I bought this bra because Bravissimo said it would appeal to people who liked the Alexa. I liked the Alexa. I wasn't sure about the crazy print on this one, but I decided it's like having party hats under my shirt and that's kind of fun, especially since the majority of my other bras are on the plain side. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but some bra diversity is good too.
When I got the bra out of the box, I could see that the band was not as long as the band on the Alexa. I wondered if there was a mislabeling ... incident and I'd been given a smaller bra by mistake. I couldn't even hook it at all. There were inches between the ends when I tried to put it on. I had to wear it with an extender. By the second time I wore it, the band had stretched to the point that the extender became unnecessary. I used to live in bras with too-tight bands, telling myself I'd lose weight and they'd fit. They never stretched out to the point that they'd be comfortable. This did. I actually worried that it might keep stretching to the point of being unwearable but that has not happened at all. A 34HH might have fit better, but I still have some weight to lose so I didn't want to exchange it.
The shape of the cups is not like the cups on the Alexa. I think the Zia is a little bit less round, with a slight pointy shape that is more pronounced at first but quickly softens up to become more round (but still never as round as the Alexa). I had a hard time keeping the straps up at first but that was probably due to the extender.
As with the Alexa, I haven't had any underwires poking under the arms. I had the same gap at the top of the cups at first that quickly filled in as my boobs settled. I have the same lack of quadboob, and I have the same lack of cleavage. This is not a bra to be worn with a boob shirt. I only wear it with t-shirts. Worth noting: Even though it has a little fancy frilly thing at the top of the cups, it is totally fine with t-shirts. That lays flat and does not show through, unlike the fancy frilly thing at the top of the cups on the Ewa Carmen, which I ended up cutting off because it was so stupid.
In short, it's second best after the Alexa in terms of fit. I think the print is far better looking, although it's not really the sort of thing I'd ever seek out. It's festive and doesn't look like the stereotypical bra for big boobs that your grandma would wear. Huge points for that.
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Updated on Oct 17, 2012 Flag this
