Review: Delimira Lace Soft Wirefree Non Padded Full Coverage Cotton Bralette

First off, I think we can all agree that naming their bras is not Delimira's best thing. Heh. I mean, they really need to consider using women's names, like, say, Gorsenia does. In fact, I'm going to do it for them and call this bra Ethel. Because she's no-nonsense and does not care what you think of her beige-ness.

Beauty

Ethel is a practical cotton bralette; beauty isn't really her bag, baby. That said, she does have a single strip of lace trim around the band and a dipping V-neckline.

Comfort & Fit 

Fabric.  Cotton knit of medium weight with a little spandex. Softness is just okay; could be better, but could be worse.

Band.  Higher at the sides than I prefer and the elastic is a little rough. Ethel's band means business: it closes with 4 hooks and has 6 rows, making it very preggers or size fluctuation friendly.

Cups.   These are kind of interesting: they are heat-molded and provide quite a bit of depth - a welcome design, but one I wasn't expecting, which plays into sizing. In fact, they are actually a bit too large on me, which is more visible in the pic above. So the capacity is quite good.

They also have this feature, which was almost genius, had it been better executed: A little vertical strip of fabric between the boobs that is about 1/2" wide. It doesn't provide shape separation, of course, since it's just a flimsy strip of cotton, but it does provide a tiny physical barrier against boob sweat. Had they made it 1" wide, it could have been a brilliant sleep bra, especially for side sleepers like myself. I actually tuck my sleep shirt between my boobs when I'm sleeping free-range, which is always. Oh, the glamour of the big boob life.

Shape.  The cups are deep enough to allow for a full-on-top shape -though I'd say they're intended for a balanced one- and they allow for a fair amount of projection. The lift I get is more than I'd expect from a bralette.

Here's how Ethel looks under a thin, drapey knit shirt: Not bad, really.

 

 Compromises

•  Fabric is just semi-soft
•  Band elastic tends toward the scratchy side
•  Deep V-neckline allows boobs to migrate toward the center 

 

 When Do I Wear It?

Well, in the pic above, I actually wore it to work on a day when I felt puffy and PMS-y and just Could. Not. Even. But I have to say, I did not find it comfy enough for a full day of active wear, mainly due to the higher sides and not soft enough (for me) elastic band. I also found the tendency toward central uniboob migration annoying. For work especially, I would choose the Leading Lady Bralette, which is similar, the same pricepoint, but has much softer fabric and a higher neckline that works to keep the boobs surprisingly separate, but not splayed looking, while hiding any cleavage; it looks way better under clothing than it does alone. I wear Ethel mainly on weekends when I'm working in the garden or writing, want something breathable, and don't care about showing cleavage. 

Sizing.  Yeah, despite my experience of Delimira running very consistent with their sizing, and knowing that my size with them is always a 40F (which fits like a UK 40G or Euro 40H) I was worried there wouldn't be enough cup capacity because the pics of this bra online look like it has no formed cups. So I ignored my own advice went with a 42F. Result: It's about a cup size too large, fitting me more like 42G UK, 42H Euro.

Because it's cotton, I then did what I would never advise you to do: baked it in the dryer on high. And it barely shrank a 1/4 cup. Which means the cotton is pre-shrunk, and the quality higher than I expected, though I wish that was reflected in softness. Anyway, don't be like ComfyCurvy; actually take ComfyCurvy's advice. 

Price point: $16