I have never really tried many Panache bras. Before now, my only venture had been the Panache Melody in a 30JJ…

…Which was a complete failure. It ran huge in the cups, was more like a 34 back and the underwires were far too wide and painful. I’m now thinking it was mislabelled, and it still sits unworn in a drawer. At any rate, it completely put me off Panache. I didn’t even consider Cleo, which stops at a J, until I absolutely fell in love with the Alexa. When I was told it runs oddly large in the cups, there was no way I couldn’t try it… 

Though a lot of women have found it an odd cut and can’t get along with it, I was ecstatic to find the cups are absolutely perfect for me.

The band runs slightly loose and many will prefer to size down, but as this isn’t an option for me I am making do. I can’t begin to explain how much I love this bra – the uplift, the cut, the wire width, the shape, it is just amazing. In fact, I love it so much, I own two. Though its RRP is £25, you can now find it on sale for as little as £16. And when I discovered the Olivia, a polka dot bra in the same cut…

…I clearly had to get that, too. At £25 per bra, Cleo comes cheaper than numerous competitors (especially considering the fun designs), but like most other brands, the matching briefs come in at about £15. Which, in complete honesty, is just more than I can justify. So sadly, I am forced to mix-and-match as best as I can, hoping for a decent sale!

As with the Alexa, I adore this bra. The back is slightly firmer and the cups slightly smaller, but the fit still works for me. It gives me a slightly more rounded profile than the Alexa, but the cut, uplift and wire width are the same. I think the Cleo shape is something of a mid-ground between the forward projection and pointiness of Bravissimo and the shallow, rounded shape of Panache Superbra.

Lastly, the Cleo Lucy was one I did not expect to work at all, but have been pleasantly surprised by. I was told the Lucy runs true to size, perhaps even small, but found the 30J perfect. The bottom section of the cup is made of a slightly stretchy fabric, so this may be why it still works for me.

I found the shape much rounder and with a higher apex than on the Alexa and Olivia, though the back runs similarly large. The central gore is slightly wider – if you have more close-set breasts this could definitely be a problem, but this is just about okay on me. It is also not a full band bra, which is less than ideal. But, all in all, I am so happy to have found Cleo bras that work for me! There is still something of a gap in the market for fun, feminine full-bust bras – while Curvy Kate are great for some, the profile is less than satisfactory over an H cup, so Cleo is fantastic news in my book. I just hope they expand their sizes at some point, as there are a lot of women missing out!

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Anna

Founder and main author of Bras and Body Image. Anna is a lingerie lover, feminist and maths student based in the UK, who hopes to someday cuddle every cat in the world.

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