I would have tried this in 30F, my usual UK size, but that size wasn't available. Indeed, herroom.com was the only retailer with E or F cups in any band size.
To simulate a 30 band, I fastened this on the tightest hooks. As I expected, the cups seemed a trifle large.
On the plus side, the cups, excluding the straps going diagonally from center gore to straps, were low coverage. It's hard to find low coverage cups in the 30F range
The comfort and sexiness of low coverage cups were canceled out in this bra by the straps. Attractive but uncomfortable straps go from the center ... gore to the straps.
The straps are only partially adjustable. If they were fully adjustable, I believe the cups wouldn't be too big. At the least, fully adjustable straps would enable me to get better shaping.
The straps are too wide-set, so my shoulders push them inward and exacerbate the poor shaping caused by the cups being too large.
Immediately, the 2.25" high center gore was uncomfortable. The highest a gore can be without painfully pressing on breast tissue is 1.75."
The bottom quarter of each cup is a thick, somewhat rigid quilted material. It resembles the Freya Deco cup material in rigidity.
The rigid, quilted material covers about the same area as a quarter cup bra. It gives good lift
Above that are two vertically seamed lace panels. The vertical seams curve diagonally from the bottom up toward the center of the chest.
A UK 32F bra is one cup volume up from my usual UK 30F.
There is no lift or shaping from the sheer lace panels. I believe this can be only partially attributed to the cups being one size larger than my usual size.
The top edge of each cup's sheer lace panels need to be anchored to something higher up to lift my breasts.
I prefer sturdily constructed bras with strong wires and high wings to shape firm, self-supporting breasts into something different than what nature gave me.
I'm not ungrateful for my natural shape, but what's the point of wearing a bra, if not to transform?
I believe the combination of partially adjustable straps, straps being too wide-set, and stretchy, sheer lace panels made for mediocre shaping.
I'll format my review later. I just wanted to get down my impressions before returning the Madame X Underwire Bra, which I did immediately.
I hadn't expected the Madame X Underwire Bra to work for me, especially in 32F. The Dita Von Teese Starlite bra has a similar construction. The lower part of the cup is a thicker, firmer substance, and the upper part is a soft, stretchy lace. I had poor shaping from the top half of that one, too, plus in-cup quadding. The Madame X Underwire Bra at least didn't have the latter shape issue. I simply took advantage of a sale to capture measurements, pictures, and fit details for my firm, full-on-top breasts that are absurdly close together. Though I have tall roots and a FoT shape, my extreme petiteness means I find most UK bras to be too full coverage, even among those with great fit and shaping, even setting aside my need for extremely low gores.
The best feature of Dita Von Teese bras for me are the low coverage cups. Except for the superfluous straps hovering diagonally above the cups, this bra is low coverage. Those decorative straps are very stretchy. They lie properly on my FoT tissue at the designed space above the cups, but I would've removed them if I'd kept the bra. Even if I were into the bondage inspired strappy aesthetic, it seems incongruous in this light, bright, and pretty color.
I do love the light, clear, golden peachy color, called Creme Caramel. This works nicely as a nude-for-me. This is not the greenish or grayish beige so often touted as "nude" in the antediluvian terminology of bras.
The Dita Von Teese Madame X Satin and Lace Moulded Underwire Bra Y50945 (sometimes called the Madame X T-Shirt Bra) also comes in this color. I'll try more Dita Von Teese bras in this color.
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Updated on May 20, 2016 Flag this
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