Wow. I've never had so much trouble getting a bra than I had with Cleo's Christina. It was quite a frustrating adventure. I first saw it pop up on Figleaves some weeks ago now but I didn't want to place an order for a single set because I knew there were other SS 2014 bras I wanted to try and shipping costs add up very quickly when you don't live in the UK. So I waited. Then I saw it on sale on ASOS and they have free shipping and free returns. Win/Win. So off I went to order a 75E, the French equivalent of a 28E. I received a 75DD/28DD and didn't know what to think: did the people that had handled the order make a mistake or were ASOS's size conversions messed up? It clearly read UK28DD / FR75DD on the bra label and FR75E on my order form. So I took a chance and ordered another FR75E. I received a FR75DD/28DD. Again. By now it was clear that the French version of the ASOS website was messed up size-wise. The UK28E I so dearly wanted had to be the FR75F. Only it was out of stock. And it was out of stock everywhere I thought to look on the internet. I began checking ASOS and Figleaves a bit obsessively in case some returns came in. My OCD paid off and I was able to snag a 75F on ASOS. I received the package today and it was with a bit of trepidation that I opened it: UK28E. Victory at last!
On to the review of the bra itself.
Pretty! It's a very dark blue that has a kind of purplish tint to it with some embroidery in neon orange. There is a mesh sewn over the cups and it can wrinkle in places but nothing too obvious.
Pretty little bow with a heart charm in the center. Not strictly necessary in my opinion but it works.
The band is a typical Cleo band: a perfect one! Cleo is the only brand I trust to always give me true-to-size bands that are nice and firm and that I can start on the first set of hooks. It's really annoying to see brands such as Freya or Curvy Kate with bands that run at least one size too large in some of their models and not fixing the problem. It's especially galling when it comes to the Freya Deco since it's such a popular model. It would be so very easy to fix the issue. I don't understand why they don't do it.
The straps are fully adjustable and ideally placed for my narrow shoulders.
The cups fit true-to-size in my opinion. The extra scalloped mesh on top of the cup doesn't sit flat in places but the cups themselves fit seamlessly and the center gore lies perfectly flat on my sternum.
I'd go as far as saying that if you're sized out of this bra by half a cup, you could take a gamble and order half a cup down if the bra truly appeals to you. I tried on the 28DD I received and it didn't fit horribly. I had the slightest hint of a quadboob when puffing out my chest but nothing that would be really obvious under clothing. Plus it gave me some cleavage: something unheard of for years! I almost kept it just for this but in the end I had a bit of flesh spilling out from under my arms and it wasn't very pleasing to the eye. Had I been unable to get a 28E, I would have kept it though.
The shape... Ah, how I love Cleo's perfectly rounded bras. Even the unpadded ones like the Lucy give you a great shape (the only unpadded bras I buy are from Cleo because of this very thing).
Round and uplifted: just the way I like it.
But the Christina has one flaw: it is not a T-shirt bra. The shape looks great under clothing but the embroidery shows through the material in a very obvious way. I couldn't quite capture it in pictures but wearing it under a cotton top (or any other light summer top) is not an option.
~ * ~
Bottoms
Cleo's weakness. The vast majority of them are cut along the same lines and offer little coverage. They're very awkward to wear under jeans because they cover so little of your butt that you'll get pretty obvious panty lines across the middle of each butt cheek. I ordered a UK12 to be on the safe side (I'm more of a UK10 in other brands). Anything smaller would have given me a dreadful muffin top in addition to panty lines. Then again, my butt is curvier than my chest so it needs more material to be adequately covered.
~ * ~
Verdict
Great bra! I'm so glad I went to all this trouble to get it in the right size. I don't even mind the fact that it's not a T-shirt bra. I've got my Freya Decos to wear under T-shirts. It's very pretty without being too cutesy or too "in-your-face young", a direction in which Cleo unfortunately seems to be moving. I feel too old for most of their recent prints/materials but I love the shape, support and comfort their bras give me. I hope they'll continue to offer bras such as the Christina.
No comments:
Post a Comment