Great support in a beautiful pattern. I feel like it works well with fuller on the bottom breasts like mine.

http://www.bratabase.com/blog/2012/aug/29/hello-birdie-a-review-of-meg-from-c...

Updated on Sep 06, 2012 Flag this

Measurements for 28FF:

Stretched Band - 27"
Band Length - 22.5"
Cup Width - 6"
Cup Depth - 9"
Wire Length - 9.25"
Cup Seperation - 1.25"
Strap Width - 0.625"
Hooks - 2

If this were a full banded style it would fit better. Because of that the center gore shifts durring the day even though the band and cups fit. The wires get more ponted towards each other (if that makes sense). So an alteration is in order. I guess it just fans out too much for me. As a result this causes the tops of the cups to press into breast tissue (see photo os left side shot) making it appear there is quad-boob, ... but I know I'd be swimming in a larger cup size. A narrower center gore that is also taller will put the cups closer together at the bottom, giving more room in the tops of the cups and also a rounder look from the side. Similar to what a dart in the center gore would do...except there is no fabric on this bra to accomplish that. I hope to attempt to make this a full band style to fit my frame better, but if that's not possible then I will only be adding a taller, narrower center gore.

PROS:
Fabric is soft against the skin (for the most part. See cons below).
Smooth look, even with the top cup detailing. Under regular fitting shirts show through is not a problem.
Cute design. It's nice to see more t-shirt style options from European companies. They're finally getting with the times! =)
Narrower, smoother elastic. For me this is more comfortable as I find at times most styles from other brands like Freya irritate my skin. But this one will be better in the Summer for tanktops.

CONS:
Partial banded style, not as supportive as a full band. The underwires can be uncomfortable at times because they press on my ribs. This is only something that happens to me in this style of band, no matter what the size.
No side wings so if you have even the slightest bit of back fat the elastics will emphasize this because they (and the main fabric) are completely stretchy.
The only part of fabric on this that is uncomfortable is around the underarm. I've also read this in other reviews on shopping sites that it is bothersome. Hopefully that will go away from wash and wear. I think it has something to due with the type of elastic.
Center gore is super tiny!
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Updated on Jun 29, 2012 Flag this

Band is quite tight....I can fasten it, but when wearing the bra all day I prefer to use an extender to extend by one hook.

The cups are just a tiny bit too big for me, but I fear going to an FF would give me the quad look. If I do a larger "scoop" than normal I am able to fill the cups, so I guess it probably actually fits fine. I had to put a small ankle sock in the cup of my slightly smaller side to even out the asymmetry, but after doing that it fits nicely.

The center gore doesn't quite touch my sternum (it ... sits out enough that I can slide my pinky finger in), but even so it still gives a very good amount of support. If I push the gore in so it is touching my sternum, I found that it actually makes the cups fit just about perfect. (I'm wondering if the center gore could be bent slightly in, much the same way as some people bend wires away from their body.)

The straps are set pretty far apart, on the edges of the cups. As I have narrow rounded shoulders this design isn't ideal for me... I haven't had a strap slip yet, however I definitely feel potential for slippage. For a full day's wear I use my normal "strap holder" accessory in the back, which makes it work fine.

Profile view is very nice, with a great lift and rounded shape. View from the front is not wide at all. The seams can tend to show through certain shirts, but are invisible with others. I found several t-shirts in my closet that would work fine with it, so it is definitely a candidate for a t-shirt bra, at least for certain shirts. Also worth mentioning is that the colored stitching at the top of the cup is fairly flat, I didn't have any problems with it showing through the shirts I tried it with.

UPDATE: The Ariana has become one of my favorite bras. I can wear it all day and never have to "adjust" things. I have slightly bent the wires in the gore area in towards my sternum, and this has helped with the non-touching gore. Very comfortable and a great shape. Really like this bra!!!!
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Updated on May 18, 2012 Flag this

Cute bra with a (mostly) good fit. Cups fit nicely, although I do have just a wisp of overspill at the top on my larger side. Underwires are not un-comfortable. I did notice that one of the underwires in the center gore area, the top inch of it doesn't quite touch my sternum. This only happens on my larger side, the wire on the other side touches fine.

Profile view is nice and fairly rounded, definitely not pointy! I wish it was a bit more lifted, but it's not bad. View from the front is a *tiny bit* wider than I like, but not enough to be a deal-breaker. ... Bra does allow a little bit of bounce from time to time, not terrible, but it just does not keep you concrete still.

Straps are too far apart (which is an on-going problem for me), but the Lucy straps sit EXTREMELY far on the sides of the cups. Using a strap accessory in the back stops strap slippage, although the straps do slightly cut into the fronts of my armpits a bit (again, something that isn't extremely un-common).

Though the bra does fit, I have decided to return it as it's not exactly what I'm looking for at this point. I would definitely consider picking one up in the future, though.

(Just for reference, this review is for the Yellow color of the bra. It's very bright and cheerful!)
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This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Apr 17, 2012 Flag this

First impressions. I suspected this would run smaller like it's sibling cuts in other associated brands and stand vindicated.
Going over a bunch of recently outgrown bras, I overlapped Jasmine and this replacement Alexis, hung them together in front of a bright window yesterday with the cup seams matched up- there is nearly no difference in their pattern shape at all.
30J Alexis (equal to 28JJ) is 1 size taller than my 28HH Jasmines, and an entire 1"-1.5" deeper which adjusting jasmine up 2 cups, should make it run a half a cup to a whole size larger than Jasmine while sitting lower. Mostly this ... cup space is somewhere in Alexis' outer 2 panels. It doesn't look as evenly full in shape as Jasmine, since the side control causes the cups to tilt inward to increase inner depth- jasmine didn't pull that one me (other head trips yes but not this one). What Alexis has that Jasmine & Chi Chi hasn't... is decently low necklines (or any necklines when one is high set or very short torsoe'd). Yay. So what does it do?

Day 1 wear.
Totally in love with the height of the mini gore and plunge-balconette hybrid fit, holds everything in with some breathing room. Best of both worlds. There is a true stabilizing wing between the band and cups! At nearly 5.5" it is a tall wing, so naturally the wire feels oversized here albeit not digging at all which I'm chalking up to the band fitting me looser at 28.5" on the tightest hook. I'm highset and most of my breast is somewhere between my sides (very narrow over there) and just to the front of my shoulder (very wide upper body here) so a high enough wing to support- but not so high that it's forcing me to run around with my arms raised all day, is a big deal.
I'm not mad at this strap placement. It could be better for petites; different attachment point to cup, some j hooks, a way shorter upper side panel, better angle, etc. The straps are cute but feel cheaper compared to those on my 30H Cleo Kayla. Not swimsuit cheap but not as good as Cleo's done in the past. Personally I'm finding the armscye and strap aren't terrible for my everything-in-the-same-place-at-once, ie, armpit/sideboob/shoulder region. This could be down to pure shoulder width or the sheer volume of cup space available below that in an area I don't often get it, preventing boob overflow and consequential pinching (Della was quite good at this too, in it's own weird way). Do not mistake volume for shape, it only so happens to not be lifting, folding and squishing my outer half to oblivion (a surprisingly frequent and painful occurrence as bras seem to believe all breasts are simply some type of heavy batter, meant to be poured into the cups & easily take the same shape, rather than cups built to suit their inherent form).
Like earlier Cleo 3 piece halfcup shaping, Alexis side control panel is pretty much just a vague afterthought providing no depth nor making a real effort to hoist things UP AND AWAY forward, so typical shallowness on the outer side. You will not be finding much in the way of Ewa Michalak CHP open fullness here. The lower cup isn't for the bottom full so much as a generally wider rooted shape with even volume tapering up to apex, but it allows for a sort of 'relaxed seating' for a more projected shape to rest without vanishing into the depths of the cup. Being as I have a double helping of everything all at once at the wire to wide apex, the thin fabric is strained to accommodate without buckling and doing a pretty decent job of tolerating uncompressible tough tissue, allowing very little mobility when in motion which is like not having boobs at all, love that.

It's open keyhole gore is .5"- .75" wider than Jasmine's at the lower half, so the cups end up east-west and side set on me, wires sit on my lower inner breast (used to this with UK brands) which is squashed upward into the super stretchy lace that just clings for dear life... soon to cut in but oho not YET... swooping them out is to no avail, unlike comexim my inner area is once again compressed from a firm rounded shape into a weird flat triangle giving those lovely classic UK bra inverted trapezoid boobs we all love.
I don't care for cleavage or vavavoom fluff at the gore for sex appeal, but wonder sometimes if it's possible not having bulging toward my shoulders that looks extra sideheavy like (___/\___) with that extra helping of boob flattener at the gore (usually also below). It makes me wonder why the seams aren't more curved, or more panels added to round out the shape better? For someone who isn't especially inner full I feel really gaslit every time I finally track down anything that is supposedly good for giving the girls some space there.
Inner cup panel itself is basically the same cut and shape as the smaller sized Jasmine, so there's no improvement in depth there whatsoever. Guess they just scratched their heads as one does when solving a puzzle 'Hey toss me a lower cup piece that matches a 3" tall gore' 'Ok yeah no prob, here ya go' instead of asking themselves the bigger question of whether someone of fairly short and elongated 30J proportions is able to pinch themselves into that. I might have missed a fraction of an inch in measurement just at the wire, or a tiny difference in angle degree that would explain everything but like many of this company's offerings, same old thing. No fast moves. Trusty if nothing. So directly at the wire, outward to apex it appears to have only as much projection if not quite as much overall upper or inner fullness as the rather smaller 28HH Jasmine's inner panel. Wish they'd gone for a little bit more though. Pour one out for our homie, squished innertiddy.

Materials are so so silky, lightweight and fine which bodes well for summer; while Alexis feels invisible on a sweltering day I worry how things will go with swelling or higher humidity. It's cups upper elastic lace is very pretty and soft, no itchy seams to be seen anywhere at all. However this stretches about 50% while feeling like a whisper, barely noticeable which strikes me could feel pretty insecure for a taller breast. Clearly this is designed to forgive a multitude of design sins but it also comes with a price. On one hand I adore stretch lace above the cup and on the other I fear double quad and the crawling out with outgrowing- as usual for panache the lace fits generally tighter than I need, neither closed in nor open so we will all feel some way about this short-tight-stretchy bit before mumbling 'oh well, look at least the lace is pretty'.
I'm not excited about the chore of removing the tiny strip of superfine slinky lingerie seam elastic under the stretch lace to make the cup more natural/spacious. It's almost like a 1/8" version of the typical foldover elastic sold and used everywhere, but... not a foldover, just what we attach to sergers when sewing stretchy delicates that need reinforcement. Like most panache offerings of late, the zigzag stitch attaching it is microscopic! This gives a 1.5mm ridged 'tunneling' effect along the elastic on the inside of the cup, when it's stretched it is more pronounced... Not sharp or rough but this lowers percentage of 'give' on top to maybe 25% so upper cup ease allowance is up to 8" before the quadmonster kicks in- taller roots or fuller inner breasts may get in the way here, as the cup is much shorter.

I'll have to set this aside and do some fiddly work to introduce the cups to one another by way of sewing the keyhole gore closed, improve the strap situation somehow. What else am I missing here. In 2024 Bratabase has sized me somewhere between 28J-JJ-K-KK sizing with only comexim 55N (too small having already sized out of 60O awhile ago) but branching out back from polish brands that have been scarce pickins makes the hunt for super short, immediately full, extra deep, short narrow gored bras has me kind of confused about listed sizes vs their actual sizes (so many oddly large small lettered cups lately! so much crazy pushup cone boobage!)
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bluebell colorway

Updated on Aug 07, 2024 Flag this

This is what a bra 4 sizes too big looks like.

black colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Feb 25, 2022 Flag this

(For reference, I'm even to slightly FOB, short roots, close set, self supporting, somewhat narrow and very short/small framed. Best fitting size is 26FF.)

Loved this bra from afar for years & finally found one in a sister size, but the fit is a total disaster. I'm heartbroken because it's gorgeous!! 😭

The boned longline and 3HC cup shape are great. They are lined with soft cottony padding that's slightly thicker and less stretchy than Comexim's. The floral part of the straps aren't adjustable. The floral fabric in the front of the bra is lined with firm mesh, while the back is a very stretchy, slippery, white fabric.

Now for ... the fit.

The band: I bought this planning to alter it if the cups were ok, as is life for the 26-er on a budget. But stretching to 33" is a lot if you are looking for a 30 that fits like a 30.

The straps: Surprisingly close together! Wide set straps are my bane & these, even in a 30 band, were perfect.

The cups & wires: A bit large for a padded 30E at 9.5" depth. But the real problem is how the wires at the gore are angled to splay apart much higher up than my roots. I've encountered plenty of too-wide gores but this is the first time it was so bad I actually got in-gore quadding (illustration in the images) with boob spilling out between the wires under the fabric of the gore. It was painful even just trying it on. The cups gape a lot because they're sitting on top of boob rather than being filled with boob. If I hold just one cup in place so the wire sits correctly, the shape and volume are actually perfect for my bigger boob. Overlapping the gore wouldn't even help as the angle of the wires - not only the distance between them - is totally wrong for me.

Oh well, guess I'm running back to Comexim for any future adventures into half cups.
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Floral colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Oct 19, 2021 Flag this

I see why this bra is hyped up. I passed over this bra initially. The padded bright teal blue bra with polka dots and a bright orange trim seemed youthful compared to my usual black attire/lingerie choices. I now care about fit more than look and I am happy I considered this bra. I havnt been going for padded bras anymore, but this isnt too thick and doesnt have the bulky push up like my old VS bras do. I like the construction, there are two vertical seams connecting 3 sections. The gore may be about what I tolerate for height due to my inner fullness, but I ... think having closer/overlapping wires would bean improvement. The gore/wires are not cutting into my tissue really or pushing into my sternum painfully. After wearing for an hour or two, I notice half of the wire/gore looks like its lifting up a little on one side and not tacking perfectly, but I think it has to do with my bigger breast. I wish the straps were closer together but they tend to be spaced far apart in balconnets. I can wear this but the straps almost feel like they could slide off my shoulders and feel like they would be more comfortable moved in. The 28 band fits better than the 30 band Cleo Juna bra I just bought (and lost on an overnight trip.] I want to try some Polish Comexim bras, or maybe Ewa bras with the straps moved in. This bra is decent and I think I can wear it today, but it is not perfect for me. I am ok the hunt for a bra that works for me.

I am short and petite, narrow shoulders, projected, I think around a UK28G, I believe my roots are somewhat narrow, and due to asymmetry I think each breast has different roots. I use to be even with more top fullness and a larger cup and band size but I lost weight and now have more soft loose tissue on top that swells at certain times of the month or when I gain weight, otherwise I think I am even but functionally FOB with a lot of inner fullness when supported. My breasts seem to almost point slightly east west unsupported but once I support them they seem very close set. I use to wear VS push up plunges 36DD or 34DDD but I realized what a bad fit that was and I am on the hunt to find what works. It has been hard with fluctuating weight. I could try to augment the wires and straps on this but because the cups feel a little small I don't think I will and may eventually rehome this. Thanks!


EDIT: My shoulders ache, not sure if that is related after wearing a couple hours. This bra came used but is a 28 and doesnt seem too stretched, so I am not sure if the thin widely spaced straps are putting pressure in weird places, my back is already messed up though.
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Polka Dot, Teal, Mimi, 8091 colorway

Updated on Sep 11, 2021 Flag this

I like this bra, but the biggest thing I'd change is to make the wings a little taller. Even 1/4-1/2 inch taller would be a major plus. I prefer tall wings and underwire.
Oh well, I'll probably keep it still, it is very smooth under clothing. Seams are smooth. It's a nice summer bra because the cups are two layers of fine, non-stretch mesh. It is very supportive.

Updated on Jul 15, 2021 Flag this

Firm band, I'm a 26 and it's fairly alright for me. Good quality, not itchy in any way. Fits true to size, as a 28DD. Wires are way too wide for me, personally. Best for wide or average width. Projection is great, probably not suited for shallow breasts. Would be best suited for someone with upper fullness and average roots or someone with tall roots but it still works pretty alright for someone (me) with short roots/conical breasts. It's a very pretty bra, breathes well. All in all, I really like it!

Navy blue, red with floral and bird print colorway

Updated on Jun 14, 2021 Flag this

Thank you to sincerity for this bra! I've owned and loved several Marcies over the years, and this will be no exception. I'm a little too big for the cups right now because of gaining a couple pounds due to lockdown (and moving in with my wonderful home cook of a boyfriend), but it will probably be perfect once I go back to work and shrink back to my regular size! I had bought this bra in black in a 28FF from someone recently and it seemed to run large, or at least I had a ton of space in the upper cup, which is never a problem for me lol. But in 28F it seems to run similarly to my other Marcies. I'd say the cup volume is slightly smaller than my burgundy Marcie in 28F, but slightly bigger than my Periwinkle Marcie in "30E" (altered to fit like 26FF/28F). Bottom line, I'm looking forward to wearing this eventually and I'm sure it will be a regular part of my rotation!

Black colorway

Updated on May 17, 2021 Flag this

The Cleo Marcie has become a favorite ever since I got my first one, a Scarlet Red 28FF from Bravissimo in London. Sadly this older model doesn't have the same proportions, as the cup edge is lower and doens't seem to have the same cup depth despite being a sister size. The cups seem too small in general.

Quality wise it's excellent as I always expect from Panache. The band is firm, the cups are firm, nothing seems out of place and all the seams are where they should be.

When it comes to looks the Cleo Marcie is adorable, and this pink one is no exception. I prefer ... the newer styles but this one is still nice. The button in the middle of the gore isn't my thing, it's cute but not as stylish as the slim leopard bow on my red Marcie.

All in all, since this bra doesn't fit it's hard to give a very thorough review, but it's got all the Panache qualities I love. Which includes great quality, looks, design and feel. The fit isn't quite right but ah well.
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Pink colorway

Updated on Mar 01, 2021 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

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: Average projection. Fuller on bottom. Slightly wider left breast (I suspect this breast is also 1-2 ml taller than my other breast). Usually wear 28DD or 30D.

It's a cute bra but definitely not for me. It's comfortable and helps emphasize my waist. However, there's some serious side quad boob going on. The cups seem to mostly encompass my breasts; after I scoop and swoop, there is slight quad boob at the top of the cups but barely noticeable. Slight wrinkling in the cups, too. My wider breast seems to fill out the cup nicely but not so much for my other breast. I do think this bra might be for someone who isn't as broad-shouldered as I am. I think my broad shoulder contributed to the side quad boob.

Coral colorway

Updated on Jul 29, 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

Bought from another Bratabase user to take my first leap into the world of true bra sizes.

I took one look at the package and thought "Oh no there's no way I'm filling this out," and sure enough, the cups looked like they needed double the volume I had. I laughcried at my epic fail, threw the bra into the closet, and tried to forget that I spent money on it.

That was last week. This week I had the bright idea to tighten the straps so the cups would sit more flush with my body. It worked somewhat; now I just get normal gaping instead of hilariously towering walls. ... The tightened straps also caused the band to start creeping up, but I'm hoping that's just a natural symptom of stretchy Cleo bands because I already feel pretty snug in this 30. I probably could've accepted the fit had the cups been cut just an inch lower (I mean, this IS a halfcup bra yeah??). But sadly, I need to size down like the original owner did.

On the brighter side of things, this bra is amazing in every other respect! The main color is a very nice muted cerulean and the contrasting almost-neon coral isn't prominent enough to throw the whole balance off. It's more outgoing than my usual fare but still tame enough for my very vanilla taste. I have a narrow enough tacking gore for once in my life. Wires wrap comfortably, although tbf I've never found painful wires in any bra I've tried. The bottoms of the cups are filled out just fine. The straps don't dig in. But all of this just makes it more regretful that the bra doesn't fit lmao.
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Spot Print colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Jan 14, 2020 Flag this

Yay, finally this bra is mine! I've loved this design since I first saw it, but it was already discontinued by then, so it's taken me years to find one in my size. The one I have now I got from violetknight and it's in excellent condition.

The 32E is exactly the right size for me, and the fit is great, with one exception: I get some in cup quadding just above the horizontal seam. This is a new problem for me that has started to pop up after I lost weight and went down 2 cup sizes, especially in Cleo bras that used to ... fit me perfectly. I think it has something to do with the position of the horizontal seam that now cuts straight across my areola and the fact that there's less tension in the lace top part of the cup than there is in the stiffer, bottom part of the cup. I am going to attempt to fix this by taking in the lace part a little. Let's hope it works, because I love this design so much!
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Updated on Oct 26, 2019 Flag this