Boob Growth and Some Other Stuff

Hey guys! I have a fluid mechanics test coming up on Monday, so you know that means it’s time for me to write a new post 😛 My favorite form of procrastination!

So what prompted me to write this was realizing that my PL Mak, which when I first received it almost 3 months ago, was a little too big without the push up pads in place, now fits perfectly without them. Picture evidence:

Now

Before

Before

Now

Now. (Ignore the pit stain 😛 A college student with only 1 well fitted bra doesn’t have time to hand wash something very often! Haha)

Before

 

 

 

This is one of the reasons Ewa Michalak really meets my needs. Maybe the pictures don’t show it as well as I can see it, but this bra is much more full now than it was at the beginning of January. I don’t know if it was tissue migration, the fact that I’m only 19 and could well be experiencing breast growth still, or something else, but I love that with Ewa I can order a size up from what my “safe” choice would be and I don’t have to worry about it much. I also love that now that this bra doesn’t gape without pads, I can use them just for extra cleavage when I feel like it (and if I’m being honest, I always feel like it!). So yeah. If you know your boobs are growing (mine seem to have been growing steadily since around last April), ordering a cup size up in an Ewa Michalak bra that comes with removable pads is a good plan. I know that before I got this bra, I was having to buy a new bra in a higher cup size ever 3 months or so. I just do not have the money for that! I got three months out of this bra with the pads, so hopefully I’ll get at least three months out of it without the pads before it is just all around too small. That will still be twice the average life span of my bras prior to this.

The “other stuff” I mentioned in the title is just this little thought I had inspired by the semi-controversial Bras I Hate & Love post about using +2 instead of +0. I personally disagree, but to me it also doesn’t matter that much what the starting point is because I’m going to end up  just telling everyone to do what’s comfortable for them, and +0 is just more logical to me than +2 (I personally find it much easier to tell if a band is too small than if it’s too big) but that isn’t what my thought was about.

After reading the post, naturally I tried on a few bras to see if I was falling victim to the very tight band look that she had going on in 28 bands. When I saw that picture, it looked very uncomfortable! I thought, “Surely my back doesn’t look like that! Wouldn’t I have noticed?”. Then, she mentions strained hooks as a symptom of a too small band. And my super comfortable, perfectly fitted (in my opinion) PL Mak has strained hooks! So today I took a picture of what my back looked like in it, to see if it was indeed too small.

The hooks do appear strained, though not nearly as strained as the ones on the 28 bands in her post, but I don’t get the corset-like compression she describes. I think my back here does look similar to her well fitted 30s (it’s hard to see what the hooks in her well fitted bras look like because her example is a darker bra and it’s a rather dark photo).

But the hooks on this bra do look pulled out when I take it off. But the more I looked at all my bras… all of my hooks look strained.

28K PL Mak hooks

28J Tease Me hooks (usually worn on the 3rd set)

34DD Victoria’s Secret push up bra hooks

So, yeah. Obviously the PL Mak is the most pulled, as it is the smallest of the bands shown. But it’s also the only one that doesn’t ride up and move around. The 28J Tease Me stretches to 32″, far above my underbust measurement of 28.5″, but still shows signs of strain and pulling out. Even on the 34DD, the hooks I usually wore the bra on are pulled further out and show some strain (compared to the first pair of hooks which I don’t think I ever used), though obviously they show the least strain, since that band stretches to ~36″.

Basically I’m not sure that for everyone, strained hooks is a sign of a too small band. Two of these bras are definitely too LARGE in the band for me and the hooks are still pulled. Also when you look at how the back of the PL Mak fits me, I don’t think it looks too small. It has the normal amount of bubbling underneath the band, but none from the top, but the hooks strain. But I can pull it around 3″ away from my body, and it’s perfectly comfortable to me.

I guess ultimately it doesn’t matter. If your hooks strain but the bra is comfortable to you, wear it. I keep worrying that I’m wearing my band too tight, after reading about reversed letterphobia and the Bras I Hate & Love post, and I keep doubting myself. But then I remember that I have multiple bras in a 30 band that lay unused in my drawer because I can’t even leave the house without pulling the band back down to the correct level. I wish I could wear a 30 though! So many more options!

The other “other stuff” that I’ll go ahead and mention again, in case you don’t follow me on Facebook, is that I’ve made a couple purchases relevant to the blog! I bought the Small Red dress from Urkye in a 36oo/ooo and the Carmen bra and Carmen stringi from Comexim in a 65L and a size large. I’m in between sizes at Urkye, and in hindsight feel like I should’ve gone for the 38oo/ooo for the extra boob room (my bust measurement is too large for any of the size 36 clothes), but whatever. I’ll just wear shapewear and hope for the best on the boobs, since it’s made from stretchy fabric. The Comexim bra is going to be an iffy fit, because I bought it in what’s essentially a 30HH. I hear the bands run tight sometimes, and would rather have a slightly too large band than an unwearable one, so I went up a band size. Nowadays I think I’m a 28JJ (I think?!?!?!), and therefore would’ve needed a 30J, but the Carmen doesn’t come in a larger cup size, and it’s sooooo sexy… I couldn’t pass it up! And honestly, all my bras aside from the Mak are too big in the band and too small in the cup, and that doesn’t stop me from wearing them, and that won’t stop me from wearing Carmen assuming all else looks good.

Red Dress from urkye.pl!

Carmen set from comexim.pl

Hopefully you guys don’t mind my hodge-podge post! Haha I just had a little to say about a lot of things. Also, how would you guys feel if I branched the blog out to other things (makeup, shoes, non-busty-specific clothing, general woman-with-curves things, delicious recipes?). I don’t really have enough money to do bra reviews very often, and now that I’m kind of buying exclusively from Poland, there isn’t much selection for me either. Let me know what y’all think!

Ewa Michalak Review: CH Karmelki

Hi guys!! Sorry it’s been so long since my last post- over a month, if you can believe it! Since school started I have just been INSANELY busy, since I’m taking quite a few hard classes (Physics 2, Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics… I’m looking at you!). School and sleeping and the rare night out are really keeping me from updating regularly, but I’m going to try to get better about it since I just went through a “test cycle” (that’s what I call when all of my professors have tests in the same 2 week period) and will probably be a bit freer than I have been so far this semester.

Now that I’ve made excuses for myself, on to the review!!

Unfortunately, this review is not going to be as good as the review for my PL Mak. Something about this bra just doesn’t fit quite right with my shape, and I think I’ll be sticking the PL cut from Ewa Michalak in the future.

The total set!

As you can see, for a “plain” beige bra, it is really quite pretty! It has a line of 3 buttons down the center gore, lighter tan lace lining the top of the cups, and a criss-cross shimmery embroidery pattern. The only one of these details that interferes with the nude-under-shirts function (nude for me, that is!) is the lighter colored lace at the top of the cups. It’s lighter than my skin, and can be seen under my most see through top, but is generally fine still.

Not a super accurate portrayal of color, but a detailed shot of the criss-cross embroidery!

Ok, now that we’ve discussed how gorgeous it is, it’s time to get down to the bad parts 😦 I bought this bra in a 28JJ, which is what I currently would guess is my size in most UK brands (though I’m not sure because I don’t own any that fit!). Right after I put it on and arrange myself into the cups, I fill it perfectly.

 

As you can see, initially this bra, while not perfect, fits decently well! The straps are too far apart, and the wires are a little high/wide, but the same things could be said about the PL Mak (except the wire width, the width of the wires on the Mak is perfect) and I love the Mak! The problem comes after I wear this bra for more than a few minutes, especially if I’ve been sitting down. Here is what this bra looks like right now, after wearing it just while typing this post:

So much gaping!!!! My boobs just fall right out of the wires into the band! Usually when this happens to me, it is because the band is too loose. And this band is definitely stretchier than the band of the PL Mak. I could fasten it on the tightest hook comfortably right when I took it out of the box, but I remembered reading that Ewa’s bands were constructed to be supportive without being overly tight, so I tried to keep it on the loosest hooks anyway, in order to get the most life out of the bra. But not long after I had it on I realized that it was riding up, my boobs were falling into my armpits, and it was just generally being annoying, and that I did indeed need to fasten it tighter. However,  this still did not fix my boob-falling problem! 

After thinking about it, I decided that the problem is that the bra is just too wide for me in almost every way. The straps sit IN my armpits and I have to angle them diagonally so that they sit on my shoulders well. Not exactly the best thing for support. I’m thinking of attempting to alter the bra to bring the straps closer together, because when I’ve pulled the cups from closer to the middle the seem to support me better. Until then, I’ve kept it because 1. it’s not returnable, and 2. I don’t have any my-nude bras aside from this one, so even though my boobs fall out of it after a while, it isn’t noticeable under shirts and I still need something to wear under my lighter colored clothing.

Basically, in the future, I think I’ll be sticking with PLs. Plunges generally work better for my close-together shape anyway, and I am kind of a cleavage addict, so usually half cups won’t give me everything I’m looking for in a bra. If I ever get around to altering this bra, I’ll make sure to post about it! 

 

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 🙂

Miscellaneous Monday

Hello and happy Christmas Eve! Just going to do a quick post on a few things that I’ve been thinking about this week but that aren’t long/important enough for a whole post of their own.

1. The Peplum Skirt

People have been talking about how a peplum skirt can look on a curvy figure all over the place recently, from Curvy Wordy to Fuller Figure Fuller Bust. A while ago, I think on Black Friday, I was in JC Penney and saw a cute green peplum pencil skirt in the juniors section and tried it on and fell in love! Unfortunately I didn’t have the money to buy it, nor really the occasion to wear it, so I had to put it back. But first I snapped a crappy cell phone picture of how it looked on me! I think that this is the skirt pictured, but they only have it in black. It’s also on sale now for only $20!

I was shopping in a dress, which is why this is a topless picture (I’m wearing my way too small Freya Deco – It’s a 30G!)

I loved how this skirt looks on me! The peplum sits at just the perfect place to cover up some of my stomach lumps, and the flare is just where my hips start, so it accentuates my waist. If it had been on sale when I’d tried it on, I definitely would’ve bought it!

2.  Sandmaiden Etsy Shop

Not the most practical choice for the larger chest, but the sleepwear/lingerie at Sandmaiden Sleepwear is gorgeous, and made of  wool and other natural fibers! A little pricey, but would make a great special-occasion gift 🙂

Photo courtesy of Sandmaiden Sleepwear

Photo courtesy of Sandmaiden Sleepwear

3. Sock Dreams

This is another shop I just recently found, and if you follow me on Facebook I talked about it a little there. They have ALL styles and lengths of socks, as well as tights, stockings, and other sock and stocking related accessories.

Photo courtesy of Sock Dreams

This waist cincher is currently out of stock, but I am in love with it! It’s just one of many awesome things in the Accessories section of the Sock Dreams website.

Photo courtesy of Sock Dreams

4. Ewa Michalak Order

As many of y’all may know, for Christmas I’m getting two new Ewa Michalak sets: a CH Karmelki with matching thong, and a PL Mak with the matching briefs. I’ll do a whole post in the near future about what my ordering experience was like, but I just wanted to say that so far I have experienced nothing but great customer service! I had an “extra special” order since the Mak is only listed on the website in the CHP style, and they’ve been very accommodating. I’m a little nervous on how the bras will fit since both of them are bigger cup sizes than I’ve ever ordered before, but hopefully they will at least be close enough to not have to sell! Ewa Michalak has been very prompt with my order. It only took around 3 days from when I paid for me to get an email saying that my order had shipped, which is great considering that on the website it asks to allow for 2 weeks for custom orders! Now I just have to play the waiting game, but hopefully my package will be here at the end of this month or the beginning of January!

Christmas Shopping In Poland

Now that Thanksgiving is ending in just 1.5 hours, it’s time to start making my Christmas List! I’m not sure if you can tell from the bras I’ve reviewed on the blog so far… but almost every single one of them is a bad fit. I outgrow my bras constantly, so I have a constant case of the double boob. I’ve also realized through my bra journey that no matter how pretty an unpadded bra is, and no matter how well it fits… it simply is not going to get worn. Basically anything that does not give me a decent amount of cleavage is just not going to see the light of day, and this makes shopping a little bit more difficult, since almost everything available in a J cup is a sheer, 3 piece cup. The padded offerings from the UK in a J cup almost all run small (I haven’t tried the Daily Boost or the Smoothie yet, though!), and I really need a true-to-size J cup!

As a result, I have realized that I am going to be doing almost all my bra shopping exclusively in Poland for now, and have amassed a rather large Ewa Michalak wish list. I narrowed it down to make this post more reasonable (and because there is no way my parents can afford to buy me 5 or 6 sets for Christmas :P):

1. CH Karmelki and Figi Karmelki

All images courtesy of Ewa Michalak 🙂

There are quite a few reasons this bra has made it onto my wishlist. For one, I don’t own any “basic” bras aside from the PL Lilia, and what kind of girl doesn’t own a single beige bra? I also don’t own any boring bras though, and this bra accomplishes beige without being boring. The subtle latice embroidery is really gorgeous, and I love the lace and button details. I also want this bra because I feel like I’ve read before that Ewa Michalak is phasing out all the CH and HP bras in favor of the newer CHP style, so I want to try it out before it possibly disappears forever.

2. HP Koktajl and Stringi Koktajl

Like I said earlier, I don’t really believe in boring bras… and this one is definitely not boring! I don’t have any teal in my lingerie wardrobe right now, but I’d like to add some because it’s a color that basically always looks good on me. It’s incredibly flattering when I’m much more tan in the summer, but isn’t something that’ll wash me out when I’m pale in the winter. Basically I just want this because it’s super beautiful 🙂

3. CHP Mak and Figi Mak

The last thing on my list from Ewa Michalak is the CHP Mak. Red is my absolute favorite lingerie color on me. Nothing in the world makes me feel sexier than some good, red lingerie! This bra is a little basic, but I felt like if I got the CHP Milady instead that I would have too much black lace in my underwear drawer! Plus, I absolutely love the back of these matching panties.

There are also quite a few things I have on my list from Comexim, another Polish brand that I haven’t tried out at all yet. The one I have my eye on the most is the Blue Magic plunge bra and the matching panties.

The royal blue/black mix is really on trend for autumn, and it’s a look that I personally love. I think it offers a great alternative to the predictable red/black, but is equally sexy.

My only problem with Comexim is that in a lot of their bras I think I’m sized out. Looking at their size chart, my measurements put me just outside of a 60N. Really my measurement is a centimeter outside of the cup range for a 28 band, so I think that this is a brand where I would just suck it up and get a 65M, knowing that I would have to take the band in eventually. Their lingerie is simply too beautiful for me to not experience, and at the rate my boobs are still growing, I don’t want to put it off and then out grow it!

There are a bunch more things on my Christmas list, if I could just ask for anything I’ve ever wanted in the whole world, but with my parents budget in consideration these are the main things I’m requesting! What is on your list? Are you as obsessed with Polish lingerie right now as I am?

My First Ewa Michalak!

Hello! Sorry for the very long absence again you guys. You may know I’m an engineering student, which sometimes means my life is filled with at least one test a week. On top of this one-test-a-week schedule, my boyfriend of 3 years and I just broke up, so life has been a little crazy for the past month or so!

I tried writing this post last week, but when I went to publish it, the university internet went crazy and the post disappeared, and I got frustrated and didn’t immediately rewrite it. So, without further ado, here is the review for my first Ewa Michalak, the PL Lilia!

I ordered the PL Lilia through The Big Bra Bar when they were taking requests for a large custom order. I had been hesitant about ordering from EM directly, because custom sizes aren’t returnable, and I knew I would need a custom size but wasn’t willing to spend the money to try out non-custom sizes to suss out my size. The Big Bra Bar was awesome through the (very long) process, answering all my questions, and offering free shipping since it was my first order from them. Although it took over a month to receive my bra, the actual shipping from The Big Bra Bar was very fast, 10 days from the UK to South Carolina.

As for the bra, it is VERY beautiful. The white satin cups are amazing, and it is convertible, with 3 strap options: regular straps, comfort straps, and a halter strap. It also comes with removable push up pads (which they list for correctly of asymmetry, but I use them just for the extra cleavage on a night out 😉 ).

Unfortunately, the first guess of my size in EM bras wasn’t quite on. As you can see in the picture above, the cups are slightly too small for me, and I think I would’ve been more comfortable in a 28JJ for this style. The too-small-cups I think are really evident in the shape I get from the side in this bra:

Ewa Michalak is known for having a very uplifted, up front shape, and I just don’t get that from this plunge. I think it may be either that my high-set, round breasts would work better in a CH, HP, or CHP style, but I also think it could be a result of the too small cup, because the problem seems to be that the fullest part of my breast isn’t sitting in the fullest part of the cup, a problem I’ve had before, and remedied with a larger cup size. I hope that going up a cup would fix it, because I have very close set breasts and plunge is simply the most comfortable style for me!

My other complaint about this bra is that the wires are very stiff, and can get painful at the end of the day. At first I thought this was due to the very firm band, and having not been broken in yet, but even after the band had stretched to a very comfortable size the wires dug in at my rib cage. It isn’t enough to stop me from wearing this bra multiple times a week, but it is a little annoying. Also, sadly, the comfort straps are only half adjustable, and since I’m pretty short (~5’3″), they were simply too long for me to use. A great shame, because they are nice and wide, and the padding seemed like it would be extremely comfortable for a long day’s wear..

As all other reviews of EM bras have always said, the band is definitely tight, and if you’re in between band sizes you may want to size up. I measure ~28.5″ underbust (comfortably), and the 28 band was very hard to do up the first few times I tried to wear it. It’s comfortable now, but did take around 2 weeks to break in. The wires are the perfect width for my breasts, much narrower than any other brand I’ve worn (except Kris Line, whose wires are comparable).

Overall, if you’re looking to try out a bra from Ewa Michalak, I would go for it! They are definitely quality bras, and their styles are unlike anything else you see from the full-bust market.

Pros:

• Padded styles available in larger cup sizes
• Plunge styles available in  larger cup sizes
• Push up pads (for those who are asymmetrical, or those who like to show off a bit of extra boobage every once in a while!)
• Narrow wires
• Unique designs
• Firm band

Cons:

• Stiff wires
• Borderline-too-tight bands (why can’t any manufacturers just be consistently true to measurements? 😦 )
• Comfort straps too long (for me)

Lastly, since I know this is why I put off ordering for so long, as a starting point I would most likely suggest just ordering your usual UK size, unless you read a review that says the band on that model definitely runs tight, or the cups small, or what have you. For me I found this method gave me a bra that was good enough to keep, even if not quite perfect, and is a much better fit than what their calculator suggested would’ve been (usually around a 32GG for me). I think a lot of my too-small-cups issues with this bra were because since the process was long, my boobs grew about a half inch from ordering to receiving, and also plunges are notorious for running small (across pretty much all brands).

So there you have it! Hopefully I’ll get another post up this weekend, since I’m on fall break and finally have access to internet at my parents house (yes, my apartment still does not have internet even though we were supposed to get it in SEPTEMBER).