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! 

Ewa Michalak HM Burgund in 65FF

This bra was purchased off of Allegro.pl for me by a wonderful bratabase user (most sellers on Allegro don't like shipping outside of Poland apparently). I had no idea what the condition of the bra was when I purchased it: whether it was just tried on, brand new or used. I figured for 25 bucks it was worth the chance. This is the unpadded version of the PL Burgund I previously reviewed. I believe that bra ran a little small, but that's just an aside to this review. I did some brief research on the HM style after my purchase and it seems that that this style runs deep and very tall-both in cup and gore. This is very true. I almost received my beloved SM Cukiereczek in an HM style and I'm glad I didn't because of the whole tall gore/cup issue. Now that I've tried this bra, the only Ewa styles in my size range I haven't tried out are the BM (on order!), SF, and HP.

So I know I mentioned I had no idea the quality of this bra when I first purchased it. Imagine my surprise when I received it brand new with the tags on! This style is 5 years old: what are the chances of that happening? It is a one-seamed (two part) half cup with a dart near the middle of the gore. The gore is very tall as are the cups. The quality is okay-there are a few loose threads but nothing I can't deal with. The bows are not Ewa's signature giant poofy ones but are rather small and understated. The straps sadly are half adjustable, with the adjustable bit very smooth. I fear it will be prone to slipping. If I can be bothered I will shorten them for a little more lift. The band is extremely tight and I can't get it on without an extender, confirming my theory that the Burgund in general ran tight. It is a very beautiful bra. I keep getting lucky with my Ewa finds! I wish I could have had more close up shots for you guys but my camera started to act up after I uploaded the first batch of pictures.

Here you can see the two major fit issues: the wideset straps (a common annoyance) and that gore. The cups on this bra aren't much higher then the gore. I worry that it'll peak out of my lower cut tops thus limiting what I can wear this bra with. It is lovely though and I love all the little whorls and the large swoops. The top of the cup is scalloped following the edge of the lace. The lace is nicely mirrored which is always nicely done by the lovely ladies working at Ewa. The band is made of a really strong burgundy coloured knit. It's very thick and soft. All the elements of the bra work so well together.

The top edge of the cups gapes ever so slightly but it's not terribly noticeable under clothes. The shape looks better without a shirt then under as it's a very squashed, flattened appearance. The cups are very open on top so someone with more upper tissue then I would fit well in this style.

So the band on this is wicked tight. It only stretches to about 27.5 before distorting. My previous Burgund stretched to 28.5 so that ran tight as well, but just not as tight as this one does. I need to wear it with an extender because I can't even come close to doing it up without it. The straps are only half adjustable but pretty wide. Based on previous experience I expect the non-adjustable straps to kinda curl and fold up. When I'm not feeling so lazy I'll shorten the straps.

Where the straps actually want to sit. It's probably a combination of Ewa's normally wide-set straps and then the extender pushing them even further out.

Because I just love close-ups! This bra is lovely but not the right shape for me. The gore is too tall and stabby but it does overlap so luckily it is not as wide as it could be. It is a soft tack and I can feel it resting on my sternum. I knew the gore was going to be too tall going in and this is actually much better then I anticipated.  The cups are made of only 2 parts with a dart near the middle of the gore to provide more shaping then one-seam half-cups generally provide. I don't know if Ewa is still producing HM styles but given a choice this is not one I'd choose for myself. It is lovely but it's not quite the right shape for me. Seeing how this was a second hand purchase I will keep it in the bradrobe and in rotation.

So here is the biggest downside of this bra. I can deal with the tall gore, the tight band, and the wide-set straps but this shape is funky. It's like I'm pushing my boobs against a wall. Flat and lumpy at the same time.

So my fingers are at the top of the gore. This is a very low cut and the gore almost pokes out.

While this is not an ideal shape for me I still like it. I would like to see Ewa come out with an updated unlined half-cup with a much lower gore then this and a less lumpy shape then the HM.