As promised, here's your in-depth review!

Here's what you should know: The band is QUITE tight. I realistically could not even get it to stretch to 31 in. If you're between sizes, choose your larger band size. In my pics you can see it gives me a much bigger bulge under the back band than most of my bras do, I may end up putting an extender on it for a while. As I expected since it's Panache and not Cleo, compared to Marcie it doesn't fit radically different but it is, as we say, "more bra." Here's a comparison pic: imgur.com/g1cVpdo. The gore and wings are ... higher, and it's a little taller in the cups, a little bit wider wires, probably closer to the cut of Floris but the fabric makes it very different--I'll talk about that in a sec. Even tho it was taller in the cup than my Marcie, I found it still worked for me even with short roots because it seems more closed on top. If Marcie/Floris didn't work for you because you're too FOB, I would say give this a shot.

The biggest change from any of the Panache/Cleo 3-part balconettes that have come before it is that the bottom section is made from a stiff reinforced (laminated?) type mesh. Instead of being made for shape, this one is made for total support. Those in small cup size might find the construction excessive for the amount of support they need. I'd speculate it could give some back pain relief to the J-K crowd cause the stronger fabric really lifts you from the root. The downside is that since it's stiffer it doesn't mold to the body as well, so it's a tad wrinkly, but it wouldn't be visible except under tight clothes (and I wouldn't wear this with a tight shirt anyway because of the lace). Unlike last year's Olivia whose fabric was so stretchy I thought it would only work for those with very firm and full breasts, this fabric is so stiff I would highly recommend it for those like me with very soft breasts who need a little help being shaped, or those with pendulous breasts who need a lot of lift.

The shape is markedly more pointy than the Marcie, at least on me as someone with somewhat conical breasts. As you can see in my pics the "peak" is apparent through clothing. I'm not bothered by this--especially because it gives A LOT of forward projection--but those who dislike a pointy shape might want to stay away, at least until we see how it looks on someone with rounder breasts.

As for its appearance it's absolutely lovely. They describe it as Pink/Grey but to be more specific it's like a dusty rose base with sort of bluish charcoal overlay. The upper section has lace on top of a folded over mesh section, like the top of the Tutti Rouge Sophia/Mae.

All in all, I'm really pleasantly surprised by this one! It's nice to see Panache introduce something different construction-wise because Panache/Freya/other big names seem to mostly stick too "if it ain't broke don't fix it," but the improved fabrication of this bra is a liiiitle step forward.

EDIT: After wearing it today, OW. I'd recommend even more strongly to size up in the band, as this still dug in everywhere even with an extender. The higher wings/gore/etc also made things worse. I probably wore it for way longer than I should have but I don't think I'll be wearing this as a full day bra again any time soon. x_x I should have taken pics of the red marks cause you could see the full construction of the bra all over me! And I know red marks aren't always bad, but these were ANGRY and chafe-y. :'( ouch.
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This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Oct 31, 2015 Flag this