I've been wanting this bra since I saw it in the fall of 2016, so 1 1/2 years. Botanical prints are my favorites, especially tropical ones, and although Panache is too tall for me, I decided I would give it another whirl, this time in a more likely to fit size than the 38J - Panache » Thea Balconnet Bra (9261) I tried previously. I liked the print so much I even ordered a matched set, on sale for only $60 total, which is pretty good for Panache in the US. The bra was probably over $60 full price here.

Thea fits me ... a lot like Jasmine, which is to say, a little too tall, with the fullest part of the bra about an inch above the nipple. The depth at the wire is not great compared to my Elomis- the bottom of the bra kind of comes up to the apex at a steep angle, whereas my Elomis are much more curved. The Panache thus gives a more pointy profile, and since the apex is above my own bust point, I get rocket boob, my trademark look in all Jasmine-like bras (Hettie, Blake, Thea, Jasmine). It's pointy and points upward.

I think this this bra would fit full on top, average to tall rooted women really well. The stretch lace, the top room, would balance out the pointier bottom portion.

The band is quite stretchy, the cups are roomy, so much so that someone who measures 42K (UK) might fit this bra if they really are full on top and have taller roots. The straps are pretty wideset.

All the fabrics are super soft. No scratchy yucky Panache fabric here- everything is silky. The band and strap elastics are really nice and plush.

I'm going to see what I can do to add new wires, shorten the gore, and take in the lace to make the shape a little rounder. I was trying it on and my husband was like, oh I love that print (he loves all things tropical), but it's so pointy! If I can make the profile a bit rounder with my sewing skills, it will be perfect.

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Ivory/Floral colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Apr 21, 2018 Flag this

My shape: center-set mid-height FOB teardrop with super tall and super wide roots that give functional allover even fullness, super close center tissue, and very firm tissue that fights back when pushed around.

This review is also for the Blush/Floral colorway.

Basically, the fit problems that I have with the 30F - Panache » Thea Balconnet Bra (9261) are exacerbated by the larger cup size: the gore is even taller, more wrinkled extra fabric in the upper cup, more obvious underwire riding down due to shallowness in the bottom of the cup, and the apex is even higher. The cup edges under my arms still have little ... to no stretch and I can't really tighten the straps without hiking them right up into my armpits. Curiously, the band feels firmer, but the photos don't seem to indicate any difference, and I still tried it on the tightest set of hooks.

Definitely one for someone with shorter roots than mine!

PS: The gore left wicked marks, which are also still visible in the photos I took half an hour later of the 65F - Passionata » Let's Play Balconette Bra (5215) !
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Blush/Floral colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Jun 07, 2016 Flag this

I didn't know much about Thea initially, except that it comes in lovely floral prints. I picked up one in my normal Panache sister size of 30DD in the Ivory Floral colorway, which is reminiscent of vintage botanical sketches and is quite unique. I was surprised to find that this bra is super comfortable and feels very much like a Cleo. However, this bra is sadly designed for FOT shapes, as the center of the cup is a bit high and projected, and the upper cup is almost shelf-like, meaning that it attaches to the bottom cup almost perpendicularly rather than at a gradual angle. ... While the wires and bottom cup fit me quite well, there's wrinkles in the upper cup that foam pads could not even smooth out as I just don't have the fullness required to fill it out.

This bra reminds me very much of several Cleo styles I've tried: Minnie, Ellis, and Kayla. All of these styles have a nice, firm tricot-lined printed fabric lower cup that feels really supportive and gives a great rounded shape. However, the fun stops there. The upper lace cup is made from double lined embroidered mesh with stabilizing elastic at the upper edge, but it feels quite firm though it does stretch a bit. Minnie has a very rigid upper cup, Ellis has a mesh embroidered upper cup with a bit of flexibility, and Kayla has a very stretchy and soft upper cup. This upper cup functions similarly to a cross between Minnie and Ellis' upper cups in terms of flexibility. If these styles work for you, chances are that you will love Thea.

I found the band to feel pretty TTS and relatively firm, so this sister size felt like a decent fit. The band is plain, solid powermesh, and there is a gentle leotard back. The elastic used is nicely textured for visual interest. The printed fabric is used throughout the cups and the cradle, and the center gore has a two tone pink and blue bow. I feel that the bow doesn't quite match the design of the rest of the bra, which is more vintage elegant, but the bow reads quite pop. Other than the fit mismatch, this is my only critique about this bra. I think it's a really well made bra and would recommend it to the right FOT shapes that can wear similar Cleo styles!
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Ivory Floral colorway

Updated on May 29, 2020 Flag this

Guys. This one seems like it fits. Most bras look like a droopy Snoopy nose on me from the front. This one seems to be shaped more like it's "supposed" to. My boobs are facing forward, not down. Sweet!

This was a surprise fit. I just added Thea to my order because it was available for Prime Wardrobe, but it's listed on ABTF as good for FOT, so I wasn't too excited as I am functionally FOB. Maybe the stretch lace/mesh panel opens up for FOT ladies, but on me it encloses the tops and inner sides very nicely. It's a two-ply mesh with an embroidered flowery pattern ... along the top and a thin elastic strip along the top border. Unlike Jasmine's lace, which is the same width for the length of the whole cup, Thea's lace is narrower on top by the straps and widens as it approaches the gore. The bottom cups are a smooth, satiny fabric with a mesh lining. The structure is a three-part cup with the straps attached to the wide panel that wraps down the side and along the outer bottom. That structure seems to work well for me with my very heavy outer fullness, as it helps give some outer lift.

The cups seem to fit well, very little wrinkling on the sides, and the elastic rests smoothly across the tops. The only issue is, as ever, the Panache wires that are always right at my armpits. Sometimes I have to re-scoop and swoop to keep it off my breast tissue right there. I wish Panache could shorten their wires by even 1/4". https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" />

Thea has a lot of projection in the apex, and also more than Hettie at the wire, with a rounder, deeper cup than Hettie. The result is a shape that's a little pointy, but like a rounded point, and angled up a bit. I believe I saw cupandahalf label this "rocket boob." lol.

The 34 inch band is a little tight on me. I'm wearing it with an extender that allows the bottom hook to fasten at the level of the loosest hook and the middle and top hooks to fasten one row looser.
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Black colorway

Updated on Jun 28, 2019 Flag this

VERY stretchy band, I think. My 32 panache have been feeling too tight, but I had to fasten on the tightest hook and I'm pretty sure it will stretch out enough to be loose.

I tried sizing up and it seems I did not grow as much as I thought I did. Slightly big on my bigger side, crazy big on my smaller side. I actually like the pattern, and I even like the shape on my bigger side. This bra has amazing uplift, but I think the peak of the cup is higher than most. I would really like that if it fit right - but I'm afraid a size down would be too small.

I do like the way it looks under a shirt! I might consider keeping it if the band wasnt so big.

ivory floral colorway

Updated on Nov 22, 2017 Flag this

According to bloggers, this bra is designed to lift heavy breasts and boy does it do that! A little too much for me. The shape of the bottom of the cup does not give immediate projection. Instead my breasts are lifted up to the sky. The apex is actually pointing upward a little and there is plenty of room. The top of the cup is a reduced stretch lace and mesh. The fabric is very thick and strong but comfortable, so my breasts only slightly fold over the bottom. The gore is high and everything is enclosed. Though the cup is wide, ... everything is pushed to the front and very centered. The straps are padded and soft but fully adjustable. The band is true to size so I need an extender.

The fabric is lovely and smooth and everything is high quality. The pink roses on pink is a more mature print but not dowdy. The elasticity are thick and padded and the band is a double ply soft fine gauge mesh.

Because of my soft tissue, omega shape, and short roots, this bra actually lifts my breast and folds it over my chest so I get a crease at the top of my breast root. I saw similar action from Ewa Michalak bras so this might be great for fans of her S, FB or SF lines that have wider roots.
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Blush/Floral colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Aug 13, 2016 Flag this

My shape: centered mid-height teardrop with super tall roots, super wide roots, super close center tissue, allover [even] fullness (slightly on the FOB side), and firm tissue that doesn't like to be pushed around.

This review is for the Blush/Floral colorway. It is a sweet baby-pink rose print with a sheer stretch upper panel embroidered with more satin-stitched roses in varying shades of pink. Very pretty!

I suspect that this bra would work a little better for someone with shorter roots and/or more FOB than I am, because on me the top half of the cups wrinkle something awful, and it is totally noticeable under thin tops. It doesn't gape ... at all because the actual edge of the cup is flush and actually lays smooth without cutting in, but if I were to size down to nix the extra embroidered mesh (which is a little shimmery, I might add, and I really like it), the edge would totally cut into my tall roots - hence, I think it would work for shorter-rooted ladies. The bottom of the cup is also too shallow for me, as evidenced by the different sort of tension-wrinkles along the seam shown in the photos. It almost looks like the solid-fabric part would be enough of a cup on its own (for me), but upon closer examination, at the seam it also wrinkles a little and would gape. I wonder if the apex might be too high for me, too, but can't be sure because as far as I know I've never had that problem before.

The most irritating thing about the cups is actually that the armpit-edge [between strap and side seam] of the cups is very straight and VERY high in my armpit. I can't say that the straps are placed too far apart because they attach to the cup quite high up on my chest, so its definitely the cut of the cup piece. There's elastic there, but it has almost no stretch at all. I was going to see if adjusting the straps shorter would change anything about the cup fit, only to find that there was no play there - so all the adjustment is in the back length, if that matters to anyone. Perhaps there's some fit issue I usually manage to solve by tightening my straps a bit, like a gaping neckline, but regardless, this one obviously doesn't fit well and also won't shift that way.

My fullness seems to be accommodated pretty well at the wing and at the center gore, which is great! The wires are also a great shape and wide enough, although the outside edge curve is too steep for my Nike-swoosh roots and the end of the wire channel rests on top of them - the same old song and dance for me. I am conscious of them around the outside curve of my breast, though, which is unusual - most of the time I forget I'm wearing a bra, or at least don't notice the little things, so that might mean that the wires are just a hair too narrow for all my sideboob, or that the seam is just very scratchy! The wires are also too tall at the center gore and not quite high enough under my arms; I tried pushing them along the wire channel, because there is extra space, but without placing a stitch there they won't stay.

The gore is too wide and very much too tall for me, so the wires resting at the tops of their channels there rubbed some welts in the 20 minutes I was assessing it that would eventually become raw spots or blisters, I suspect. Definitely not for me.

Also not for me: the band or the itchy fabric. I could ignore both, but I think a 28 band would help with some of the gore-stabbing, and that whole riding-up-on-the-tightest-hooks thing. The fabric might soften up after the first wash, but I won't be keeping it long enough to find out.
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Blush/Floral colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Jun 06, 2016 Flag this

I already reviewed this one in a larger cup size: 34J - Panache » Thea Balconnet Bra (9261) . I kept the 34J. One issue I have had with it (the 34J) is the band curling under and stabbing me under the wire. Tonight I tacked the band up to the outside of the wire channel in a few places to prevent this, and so far it seems to be working, although it will need a longer trial. The other issue is, surprise, the wires are too long and make the armholes pinchy/pokey. But for that I would love it, as it gives a great shape and support.

34:12 34HH

34HH or 34J?

Panache

Thea Balconnet Bra (9261)

2 suggestions

Black colorway

Updated on Jul 19, 2019 Flag this

So! This bra doesn't fit, but it sure is pretty. I'm not really a pink flowers kinda person, but I saw this on sale and had to have it. It was part of Panache 's SS2016 collection so most stores are trying to get rid of it.

My shape/size: 34J (ish), short roots, narrow, projected, soft tissue, pendulous, even to full on bottom, some center fullness (I think).

TLDR this bra would fit: someone with similar breasts to me, but who needs wider wires and has more outer fullness.

It's soft. It's pretty. I really like the extra mesh lining inside the cup. For the love of glorb Panache ... can you just make your straps fully adjustable and move them in a centimeter or two.

Considering the band is too large (causing the wires to sink past my IMF) I was impressed with how much lift and projection I was able to get. I'm not sure if the pictures really show that, or the odd shape it gave me. I think that shape is due to it being too wide in the wire. I can only describe it as a softened triangle or bullet shape. I couldn't fill the outer half of the cup so there was no roundness, just weird looking flatness before the projection kicked in at the apex/nipple/front of my breast/not sure what the technical term is. I also like how closed it is on top for daily wear; I move around a lot at work so anything that can hold me in when I'm powerwalking or bending over is appreciated. I think on the right person it would give a nice rounded shape too.

Unfortunately, thanks to the shape mismatch I really don't think there's a size this bra would work for me in.

As usual, I have to appreciate the typical Panache GG+ cup touches: extra, soft lining underneath the straps and near the hooks. I'm trying on a Curvy Kate bra right now and it could really use some of those details.
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Blush/Floral colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Sep 13, 2016 Flag this

What a lovely bra!!! really wish it was still produced. I received mine secondhand recently and love it.

The best thing about this bra are the botanical colorways it comes in. The blue/pink on top of black looks so pretty.

I read that this bra is better for FOT shapes, but the lace at the top is very forgiving for bottom/center fullness. The lace can be a little loose depending on size fluctuations or my posture, but it's never distracting or severe enough to stand out under clothing. I am willing to look past that because I like the shape this bra gives me otherwise. It manages to balance ... projection and giving a round shape, unlike many bras that look pointer. It also is decently narrow and doesn't push any tissue off to the side.

I also read that the jasmine is a similar fit, but I disagree. Jasmine has a side support panel that does not agree with my shape and gives me an odd lumpy side, while still not being able to fill in the top lace. The material of the jasmine is also completely different from the thea. Thea is a smoother, silkier feeling material while jasmine has a tougher mesh fabric. I'd love see more bras come in the fabric the thea is made out of because it's very comfortable and clothing sits well on it.
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Black Floral colorway

Updated on Mar 15, 2024 Flag this