The band feels too tight. Maybe that is just because I normally wear a 42, but I don't like this feeling. The band rolls up when I move, around my rolls, but the bra doesn't actually move. The wires feel like it is poking in on the sides, and my fat is pushed into my armpits, causing uncomfortable rubbing. When I first put the bra on, my breast tissue was spilling out the cups, slightly, but as I moved around, the fat readjusted ( I think it really is fat, not breast tissue) so it was bulging under my arms instead. This is one of the only underwire bras I have ever put on that didn't feel like the wires were poking into my ribs when I bend over. The pictures look like the straps cut into my shoulders, but they do not, I actually have ruts on top of my shoulders if I am not wearing a bra, the straps are comfortable except in my armpits
Very tight in the band, and large in the cups, moreso than the regular deco. I'd ballpark the size as more like a 30GG deco. If you have trouble with the upper cup of the deco gaping, it will be likely be worse here because much of the cup depth is in the upper middle/outer area. The padding is also a bit more rigid (at least brand new it is).
The regular deco works for me largely because of the low centre gore and openness of the plunge, which prevents my general problem of not enough projection in cups near the gore. The higher gore here changes the bra so that the cups are a bit wider and more splayed, which fights my shape a bit, so the wires sitting too low. But this happens to me with every bra except for Ewa Michalak.
The bra is a great fit. As usual, due to the half cup/cup difference between my breasts, the right bra at times shows the slightest quad boob effect and the left cup has slight gaps, this is my desired fit since I do not want to mess around with silicone inserts for the smaller breast.
Freya underwires fit me snugly yet comfortably, and it is no different with this bra. No poking whatsoever.
The band fits comfortably on the first set of hooks and snugly on the second.
The shape is quite good too. The 28E - Freya » Gem Balcony Bra (1361) gives me a more natural shape whereas this is a bit more rounded without becoming semi-circular.
I don't really understand what's going on with the fit in this one... The tops of the cup gap, and they'd projecting my boobs forward, but instead of being really supported on the side they're sort of being made to hang towards the front. Very odd fit overall, with lots of space along the top-sides. I'm not sure what to make of it. (note: as I wrote this while wearing it, I started to get back pain, so it's a no-go for me!)
See my review for 32DD - Freya » Enchanted Plunge Balcony Bra (1571) for main review. This 30E is not as tight as the first 30E I tried - it's band length is more comparable to my other Freya plunge-balconettes rather than being a good inch shorter as the previous one was - and is pretty much wearable so far. I think I'll want to spend a few hours breaking it in before I try to wear it for a whole day!
Edit: So, this morning I decided to begin the breaking-in process, and I realised that this bra doesn't fit. At all. I get quad-boob on ...both sides, and on my smaller side there's also a fold between the main cup and the upper lace section. How did I not notice this before? It was only a few days ago that I bought it!
Anyway, after giving it some thought, I reckon the reason the Enchanted doesn't work for me is because it's expecting more top projection than my boobs have (I'm semi-projected on the bottom and shallow on the top even though I'm fuller on the top than on the bottom) so the space in the upper half of the cup is basically in the wrong place for me. I think this bra would work for someone with even fullness/full on top combined with upper and lower projection! Read more 122 more words
38J, Gore sticks out too far, I was able to put it on the tightest hook. Cups are too small. I measured the gore as being 4.25" high, and the cup separation as 1" wide.
Could you please add the measurements you mentioned to the bra's measurements? That way they can be used by others and incorporated into the system. thanks.
I've really been looking forward to getting my hands on this bra, ever since I read on missunderpinnings.com that it is meant to have longer underwires, and that should solve the only problem I typically have with Freya plunge-balcony bras: the wires being a bit too short on the sides. I saw on John Lewis's website that they have the Enchanted in stock, so I went along to my local store, and there it was! Instant gratification! (They have Curvy Kate on their website too, but never any in my local store.)
I picked up my usual Freya size of 30E and headed for the changing rooms, ...but when I put it on, the band was much too tight and the hooks were being pulled out. The wires were very distorted by the stretching too. Luckily they also had a 32DD in stock, so I grabbed that one instead, and it fits perfectly. It gives a remarkably rounded shape, and even jumping up and down wasn't enough to dislodge the band! I shall keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't stretch out too quickly.
Anyway, taking the measurements of the Enchanted, I find that its underwire isn't actually any longer than the one on - for example - the Secret Garden (which I have in a 30E) but it is fine, and contains my boobs on the sides perfectly well! As a bonus, it's also a very pretty bra. The orange highlights on white are very reminiscent of the Cleo Lucy (last season's colour, I think?) but the orange is a bit more subtle. Now I just need to get hold of the aqua and beige too - oh, and the black and pink when that comes out next season!
Edit: On actually putting it on in earnest and attempting to wear it while making breakfast, I found that the Enchanted is in fact too large for me in the 32 band after all! One side of the band turned over and the back rode up a lot. I still love the shape and the design, so I shall explain the situation to the sales lady at John Lewis and see if I can return it and see if there's a second 30E in the store with a band that's more suitable than the first one I tried. Read more 279 more words
This bra transfers all of the weight of my breasts to my back and distributes it over my back, which makes it one of the best bras I have found. The straps, which you can remove, are superfluous for weight bearing, but help to create a smooth line. There are two options for where you want to attach the straps, which allows me to attach the straps at the center-top of the cup rather than to the side, where so many bras these days for the large busted attach.
As an added bonus, I never thought I'd find a strapless bra.
The downsides: -the padded cups make my breasts ...look bigger, which I need like I need a poker in my eye. -It's a little restrictive around the ribcage. I am not a fan of the dried glue-like elastic that lines the bottom of the band, which leaves dents on my skin. -After a day of wearing it, I want to take it off in order to comfortably expand my ribcage.
Overall, I am more pleased with this bra than almost any other on the market, but I would still like to find better. Some of the other Freya longline bras would be promising except that they do not provide enough coverage of the top of my breasts, allowing for waay too much cleavage wiggle for me to be comfortable wearing them outside. Unlike them, this bra has enough coverage of the tops of my breasts.
My underarms hurt - especially the little spot right as it is going from the front of my chest to the actual armpit area. I get a bit of quad boob at the bottom and then it wrinkles some at the top. The cups are super wide. Also, the straps are wide on my shoulders, but I do have pretty narrow shoulders. I like the band stiffness (it's not too rigid or too soft). I do like the way it looks though (on me and like as a garment on a hanger).
This is one of the bras I bought when I was still clueless, but knew the 34DDs I was wearing weren't right. I knew I should have been in a bigger cup size, but I tried on this bra in every size from 30F to 30G and 32E to 32G and kept coming up with crumpling at the base of the cups. I had no idea how to interpret this at the time, so I kept the one closest to the size I was used to. Even in the correct size, I still get creasing at the bottom of the cups in this style.
This pretty black halfcup balcony bra is only lightly padded an makes a very round and uplifted shape, including some notable cleavage. I specially appreciate the little details like the lace flower application on the center gore bow and the little bows on the straps. The fabric covered straps are considerably broad and not very stretchy but fully adjustable.
As Freya bands are said to run looser than other UK brands I decided to order this bra both in the 28'' and 30'' Band which proved to be the right decision. If you are between bands I probably would go for the smaller band.
Personally I don't like the fabric covering the straps and cup outside very much. It's not as smooth as I would like underclothes to be. The padding on the contrary is very soft. All in all it's a reasonably comfortable and nice looking bra. Nevertheless this will definitely not become my favourite everyday bra.
Interestingly, 28E also fits, and I can't figure out if it's better or worse than 28DD. It's a bit more coverage than 28DD, and it does a better job of enclosing and smoothing the underarm jiggle. However, while it fits and supports, it isn't tight enough to lift and contribute to cleavage. I guess there's a tradeoff between underarm smoothing and lift?
I got close to returning this, but realized that this might be the slightly larger bra good for that time of the month.
Love the idea of a longline! However, the cup is either too small for me or too shallow. As a result, the bra slides down throughout the day. The hooks at the back take *forever* to get done, but once they are done up it looks amazing. Definitely "cakes on a plate" look. I do get some cutting in on my larger breast so I'd like to try the style in a larger cupsize.
This bra is really comfy, and gives a nice rounded shape. It reminds me of the Deco (on me) in a lot of ways - somewhat cleavagey/plungey, great shape, some side spill, gaping at the straps but larger boob quads right at the gore. I consider both still wearable for non-work activities. A size up may fix the center and side spill, but the strap gaping would intensify.. ick. Cups are certainly a little shallow but not by much. The underwires at the sides are quite low on me, they are lower than Deco and pretty much anything else I've ever tried.
This bra is considerably softer and ...more comfortable than the Deco. The underside of the straps (touching skin) is very soft, as are the cups. I don't normally consider comfort/softness, but this one stands out to me.
In person, I like Marvel less than in the model photos - there is no sheer mesh on top, instead there is fishnet-like mesh laid directly onto the cups. The purple polka dots are less impressive in my opinion - photos made me think of space, these are fairly basic by comparison. Not bad though. Read more 86 more words
This is a plain nude bra with soft, molded cups. It captured all of my breast tissue on the sides, but did not work for my shallow breasts as there were gaps on the top of the cups. The band seemed a bit loose. There is light padding (non-removable) at the bottom of the cups.
I think the new season Deco colours are stunning. For some reason I seem to accidentally accumulate pink bras. I don't hate pink, but it's not exactly my favourite colour (hmm, come to think of it I have literally NO pink items in my wardrobe that aren't underwear). It just so happens that the last couple of bras that seem to fit me well happen to be pink (Cleo Maddie and Freya Ashlee half cup - both fairly similar candy sweet shades). Whilst the 30E Maddie is fairly new and still fits well, I've outgrown my 30DD Ashlee and am into unfortunate quad-boob territory. So when I saw ...the new Topaz Deco Honey and the Cobalt Deco (both about a million miles away from the candyfloss pink of my current go-to bra) I was super excited! It was lust at first sight. So, my relationship with Deco - I have a Taylor which fits fairly well, and a Firecracker Honey which I got form another Bratabase user and is too small. I know the Deco range are said to have narrow wires and are better for FOT, projected shapes, the COMPLETE POLAR OPPOSITE to my shallow wide boosoombas. I was just about coming to the realisation (enter Maddie) that although I wanted the Deco to work, maybe it just never would be quite right....and having to look for other T-shirt bras became my quest. However, my local House of Fraser actually (shock horror!) had both these new Deco designs in MY SIZE!! (30E) So I figured I would try them, just to remind myself of what I already new - fit ok, but not great - wires too narrow, cups too deep. BUT - ooh something has changed! Both the topaz and cobalt now have a seamed edge to the cups. It's slightly raised (which I thought may defeat the whole object of a smooth bra, d'oh!) and gives the cups a neat, finished look, which aesthetically I think I prefer to the Decos/Deco Honeys pre-this season. I've heard that the Flamingo also had this. So... I think it has really improved the fit. Less gaping that before, slightly more contoured to the boob....even, surely not, a less tall (shorter?! https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":-D" />) cup - all the things it's known for, and all the things that don't work for me. Maybe even (gasp!) wider wires?! Hmm maybe this is just me getting all excited and carried away...but overall, for me the fit is pretty excellent now. Deco Honey has retained a lot of the things I previously liked - firm, thick-ish band, thick fully adjustable straps, simple classic design but with gorgeous twists (ooh the buttons, eek the lace! etc). The colour is great as a light coloured alternative to white/nude bras. Wore it for the first time today and it may take a few wears to adjust the straps to the perfect length, I noticed there is still some gaping when I sit in odd positions or move around a lot, and the raised trim is probably a touch more visible that before, but I think the change is definitely a positive one for me. I will review the Deco Cobalt once I've worn it, but it seems nigh on identical to this one in terms of shape and measurements. Woop indeed. Read more 445 more words
Alas, a plunge bra that works for my wide-rooted, shallow boobs... but it's not aesthetically pleasing to me.
Pros: The wires are wide enough for me. I don't have quadboobing or gapping (unless I really hunch my shoulders forward. I like that has some padding, but not too much.
Cons: Not a fan of the material. There is some strangely textured striped fabric going on. The cottony knit stripes are an odd contrast against the smooth nylon/polyester fabric. The seams do show up a bit under clothing. One hook per column. Not a huge deal for me, but I could see it being an issue for people with larger boobs.
The cups are very very shallow! Also the cups are hilariously huge on my tiny frame. My ideal size is 26D/DD so the cups are too tall/wide for me and gap at the top where I don't have much breast tissue. There is no center gore, so the front of the bra just floats above my sternum. Since the cups are so shallow, it doesn't seem like the bra would provide very much support for someone who's a true 28D. However, the bra itself is very comfortable.
Another issue for me is one of my breasts is half a cup smaller than the other, and it really shows in this bra where the center gore would be. On my smaller side, the cup doesn't get pushed out as far as my larger side, so the cups look uneven due to the lack of structure in the bra itself. Keep that in mind if you have uneven boobs like me.
I love this bra. The cups are deep and roomy at the base. The wires are the perfect width and height for me. The band is true and not overly stretchy. The amber colored embroidery on the black base is beautiful. The whole thing comes off as very lovely and sensual, but for me, comfort is key, and this is a 10-12 hour day bra.
The only issue I have is that the straps slip of my shoulders a bit, but honestly, I have yet to find a bra that did not have this issue. I will definitely buy this again in the next color range.
I think this would be closer to your size. Maybe a 40 band would be more comfortable?