we can add Hettie to stack of Cleos with stretchy bands - ahem, Bluebell Marcie, plus all colorways of the Della and Blake), I have no major fit complaints. Hettie doesn't have a side sling, but it definitely pushes my breast tissue to the front. I would say that it minimizes the *width* of my bustline by moving the tissue to the center. In larger cup sizes, you might end up TOO front and center/busty for your liking.
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Black/Pink colorway

Updated on Nov 02, 2016 Flag this

Hettie is a bra that I fell in love with the moment it was first announced last year, but was wary about, due to all of the conflicting info about what cut it'd be the most like. As a result, I missed out on the cobalt blue one, only to learn that it should be almost perfect for my shape. Sigh.

My shape: very narrow, very projected, very short roots. I need all of the space imaginable near the wire. UK bras generally cannot accommodate my shape well. Hettie doesn't do so perfectly, but it does do a damn admirable job at it, enough where I'm putting it ... at my best UK fit.

The bra itself is gorgeous, and the quality of the materials is surprising for a Cleo bra. The inner lining is very soft, not scratchy at all. The outer mesh is very smooth and shows just enough of the hot pink to make this lovely deep magenta color. The straps are lined with a thick, fleecy material. The stretch lace on the top has a subtle but pretty pattern that reminds me of crochet. The metal hardware is the same hot pink of the lining, and the bow on the gore is black and hot pink. All in all, it creates a very striking look, and is very comfortable to wear. It also looks a lot more grown-up than most of Cleo's offerings, and that's with it being hot pink!

The fit on me is not 100% perfect. I'm disappointed that Hettie wound up being wider than I had expected. That said, basically every UK bra is too wide for me, so I don't really count it as a huge deal. The gore is just a bit too wide and sits on breast tissue; I may narrow that at some point. While the cups are very closed in on top (excellent for me!), I do get a bit of gaping in the top near the gore. Not enough to be visible through a shirt or for me to really care, but it's there. Again, something I can probably alter to fix. The band is surprisingly stretchy for a Cleo band, but not enough where I'd want to size down. It still feels nice and snug once on, on the loosest hooks.

It does, however, sit in my IMF. I cannot stress how big this is for me enough - I have an extremely hard time finding bras that can do that, due to the fact that my boobs just demand *so much* room at the bottom of the cup for them. No UK bra I've tried, not even my precious Elomi Etta which was, previously, my best UK fit, can do that. Only my Comexim 3HCs can reliably stay in place. But Hettie can do it. And Hettie will stay there all damn day. I am incredibly impressed. And that makes me willing to ignore all of the other minor fit issues and decide this to be my best UK fit.

The shape is a bit on the pointy side, especially on my smaller breast. But I'm not surprised by or disappointed by this; I've seen the bra described as a mix between Envy and Jasmine, so I expected some pointiness. This is also a description that I'd say is 100% accurate - it's got the bottom depth of Envy with the shape of Jasmine, just compressed into a shorter area. I could probably get a more rounded shape if I sized down a cup but...ehh. It's not terribly important to me.

The one thing that bugs me about it is the lining and elastic on the stretch lace that's present in the GG+ cups, and hence in this one. I feel like it's probably unnecessary (I say as someone at the top of Cleo's size range), and that without it the top of the cup could probably conform to my shape better. It also hides the pattern on the lace. But, ehh. It's not a dealbreaker. It's just a small annoyance. Also, as ever, I wish that Cleo would do three-hook enclosures in larger cup sizes, but two still works okay.

Basically - love this bra.
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Pink colorway

Updated on Sep 28, 2016 Flag this

This is a beautiful bra, first of all. I'd wanted it for months but didn't want to shell out so much money for it at the time, especially since I don't seem to have much luck with unlined bras and knew it wouldn't quite fit perfectly. I ended up getting it on sale for a great price, but I'm happy that I waited because, of course, it doesn't quite fit perfectly.

This bra has a similar shape, fit, and construction as Cleo Minnie Balconnet Bra (7431) . The bottom half of the cup is a solid fabric with a mesh overlay, and the top half of the ... cup is stretch lace.

And there is where we run into problems.

There is simply too much lace, which makes the bra way more open at the top of the cup than it needs to be. There's so much extra lace that adding the stretch feature just seems like a cruel joke. It's looks great when you first put it on and get all your scooping and swooping and adjusting taken care of, but no dice if you plan on doing anything but standing still all day. As I sit here with posture my mother would probably be only slightly disappointed in, the lace is wrinkling, flopping, and sticking out about an inch for each cup. The solid/mesh part of the bra fits flawlessly, though. I'm going to go ahead and say that this bra, like Minnie, was likely designed for FOT girls, which is disappointing as I am FOB and Cleo's unlined bras are some of the cutest I've ever seen. I'm going to try altering this bra to make it more closed on top, so I'll have another review once that's done.

In terms of the rest of the bra, it's pretty standard for a Cleo. The 30 band fits like a 28 and does not offer much stretch--perhaps they should have made the band stretchier and the lace less so. The center gore sits down perfectly and is comfortable if not a little high (it pokes once in a while but for the most part I don't feel any discomfort while wearing the bra), the straps are a reasonable distance apart and fully adjustable, and the cups handle my wide-rooted breasts just fine without coming up too high under the armpits. It's a very lightweight and comfortable bra (which is great as summer just started and it is very hot). Actually, it feels about as light as or lighter than some of my bralettes, but there is still surprisingly good headlight coverage (as long as you keep them in the solid/mesh part of the bra).

This is easily one of the...This is the prettiest bra I own. The solid fabric, the straps, and the hardware are a gorgeous cobalt blue, and the blue part of the cup has a black mesh overlay with little dots cut out so the blue comes through like polka dots. The lace is black and very pretty and soft, the band is solid black, and there's a tiny hot pink bow in the center gore. It fits well under shirts and actually isn't visible, even under white (but if the shirt is sheer, you're on your own). On top of that, it makes the girls look fabulous! Not squished in the least, but also not pointy, and it seems like they even offer a little lift, though that might just be my imagination. Rest assured I'd be wearing this thing way more often if not for the issue with the lace. If you're looking into this, I would strongly recommend +1 band size and -1 cup size from whatever you were measured as. (For me, I'm measured as a 28G and got the 30FF.) Like Minnie, if the lace being too open is your only problem, I would strongly advise against sizing down to get the lace to fit, because then you'll just end up with a cup that is tragically small... and still too much lace.
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Updated on Jun 26, 2016 Flag this

Aesthetically, I really like this bra. It is a hot pink laminated bottom cup overlaid with a black mesh. The top portion of the cup (in my size, and in GG+ sizes) is a layer of stretchy black mesh overlaid with stretchy black lace. It has pink hardware, and a black and pink bow on the center gore.

Fit wise, this bra is narrow, very deep, and best for evenly full breasts. It has a pretty wide center gore but it does have a pretty good amount of room at the center. I will probably narrow the gore at some point, just because my breasts are fairly close set. The shape is the tiniest bit pointy on me, probably because it is so deep. I don't mind it. https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />

I had to size down from 32GG to 30H. Part of that may be that this bra is a little stretchy, but I think this is mostly due to my underbust measurement having gone down from 31" snug to 30".

Black/Pink colorway

Updated on Aug 19, 2016 Flag this

This one is really quite awesome! It has a stretchier band then Marcie in the same size. Could be the color of Marcie (I have it in Tangerine which seems snug) Hettie gives a me a nice rounded shape but not as lifted as Marcie. Could be due to the stretch lace on top too?!? Also I held them up to each other the wires seem to be identical except the cup space in Hettie is slightly more. I really think it’s super comfortable I seem to have problems with bras staying put at my IMF. It’s painful when they slide because the wires dig into my ribs, This has not given me any pain and has stayed put. I’m curious if I tried another size if it would be better or worse? But for now I’m holding onto this unless I find a better match! My adventure continues but I’m glad I have a keeper.

Updated on Jun 19, 2018 Flag this

I bought this bra in 30GG (aqua) and 32G (black), and they fit so differently they might as well be different bras. 30GG is a great fit apart from being a tiny bit too wide and some in-cup quadding. 32G is way too wide with super wide-set straps, and I can't fill out the lace portion at the top, which results in a pointy shape.

Besides apparently being a completely different cut despite being only one sister size different, there are a few differences in construction between the two as well due to the jump from G to GG. The 32G has thin straps; the 30GG has thicker straps that are padded on the front half. The 32G has one layer of thin stretch lace; the 30GG has a completely different lace reinforced with power mesh underneath.

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Feb 08, 2021 Flag this

As the other reviews mention repeatedly this bra features the Cleo Marcie Balconnet Bra (6831) cut with stretch lace in the upper part of the cups. For my FoB breasts this combination is just about perfect. I get Marcies very round and uplifted shape minus the problem with the not always smoothly adjusting upper lace.
I particularly enjoy the soft lining of the cups. Its bright pink color combines very nice with the dotted outer black mesh layer to a beautiful textured burgundy shade.

Overall it fits and feels like a more forgiving version of the Marcie. Though depending on the top and the day I still may prefer the latter as the Hettie can sometimes feel a little wobbly due to the suppler materials it is made of.

Pink/Black colorway

Updated on Jan 12, 2018 Flag this

I really like the Hettie. It was actually the first bra I got when I bumped up to 30H--I had a pink one that's now worn out. Hettie has decently narrow wires, is decently projected, and in GG and above cups, it has an extra layer of stretch lace, which I really enjoy. I do wish it had 3 instead of 2 hooks, but it's not a big enough deal to bother me.

Over all, a really nice, comfortable bra for my shape! Still having my recent slight gaping issue with this one--a bit more noticeable on my smaller side. The pictures are definietly exaggerating the amount of gaping ... though.

I also /really/ like the black on me. My camera doesn't though--my very light skin paired with the black bra confused it, so sorry if some of the pictures are weird. I think the little dots are cute, but if you don't, they're very faint.

Final thing I'll note is that, at least on my body, the Hettie is really creaky (this was the case with the pink one I had before too).
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Updated on Jan 24, 2021 Flag this

Since my 28FF Marcie gave quad boobs but the Envy was fine, I concluded that 28FF is my size, but I need the stretch lace for my top fullness. So, I ordered this bra which is supposed to fit my projected, fuller on top & centre boobs, with tall and narrow roots, close-set and soft tissue.

I'm not sure what's happening here - are the cups too big or the wrong shape...? I'm having lots of wrinkles on the mesh portion of the cups. Despite this, I feel supported and my boobs look good. The cups are deep and narrow, and the stretch lace definitely accommodates my top fullness. The band is snug and nice.

Black colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Jan 16, 2021 Flag this

The Cleo Hettie in 34GG is the closest I've found yet to a bra that fits, but it's not quite perfect for me.

The band is perfectly snug on the loosest hooks (only 2 x 3 rows, but felt fine).

The straps are long enough for me (but I'm pretty short at 5'4 so check the photo of the back to see how much adjustment you may get). However the straps are set too wide for me (as always with my 11.5" frame width) and they cut into my TOS/tissue too much unless I'm only standing with my shoulders back and not moving at all. I ... could see about getting them moved in; I think I'd want to also reduce the height of the side panels. (Correction: it's not really the side height that's an issue Upon closer look it's only where the strap meets the wing that digs in.)

The gore tacks great! It's significantly taller than what I'm used to (been wearing plunges) so that would take some getting used to.

The cups are ACTUALLY NARROW enough for me. (A first after trying about 12 "narrow" bras!)

The cup tops fit my larger breast pretty well (but over a few minutes it did start to show a bit of gaping) and there is space at the top of the smaller breast (enough that I'd need a cookie). The cup bottoms both have some wrinkling. (Still trying to determine if that's a wire projection deficiency or some other shape/size issue; I do have mild ptosis and I'm trying Polish bras next.) I don't think I can get alterations to deal with the wire gap and I'm concerned that over time it would press into my rib flares, so I think it's not a close enough fit to keep.

The seams and upper gap do show a bit under a shirt, but I'd still wear it.

Overall I'm really impressed, it's just not my unicorn.
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Black colorway

Updated on Jan 04, 2021 Flag this