Cleo "George" Review

This is a bra that I love the look of, but which has ultimately disappointed me. I normally love Cleo by Panache bras, which are usually cuter and “younger” looking than the normal Panache bras. This George bra is an older model—I’m not sure exactly what season it’s from, but more than a year ago. However, these bras still show up on eBay sometimes--that's where I got mine.

See, look how pretty it is!

When I first put it on I was pretty happy. I ordered it in a 28J as I’ve been having so much trouble cramming my boobs into a 28HH lately. It was just almost too big in the cup, which was better than the opposite.

From this photo, you can see one of the small problems with this bra--the extra fabric under the cups curls up and doesn't lie flat on the ribs. I find a lot of Panache's older bras have this stupid bit of fabric. At least this section on the George is soft and doesn't rub very badly.

The shape seemed unique, but in a good way—sort of lifted high, but not rounded.

There were some obvious problems. I had to fasten the band on the tightest hook right away, so it's not a very tight 28. Also, the straps barely adjust—less than halfway. As I say though, this was one of Cleo’s much earlier bras, and their more recent bras tend to have fully adjustable straps and aren’t so loose in the band.

So… my first reaction was positive, until I wore it out, caught sight of my reflection in a mirror in a pub and was actually ashamed of how I looked. The cups were just too pointy for me after the shifting from just a few hours of wear, and though it actually looked great from the front, from the side it was just Madonna-esque. Since I never wear loose clothes, it’s not really workable for me. I felt there was just too much space at the apex of the cup. For those of you with boobs that can fill out a bra with more projection, you may like this.

I was surprised to realize that it’s actually the same bra as a yellow and blue gingham Cleo bra I tried on in an actual store the summer before last. Panache doesn’t usually have such a big variety between patterns in a specific bra, and the green one I bought is spotted, not checked. Anyway, when I’d tried on the yellow version I remember that I wasn’t very impressed with the shape, so I wish I considered that before buying this one.

I find myself deciding to end this negative review with the sort of positive-thinking crap that normally eludes me: I can’t bring myself to hate Cleo for this bra, as it was made so early in their evolution, they’ve since improved so much, and after all I have to have one true love in the lingerie world.