Before wearing this bra for an extended period of time (four-five hours), I would have left a glowing review of it. Yes, even before then I was aware that the band was too tight for me without an extender, and that the sides were high enough to be uncomfortable. But the uplifted shape it gave my boobs and the comfort of the rest of the construction (I could barely feel the gore! The underwires were so padded that I couldn't feel them either!!) persuaded me that its flaws were ignorable.
After four hours of wearing this bra, I never wanted to wear it again. With a couple more bad ... bra experiences under my belt, I think I can definitively say that it's not the right bra shape for me-- not in the cups, necessarily, but in the band. I have a high stomach (i.e. a sort of raised/rounded pad of fat that sits high on my stomach), you see. I'm starting to think that bras that don't have enough give below the gore are just not going to work for me comfort-wise. It's like the weight of my breasts will distribute along the front of my band only if there's nowhere else for it to sit, but they'll happily focus on that point where my stomach meets my sternum if the bra is cut to allow for that.
It's either that, or I have an oddly-shaped ribcage, and that's why it feels like a lot of otherwise well-fitting bras seems to put weight on that point. Either way, I'm going to find some way to unload this bra asap, because it's just not quite there.
-- Miscallaneous points:
- What people have said about the band on this being firm is true. If you're in-between bands like I am, I would try going up a band to see if that is more comfortable. Otherwise, if you can manage with an extender, this bra will definitely get you more wear in your "correct" size. And despite the initial, impossible-feeling tightness, it *will* stretch. I went from barely being able to hook myself into a 30 band sans extender to being able to do it fairly readily.
- The shape is awesome, especially for a sports bra. However it does mean that if you have FF+ boobs, they will be in the way of your arms a bit because of how evenly the bra places your boobs in the cup.
- The sides are really freaking high. That would probably have been the eventual end of this bra for me if I hadn't had the just-below-sternum problem, but I don't think I'd have minded coping with it as much.
- Boob movement is, I think, inescapable at larger cup sizes in this bra. A bit of movement didn't feel uncomfortable when I'd just put it on, but after a few hours of wearing it... *shudders*. Suffice it to say that if this bra is not perfectly comfortable on you to begin with, you probably shouldn't expect to do high-impact stuff comfortably after more than an hour of wear.
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Updated on Jan 10, 2013 Flag this
It looks great! After you posted your review for the black lace one, I looked for one. eBay has a new one for a good price in 30h Incase you want one in this size!