So I made it to LA after a full day of travel yesterday (partly because we opted to leave a lot earlier than we actually needed to but we were cautious in case of weather delays) and I convinced hubby that we should grab a lyft to Jenette Bras on Santa Monica Blvd today, as the convention officially starts tomorrow, making today a free day for us. He was quite happy to stay out in the waiting area as they were playing a great Spotify playlist of his favourite stuff and they had a photography book that had lots of musicians he liked (book was by a fellow that was a photographer for a lot of musicians in the early 80s or something like that).

They pretty much took me at my word for my size and evaluated the fit of the bra I was wearing today (65FF BM Cabernet) which she agreed fit but she did adjust the straps a little bit tighter. She pulled out a few things from the drawers, and I went out to them and grabbed a few. One of the bras that she had grabbed for me was a 28G Envy in a beautiful blue...it’s called Navy, but mine seemed like it had a tinge of teal in it, but maybe it’s a trick of the lighting? Seriously though, this colour is really stunning! On my own, I went to look at the drawers in my size range and pick out some stuff, and I came across 28FF Jasmine in caramel, a bra in a size that I’ve actually tried before (but never got any pictures of up here). I just reviewed that here before this one.

Now traditionally, Envy and Jasmine have not been my friends. They are too projected at the apex, and in the case of Envy, too tall. However, I have had some growth since the summer and it’s evened me out some with a little bit more tissue/volume on top that I did not have prior. My lack of upper tissue and softer, pendulous, fob breasts is often a problem for this kind of bra style, so I usually end up with a bit of a pointy shape because I just sink into the cups and fill the space until it’s done and then I often have spread out so forward in that deep apex that I no longer have enough tissue to round out in the bra on top. Given that I am somewhat more full on top now than the last time, I thought I would try them again and see if it is still a shape mismatch or if it’s a better fit.

In the case of the Jasmine, this was definitely the case. I got a bit more of a rounded and fuller profile than I have had in the past. I don’t know if it’s because of the size or the increased fullness. With this bra, I feel like I am getting a little bit better shape than I have, but it’s still a little bit pointy on me. It’s not as bad as it has been. I’ll have to see if I can find other pictures of me in various sizes of Envy, because I have certainly tried more than a few sizes.

As with the 28FF Jasmine, I felt like the band was tight. The fitter thought that it was the right size and not too tight or putting too much strain on the hooks. It’s making me reconsider the 28G Lily I have. That said, I’m sure that I would still be a bit more comfortable in the 30 band for now. I was unsure if the cups would be a better fit in the 28FF, but when I tried it, I had a small amount of cutting in, so it is definitely a better fit in the cups in the 28G.

I don’t quite fill the bottom of the cups, and if you look closely at the images, you’ll see the wrinkles at the wire. To me, it’s not a huge problem, as I do not think that it’s going to be a problem with my imf. But it’s a bit annoying still that I don’t have a smooth cup there. I am pendulous and definitely need a bit of immediate depth.

I still think that it’s a bit too tall for me and a bit of a shape mismatch, but I think that it’s a little bit better of a fit for me now with my increased growth. I do love the Envy’s signature houndstooth print on the lower half of the cup as well as the colour of this one. They do have a great selection of colours for this style.

The big question is probably if I would buy one, and I think that it would be dependent on the size and colour, but also the price, because I know that it’s not a perfect fit, but it’s a doable one that might be a good fit for me under my work uniform.

Update: I have found the various fit request albums that included the Envy in various sizes and included the screenshots in the gallery for the 28G that I am reviewing here.

The 32E (peacock) is the oldest and from the trip I took with my husband to England for our 20th anniversary in October 2016. It’s back when I was still wearing 32 bands.

The 28F (black) and 30E (beige) are from January 2018, so a little bit more than a year ago. I went to the local specialty shop we had at the time feeling confident about my size but agreed to get measured anyway and they told me that I was a 28F. I agreed to try the 28F in Envy, as it was the only one that they had, and I surprisingly got it done up, but it felt really tight, and I asked them for the 30E to compare. The 30E felt better in the band but the fitter was insisting that it was not as good a fit as the 28F, at least technically, though agreed that it was a shape mismatch and not a good style for me anyway.

Hopefully the extra pictures are helpful in comparing the fits in Envy I have had in the past with the 28G of this review. Personally, I see a small difference, but not a huge difference.

Navy colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Feb 15, 2019 Flag this

• Show all comments (14)
• 3

  oh wow the peacock and the navy are really gorgeous colors. Beautiful! Visually they really do look fine, even the peacock tried earlier looks quite passable on my screen. I agree the difference is not especially striking.

  So, idk, I don't think there is a right or wrong answer... if you love it go for it! But this is pretty subjective... if it doesn't feel all that great and you aren't a fan of the shape, that is a totally valid reason not to buy/keep this one. Shape and coverage-wise this would not bug me, on my own body that is. I do like a good old traditional full or nearly full coverage style and I am not averse to a bit of retro pointiness either. That's why I enjoyed the Prima Donna Deauville when i could find it! Then again, Prima Donna has very soft wires so I found even PD full cups sat very lightly on the body so to speak, whereas it sounds like maybe this was a little much. Panaches like Envy/Jasmine are "a lot of bra" compared to other options in your size range, so, perhaps it's overengineered compared to what you need.

  Also FWIW I'm not a fan of fitters assuring you a band is fine if you feel it's too tight... you know your body... Especially for bras with notably hard wires--nobody wants those bad boys embedded halfway into their pancreas tyvm.

• 2

  If I were you, I wouldn't even be trying 28 bands anymore. So far few seem to have worked, which is fine, sometimes the measurements don't match how we feel. I know in my case it was like that and I decided to just stop torturing myself with a smaller band when I clearly am more comfy in larger.

  Anyway, I tried Envy when I thought I was a 34E (and got it in that size) and I was not at all impressed with the fabrics and just the bra overall seemed more like body armor (for something looking so delicate).

• 1

  Such a lovely color! Amazon often has Envy available at good prices and with free returns if you are interested enough.

  And glad the weather didn't impede your travels! :-)

• 4

  The colours are pretty :)
  I think that the amount of fit or style compromises that it makes sense to make really depend on your other options. If it's already hard to find anything that fits, then something wearable but with a few flaws is the best option available, maybe even some bra surgery or alterations are worth trying. If however, you already have better fitting, comfier and prettier option in your bra drawer or that you can buy, I fear that a bra that's just meh will end up gathering dust and not being worn, so it's not really worth buying in my opinion :)

• 1

  I'm happy you were able to go there and had a good experience!

• Thanks for the feedback everyone. I did try on some Prima Donna, Simone Perele, and some of the other French brands but I didn’t document anything that I tried on. I could probably try to find the names on the site and match visually, but as many were 30G and didn’t fit, I think that it was not worth reporting on. As far as trying the 28 bands, they only had Panache and Cleo in 28s, so it was really the only chance that I had to try them on and gage cup fit. That said, one of them was a Cleo Mimi in 28GG, which was too large in the cup but was perfectly fine in the band, so it is really dependent on how big or stretchy the band is. But yes, mostly I need 30 for comfort. Or at least 29” stretched, whichever size fits like that. The peacock and navy are so rich and beautiful, and there are a ton of beautiful shades. Ultimately, I don’t think that I would buy it unless I was able to get a 30FF for super cheap and it fit as well as this, but I also have so many other bras that fit me better that I would probably not look at this one. Jasmine is a more noticeably better fit with my size and shape changes.

• For the record, does this 28G Navy Envy look like it fits any better than the others or about the same? Also, I will say that although it was a bit tight, I feel like it was not as tight as it was when I first tried the 28s. That said, back then, my snug under bust measurement was closer to 29” (28.75-29.25”) and now it is closer to 28” (28-28.5”). So maybe it’s not as bad as then because of this? But like I said, I prefer 29” minimum, whatever size it comes from, so I am kind of in between the 28 and 30.

• It is frustrating being between sizes, sorry honey. :-(

  I think the older photos aren't really comparable since your size and fullness has changed, so comparing the older photos at different sizes vs the newer ones is tricky.

  I know the Panache bras I have tried (like most brands) vary with each bra you try, so even if you try the exact same model and colorway, you likely will experience a slightly different fit. It is more of a bra by bra trial and error experience.

  Are you going to be able to buy any bras on this trip, or is it more of a solidifying your wish list for future buys situation?

• I won’t be buying anything on this trip unless I’m able to get to the Nordstrom rack, but when I was there last, they didn’t have any bras. But that was a year ago. This trip is expensive as it is, with some things that are limited to this convention, like a picture with Catherine Tate, whereas I can buy a bra any time, you know? I mean, I might see some of the guests at other cons, but this is a grab it while you can kind of thing, and I prioritize it higher than more bras. Plus, I am getting the 65G S bras this evening. So I’m still getting bras on the trip. I guess I was just trying to figure out if I fit it/them better now BECAUSE of the growth which is why I added the older pics of how it has fit in the past.

• Completely understandable. Hopefully your trip is enjoyable and your bra treasure tonight fits beautifully. :-)

• agh.. I don't think I can judge confidently about the relative merits (or not) of the navy Envy because on my screen it is a bit hard to tell due to the darker color. But as you say, it's a moot point when you have so many preferred options: on paper you're a very decent match for this Panache shape because you have only moderate root height and a pretty straight tapered upper boob curve, but in reality it sounds like it's just meh in terms of comfort and preferred appearance.
  And I agree with both you and brasaremean about 28s, you prob only want to consider those in brands known for stretchiness. Was it you who said you had a little rib flare (one or two ribs a bit out of alignment just below the bra band)? If so, I think that is an important factor in sensitivity to tight bands for a lot of people. I have a slight prominence difference in the ribs, sort of between the front and side of my body, right where many underwires settle, and that's the reason I can tolerate much tighter non-wired bras than wired ones--those ribs don't like being gouged!

• This looks pretty good on you, but the band is pulling the wires too wide. It certainly doesn’t look any better than the 30E.

  I would take the fitters advice with a grain of salt especially if this was the only bra she had left in this size. Maybe they don’t sell too many 28Fs and she finally wanted to get rid of it.

• The fitter was not being any more aggressive about this one than others that I had tried, which is to say that she was not aggressive at all. I simply asked her opinion about the fits of the 28 bands and she gave me her thoughts.

• The fitter was not being any more aggressive about this one than others that I had tried, which is to say that she was not aggressive at all. I simply asked her opinion about the fits of the 28 bands and she gave me her thoughts.

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