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ETA - a few months later, I've gained a bit of weight and have to admit that this bra just doesn't have enough projection for me. I can wear it just fine, but I constantly feel like I'm about to fall out the bottom and it's just a bad sensation. Still a lot to love about this bra for someone that it suits better.
TLDR - It's narrow! It's projected! It has short, soft(er than Panache) wires! It comes in a 32 band! It's FREAKING BANDLESS! If you like Panache Envy but want shorter wires and can tolerate a wider gore, BUY THIS.
I'm kind of in love with ... this bra. It has a lot of the things I love about Panache Envy Balconnet Bra (7285) , while not being Panache Envy (variety is the spice of life, also, jfc, the WIRESSSSS). Did I mention it's bandless?
First awesome Envy-like feature: the left to right seam that is almost completely horizontal. In bras that have a more diagonal seam along with a mesh or lace upper portion of the cup, I find I get pillowing/in cup quadding where the mesh/lace and other material meet. I'm not sure how the seams are causing this or why a horizontal seam works better, but it definitely does.
Second awesome Envy-like feature: stretch lace upper portion of the cup is not lined with any sort of ribbon or elastic or other material. While this often helps create a nice rounded shape, it acts like a rubber band on my soft tissue and creates another type of in cup quadding.
(I am not 100% sure that a horizontal seam in and of itself has that much effect on fit for me, but every bra I have tried with a horizontal seam and no elastic at the top of the cup has also had very firm fitting stretch lace/mesh, which seems to have something to do with pulling my tissue away from the seam and avoiding the pillow/bubble/in cup quad there. In something like Cleo Hettie Balconnet Bra (9011) that has a horizontal-ish seam, firm mesh but also elastic, I get LESS pillowing at the seam but it's still there. Shoutout to cupandahalf for talking some of this out with me on another review. Anyway, where was I?)
Here's where this bra beats Envy: THE WIRESSSSSSSSSSSS. They're shorter so no poking, and soft so the not exactly tacking center gore isn't painful. There's a good half to 3/4ths of an inch gap at the end of the wire channel, which allows for the wings to be taller and hold in my side squish.
The gore is a little wide for my average set but center full breasts - it's just barely short of an inch wide at the top. However, the gentle wires and accommodating stretch lace mean I can kind of just scoot things around and be comfortable and contained.
I have no issues with the quality of the bra. The print is kinda whatever for me - I suppose it's romantic in a noir sense? It could look pretty sexy with the right pair of panties, I guess. The embroidery kind of has an odd feel on the outside. It feels just like a very old, very nice embroidered arm chair at my grandmother's house. I'm pretty sensitive to textures and how things feel and it's exactly like that. You can't feel it at all on the inside of the cups, thankfully, just touching the outside.
I would be happy if the cups were 14" deep. At 13.5", they feel just deep enough. I did a bit of yoga in this bra and didn't feel like I fell out too much, but I haven't done anything really physical yet.
This isn't a full coverage bra, but it's not going to give you a ton of cleavage either. I haven't seen Elomi calling it a balconette, full coverage or anything, just a "bandless" bra. I felt comfortable wearing it under a v-neck t-shirt from Target, but if you're TRYING to get cleavage, look elsewhere.
Lastly, I hope this review was helpful. If there's anything I could do better or information you'd like to see. I know my reviews tend to be a bit long, but I like to cover everything that seems relevant about a bra.
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Updated on Dec 06, 2017 Flag this
Awesome!!! Looks lovely!!