Comexim Atena Longline in 65HH

Ugh you guys. I hate not having positive reviews or experiences for you guys but here we go. I don't know what happened with this bra. It held so much promise but fell so flat. It's not a bad bra, it just didn't work for me and I'm so bummed. Atena is a gorgeous black long line with gold trim and a red tuxedo bow. The matching underwear do not look like they belong with the set. They do not have the same kind of lux look as the bra. They are very strappy and skimpy and I regret ordering them. They make me very uncomfortable because of where they fit on me. I've noticed with Comexim that, for me, their underwear is either too full coverage or way too sexy with little in between.

For reference, this is what the bra is supposed to look like:

Image courtesy of Comexim

So that image definitely shows a little gore dangle, which I did not receive on mine. I have a mix of flash and non-flash photos so I apologize for the inconsistency!

My flash photo didn't turn out well but guys. I have never been so disrespected by a bra that is *supposed* to fit in my life. This photo hides the truth. I had asked for the straps to be moved in, overlapping gore, and standard plunge cut. I think the only thing that Comexim did was overlap the gore because this is a shallow, arm pit eating disaster. There's not much immediate depth, the cups are tall and the gore is resting on tissue. It has 5 hooks and 4 rows of eyes which is great. The band stretches to 31.5 which would be too big for me in a non-longline. As it is, if I was actually going to wear this bra I would need to start on the second row. The band tapers in so that it is narrower on the bottom than the top. The straps are super smooth and have no grip so trying to get into this bra means that I then need to spend 5 minutes shortening the straps all the way. 

You guys. I have no idea what the hell is the matter with the shape of this bra.  It doesn't look like there is too much space on the outside, and it looks to be projected enough in the middle, but when I swoop and scoop the outside of the bra becomes empty and my tissue escapes out the middle. I settle into less quad but still. The last bra (actually bikini) I ordered from Comexim was a 65HH and it fit fine. I filled the bra out on the sides and the middle. That was a plunge cut as well. I haven't changed size in the Ewa bras I wear every day so I don't know what to say went wrong. 

Attack of the boob. It's super hard to see but on the far away boob you can see the wire is barely below my imf. That was the best I could do with how shallow it was.

I love the shape from the side-super projected and round. If I can direct your attention to the armpit/strap region (which I apologize for cutting off!) you can see my second biggest problem with this bra. It has this wrinkle in it. It's a deep wrinkle built into the bra. It's awful. I can't believe it was meant to fit this way, but when I emailed Anna to return the bra for a manufacturing fault she said "What you show us in the picture is not a flaw. that's how we sew our bras and bras for Wellfitting. Wrinkled rubber under the arm helps good body hold when the size is well-matched. We sew the same Wellfitting as it's our construction. From the picture it looks like the bra is too big for you. You have free space under your arm. Bra is too much pulled up, the bust is not well placed in it." I am so upset about this. I can't pull the bra up any higher. It's in my armpit already and the wire would be resting on tissue. The photo I sent her showed that I had quad and that my armpit was eating the bra. I can understand getting a wrinkle like this in an unlined bra. But getting a wrinkle like this in a foam bra means that either there's something deeply wrong with the way it's made or with my body and I don't like either of those options.

So once I wear it for a bit it settles into some minor quad that is not visible under shirts. It's a nice soft material but the inside is a little scratchy/stiff.

Close up of the wrinkle. I doubt it would be as bad if the cup wasn't so tall and the cups weren't wideset. It's barely visible when not worn so I assume most of the problem is shape incompatibility.

The cups are super tall on my petite frame and just overwhelm me.

Something I noticed was that the gore is taller than the cups. Just by a smidge, but it looks sloppy. The loop around the bow is also not attached to the bow itself, and then there is the missing gore dangle.

Overall I'm disappointed and disheartened. I was so excited for this bra and it just fits all wrong. I got a medium in the panties, stupidly thinking that since they were adjustable I would be fine. Nope. They are too small, even when the straps are as loose as they'll go. I wish I had ordered a size up. I don't think this bra would have been as much of a disaster if it was done in the regular, non-shallow plunge cut and with the straps moved in. 

I hate not having positive reviews, but this bra plain didn't work for me. I think I'm done with Comexim. They have some cute designs but they don't pull me in the way Ewa Michalak's do. I wasn't allowed to return it because it was 'custom' even with that big wrinkle down the side. It's decently constructed for the price. If you need more apex projection and room at the sides and tall cups, this longline is for you! I have it for sale here with the matching panties. 

 

Ewa Michalak HM Wzor 10 in 60G

On Black Friday, I eagerly scrolled through Ewa Michalak's website, hoping to find something cute in my size. Ewa had several random models on her site included in the sale-there were some older models, some custom models, and seemingly some one-offs. I found this beauty, who has no name, on her site in a 60G and 65DD. I've been wanting to try a 60 band for a while now so I decided to take the risk with this bra seeing as it was on sale and also so gorgeous. Unfortunately there was no matching underwear available for this bra.

The HM style is an unpadded half cup with 1 seam and 1 dart near the gore for shaping. I have so far tried this model in a 65FF and a 75DD. The cups in the 65FF gave me a seriously weird shape and the band on the 75DD was understandably too large and the gore didn't tack at all. The 60G has a band that is slightly too tight and the shape is kind of odd but I consider it a perfect fit. The bra has wide set straps, a tall gore, and very open cups. The shape is minimized and very odd in a way I can't put into words (I have photos). However, it gives me a crazy amount of lift.

The cups look full coverage on me but I'm not sure if that's the style or just how it fits my body. I fill the cups completely with no wrinkles-I've never had a soft style fit with no wrinkles before! It's a very tight to the body shape which makes me look a little flat. It is perfectly pattern matched in the most beautiful shades of soft orange and coral and salmon. 

I get a little quadding on my larger side but overall fill the cups well. You can see here how wide set the straps are. It's a common complaint of mine regarding Ewa's bras and it's exacerbated here. I hope it won't prove to be too annoying if I wear it for longer periods of time. 

I get an insanely lifted, round appearance from the side so I'm not sure why it looks so flat/minimized from the front. The band runs on the firm size of true to size, measuring in at 27.25 inches. That is my current underbust measurement so it feels firm on me. I don't think it will bug me too much. The bra's clasp only has 2 rows of eyes. If there were 3 I don't think the band would be a problem. It is made out of ridiculously soft knit in the most glorious shade of salmon.

And here is that weird shape I was talking about earlier. I have no idea what it is about the construction of the bra that would cause it, so if anyone can enlighten me that would be awesome!

Close up of the armpit attack going on with the straps.

The straps are very wide at .75 inches and completely smooth. I am worried that they will slip because there's no embellishment on them at all. They are medium stretchy and soft.

 Even the inside of this bra is pretty. Light pink elastics with red stitching and the wings/band are lined with beige powermesh. The jersey/powermesh bands are my favorites because they always seem firmer than the lace ones. I noticed that the seam tape is sewn with pale pink thread on the inside, matching the seam tape, and red thread on the outside, matching the embroidery. It's a little thing that most people won't notice, but it shows all the thought that is put into Ewa's bras.

The gore is wide and tall and the wires don't really overlap. In this size, the height of the gore doesn't bother me too much. It is a soft tack and doesn't really rest on tissue. 

I can't say enough about how beautiful this bra is. It is well made and hopefully will be comfortable once I break the band in a little bit. I'm not convinced that 60 bands are for me but I will size down if a bra is known to run loose. I'd say my ideal band size is a 28.5/29 and since Ewa's models are known for running tight a 65 band is usually the safest bet. I was worried that this bra would be too big since I normally take a 65F in unpadded sizes which would translate to a 60FF if I went down a size. However, this bra fit well and even a little small on my larger size. I am glad I took the risk on this one. The only thing that would have made it better would be matching underwear but I know that will never happen! There is one model of this bra left on her site in a 65DD. If that's your size I reccomend you snatch this one up! 

Playful Promises Rosie Quarter Cup Bra and Ouvert Brief in 30F/S

Hi all. I want to apologize for being a poor blogger this year. I've been going through a lot of stuff this year which hasn't left me with much time or energy left to devote to this blog. Hopefully that will all start changing, and I wanted to start again with this review. It's a lot of firsts: first quarter cup bra, first ouvert brief, first order from Playful Promises (and first review in too long). This is a long review guys, and please note that I am not wearing pasties in these pictures so my nipples are visible.

I'm not sure what inspired me to do so, but a week ago I was looking on Playful Promises' (hereafter known as PP) website and discovered they had a sale on. As I often do, I decided to check it out. I was expecting to just window shop, but then I found the Rosie Bra. I've always wanted to try a quarter cup bra but I could never justify it. When I saw this on sale, I knew that it was time. My order total was 35 pound, or $60. PP's website is easy to navigate and the UK/US sites have different stock, at least of the sale items.

I wasn't too sure on sizing so I decided to order what I believe to be my UK size of 30F (I've not bought a UK bra in ages) and the ouvert brief in a medium. Their size chart confused me: at first all I saw was the conversion for bra size. I didn't realize their size chart had sizing for briefs on there until after I had already placed my order. And according to this size chart I had discovered too late, the brief in a medium was equivalent to a US 8-I'm a US 4. I immediately emailed PP, hoping it wasn't too late to change my order to a size small brief. The next morning, I got an email saying my order had shipped. While I was bummed I couldn't change the brief, I accepted it as it was entirely my fault. Imagine my surprise when Anna from PP emailed me a few minutes later saying she'd try to pull my order and update it for me! And she did-she emailed me back saying she had updated my order and swapped the brief for me. This is some of the best customer service I have ever received and I wanted to make sure everyone knew about it.

This bra is a quarter cup bra. It has 2 pieces/1 seam. There is mesh on the wings and boning on the seam between the 2 wing pieces. I don't know how necessary the boning is but I'm going to leave it in there until it bugs me. It is a full band bra with a leotard back. The straps are the most disappointing part for me. I knew they weren't fully adjustable, but these are the longest straps I have ever seen. When I shortened them I just sewed the stretchy pink part straight to the back elastic. The cups are also shallow which gives me a pointier shape. The material is soft and the colour is beautiful. For the original price of almost $90 for the set, I think the construction and materials live up to the price point.

Again, I am not wearing pasties in these pictures.

These pictures are all taken pre-strap shortening. I have gaping and the edge of the bra clearly shows under shirts. I don't feel super supported and the straps won't stay up at all if I don't stand still.

Because these cups are so low, the shape you get depends a lot on your own natural shape. I'm pretty even and my nipples just peek above the cup edge. Without a shirt on this results in a pretty pointy shape especially because the cup goes straight out at an angle because of how shallow it is. However, with a tight tank on it's not as extremely pointy as it is without it. The cups fit pretty true to size but shallow on the bottom and inside. I get a smidgen of quad around the inside, but I believe this is the best fit I can expect in this style. The straps are wide set but soft. As I mentioned earlier they are extremely stretchy and long. The wires are medium firm and narrow. The gore touches at the top but does not overlap. I get gapping up around where the strap connects but I'm ok with that. The band is nice and firm, stretching to about 29.25 inches which is perfect for me. The wires stay in my imf for my brief test drive. I believe they would slide down over time because I don't have the depth I need but since I won't wear this for hours and hours that is something I can overlook. I am pleased with the fit and appearance of this bra. 

It's really hard to get a good photo of your bum but I tried. These briefs should be equivalent to a US 6 but the waistband is super tight. It's a lower cut brief so luckily for me it doesn't really cut in too bad. I believe the next size up would be too baggy in the bum/crotch so I'm not going to try the bigger size. Despite the tight waistband, the leg elastic doesn't cut in and the bum fits fine. The ouvert part is actually pretty discrete as evidenced in the photos and fits as expected.

 The ouvert part is nicely lined with very thin binding or piping.

 I forgot to take photos of the straps pre-shortening but I had to cut off all the adjustable part to make it work for me.

All in all, I am extremely pleased with my first set from PP. Customer service was excellent, the quality is great and it fits well enough. I expect to get plenty of wear from this and if I have the funds I'd like to further explore this brand in the future.

Ewa Michalak PL Zielony Pieprzyk in 65FF

Hi guys! I'm sure some of you may remember my review(s) of the Ewa Michalak S Syrena. The Syrena was my first dabble in Ewa Michalak. I loved the green with the navy lace and it's still one of my favourite bras to wear. Fast forward almost a year, and I see the S Zielony Pieprzyk in a newsletter Jaimie at Bra Obsessed sent out. Even though the base colors are the same as the Syrena, it has polka dots. So, you know, it was different enough for me to justify ordering. I thought it was a fitting way to end my first year in a relationship with Ewa Michalak. This model normally comes in the S style but I special ordered it in a PL, something that can be done with most Ewa bras either through Ewa directly or through a retailer like Bra Obsessed or Zathiya. I'm still digging my S models but I love the low gore and wires and most importantly the cleavage the PL gives me.

Some of Ewa's models come with the option for briefs or thongs, some briefs only, some thong only. I haven't asked her yet if she would make a thong into a brief or vice versa. This bra does come with brief only. It has elasticated leg holes otherwise I would have asked Ewa if she would accommodate a request for a thong. A brief without elastic legholes is gonna right up my butt anyway, might as well make it by design. The polka dot lace covers the cups up till the top seam where there is a pretty, chunky lace trim followed by bare cup. The seams are covered in black satin tape and there's a row of the floral lace on the wings of the cups followed by green satin tape. The band is black and the gore is see-through, creating a little peak-a-boo effect. The straps are my favorite kind with green satin tape scrunched up over them. This is of course fully adjustable, just takes a little patience (or, alternatively, sheer strength and will power). In the interest of full disclosure, I did photoshop these images but purely for purposes of color correction. I got as close as I could: my camera doesn't want to cooperate lately. I tried, you guys. I'm so sorry for the piss yellow walls. If I can remember how to selectively color balance I'll replace the photos.

This is the most accurate color wise. It's a little bluer in real life but here you can see the cup design and the low gore. This is without pads.

Without pads. You can see this model is a little rounder than the last few PLs I've tried. I'm okay with either shape. The polka dots on this cup are the perfect size between twee and obnoxious and you can see how the wing (as well as the gore) is made of green mesh backed by green.

Without pads. The cups fit perfectly without the pads. I get no quadding and a perfect shape as well as unmatched support. As usual, the gore is a soft tack but I find that to be more comfortable then an extremely hard tack anyway. The wires are nice and low on the sides and don't poke, harass, rub or otherwise harm my poor innocent armpits. The band is a little on the stretchy side for me, stretching to 30.5 inches. That's completely true to size and I don't find it riding up or too uncomfortable.

And this is what the bra looks like with pads in. I get touching cleavage as my boobs settle in. With the pads, however, there is not enough room for my center fullness so I get a touch of cleavage. I anticipated this since the PL cut is barely projected enough at the center for me anyway.

This photo is pretty true color wise as well. The gore has a little folded over fabric detail that's topped with a signature big floppy bow. I love this design so much. It's super comfortable and makes me feel super wonderful.

I ordered the matching briefs in a 38. They are beautiful (all of Ewa's coords are). I think they are relatively true to size, but they fit a little funky on me. I have a feeling that's because they're too 'tall' and hit my belly in an awkward spot, leading them to either fold or slouch down. They're still pretty comfy and not too full coverage which I appreciate. Best of all, they barely show or ride up over pants.

This bra is a classic beauty that I reach to again and again. What's not to love? It looks beautiful, fits beautifully, and makes me feel beautiful. That's a winner in my book.

Ewa Michalak Pl Zielony Pieprzyk 65FF

* Stretched band length: 30.5in

* Band length: 24.3in

* Cup width: 5.5in

* Cup depth: 9.5in

* Wire length: 8.3in

* Cup separation: 0.8in

* Cup height: 6.0cm

* Gore height: 1.9in

* Wing height: 3.8in

* Strap width: 0.6in

* Hooks: 2

Full details at: http://bra.pe/XVTZ/