Panache Sports Bra

I was shopping at a new store in my area called Bargain Hunt and found a Panache sports bra. If you aren't familiar with the store, they are most similar to Close Out style stores like Big Lot's, Ollies, and DFWH.  Bargain Hunt gets a wide variety of brands, I've seen Panache, Cleo, Curvy Kate, Levi's, Victoria's Secret, and more.  How it works is most the merchandise has a tag with a price along with a date, based on the date on the tag you get an additional percentage off (I'm not affiliated with Bargain Hunt in any way, just bargain shopper).  Anyway, one of the few Panache sports bras was in my size 32DD.  Since I have yet to try any sports bras from a full bust brand I decided to try it on.  I do apologize for the horrible dressing room lighting.  I was mostly taking pics for fit assessment and decided to make a quick blog post too.

Panache Underwire Sports Bra 32DD

Cleo Mimi and Comparison to Polish Half Cups, Comexim 3HC and Ewa CHP

Having read that Cleo has revamped the Mimi  with the new prints first the floral print (a nice venture away from only leopard print) and now the polka dot print, I was very interested in trying out Mimi.
The Mimi is a 3 part half cup and I had heard the fit is similar to the fit of Polish halfcups and I really wanted to give it a try.  Cleo generously gifted me the Mimi to review (I also received Hettie, which I've also reviewed), I was very excited to receive the Mimi and curious how it would stack up to the Polish halfcups.

Before I get on with the comparison, the Mimi I received is an adorable blue with white polka dots and bright coral accents.  It is modern but has a bit of retro appeal to it at the same time.  I need to get the matching undies for this soon, it's too cute to not have the matching set.  

Ewa Michalak, Giving the SM Another Chance

I had previously tried a couple of SM's and didn't have the best results, one being a size to large and the other having been used and having a 75 band altered down to a 65.  This time I got the bras in 65F and 70E and either new or barely worn.  I got the SM Rozowa in 70E and the SM Summertime is 65F.  These two are probably the best fitting SM's I have tried, though not without some issues.

Rozowa is nearly a perfect nude for me with it's pale pink tone (much like my Curvy Kate Florence) and cut like the Czarna Miglelka. The Summertime is a bit dark for me still very pretty, but to utilize as a nude it would be better on a darker skin tone (perhaps why it's called Summertime, although Summertime or not, it won't be a nude for me).

The design on Summertime is beautiful with the embroidered flowers and it's similar to Cukiereczek, but with more neutral toned embroidery.  Under most shirts the embroidery shouldn't be visible, but under clingy thin shirts it may be a bit noticeable.  I think on my skintone I prefer the Cukiereczek a bit more, but both are beautiful.

SM Rozowa

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My Thoughts on Impimi Adell

Impimi is a Polish brand and like Comexim I have heard that Impimi is able to make customizations to their bras.  I contacted Impimi about possibly getting a bra to review.  First they sent me  65G and 65H which should be equivalent to 30E and 30F (I also wear 65H or 70G in Comexim and both being Polish figured one of those should work, and 30E/F is my UK size).

So I received the 65G and 65H, as soon as I opened the package I could tell there was no way either would work for me.  Just looking at these bras it looked like both my boobs would fit in one cup especially on the 65H.  I did try them on just to be sure, but as I expected they are much too big for me.  I emailed Impimi back and told them the issue I was having some fit issues with the 2 bras and sent over some photos.  We decided that they would send me 65D and 65DD (UK 30D and 30DD).  

The smaller bras arrived and they looked like a much better possibility.  I tried both on, but could barely tell a difference in fit/ sizing between the two bras.  I did pass one of the Impimis on to another blogger (Dreams and Underthings), in hopes of getting some more information out there about Impimi.  I chose to keep the 65D as it seemed to be just slightly better than the 65DD at least I think. They were literally so close in size, if it wasn't for the tags I wouldn't have known which one I had on.  

The bras Impimi sent were the Adell, they had initially said they were going to send me the Nichol, but I received the Adell not sure why, but no problem I just wanted to give an Impimi a try and wasn't concerned about the model.

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My Thoughts on Tutti Rouge Lilliana 30D/30E Comparison

When Tutti Rouge offered me the Lilliana to review along with the Nichole, I accepted.  I was fairly aware that Lilliana has a reputation for being wide and shallow, but you never know sometimes bras surprise you.  The first Lillana I received was a 30D the size I had chose for Nicole (Nichole is the complete opposite of her friend Lillana, Nichole being very deep and narrow), I mentioned that the 30D in Lillana would probably not be a good size, but they wanted to see feedback of how the same size in each fit.  This review will cover both the 30D and the 30E in the Magenta/Red colorway.

Tutti Rouge Lilliana

The Lilliana is a 3 part cup padded lower (thin foam) with strech lace upper section.  The stretch lace does have a ribbon that runs through it, but the ribbon has some stretch as well. As usual it features Tutti Rouge signature heart shaped adjusters. The bow on the gore and straps matches that of the color of ribbon that runs through the lace a rather nice detail that adds character to the bra.

I tried the 30D several months ago and hadn't got around to reviewing it yet, I was awaiting response from Tutti Rouge about trying a larger size, so I could more fairly review the Lilliana.  The day I received the 30E Nichole, was the evening I arrived back from my 2 week work trip, it's always fun coming home to lots of packages!

When I tried Lilliana in 30D, it had given me a glimmer of hope that Lilliana may now be as shallow as she is made out to be.  The wires look rather narrow here, and they are.  In the 30D the wires are only 5in wide.

From the front it doesn't look bad, other than the lousy lighting.

Starting to see some signs of it being too small, but the wire width is good.

Lets take a bit closer look at Lilliana.  This is where you really start to see the fit issues I'm having. The 30D as expected is too small in the Lilliana, but the wire width is about perfect.

A wire width around 5in is a good width for me, so I figured if the 30E got only a bit wider it could still stand a chance.  Well here's the 30E, I will let you take a look before I tell you the results.

Again from the front it doesn't look too bad, the 30E just looks a bit full coverage.

From the side shot there isn't any quad boob, but the cups are a bit wonky where the padding meets the lace.  You can see that where the transition is the padding sticks out and the lace drops down creating unevenness. Perhaps it needs more upper fullness, or it caused by the shallowness and my boobs trying to escape to find more depth.

Still some issues with the upper cup section, but not as bad

The real issues with the 30E come from how much the wires are scaled up from the 30D.  The wires are almost a full inch wider from the 30D.  It obviously gets a great deal shallower as well.  I do require some immediate depth, but I don't usually run into issues with the cup buckling near the wire.
Here you can see how wide the wires are and the buckling.

The wires on the 30E come in at 6in wide compared to the 5in of the 30D.  If Tutti Rouge could make this bra be more projected I would love it.  I really like the styling of it, and I think it would be comfortable if it fit correctly.  Just because the Lilliana didn't work for me doesn't me it couldn't work for you, if you are shallow and require wide wires the Lillana could be your perfect match.

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My Thoughts on Scantilly Peek-A-Boo

Before I get started, I decided to change up where I take my photos, normally it's the bathroom because it tends to get the best light, but I decided to try out the recently renovated bedroom today.  I think the darker color wall offsets this sexy set pretty well, although the lighting may not be as good as the bathroom.

I've been having really good luck with Curvy Kate unlined bras recently and have been intrigued by their Scantilly line.  Scantilly generously offered to gift me a set for review,  the set I received was the Peek-A-Boo in black.  I got the bra in 30E and the brief in medium.  I was unsure what size to get in the brief as I hadn't tried and panties from Curvy Kate before.

The bra is a balconette style with sheer mesh cups, but has a black (spandex?) overlay that covers the lower part of the cup (hence the peek-a-boo).  It is a four part construction with 2 vertical seams and one horizontal.  There are several panty options including a thong, brief, and bare face brief (it has a cut out over the cheeks).

The bra fits decently, although the cups are a bit on the small side.  I have some bubbling, so I would be interested in trying it in a 30F to see if that is a better fit or if it ends up being too big, I have a suspicion that the bra is just intended to be low coverage since Scantilly is Curvy Kate's budoir line.  The gore on  the Peek-A-Boo is also rather wide, after full scoop and swoop I have to reposition a little so it's not sitting on tissue.  The cups almost feel a bit shallow, but when I feel under the overlay to see how the cup is fitting pulling the overlay away makes it actually feel rather projected.

I've seen a few reviews saying the overlay portion is a bit strange, but for me it didn't seem to be an issue.  I think in order for the overlay to work well, it needs to be a near perfect fit so if the fit of the band or cups is even slightly big the overlay might wrinkle.  When I was asked my size preference for the bra I said a 30E or 32DD depending on how the band fit and the representative said Scantilly bands run a bit big, but I find the band to be fairly TTS.

The panties I was sent are the bare faced brief, when asked size of those I said small or medium and provided measurements because I frequently fit in between sizes.  I was sent the medium, and  unfortunately they are too big, I would say they fit a bit more like a large.  I might try to take them in a bit.  Since I haven't tried and Curvy Kate or Scantilly panties previously I can't provide a comparison.  I almost wonder if the bare faced brief might run a bit bigger than regular briefs.  If anyone has tried the bare faced brief and regular brief any insight on fit between the 2 would be awesome.




The photos seem to be hiding the looseness of the panties, you can kind of see the upper band wrinkle a bit on the back shots.

If you look at the waistband, you can see a bit of wrinkling, it is also a bit loose on the sides.

Overall I am quite pleased with how the bra fits and the aesthetics of it as a set, I just wish the panties fit better.  It is a very sexy set, but I think it could still function well as a regular bra.  Now I do have a few qualms with the quality for the price point.  There are some loose stitches on both the bra and briefs, and the materials just don't seem to be as high quality as the price point would suggest.  I know that you can pretty easily find Scantilly on sale on UK based sites, so if you want the set and can find a good deal it's still nice just not at the MSRP.

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My Thoughts on Meow by Wellfitting

Like everyone else in the bra community, I fell in love with the Meow, cat print bra from Wellfitting.  I was fortunate to have a couple coupon codes from referrals so I was able to get a bit of a discount.  I ordered the bra in Wellfitting size 32G which is the same as Comexim 70G.  The Wellfitting calculator had put me in 32DDD, which I almost chose, but I decided to email Wellfitting and ask and they said to go with the equivalent to my usual Comexim size, which in my case happens to be the same letter.

Wellfitting wasn't offering the choice for customization, which I usually do get at least a lowered gore and straps moved in on Comexim's 3HC cut.  I decided to contact Comexim directly about this and was happy to hear I could send them my order number and request alterations.  Requesting the alterations does take away the ability to return the bra, I wasn't concerned about this since I know my Comexim sizing and alterations my only concern was how the Wellfitting sizing compared.

The bra and matching panties finally arrived and I couldn't wait to try it on.  The bra does fit very well and identically to a Comexim 70G.  The band does seem to run a bit big compared to my 70 bands from Comexim, but it does have 4 sets of hooks and it fits on the 2nd set nicely (It stretches to 31.5 so a bit more TTS).  I got the panties in medium and they fit pretty well, but a bit larger than my other Comexim panties in medium.

The overlapping gore really brings the girls together.

When I contacted Comexim with my order number to request alterations I had only requested the gore be lowered 2cm.  When it the bra arrived I did notice that the gore appeared to be overlapping as well. I've received a few bras from Comexim with this alteration although I hadn't requested it and have never really minded it.  I don't think I necessarily need the overlapping gore, but it does allow for some extra cleavage.  I have noticed that with overlapping gores that the gore will sometimes roll more towards one breast.

The straps also feel nice and narrow, which I typically request straps moved in 2cm, but didn't do so this time.  I'm not sure if since I have requested the 2cm strap alteration in the past that Comexim just went ahead and did it or if it's part of the design agreement they have with Wellfitting. Another blogger (Short 'N Stacked)  also mentioned the straps seem to be quite narrow as well.  Regardless this makes me and my armpits quite happy.

The cup edge of the Meow is a bit different from other 3HC styles as they usually have a ribbon or lace trim at the top this particular style has a thinner trim that is a bit more closed off.  I don't have any major issues with this, but if you are very FOT keep this in mind.  During my larger time of the month I do get some slight bubbling on my larger side, and during my smaller time, the bit of gapping on my smaller side is a bit more noticeable. Neither issue bothers me, but something to keep in mind, and knowing Comexim, I'm sure if you wanted a different trim they would accommodate.

Something that wasn't noticeable in the photos on Wellfitting of the Meow is the subtle wave pattern in the fabric.  I want to say that the wave print is what is on Comexim's Mimi. I'm not sure why they felt the need to add this to the bra, but it is subtle enough that you don't really notice it.

If you look closely you can see the subtle wave pattern.

The fit is quite similar to all  my other 3HC bras from Comexim with the only differences being from the alteration of the overlapping gore and the different trim.  I also got the matching thong, there is also a high rise brief available.

Overall I am very pleased with the Meow.  Other than Wellfitting not offering any customizations and having to contact Comexim with the order number,  the only downside is the price point of bras from Wellfitting.  Wellfitting used to have a US return address and do unlimited exchanges so that was benefit especially for those new to Comexim, and for some a justification for the price. However, they no longer have the US returns address, so returns aren't cheap.  For regular styles I will stick to ordering direct from Comexim and may buy from Wellfitting for special prints.  If you would like to order from Wellfitting, my referral link will save you 10%.

As soon as I track down the panties from the wash I will try to add photos of the whole set.


Update:  Wellfitting has a new Unicorn print available and is offering alterations directly.  Now you won't have to email Comexim after placing your Wellfitting order.

Unicorn Demi 3HC

More Reviews

Short 'N Stacked

My Fashion Insider

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Ewa Michalak S Pantera, Finally Trying the S

I had tried one of Ewa Michalak's S models a long time ago when I first started my ABTF journey.  The first one I tried was what I guessed to be a cup size too big 65FF, but for some reason I just never got around to trying another S in a size smaller.  I'm honestly not sure why I didn't try another, I tried many other EM's since, but hadn't give the S a second shot.  From what I remember of the first one, I kind liked it despite it being a bit too big.  Anyhow, I finally decided to give the S another chance.  I found the S Pantera for a decent price on r/braswap and despite not being crazy about the print I decided to try it.  Pantera does look better in person than in most photos I've seen. I think I captured the print pretty well in this close up.

Prior to trying an S in the correct size, my main style for Ewa Michalak was the PL.  I do like the low gore and the cleavage I get from the PL, but sometimes feel as if the wires are a bit wide and the straps too wide set.  For some reason it seems most people in my size range prefer the CH/CHP cut, which just doesn't quite work for me, it fits but I feel unsupported.  With the S, the cups are a bit taller than CH/CHP, but while still being fairly low.  I was also pleasantly surprised that the gore was lower than expected, not PL low, but reduced gore Comexim height perhaps. Although looking at the photos it does look like the gore is sitting on tissue slightly on the right breast (left side in photo), but I didn't notice any discomfort or have any idea until taking photos.  The wires are also narrower or at least feel narrower than the PL (the S is a bit narrower S 5.1in  PL Chalet 5.3in) the straps also seem less bothersome.

So the S in 70E does seem to fit a bit better with the cookies in, but not enough to justify a size down, not that it is available in a 65E.  The one time I tried a 65E in 3D, it was too small, all photos of the S Pantera are with cookies in.  I wore the S Pantera for a full day after receiving it and find it to be possibly my most comfortable EM bra (I have worn it a few more times since and it still remains very comfortable). I am very happy with the S cut and will try more S bras in the future, I already have the Syrena on the way. 

After adding the photos to my blog, I'm actually really loving the Pantera, the color is beautiful and the leopard print is quite subtle.  The S gives a very nice uplifted round shape a bit less cleavage than the PL, but kind of a different style cleavage.  The S is a bit more subtle cakes on a plate whereas the PL is more of a Y shaped cleavage.

S Pantera 70E

PL Chalet 65F

The S also looks great under a shirt. It gives a very round and projected look.

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Tutti Rouge Nichole 30DD, A Final Try!!!

After 2 long weeks of working out of town I arrived home this evening to several packages, mostly bras (yay!), as well as some samples of lingerie wash (upcoming reviews, and possibly soon, my bras are in desperate need of washing).  If you've been reading my blog, you know I had been graciously sent the Tutti Rouge Nichole to try and review.  I had tried the Nichole once before being offered one to review and the first one I tried was a 30E (too big), the second a 30D (too small).  Tutti Rouge was amazing enough to send me another Nichole in 30DD.

This time I received the Nichole in a stunning Cobalt blue, it also has black trim, a leopard print bow, and as always Tutti Rouge's signature heart shaped sliders. So the 30DD is a much better fit than either the 30D and the 30E.   As with the previous sizes the 30 band does still run big I can wear it on the loosest hooks with no issues, but can easily get it on the last hook as well, so if you are a true 30 you will most likely need to size down.

From a frontal view it doesn't look bad, it actually looks like a decent fit.  The the 30DD is the best fit of the 3 sizes I have tried.  The lace trim is mostly lay flat and the cups are filled. Despite this I am still having some issues with the fit.

This time the sides of the cup aren't creating as much of a bulge as the 30D did.  For some reason though it is still creating some lumpiness on the side.  Here you can also see how wrinkly the cup is.  The cup wrinkled in the smaller size as well, so I think that is just a characteristic of this bra.  I though perhaps the wrinkling was leading me to think there was bulging, but when I pulled the fabric taut there was still bulging.

If it weren't for the wrinkling and the bulging I would say the shape that Nichole gives is fairly round, but the bulging disrupts the shape and makes it less round. I would also be quite satisfied with the Nichole otherwise. Somehow though it seems to be a bit better under a shirt, though the bulging and wrinkling is still a somewhat evident from a direct side view (it seems more obvious IRL).  The angle shot though seems to look quite nice.  I could probably be alright wearing Nichole under a loose fitting shirt or a sweater.

In this shot it actually looks quite nice.

When I look back at my reiviews of Nichole in the other sizes, I noticed on the 30E while it is too big there is no wrinkling on the outside of the cup.  On the 30E the only wrinkling is at the upper part of the cup, and there is also no bulging.  I guess for a true fit I need the outer fullness or wire width of the 30E and the smaller upper section of the the 30DD.

Nichole in 30E

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