Ewa Michalak Review: PL Mak

Ok, I’ve been trying to hold off on reviewing my Ewa Michalak bras until I’d properly broken them in and worn them around and whatnot… but I am too excited to wait any longer to review these bras! I’ve worn them both quite a bit, but only around my house because I’ve been having a few extremely lazy days. Regardless, I think I’ve gotten a good enough impression to give a review, and if anything bad happens somehow after this gets written, I can always come back and edit it!

A picture of the set, no pads in the bra

As I’ve mentioned a million times, the PL Mak was an “extra special” order, but I’m glad I requested it over the CHP because, although I haven’t tried CHP specifically, I now know that I definitely prefer the PL to the CH style (and CHP is obviously more similar to the latter!). Based on some comments from the helpful fitting community on Bratabase, as well as a comment on my review of the PL Lilia, I decided to order 2 cups higher than the 28J I tried out in the Lilia. This meant I was getting a 28K (!!!!!!!!) and I was extremely skeptical that it would fit, because in my head my boobs are admittedly large… but not the highest cup size made by most UK brands! Ewa Michalak cups I think fit a bit smaller than the average UK brand, but I honestly can’t say too well because I don’t have any UK brand bras that fit well. So if there is someone who is more informed on that manner, I would love to hear your input!

My first thought was “Holy crap that’s a huge bra!” and my first impulse was to put it on my face. Look how little my neck is in comparison! And my chin and forehead are both in the cup. When I look down it doesn’t look like I have two heads on my chest…

This bra is absolutely GORGEOUS! In case you can’t tell by their sub-par quality, all of my pictures are taken with my phone (someday I’ll get a real camera!) and as a result the lighting isn’t always the best, but I think that the picture of the CHP Mak on the website is the most accurate depiction of the color.

CHP Mak, photo from http://www.ewa-michalak.pl

It’s a really basic bra, without any embellishment on the cups, but the few decorative accents it has are gorgeous! The lace on the band is accented with an opalescent embroidery that is kind of impossible for me to photograph, but when the light hits it the right way it sparkles and is just gorgeous! I also really like the style of bow that is on the center gore and straps of this bra. I tried to get a good picture of the bow on my Freya Deco so you could see how it’s different, but unfortunately black bras don’t photograph that well on a phone camera. The straps are embroidered, which both makes them prettier and keeps the straps in place once adjusted.

Strap embroidery and the pretty bow 🙂

Super gorgeous lace on the band

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as the fit of this bra goes, it’s almost right on! The band is pretty tight, but fits very comfortably on the loosest hooks. It came with removable push up pads, and without them my boobs don’t quite fill the cups. Since the pads aren’t a whole cup size (I’d estimate they’re about half a cup) and based on the way that the 28JJ Karmlki I ordered fits, I think I’m in between 28K and 28JJ in Ewa Michalak bras. I think getting the 28K and wearing the pads is what I’ll do from  now on, especially since I like my bust to be emphasized. It’s great that these are effectively push up bras for me, as that’s something I’ve sorely missed since finding my correct bra size!

No pads

Pads in

No pads

Pads in

No pads

Pads in

The underwires are the right width for me, but the combination of my height (5’3″) and my high set boobs means that the wires can get a little pokey! This fortunately only happens if my migrated tissue sneaks back to my armpit, or if I’m sitting down, so in both cases it’s something that just a little adjusting solves. The straps are already pretty short, but they’re kind of stretchy so I need to keep them adjusted pretty tightly too (once again my height and high set boobs are a factor). I usually struggle to find bras whose straps are not too long for me, but these straps were a great length.

I also purchased the Figi Mak to complete the set, although the color of this bra lends itself to literally every pair of red underwear that I have! I’m so excited! I have a lot of red underwear and it’s actually kind of amazing how well this bra matches almost every pair. It’s like the dye is called “lingerie red” and all lingerie producers have been using it 😛

Warning, the following picture is of my butt. But I wanted to show off the back of this underwear, because it’s gorgeous and it’s what made up my mind about buying yet another pair of red underwear.

Butt aside, aren’t these gorgeous?!?!?!

Yeah. So. This is pretty much my favorite bra right now, and I’ve worn it all three days since it got here. It’s sort of a shame that I’ve been wearing it so much, because it means I haven’t had a chance to really break in my CH Karmelki yet, but I just cannot get enough of this bra!!

Here is a link to the Bratabase listing for measurements of this bra 🙂

Ewa Michalak: The Custom Ordering Process

Hi everyone!

As some of y’all might already know, I just received my Ewa Michalak order! The bras are absolutely AMAZING and I am completely smitten, but before I review the two sets I bought, I thought I’d do a quick overview of the custom ordering process.

I’d read a ton of reviews of Ewa Michalak bras, and how to order custom sizes from them, but for some reason was still nervous about it! I just wasn’t sure exactly how things were supposed to work, and I have an extreme planning personality: I need to know exactly what is going to happen, and when it is going to happen or else I just start to get anxious and uncomfortable. So emailing EM to begin the custom order process was nerve wracking for me, and as a result, I’m going to describe how it went for me here, in as much detail as possible!

First, I decided what I wanted from the website. I knew I was going to get a CH Karmelki and the matching thong, but I also really wanted a new bra in the PL style. Unfortunately, no other bras were appealing to me as much as the CHP Mak. So, thinking to myself, “how hard could it be for them to take a completely solid colored bra and cut it a different way?” I emailed them (at sklep@ewa-michalak.pl) and said:

Hi!

On the website, only the CHP style is listed with the Mak. Will a PL version ever be available, or could one be requested? I love the color but fit better in a plunge style.

Thanks
Robin

They responded fairly promptly, simply asking what size I’d like the PL Mak in! I responded with the size, and then also asked to add the other items (CH Karmelki, Stringi Karmelki, Figi Mak) to the order. At this point, they asked me to create an account on their website, as I didn’t already have one. So I did, and then since I was unsure what to do I just emailed back saying “Hi! I created an account. What should I do next?” They requested that I repeat my order, as well as confirm that I knew that custom orders were not returnable/exchangable, so I wrote back:

Hi,

I understand that I can’t return or exchange my order. I’d like a PL Mak in a 28K, a CH Karmelki in a 28JJ, figi Mak in a 12 (40) (this one: http://www.ewa-michalak.pl/product-eng-304-Figi-Mak-.html) and stringi Karmelki in a 12 (40).

Thanks
Robin

The next email they sent me said they had created the order for me, and included the price (in zlotys) that my order came to, as well as the order number. They said they would be sending a payment request soon, and I received one the next day. The payment request was through Paypal, but was unfortunately in Polish. I didn’t really deal with figuring out the Polish thing though, because I just forwarded it to my parents for them to pay (the order was my Christmas present from them).

Once the order was paid for, I received an email saying that my order was placed on hold because some items weren’t in stock (I figure this is standard for custom orders). A few days later, I received an email saying that the order had started being processed, and then later the same day I got an email stating that it had been shipped.

My package was shipped on December 20th, and I received it January 5th, so it took 13 business days from Poland to South Carolina. It might normally be faster than that, but I ordered right around the holidays, and we all know how much slower everything goes at that time of year!

Overall my experience with Ewa Michalak was great, and I am much less hesitant and nervous to order from them in the future. The customer service was always prompt, usually responding to my emails by the next day, and they were very accommodating to my “extra special” request. The English wasn’t perfect, but it was always understandable, and the language “barrier” wasn’t really a barrier at all in the ordering process. I’m very thankful that they speak English, as I don’t know a lick of Polish (Actually not true! I learned that “mak” means “poppy-seed”! So I know one word of Polish!), and if I couldn’t order from them I would not be in bra heaven right now!

I think the best thing you can do if you have a question about Ewa Michalak… is to just ask them! I wanted to know if I could get a PL Mak. I thought it would be a longshot, but I asked anyway, and it paid off! I am very excited to order from them again 🙂

 

Excuse my holiday tummy and the less than perfect lighting in these pictures, but I wanted to give y’all a look at what I got! Reviews to come soon 🙂