Raine

I love this bra. It is my absolute favourite bra I own.

The lace along the top edge of the cups makes a big difference, as it helps bring the cup in a bit closer to my full-on-bottom boobs, and also makes the cups a little bit taller, unlike some of the more recent Mimi Holliday super plunge models, which tend to put nipples on show unless you kinda tuck them away somehow!

I had this bra sitting in my drawer unused for a good year or two after I bought it, as I was convinced it was too narrow for my wide-set boobs. However, once ... I lengthened the straps a little and got well-practiced at the swoop & scoop method, I realised that it actually fits me perfectly, better than any other bra I've tried before or since.

With all the four Mimi bras that I now own, I have to be quite extreme in my swoop & scoop to avoid any tissue escaping to the sides, but provided I do this well, the bra fits very well and is incredibly comfortable.

The only slight downsides of this bra, for me, are:

- If I was to be really picky, there's a very tiny amount of overspill / pinching (visually, I can't feel it) at certain times of the month where the straps join the cups, I suspect the wires might be just a tiny fraction too narrow.

- The straps are part elastic and part satin. The non-stretch nature of the satin makes them inclined to fall off my shoulders very occasionally, if I'm having a day where I'm on the move a lot.

- The bra is made out of such a lovely delicate satin and lace combination that I know it'll eventually fall apart (I always wash it in a mesh laundry bag) and I won't be able to replace it!
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Updated on Mar 01, 2014 Flag this

This bra fits well in wire width, bottom of cups and band length. Basically everything is good except the top of the cups, which are waaay too big. My boobs are wide-root, shallow, full on bottom. I usually wear a 28B in other brands.

I have an old Freya Polyanna, which is a similar-ish shape, both are unpadded. The Polyanna fits me after I altered the top of the cups by stitiching in a horizontal fold / pleat to the lace at the top of the cups, which brings the cup tops down by about 2cm. This doesn't work on the Faye, as I think it has taller cups than the Pollyanna.

My Polyanna does tend to dig in at the top of the gore a little bit after wearing all day, but it's not too bad. I think the Faye would have the same problem.

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Mar 21, 2014 Flag this

This bra is an almost-perfect fit on me. My only slight complaints are:

1. The shoulder straps are a little bit too long and tend to fall off my shoulders. I'm 5' 1" (155cm)tall. I'll cut & re-sew the straps which should fix the problem.

2. The bottom of the underwires very slightly dig into my ribs, which is something I often find on bras that have padding in the bottom. Again, I'm hoping this might be fixed (or at least reduced) when I shorten the straps.

I got this bra on special-order through the now-closed Pudding Lingerie, because the owner was convinced it would fit me. ... She gave me the option of either this one or the Broccato. I chose this model because the wing height is 2cm higher than the Broccato. I'm glad I did because I think I would have had spillage at the sides if I'd chosen a lower wing, as my boobs are quite wide-set.

This bra has solid foam cups, which I usually shy away from as they always tend to gape at the top, but I am very happy to report that there is no gaping or quad boob on this - the cups are an absolutely perfect fit. There is a bit of built-in padding at the bottom of the cups.

The band isn't very stretchy. This is ok, just an observation. I've got a couple of ill-fitting Elle McPherson bras with the same issue, but they bother me as they only have a single hook. This one with two hooks is fine. I have a 66cm ribcage and wear this on the middle hook. If you were a bit smaller in the ribs than me and thinking about altering the band, you might end up with the straps being a bit too wide-set - they're just about ok on my but I wouldn't want them much further apart.

The detail on this bra is really pretty. It actually feels a bit like silk, although it's polyester.

The label says hand wash in cold water. I'll be putting it in the machine at 40C with everything else, so I hope it doesn't get ruined!

My final comment is the price. I guess Pleasure State might be more affordable if you live in Aus, but £50 for a polyester bra is excessive, in my view.

UPDATE:

I have now altered the straps - shortened them by about 9cm, and now wear it with the straps about half-way up their adjustment range. This has fixed both of my fit niggles and the fit is totally perfect and really comfortable.

I have washed the bra at 40C in the machine (inside a mesh bag), and it was fine, so no need to hand-wash.

This and my 28B - The Little Bra Company » Ethel are now my go-to bras for everyday wear, although my 28B - Mimi Holliday » Fete Coquine is still my all-time favourite just because it's so pretty!
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Updated on Jun 15, 2014 Flag this

This review is for the Hyacinth/Mink colour of this bra, and doesn't really apply to the Mink/Nude colour, as their bands are different.

This bra is actually a fairly good fit on me, but I just couldn't get on with it. No matter how I adjusted it, with or without extender hooks, I was always aware of it. I just couldn't get it to feel comfortable.

I'm not the first person to notice that TLBC's sizing seems to be all over the place. I really don't know why they can't get more consistency across their sizes. Let's start with band size. In the past month ... I've ordered 6 TLBC bras, all in a 28 band, and the bands have differed in size by 4.5cm unstretched, and 9cm (3.5 inches!!) stretched. This makes it virtually impossible to know what size to choose on mail order. These bands should all be the same length, surely??

Model.................Band..Stretched Band
Nicole (Hyacinth)..53..........69
Nicole (Nude)........51..........74
Ethel.......................53..........72
Ethel.......................51..........72
Yvonne..................55..........75.5
Lucia......................50.5.......66.4

Note the 5cm difference between the 28-band Nicole in Hyacinth colour vs. the same bra in Nude colour!

The first problem I had with this bra is the band being too tight. My ribcage measures 66cm with a super-tight tape. I usually feel comfortable in bands that are around 75cm, so at 69cm, this is 2" too small. The 28C Nude Nicole's 74cm stretched band was pretty comfortable. So, choose your band size based on which colour you want for this bra!!


I can't quite pin down the reason for the other problem I had with this bra. It just made me feel like I was constantly rolling my shoulders forwards, no matter how I adjusted the straps and/or the band. I think MAYBE the straps are set a little too wide for me, I'm not sure. They were constantly falling off my shoulders when I added extender hooks so that the band felt more comfortable.

TLBC's fit tips for this bra say that it has "slightly roomier cups". Presumably this means slightly larger volume? I really don't understand WHY they would do this - seems like just another reason to confuse the customer!

With the removable padding in, these cups fit me pretty well, not really any gaping or overspill. The wires at the side come up really high, which is something that I always seem to need, to stop my wide-set boobs from escaping at the sides. My boobs are fairly shallow, and I found that the cup projection was good on this bra too.
With the padding removed, the cups are definitely too big, and gape at the top, whilst still fitting ok at the bottom and underarms.

mellowjello88 , who also has wide-set shallow boobs, had a very different experience with this bra (although note that she reviewed the Nude-coloured version, which has a much stretchier band than my Hyacinth version). Read her review here: http://www.bratabase.com/browse/the-little-bra-company/nicole/28C/#review-15407.

By contrast:

The very lovely-looking Yvonne 28A (pics here: http://www.bratabase.com/bra/dl63k/) had wires that were much too low-cut at the sides for me. I think I would be a 28B-C in Yvonne if not for the wire-length issue

The Lucia (non-convertible straps) 28B (pics here: http://www.bratabase.com/bra/dl6e3/) had cups that were set too close together for me, and a band that was too tight. I think I would be a 30B in Lucia if not for the cups being too close together.

The Ethel in 28B is a great fit, and the only one of the six that I'm going to keep. I'll be reviewing this one soon.


Overall, this bra, to me, has the feel of being designed for a larger woman. It doesn't feel like it was designed for a petite frame, which seems at odds with TLBC's ethos.
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Updated on Mar 09, 2014 Flag this

This is my very well-worn old favourite (AW2011 model) - the first bra I found that I *thought* kind-of fit me. Until I discovered swoop & scoop, when I realised that Mimi Holliday 28B fit me better.

As with all Mimi super plunge bras, this style works well for my wide-root full-on-bottom boobs, and is super comfortable.

The wire width is just about perfect in this size, but unfortunately the cups are a tiny bit too projected for me, and gape at the top, as you can see from the photos. The 28B Mimis that I own are all 3mm narrower in the wires, which is probably just ... a tiny fraction narrower than I'd ideally have, but the reduced cup volume works out just about right for me.

The lace on the top edge of this bra makes and slight fitting issues easier to hide compared to some of the solid-top super plunge versions.

As with all Mimi bras, it's made with expensive fabrics. My only complaint with this bra is that the straps have started to completely fall apart after many repeated runs through the washing machine. I've started washing all my Mimi bras in a mesh laundry bag now to try and prolong their life.
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Updated on Mar 22, 2014 Flag this