Looks: The build of the bra is solid with nice lace detailing and velvet straps, both under the bra and in the back. I love the amethyst color and the velvet straps, as I feel like it's a softer, more romantic take on the strappy trend. Very pleased with the design.
Quality for price: The lace seam on the right cup is mis-sewn and folded over, and there are a few loose threads on one of the harness straps that may be unraveling. Not what I expected for an $88 bra, to be honest. I don't know how common these defects are, but I'm working with Journelle CS to ...see about replacing or exchanging this bra for one without these issues.
Fit: Getting this on the first time was... a challenge. It's not immediately apparent how the straps are supposed to fit, so I had to google a picture of the bra being worn to sort it out. I also needed to adjust and re-adjust the back harness straps several times before I found a good length for them.
I would describe my shape as even to FoB, projected, and very close set. I get a tiny bit of quad boob when I first scoop and swoop, but my breasts settle into the cups evenly after a few minutes of wear. While a touch too tall for my breasts (the wires sit about 0.5-1cm below my IMF), the cups themselves are comfy, and the harness back and under strap is no problem thanks to being made of velvet. However, this bra comes up much higher under my arms than I expected from stock photos (likely of smaller sizes), and the lace edging rubs a bit uncomfortably. I haven't had this issue with any other bras I've tried on. Other than the too-tall cups, I think this fits reasonably true to size.
Overall, it fit better than I expected it to - full bust sizes are tough for indie brands to nail successfully, but despite a couple issues, I think this is pretty good! I look forward to wearing this with loose-fitting tops that show off the velvet-strapped back. I wouldn't want to wear this with any tight tops, as the lace seam on the cups is raised and visible.
Okay, it's beautiful. It does not work for me at all.
I think the cups are a little too big on the whole -- it's a mystery exactly what size this is supposed to be, as it's labeled "32e UK/US, 70e EU" which as far as I know is two different sizes. Anyway, it feels like at least a 32e to me, maybe a little big for that. It has super wide and tall cups in a stretchy lace. I tried tightening the straps to fix the wrinkling in the cups, and it flattened my breasts against my chest and poked my armpits with the underwires. Boo.
It's a longline. I should not keep trying to wear longlines. Maybe it's my short-waistedness, but longlines always bunch up or flip up or some way do not sit flat for me. This one is completely not boned, so it bunches up immediately and looks silly.
It's comfortable as long as I don't tighten the straps all the way, but I think it's mostly comfortable because it has no structure.
Okay, so this fabric is a lightweight printed mesh, and it's very stretchy. The straps and contrast black detailing is all stretch velvet, which is lovely but also attracts lint a bit. I just don't feel entirely held in by this bra, sadly, as it's gorgeous.
Cups are too shallow, consequently, they: sit about an inch below my IMF at the bottom, flatten my breasts, and cut into the tissue at the top. Gore's too wide. Not comfortable because one of the cups has to ride up on breast tissue. Band too large. If I hold the wire up to my IMF, though, the shape follows my IMF almost perfectly--I'd only have to bend it in vertically at the gore, to accommodate a narrow bridge. I find the fabric to be itchy, but I'm pretty sensitive.
I've had the Winona for a couple of years and barely worn it, sadly, although I love the style and wish all my bras were this cool-looking. Lonely is definitely my aesthetic - minimal, solid colors, light, edgy, subtly sexy. But at around a 28F, with soft tissue and somewhat "swaying" (my preferred alternative to "saggy") breasts, I can't really do bras with no support. (Except around the house, which is 85% of the time.) The Winona offers some potential support via the underwire and wide (velvet!) cross straps. It's mesh and there's one diagonal seam, so not a lot of lift. There's considerable space between the cups ...and nothing to pull the breasts center-ward, so I get a pronounced E/W splay. This is probably exacerbated because at a 30, the band is too big, and everything too far apart on me. The wire is too high on the outsides and digs into my armpits. The cups aren't deep but they would probably work for more projected breasts, since the mesh is stretchy. Some people have complained it's hard to get on--not a big deal, but I could see avoiding it if I'm feeling impatient. But the major dealbreaker is the the top cutting in and wrinkling if the straps are tightened appropriately. When I put it on with the straps tightened, it looks OK at first, but then after a few seconds of settling there's the ol' quadding/wrinkling. In these pics I've loosened the straps excessively to smooth out that effect, at the expense of my breasts hanging lower. This takes the support from a 2-3 to a 0 on a scale of 1-10, in other words, this is what I look like without a bra. I can imagine women with less sway would get a better effect... Read more 191 more words
