First, a bit about me: I have even fullness, short/narrow roots, very soft tissue, and am fairly high set and close set. I wear between 70J-70K in Ewa Michalak (depending on style), and 32HH in Cleo Marcie. My UK size for brands other than Cleo is probably 32J.

Knowing that, it probably doesn't make much sense that I am wearing a 34GG in this bra, right? Well, I've found the Panache Sport runs a bit differently than a *regular* bra. I tried it in 34H (last year before the HH & J cups were introduced), but the cups were WAY too tall and the wings were incredibly uncomfortable under my arms. I had empty space at the top of the cups and my underarms were being rubbed raw, so that's no good! The cup and wing height in the 34GG are much more comfortable for my somewhat high-set boobs with short roots. And honestly, the cup depth isn't off by that much. Sure, I could use a tiny bit more room, but it's not a deal breaker. I mean, this is a sports bra after all. I don't expect a perfectly flat sitting gore (which would be impossible since it's 2.5 cm wide and I am super close set!) I think if I were to actually try this bra in my actual UK size, which is around 32HH or 32J, it would be much too large. With that being said, if your boobs are anything like mine, I strongly suggest sizing down 1-2 cups if you find your actual UK size doesn't work.

The store I got this from didn't have any 32H in stock, which is why I went with sister size 34GG. It actually worked out okay because I got this bra more for comfort daily wear rather than exercise. I was able to wear it on the loosest set of hooks for the first couple of weeks, but now I am wearing it on the 2nd and 3rd rows. Of course, I normally wear 32 bands, so this isn't a result of the band being too stretchy or anything. Some days I will still wear it on the loosest set of hooks because I DO NOT like tight bands at all, and some days I don't feel well and need a very loose band. Since I bought this bra pretty cheap, the 34 band is totally fine for now until the 3rd row of hooks is too large; however, if I do buy another one, I think ultimately 32H would be the best size for me (so I need the same band + 2 cups smaller than my UK size in this bra.)

As I mentioned above, the cup depth is a little too small, but not so much so that I have massive amounts of quadboob or anything. It helps that the band is not super snug on me, which can exaggerate too-small cups sometimes. This bra does not fit anything like a typical balconette, so I believe it's unrealistic to expect the same measurements and fit criteria to apply. Also, as I previously mentioned, the gore is quite wide. However, the wire channels are heavily padded and are OH SO COMFY, so I don't mind at all. The gore doesn't lie flat and floats away from my chest quite a bit, but I still get enough separation to feel comfortable. No major problems with boob sweat here. I'd say this bra, at this size, fits more as a combination compression/encapsulation bra. My boobs aren't completely separate as they would be in an encapsulation bra, but they're not completely smooshed flat as they would be in a compression bra. Sure, my boobs would be completely separated if I got it in my proper size, but then the cups would be obscenely tall and would kill me under the arms. I'll gladly sacrifice a bit of cup depth for the rest of the bra to fit better. **Edit: One thing I forgot to mention -- the wires in the gore only go up about 2/3 of the way; there is no wire at the very top of the "gore" section, so that adds to what I think is an unrealistic expectation to have the gore lie completely flat. I just don't think it's *supposed* to! I've seen several people disregard this bra because the gore doesn't lie flat, but I think their expectations are just not in line for the functionality of this bra.

The best thing about this bra is the straps. I LOVE the strap placement. It's much closer to my neck rather than towards the edge of my shoulders, so I find the straps very comfortable (plus they are padded). There's a j-hook on the back to make it into a racerback, and I use this feature occasionally when I want more support. I like how the wires/wings are lower under the arms as well, so I find I wear this bra in rotation just to help relieve any discomfort I have been feeling from underwires that are too high under my arms. I love my EMs, but they rub me raw under the arms sometimes!

The shape the bra gives is quite nice as well. I've added pics of myself wearing just the bra itself and also with a t-shirt. The shape is nicely rounded and uplifted. I find this bra to be a great t-shirt bra, so I tend to wear it when I'm just wearing a t-shirt, if I want to be comfortable on the evenings/weekends, or if I'm doing active work and don't want to wear one of my nicer Ewa Michalak bras. All in all, it's one of my favorite bras of all-time. https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />

Raspberry colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Dec 11, 2015 Flag this

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  I'm surprised the band is so loose on you! I tried a wireless 34 band when I was still primarily wearing 32 bands, and it was still SO tight! I wonder if it's different with different colorways? The one I tried was black banded, so maybe the dye make it shrink. Either way, your review is really making me jones to try this one again. I have been favoring comfort these days, and the padded straps look dreamy.

• ginganinja Well, to be fair, my tight underbust measurement is around 29", so I could probably wear 30 bands if I wanted to. I really, really, REALLY don't like firm/tight bands, which is why I stick to 32. Hopefully that helps explain it! :)

• ginganinja Actually, I went back and looked at some of my other measurements, and I think you might be right about the black ones being much tighter. I've had a few black ones before in a couple different sizes (I was a Panache Sport addict a year or two ago lol) and the band measurement was in fact smaller than the other colorways. I have (2) in 34GG right now, and they both stretch to about 35". One is the raspberry color seen here, and the other one is a grey one that I dyed pink. I figured that one would shrink since I soaked it in very hot water for about an hour for the dye process, but it didn't seem to affect it much.

• *dyed purple with pink dye is what I meant to say: 34GG - Panache Sport » Sports Bra (5021)

• Agh, I can't edit my comments, so I apologize for the incorrect link (and SO MANY responses! :) The window isn't large enough for me to see which colorway I am selecting, so I'll just leave it alone. It's in the list of bras if you want to see.
  

• haha it's ok! I appreciate the information! It makes sense if your underbust is that small, and you're in a 34 band, then it'd be on the looser side. Also makes sense about the black dye. I'm always surprised at how much a difference that one factor makes in fit.

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