I'm fuller on bottom, and somewhat even, but definitely not full-on-top. So please take with a grain of salt those who claim (usually due to hearsay) that this bra is the one you try to test if you're full-on-top, or that it would not work for full-on-bottom breasts. I wish I had tried it earlier.

This bra can work for you if you are bottom-heavy because of the forgiving upper lace section. If you want to test if you are full-on-top and more shallow than projected, try the Cleo Juna, with its wide upper and shallow lower section. This bra is not shallow at all, so if you ... are full-on-bottom and shallow, that's a whole different story.

These cups fit perfectly on me, and the mesh lace upper section lies nearly flat against even my smaller boob. The Marcie does not have the "speed bump" issue that Cleo Millie / Lily / "sister cuts" have. Specifically, the lace section on those other narrow, projected Cleos will bulge and be loose where the thinner mesh or lace meets the cup, unless you're definitely full-on-top. Also, unlike those "sister cuts," the Marcie is made from a solid color of soft mesh, whereas those have smooth, unstretchy fabric underneath a loose mesh top section.

Good immediate projection, relatively narrow wires/cup widths--one of the narrowest cups you can get in this size without going to a Polish brand (5.2"). However, the wires become wider at the top outsides of the cups, which is annoying because the edges of the cups are almost under the armpits.

The tops of the cups, and therefore the straps, are a bit too far apart for me. Straps are pretty thin (not strap width, but thickness of the strap when you pinch it), so they cut in a little.

The elastic of the band also cuts in, mostly because I am muscular--I wish Panache and Cleo used thicker, less stretchy materials on their unpadded bras, so that the elastic would not always be tighter than the band. I also wish the Marcie came in a longline style. That would solve the only discomfort issue I have with this thin band. Wires under stiffer fabric were also painful against the sternum and ribs initially, but bending them and washing the bra helped a lot.

The cups in 28F run very slightly small at first, but stretch out with wear. The band is extremely tight at first--I think the Marcie could work on someone who needs 26 bands, because I'm about 27".

This review was for the pink color after three wears and one wash.
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Updated on Dec 11, 2013 Flag this

Shape: round, projected, even, close set, on the narrow end of average root width.

Yay! This is the bra that fits! As I mentioned in my 30E - Cleo » Marcie Balconnet Bra (6831) review, the fit was excellent everywhere except the band, which was just crazy stretchy. I ordered a sister size down, to the 28F, and this fits like an absolute dream. Wearing this makes me feel embarrassed that I stuck with my terribly ill-fitting 32DD - Cleo » Marcie Balconnet Bra (6831) for so long. I legitimately thought Marcies were out of reach for me, that it was too open ... on top, the gore was too wide, etc, but it's only because I was wearing the wrong size!

The 28F perfectly encapsulates my breast tissue with no quadding or gapping of the top lace, even on my smaller side. The gore, which ends up sitting at a slant in the 32DD, is firmly tacked and comfortably narrow for my close-set breasts. The band is nice and firm. Overall, I get a lovely uplifted round shape and I totally dig the pastel blue & neon coral accents. I don't own anything like it.

The only con I can think of, and this is totally unrelated to the bra, is that the matching panties are both a smidge too tight in a UK 10 (38" hips, I comfortably wear 10s in Panache briefs, but I think they run smaller in Cleo) and I simply cannot get over the frilly lace edging. Go look it up. I feel like a fluffy cupcake princess / pastel mermaid. This would DEFINITELY be a pro for others, but it's a tiny bit too fanciful for me. The fiance says I should just roll with it https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />
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Bluebell colorway

Updated on Sep 05, 2016 Flag this

I am so behind in my reviews! Let's catch up shall we?

I originally purchased this bra in a 30E - Cleo » Marcie Balconnet Bra (6831) at full price. I was so disappointed when it arrived and sent it back after trying it on.
When this, my proper UK size, popped up on sale at a UK website (Pro Tip: buy UK bras from UK websites. This Cleo is $55 on Amazon, it is $34 at poinsettiastyle.co.uk and I got it on sale for $25 when it was new) I went ahead and bought it again praying that it wouldn't try to kill me like past 28 ... Marcies have.

It didn't!
Sure, it's still not blue and it still had that horrible neon orange trim (which I removed right away) but it fit! And the shape it gives, A+. Marcie is super round, even though she expects a touch more upper fullness than what I have, it's still very globe-like.

The band is great and TTS.
The straps are fully adjustable and comfortable.
The wires are still a little wide at the top.
The cups have even tension (no in-cup quad).
The wire channels are much longer than the actual wires, there is a lot of empty space in them.
The gore is too high and too separate for me, so I use that extra wire channel space and shove them down towards my underarm and sew the channels at the gore so they don't stab my sternum.

It is pretty, it is (mostly) comfortable, and it gives a great shape. It won't take the place of my beloved SM, but they can certainly live together in my drawer.


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Bluebell colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Jul 15, 2016 Flag this

I bought this well-loved Marcie as a summer bra. It was getting hot, and my only acceptably fitting bras were lined. Based on what I had heard about the Marcie (that it's the bra to try to test if you're full on top) I was not expecting it to work for me and my even-to-FoB, short roots. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only do I actually fill out the top, it looks amazing AND it's comfortable!

It's not perfect. The wires are too wide, and the inside seam at the lace cuts in a bit on my larger side. But the shape is where it really ... shines. My breasts look perfectly round in this thing. It's seriously amazing. And I don't even need to tighten the straps much at all! None of the fit issues cause me any discomfort, so I can easily ignore them. Maybe it's because it's already been broken in, but the wires don't even feel too hard like Panache wires usually do.

I admit when I first started looking for bras and saw this one getting recommended constantly, I didn't give it much thought at all. I didn't care that it would probably never fit because I wasn't the biggest fan of how it looked. I'm not sure what changed my opinion, but now I actually think it's pretty cute with the bow-patterned lace and little button ornament. And I love how many different colors there are. I have a red one on the way that I hope will be as much of a successs as this pink one.
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This bra is not owned any more

Updated on May 01, 2016 Flag this

Marcie deserves the love it gets from the lingerie lovers! I thought, being even to FoB, that I would never get to wear it's gorgeous colorways...but I thought wrong! This clarifies it: http://www.myfashioninsiderblog.com/2016/04/lingerie-cleo-by-panache-marcie-28f.html

Panache Lingerie, Cleo by Panache, Marcie, review, lingerie blogger, Cleo Marcie

http://www.myfashioninsiderblog.com/2016/04/lingerie-cleo-by-panache-marcie-2...

magenta/orange colorway

Updated on Apr 16, 2016 Flag this

Brallerina

1707 reputation

61 bras

Thank you to sincerity for this bra! I've owned and loved several Marcies over the years, and this will be no exception. I'm a little too big for the cups right now because of gaining a couple pounds due to lockdown (and moving in with my wonderful home cook of a boyfriend), but it will probably be perfect once I go back to work and shrink back to my regular size! I had bought this bra in black in a 28FF from someone recently and it seemed to run large, or at least I had a ton of space in the upper cup, which is never a problem for me lol. But in 28F it seems to run similarly to my other Marcies. I'd say the cup volume is slightly smaller than my burgundy Marcie in 28F, but slightly bigger than my Periwinkle Marcie in "30E" (altered to fit like 26FF/28F). Bottom line, I'm looking forward to wearing this eventually and I'm sure it will be a regular part of my rotation!

Black colorway

Updated on May 17, 2021 Flag this

Thank you to jlcl119 for selling me this bra! I've owned Marcie before, but not for a few years. It's even better than I remembered! It's super comfy, the gore doesn't bother me like Hettie's does, and I only get mild in-cup quadding on one side which is barely noticeable. I just wore it for a 5 hour waitressing shift and I felt supported and contained the whole time. It gives me a nice round shape under clothing, as is expected from Marcie. This burgundy colourway is beautiful, and I think the cute cream bows with burgundy pin dots brings the whole thing together. I also received two matching briefs, but I'll have to wait and see how I feel about them. I tried them on and they fit well, but they give me major VPL and cut into my glutes like crazy. This is always a problem I have, so I won't be wearing them with any tight-fitting clothing. I could probably make do with wearing them under skirts and dresses that are more A-line.

Burgundy colorway

Updated on Oct 03, 2017 Flag this

Style
It looks darker then on the photos. But the red trim makes a very nice contrast. When I took it out of the package I though “This is bedroom only.”: The cups are almost transparent when you hold it up against the light but when wearing it you can barely see my nipples.

Fit / Sizing
I got this in a 28F since some of my 28FFs were wrinkling a bit and I also expected it to have more room on top like my Cleo Kayla. But the cups are slightly smaller then in the Kayla and this doesn't have stretch lace so it's a bit small on my ... larger side but there is no visible quadding. I already ordered the black version in 30F for the days when I am a bit swollen and my boobs are bigger. However, the shape is perfect. I never had such a round, perky shape in any other bra. Maybe this is even a side effect of the slightly small cups. But I can totally live with that.

I also expected a super stretchy band since it is one of the newer Marcie colorways, but it's actually really snug. I had to wear it with an extender a few times but now it stretched a little and feels comfortable on the loosest hook. With some of my bras (especially Freya) the wires are stretched too wide when the band is tight but in this one the they are narrow and super firm so they follow my IMF perfectly without poking me under the arms. This is actually more comfortable then having softer wires that are a little too wide.

Quality (I only have it for three weeks now.)
Overall it feels really firm and supportive without looking bulky. And it will be much more breathable then my black Cleo Zia next summer. I am just afraid that the thin mesh will make it stretch out more quickly.
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Navy colorway

Updated on Apr 02, 2018 Flag this

I tried the pink Marcie in 28F and loved it, so I thought I'd love the red one just as much. Turns out it's true that the pink one runs smaller. I thought the red Marcie fit until I realized that I wasn't actually filling the top; the bra had just slid down my ribcage. When I pulled it back up into my IMF, the cups were totally wrinkling and empty. 28E probably would have been a better fit in the non-pink colorways.

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Sep 20, 2017 Flag this

I'm full on bottom and projected, but I found this bra to be very comfortable. The lace at the top lies flat with good posture but does wrinkle a bit when I have my arms in front of me, although this isn't a big deal since it doesn't cause discomfort or show under shirts. This is likely just an inconsequential effect of shape mismatch as the Marcie tends to suit full on top shapes. The wires on this bra are narrow but they're really comfortable. Overall, this is a great bra with a really pretty design and minimal problems. I also have the briefs in UK size 8 (XS) and they fit perfectly on my 34" hips.

Nude colorway

Updated on Mar 17, 2021 Flag this