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.

Samanta Mintaka A122 in 65G

I love Samanta's bras. I think they're gorgeous and very luxurious looking. Unfortunately for me, they do not ship directly to the US and I've been having issues finding retailers that do ship to the US that carry them. My options are therefore limited to second hand purchases, and even more limited because very few come up in both my sizes and a style I love. I loved the Mintaka the moment I laid eyes on it. It comes in two different color-ways and a 5 cuts (push-up, full coverage semi-padded, full coverage un-padded, un-padded balconette, and padded balconette). I love the cream color way best but beggars can't be choosers. I wish I had done my research on this style number before I purchased because I would have realized early on it would not have worked and saved myself the heartache. Because of my petite stature, full-coverage anything usually does not work in one way or another simply because of 'too much'-too much cup, too much width, too much wing height etc.

A122 is Samanta's full coverage un-padded style. To quote Samanta's description: This bra is designed for women with larger breasts. It collects the bust to the cleavage. Lifts it giving it strong support and comfort. Hidden supports inside the bra offer additional support.The cups cover 80% of the bust. I would have done better in their un-padded baclonette or padded balconette styles. This is a gorgeous lacey sheer bra. It is a 3 part cup with side sling. The straps are fully detachable which means that you can wear this bra racer-back if you so need. These straps were unfortunately wide-set which was sadly the deal breaker for me. I was lucky enough to receive the matching underwear to this bra however these were a major disappointment. They were almost entirely made out of the band material (which, granted, was super soft) with barely any of the beautiful lace on them. I purchased this bra in an EU 65G, which translates to a UK 30F. I believe this to be the best size for me.

This bra has a lot going on. There's two different kinds of lace on the cups. The lace on the gore is the lace that is on the top of the cups while the straps are embroidered with a completely different floral pattern. On top of all that lace the bow is double layer of ribbon with the top being velvety. The band is purple knit and super soft. It gives an east-west appearance. It is a lot of boob. There's not much immediate projection-it pretty much goes up like this / with the littlest bit of a curve. 

I love this shape, surprisingly. I didn't think I'd love a pointy bra but I do! I believe the reason behind the east-west shape is because the seams on the bottom cup are not located on the apex but to the side. You can see how deep that top part is. This is not only what makes it full coverage but what contributes to the pointy shape too. Let's see if I can explain this. I'll compare it to one of my SM's. The SM has a deeper bottom part and a shorter top part. That means that it's a rounder more minimized shape because there's a flatter angle when the longer bottom part is connected to the shorter part (I hope that makes sense!) while on this bra they are coming together at a sharper angle because the top and bottom are pretty much the same length. Please let me know if this needs to be explained better. I created a diagram which I hope helps with the explaining. The SM is in black and the Mintaka is the purple:

Hopefully you can see what I mean by the SM connecting at a flatter angle then the Mintaka does-picture the SM coming together at a 110 degree angle while the Mintaka comes together at a 90 degree angle (give or take).

I'm not entirely certain if these slings do anything but they weren't uncomfortable. From the side, you can see how far out the bottom seam sits. I find that this bra fits perfectly true to size depth wise with the wires being on the wider side of average. The wires were originally too wide so I bent them in by .25 inches.

The band runs perfectly true to size. The straps are half-adjustable and for the first time I don't have issues with half-adjustable straps not being able to be shortened enough.

I had wrinkling in the bottom of both cups. I assume this is due to the fact that this bra isn't quite immediate projection friendly.

This is why I gave the bra up. Although it looks fine in photos and on paper, for some reason the outer edge of the cups/straps dug into my armpit area and super-chafed. It was very uncomfortable. I hoped that by narrowing the wires a little bit it would help. It did, but not enough to justify keeping this bra.

The tag is super cute. It's the brand name Samanta as a piece of stand-alone embroidery.

The lace on the gore and top of the cups was mirrored but the lace on the bottom parts were not. I don't mind this: it was mirrored where it would be the most noticeable and that's all I care about.

The straps are super cute embroidered flowers.

This is the short-style bottom in a size large (it fits like a medium). Very comfy but super disappointing. I feel like Samanta half-assed this. I would much rather they used the laces from the bra in the brief instead of making it mainly of knit. That feels very lazy to me.

Overall, this bra felt very high quality. I would love to purchase more sets directly from Samanta so that I can pick what style I want instead of waiting to see what comes my way. Unfortunately, their shipping to the States is prohibitively offensive so if anyone knows of any stockists that ship to the US please let me know! Samanta has some gorgeous gorgeous stuff and I envy anyone that gets a chance to try them. I'd love one from each season! I hope I can continue to explore Samanta's options and ranges in the future.  

Freya Just Flew In Padded Longline 30F

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I was having camera issues. So I have a backlog of bras to review-I think ten at my last count: both newish bras and bras from last year before I started the blog. So for review today is something I received in a swap for a Freya Piper Longline in a 28FF. The band was too tight on that oh so cute Piper so I swapped it for the Just Flew In in 30F. Neither of these bras have quite worked for me sadly. The Piper stretched to 29.5 or thereabouts which is fine for a regular bra but too constrictive for a longline. Freya is known to run stretchy, which is true to my experience, and this 30F did feel a little loose in the band. However, given the support of a longline band this won't prove to be an issue.

So this bra might be the cutest damn bra I've ever had in my hands. I love all my bras (well, of course. I wouldn't buy them otherwise!) but I need more with actual birds or animals on them. This bra has some kind of abstract plant with 3 different hummingbirds on them! It's a pastel bird wonderland. It is a 3 part foam cup. Nothing I'd really call padding: the foam is rather thin and flexible. There's lace on the 2 cup seams, along the top, and along the seam below the cups. I like the little infinity bows on the shoulder straps. Like my last longline this was not meant to be for several reasons, the main one being the straps. They are extremely wide, which is not too big an issue for me, but they are very slippy. Just adjusting my breasts into the cups loosens the straps an inch or so which is not ideal for me since I often need to adjust my straps very short. Other then the straps the quality seems to be up to the usual Freya standard. Now that my camera's back up I have plenty of photos for you. I just love all the little details in my bras so I get carried away.

So look at the amazing cleavage I get! Very rounded, cakes on a plate look. The straps aren't as tight as I prefer but I'll get into that in detail in a bit. The long line bit has a tendency to scrunch or flip up which is more irritating then uncomfortable. The two seams on the bottom line up between the cups. I kinda wish they had lined up with the first seam so that the lace was a continual line. 

The wires are decently narrow. The gore is of a medium height and on the wider side. To the bottom of the cups, it measures around 3 inches. To the bottom of the band, 4. Like all my other padded cups it gives a soft tack. I used to grumble about this but I wore a bra that had a hard tacking gore the other day and it was so uncomfortable. The straps are delightfully narrow set so they are free of my armpits. The band is long and feels stable despite being kinda stretchy. The cups seem to be rather shallow at the bottom so I get a bit of a wrinkle on my difficult right breast. It's a very round, in your face look.

So here is the biggest issue I have with this little number. I get some bubbling if I tighten the straps as tight as I want them. Despite having a very textured appearance, these are some seriously unstable straps. Just puling them up onto my shoulder loosens them. Which brings me to my second major problem. These cups are so low-cut they're almost scandalous. I scoop and swoop and then have to poke my nipples back in. I'm afraid that with the slippy straps I'll go to move them or whatever, they'll slip, and out will pop my nipple. Not something I want to deal with! As a whole, the stretchy-ish band and low-cut cups coupled with the stretchy straps means that this is not a particularly secure feeling bra. There's a lot of jiggle going on.

The birdy fabric continues all the way around to the back. The front half is lined with some kind of powermesh to make it stronger which makes it more opaque. It's more see-through in the back since it doesn't have that lining. There are 6 hooks and only two rows of eyes which shortens its lifespan. I hate these straps. They're thick and they're ugly and I hate how non-leotard backs look, especially with such industrial straps. 

I love how pretty this bra is and how comfortable it is. However, I am on the fence as to whether I want to keep it or sell it. I like how it looks on me, but the straps are going to cause me issues as are the low-cut cups. I know I probably am not going to feel my best in a bra if I'm constantly worried about if I'm going to jiggle out or not. I might take it on a field test and see how I feel about it after but I know there's no point in keeping a bra just for looks. There is a balcony plunge version but I do believe this is an older model that is sold out so I probably won't be able to get my hands on one. So far I have yet to find my perfect fit in Freya. The padded 28FF/30F's I've tried have all had the bubbling in the cups but I haven't tried a 30G yet. I seem to be in between 30FF and 30G in a lot of brands but in general the 30FF works best for me because of the shorter and lower wires: I'm just always stuck with a little quad. However, this bra is definitely a size small and I would do better in a 30G. That way the cups wouldn't be so low coverage and I'd probably feel far more secure. The quad does show under shirts.

Freya Piper Longline 28FF

Taking a departure from Polish goodies, today I'll be taking about this lovely padded longline option from Freya that I got in a trade for a Comexim that sadly did not fit. It is a 2 seamed half-cup so the shape is very uplifting and round. My normal Freya size is a 30F so this is a sister size down. I thought it would work since Freya bands tend to run big (and this one does) but it sadly did not work out in my favour this time. This is a rather pretty bra. The flowers are small and kind of abstract and really pop against the blue. The bows have little polka dots on them and there is a lace trim at the top and the bottom.

As mentioned, this bra gives a really great shape due to being a half-cup. It's basically two basketballs stuck to my chest. The wires are relatively narrow which is nice however the gore runs wide. The band runs a size large, stretching to 29.5 inches. However, I was unaware of how constricting a longline would be so even though this is my normal ideal stretched length in a longline it is too constricting. I would stick to a 30F next time if it ran larger like Freya normally does or maybe even a 32E if the style ran true to size. The pattern continues all the way around to the back which is nice to see. There are 3 rows of 6 hooks and eyes and they are pretty tricky to do up the first time. Someone on Bratabase told me the trick of doing it up at your waist and shimmying it up and it's so much easier that way. The straps are not connect in a leotard/u way in the back and I think it looks awkward. I much prefer the looks of a u-back. They are also wide-set, wide, and long.

All looks good from the front. The cups are kinda tall on me and it's more of a wider look then a boobs pushed straight to the front. You can see that the straps rest right on the edge of my shoulder blades and if you look closely you can see that I do not fill the cup at the bottom. I like the length of the longline and I do wish it had fit me.

Wires are pretty narrow but not narrow enough for me. However, most bras aren't so that is a "me" problem and not the bra's problem. 

Beautiful shape. You can see wrinkles in the band which I think means it's too tight for me. It wasn't at first, but when I tried to do anything in it it was sooo constricting. 

How disappointing is this back view? Those straps are so ugly, wide, and plain. No u/leotard back makes it look so industrial and not very delicate at all.

Besides the tight band, the cups were a smidge too small and I quadded. I don't think the next size up would have fit without gapping.

The wires were too wide by maybe half an inch. I also did not fill out the bottom of the cups and there was some wrinkling. This was something I could live with if the band wasn't trying to kill me.

Sadly, this was not the bra for me. I love almost everything, but the fit and that ugly back were killing it for me. If you're thinking about buying a longline, I'd size up one band size at least for your best fit. Freya has some pretty solid options on the market and anything Comexim makes can be turned into a longline (I believe-don't quote me on that). I have heard the Comexim's longlines' wires tend to float at the bottom and not tack but this was not an issue I experienced with this bra. If I get a chance, I'd totally try another Freya longline halfcup in either a 30F or a 32E. I have listed this bra in the hopes of passing it on to someone who can wear and appreciate it.