My shape: centered mid-height teardrop with super tall roots, super wide roots, super close center tissue, allover [even] fullness (slightly on the FOB side), and firm tissue that doesn't like to be pushed around.
This review is for the Blush/Floral colorway. It is a sweet baby-pink rose print with a sheer stretch upper panel embroidered with more satin-stitched roses in varying shades of pink. Very pretty!
I suspect that this bra would work a little better for someone with shorter roots and/or more FOB than I am, because on me the top half of the cups wrinkle something awful, and it is totally noticeable under thin tops. It doesn't gape ...at all because the actual edge of the cup is flush and actually lays smooth without cutting in, but if I were to size down to nix the extra embroidered mesh (which is a little shimmery, I might add, and I really like it), the edge would totally cut into my tall roots - hence, I think it would work for shorter-rooted ladies. The bottom of the cup is also too shallow for me, as evidenced by the different sort of tension-wrinkles along the seam shown in the photos. It almost looks like the solid-fabric part would be enough of a cup on its own (for me), but upon closer examination, at the seam it also wrinkles a little and would gape. I wonder if the apex might be too high for me, too, but can't be sure because as far as I know I've never had that problem before.
The most irritating thing about the cups is actually that the armpit-edge [between strap and side seam] of the cups is very straight and VERY high in my armpit. I can't say that the straps are placed too far apart because they attach to the cup quite high up on my chest, so its definitely the cut of the cup piece. There's elastic there, but it has almost no stretch at all. I was going to see if adjusting the straps shorter would change anything about the cup fit, only to find that there was no play there - so all the adjustment is in the back length, if that matters to anyone. Perhaps there's some fit issue I usually manage to solve by tightening my straps a bit, like a gaping neckline, but regardless, this one obviously doesn't fit well and also won't shift that way.
My fullness seems to be accommodated pretty well at the wing and at the center gore, which is great! The wires are also a great shape and wide enough, although the outside edge curve is too steep for my Nike-swoosh roots and the end of the wire channel rests on top of them - the same old song and dance for me. I am conscious of them around the outside curve of my breast, though, which is unusual - most of the time I forget I'm wearing a bra, or at least don't notice the little things, so that might mean that the wires are just a hair too narrow for all my sideboob, or that the seam is just very scratchy! The wires are also too tall at the center gore and not quite high enough under my arms; I tried pushing them along the wire channel, because there is extra space, but without placing a stitch there they won't stay.
The gore is too wide and very much too tall for me, so the wires resting at the tops of their channels there rubbed some welts in the 20 minutes I was assessing it that would eventually become raw spots or blisters, I suspect. Definitely not for me.
Also not for me: the band or the itchy fabric. I could ignore both, but I think a 28 band would help with some of the gore-stabbing, and that whole riding-up-on-the-tightest-hooks thing. The fabric might soften up after the first wash, but I won't be keeping it long enough to find out. Read more 555 more words
This is so beautiful....wish it were designed a bit differently so it would fit you perfectly.
It IS a pretty bra. Unfortunately, only half-cups really seem to ever work out for me. My maximum lower projection and a super-tall very shallow upper root make for an odd combination, it would seem.
We have similar characteristics :-) And, even halfcups don't often fit because of the wide gore and shallowness near the wire. ;-)
I just checked your listings. We have dangerously similar characteristics, enough that my wallet is trembling in fear!
It reminds me of the Floris design
It is apparently a clone, made on the same pattern. I never tried the Floris, though, and while there are slight differences between them that I saw in some people's reviews, judging by this bra's cut and the VAST amount of problems I have with it, I probably won't ever bother trying it.
Band is great on loosest hooks, the colorway (black ricamo) is fantastic, and post-alteration this is my comfiest bra yet.
I got the 30F knowing I needed more cup depth than my Just Peachy has, but not how much... F is a little too much right now (though I'm currently weaning my toddler, so that changes day-to-day) and an E probably would have been better.
However, I don't know that the wires on the E would be wide enough and I loooove this bra so I opted to alter the cups. I took them in a little and I think the size is now somewhere between an E ...and an F, but I didn't actually remove any material so I can reverse the alteration if my size changes when the Booger's finally finished nursing. All photos were taken post-alteration (and with one boob half-empty).
Update: I felt like my alteration was smashing my boobs too much so I pulled the stitches out, and now the gore digs in rather painfully. I think this one is too projected and a little too narrow for me... it's so pretty and I love the fabric so much though. I may try doing a different alteration soon the see if I can fix it for good.
Update 2: Bent the wires wider to match the Comexim halfcup I have (which fits so perfectly) and did a new alteration on the cup that removes about half the depth I removed last time. New cup width/ depth measurements are 5.6"/ 8.7", and this bra fits *really* well now! I get a little bit of wrinkling at the wire on the bottom of the cup sometimes, but it isn't enough to be noticeable and the bra is really comfy again. ...I need to take new pictures, because the fit looks much better now too. Read more 197 more words
I bought this bra, along with the 30F - Freya » Gem Balcony Bra (1361), mainly as a fitting experiment. Both were recommended for women with short torsos. Panache is supposedly the widest wire width, good for wide root breasts, while Freya is generally the narrowest wire. I am not sure whether I have Broad Root Breasts, or just a lot of migrated tissue under and around my armpits on a very small rib cage due to 20 years of wearing a bra with a cup two sizes too small and a band two sizes too loose living in Orange in a ...Glass hell. I wasn't really enlightened about root size by comparing the two, but I can say this was a damn uncomfortable bra for me!
EVERYTHING rubbed in this bra: strap edges at connections in front and back, gore and armpit poking, the lace itself, the edges of the wings, the bottom edge of the band... Aarrrrggghh! Both bras actually felt like my ribs were pressing outward at the bottom of the band, causing the top of the gore and the armpit end of the wires to dig in. Because the Panache is so much more heavy duty than the Freya, the problem seemed more extreme. The Panache Envy wires are long, rigid and flat, almost like a metal picture frame. They felt heavy, intrusive and unforgiving. They did not want to bend around my body, even though the industrial strength mesh band forced them to (note my underarm picture - the wire extends all the way past the midline to my trapezius muscle). The deep "U" shape at the bottom of the Panache wire made them dig into my ribs right at the lower corner. I even got the jewelry pliers out and bent them to go over the rib at the edge of my sternum they were pressing on, to no avail. https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_sad.gif" alt=":-(" /> I did this with both bras -- the Freya Gem became slightly more comfortable, but not the Panache.
What is the definition of "wide" versus "narrow" wires, numerically speaking? I laid the two 30F bras on top of each other. Both were exactly 5.5" wide inside between the wire ends. The biggest difference was the shape of the curve and the fact that the Freya was .5" longer than the Panache, and spread open more as I stretched the band.
For those with small ribcages and wider roots, the distance from one outer wire tip across the frame of the bra to the other outer wire tip is 12.25" lying flat.
As a 46-year-old who breast fed two for two years each, I'm a bit deflated on top (think of a hardboiled egg laying sideways in a short sock). Although the four-part cup seemed like it would offer great uplift, the "U" shaped wire and stretchy lace fabric did me no favors. I cringe at the pictures I've posted. I think my petite frame, short height, and very sensitive, stretchmark-scarred skin just couldn't handle this bra.
On the other hand, my 20-year-old daughter who is also a 30F (though with a 26" underbust and plenty of all-around fullness), LOVED it and looked absolutely stunning in it! Read more 433 more words
WELCOME TO BRATABASE :) your envy review helped me a lot
WELCOME TO BRATABASE :) your envy review helped me a lot
Sorry, but thats a funny review! Bra are so personal . . . Panache's older models apparently were wider, and also some models are considered wide in the smaller range, and narrow in the larger range.
Because a 30F is going to be narrower than a 32F . ..
Anyways, Panache's wires are the firmest - which is why I prefer them. By way of introduction, I'm 49, nursed my 3 kids a total of 10 years, so I'm also very soft - but also more full-on-top (the top of my breast rounds up above the apex), and a 32J.
Getting used to Panache wires was really hard, esp because I'd been wearing unwired bras for decades. There is a break-in period, and also washing helps with the itching. BUt . . . the envy slides down slightly and hurts my ribs, while the Panache floris does not.
finding your right size range is a start, and fine-tuning is a process. You may even want to try using an extender while breaking in bras, or even trying a 32 and see if that is more comfortable.
Good luck!
Panache no longer has the widest wires. That is information from several years back. The envy doesn't have wide wires. The bra IS very firm, though! Sorry you are having a rough time.
Do you have Amazon prime by any chance? If you do its a great place to find a lot of bras to try. Also Asos USA - free shipping and returns, same with Journelle. Sorry I don't have any good advice with the wires outside of if its poking too much I wouldn't keep it!
Thank you for the feedback, Ladies. It sounds like I really need to try many more on before drawing any conclusions.
So what is an example of a particularly wide wire model I could try to help me get to the um...root...of the shape question?
Curvy Kate's older models tend to have pretty wide wires, and softer/more flexible than the Panache torture wires. Their newer seasons like AW2014 and SS2015 have somewhat of a changed shape, more narrow and projected. Possibly their Princess or Dreamcatcher bras could help you determine width - they're pretty budget-friendly on Amazon right now. They're also unlined so you won't have a molded cup interfering with shape-diagnosis.
Beautiful bra. Shallow at the very bottom - I went up to a 30f from a 30e, hoping that it might give a bit more projection, but it doesn't. The actual cup is now more comfortable though! I was quadboobing in the 30e, but it didn't really show due to the lace at the top of the cup being stretchy.
I still have a wedge of wrinkle at the bottom of the cup where my breasts are pushing the bra down. It's honestly not enough to make me send this back. It doesn't show under my shirts, and now that I'm a cup size up & my boobs can breathe a bit, I don't care.
This is supposed supposed to be pretty close to the same cut as the Andorra. I think I've been reading over at r/abrathatfits that the Andorra is more shallow than Clara.
TLDR: Beautiful. Forgiving lace top. Bottom of cup is shallow, not projected.
I have had this bra for a while and it has stretched, but I feel I still get a good fit from the band on the tightest setting (I'm probably really a 28 but have no bands below a 30). This is a pre-pregnancy bra and is a little small on me now. I wore two different sizes interchangeably before pregnancy, which mapped to a 30E and 30F in this bra. The larger of the two sizes, the 30F, is a bit small on me now but I feel they fit me very well then. They gave me good lift and worked well with my shape, and wore ...really well. In short, this was my favorite bra for years. Now, I am getting a bit of quad-boob on my larger side, and I also notice that the strap is standing a bit away from my upper chest (meaning the breast is pushing it out too far). This is still a passable fit, though, and if I weren't nursing all the time I'd still wear it if I couldn't find a better fit. Read more 75 more words
I really like the look of this bra. The base colour is cream, and it's covered with pink flowers and green leaves. I think the flower pattern is really pretty, it reminds me of a water colour painting. Other than that, it's a basic plunge bra. The cups are satin, and lined with mesh.
In terms of fit, I was surprised it fit rather well. The tops of the cups have a more gentle curve, so I don't get as much digging in at the top of my breasts as I usually get. The shape it gives is more of a rounded projected ...shape and in my opinion it looks pretty natural. I do get a bit of wrinkling, but the cups are not baggy. I think it may be because it's lined, so the outer fabric wrinkles.
I was able to find this 30F in Nordstrom and try it on. MUCH better fit!
I still have problems with Panache's fit and sizing. The cups are spaced a little too far apart, and they seem to run in between sizes. I have just a tiny bit of room to grow into these cups, yet the next cup size down (which I have been able to try on in 30DDD and 32DD) is way too small. It's not something noticeable though as far as ...gapping goes, so I'm keeping this size. What I do find odd though is there is less seperation (by 1/8") between the cups in the 30F as opposed to the 28F. Also, instead of there being a full 1" of difference in cup depth, there's only 3/4". The wires are a little tall in the center for the overall shape of the cup. I have a Victoria's Secret Cotton full coverage bra in a 34D that has the same exact cup dimensions as this, but the wires are shorter, more proportioned to the cup.
I wish this were made with a full band because it would have great support! But I don't get quad-boob in the 30F and it looks great under t-shirts. So now I know what size I need in Panache.
Overall, I like this bra, and this size fits a lot better! But I wish it would provide better support and lift. I'm still pointing down and out. Read more 159 more words
This bra is beautiful and it feels so good on. I have a bit of wrinkling at the bottom inner side near the gore. Maybe because my boobs are so wide set. Im gonna try plunge styles next. Hopefully have more luck. I wanted to like this bra so much but unfortunately I’m gonna have to return it. It makes my cone shaped boobs very pointy. I need a less projected shape I guess. Idk. Any insight?
Yes, you need a slightly less projected cup (though I'm afraid I don't have recommendations). The band here also looks quite tight, which could be affecting fit!
The band wasn’t tight at all.. I could hook that bra on the middle hook without any stretch at all. It’s just the cups we’re too pointed so I returned it. I wanted to like that bra so band. It was so beautiful
Thus ends my saga of figuring out which Ana size is the best for me…
- 30DD: Cup width was great, but it was considerably too shallow. - 30E: Cups too wide, but with the side support, that surprisingly isn’t a problem. A hair too shallow, but overall lovely.
Now, 30F…
The cup depth is perfect for my larger side, but I have a bit of wrinkling at the top of my smaller side. More problematic, the cups on the 30F encroach on my TOS, which I just can’t tolerate. The cup width is too wide, but again: Somehow it doesn’t seem to matter much in this bra. Oddly, that’s normally a huge problem for me, so it must have something to do with the shape and side support.
This is a gorgeous and very comfortable bra. I’d rather deal with a small bit of quadding than a small bit of wrinkling, so I’m sticking with the 30E and ordering four more in various colors. Love the low gore!!
I decided to try 30F when I realized my Panache Clara was too small in 30E. (There was some in-cup quadding and minor wrinkling under the cup from needing more immediate projection.)
The 30F does in fact fit in cup volume much better. However, I still have a challenge with the immediate projection not being enough (still wrinkling across the bottom of the cups).
I bought this bra because I read it fit like the Panache ardour. I have never actually tried the ardour, but it is known for having a decent amount of immediate projection for a moulded cup bra. This bra was on sale so I went with this one. I don't think this bra is based off the ardour because as you can see in the photo I took, there is little to no depth at the wire. It hurt my ribs within maybe a half hour of having it on so back it goes.
Beautiful bra though! And I like the feeling of the cups--they are soft and don't feel stiff like other moulded cups I have tried. I want to try the ardour now because I think it will have the same material at the cups with more projection at the wire. I will report back if that is the case.
I got this bra from a lovely btb member https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" /> The band is altered, so keep this in mind when looking at the measurements!
In terms of fit: Altered band is perfect, but the cup is too small for at least one cup! The wires are pushed down a lot and my nipples are both at the edge of popping out and I get some incup quadding when wearing without the cotton pads. I placed them centered over my nipples, so you can see.. they are not where they are supposed to be in a full cup bra https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":D" /> I am planning on trying this bra a size up, as it's soo beautiful and the material is just soo soft and perfect! <3
Clara is a very beautiful bra and that colour is stunning on you!!! This is probably one of the nicest beiges around.
I think you will find that the next size up will have cups that are deep enough, but the wires will be too wide.
I get the same effect with Panache bras, so I just can't wear them.
Yes it's stunning! Yes usually all wires except of Ewa michalak are too wide for me, but this model seems to be quite promising when looking at the database! And it is easily accessible for me at the moment, as it's in stock at a German website! I should be having it by the weekend :) fingers crossed
My shape: mid-height front-facing teardrop-profile (ski jump with no "jump") with tall shallow roots, low apex, lots of immediate projection underneath but moderate overall projection, wide roots with lots of side fullness and shallow tails that wrap all the way to the shoulder blade, extremely close-set center tissue (possibly a trace of natural symmastia), and very firm self-supporting tissue that when pushed out of shape will push right back.
This bra was one of 5 Panache Jasmines I bought to try from Nordstrom. I also tried a 30FF in black, a 30FF in nude, a 30F in nude, and a 30FF in navy houndstooth.
No Jasmines for me, it seems. ...There are just too many issues. The cups, while a closer fit than the 30FF - Panache » Jasmine Balconnet Bra (6951) in nude, are a bit looser than the 30F - Panache » Jasmine Balconnet Bra (6951) in black, and have more of the same issues with the top panel being stretchy and accommodating on my upper root but too full and closing too quickly; the apex being too high; not enough immediate depth at the wire all the way around; and a pointy shape. The gore has an unusual flared shape that mimics my natural IMF, but that doesn't stop it from being too tall and too wide and stabby. The wires are slightly narrower, and combined with the slightly-shorter wings than the 30FF, they start to poke into the tissue there. The straps are also still too far apart, and while not AS far, still enough to cause problems.
The 30 band is perfect on the loosest hook, though (snug 72/BTT 66.5 cm today). Read more 172 more words
I got my first Panache Envy back in 2014 and this bra turned out a real workhorse for me. The cup construction with side support pannels and stretch lace upper cups gives my FoB breasts a nice centered natural shape without looking droopy beneath higher cut necklines.
The fit of this peacock colourway is consistent with the other colours (black and cassis) I've tried. Peacock is a rich warm teal and works very well with the characteristic texture mixing of this solid coloured bra.
Much too tall for me and at least one cup and band too big. I don't even come close to filling the top. My ideal cup height is about 5-5.5 inches, so I don't think this cut would be right for me even in the right size (28E-F) if it existed.
I received this bra brand new, and some of the seams were loose/off. It's not really that noticeable unless you're looking for it, but I do wonder how the bra would hold up if it was part of my regular rotation.
This bra is so beautiful and potentially comfortable. Unfortunately, the cups were a poor fit for me. I'm not sure yet if it's the shape or size. The mesh cuts slightly into my tissue, but it also wrinkles and isn't filled. The overall shape seems a little odd as well: straight down to the nipple, then round on the bottom.
For whatever reason, this particular bra isn't right for me. I'd love to try it in a 30FF, though.
You might like Melinda G. The brand has an unstructured soft cup bra / plunge. I have it in fab curvy small. But you'd have to be able to tighten the band. I'm 28-29" underbust and it's almost too big. I think it's gives a pretty decent shape.
A lot has been said of the Panache Andorra, both the full cup and plunge versions. I began my properly fitted bra journey two years ago, and I bought this purple 30F Andorra Plunge maybe a year and a half ago. By now, August 2014, the Andorra has justifiably achieved iconic status in the full bust community.
I've worn it five times, max. To be honest, I think I've worn it twice out of the house.
It's taken this long to accept I can't wear a 30 band in the Andorra comfortably. Wear an extender? The sides are too low as it is, both in underwire and wings. An ...extender would in effect narrow the cup width and exacerbate underarm bulge. I've concluded my roots are of medium width, but my Tail of Spence makes itself visible with too low sides.
The gore is low enough for my close set breasts. It is, however, too wide. I could take it in, but that would have the effect of shortening the band about an inch.
The deep, clear, saturated purple; the all lace cups; the super light materials--you understand why I've held onto this bra, right?
As a result of the too tight band, the gore stabs me. In a band size up, this wouldn't happen. It's the gore width I would have to alter in a 32E sister size or, to get higher sides maybe, in a 32F.
The boobs themselves look perfectly encased and shaped. I have no complaints about the front and side views. I get projection without pointiness. As a balconette, the Andorra will not give the somewhat minimized but super rounded profile of a half cup bra. I used to obsess about the half cup profile, but now I focus on decent projection with a gore low enough not to hurt.
This is so beautiful....wish it were designed a bit differently so it would fit you perfectly.