When I was first fitted as a 30JJ, it was relatively easy to find bras that worked for me. Somehow, going up just 1-2 cups has made so many of my favourite bras unwearable, and forced me to look around for a new favourite bra. I covered some of the bras I tried out back in July, and around the same time, I decided to try the Panache Jasmine. The Panache Jasmine is a full-cup bra, available in 30-38 D-K. Full-cup construction isn’t usually known for giving a good shape, but full-cups with side-sling support are another story, giving lots of shaping and uplift. In this bra, the top section of the cup is made with stretch lace, which allows the bra to work for a variety of breast shapes.
At the time of purchasing I was between a 30K/KK in most bras (30L in Bravissimo Alana), so I first decided to try a 30K.
This is the Bravissimo exclusive Red/Floral colourway. At first glance it seemed to be a reasonably good fit, giving a naturally uplifted shape. Appearance-wise, I love it – the bright floral pattern with magenta highlights is so eye-catching and fun. As I hoped, it runs quite large in the cup, and quite comparable in size to the Cleo Marcie (perhaps even slightly more generous in the cup). However, I did find a few problems with the fit.
The most obvious was the band – the band stretched to nearly 31.5 inches new, so this size fit more like a tight-banded 32K. I do find that Panache bands run loose in the higher cup sizes, as opposed to running tight in the smaller cup sizes. The reasonably wide band fastens with three sets of hooks and eyes, which I much prefer to Cleo’s thin two hook bands. I found I had gapping and excess fabric around the strap, which I do get to some degree in most bras, due to being centre heavy. In this case, I think this was partially due to my lack of outer fullness, but it was made much worse here by a too-large cup.
As you can see in this picture, the wires were about an inch too wide for me, resulting in a lot of cup wrinkling towards the sides and outer-bottom. I also found the straps slightly too wide-set, which made them cut into my shoulders. Both of these things are common problems for me, but they were exacerbated by the cup being too big – without my breasts fully filling the cups, the cups were pushed forward less than they should have been, allowing the straps to sit further back, along with more empty space at the sides than there would be in the right size. This also means that the band feels slightly looser than it would with a well-fitting cup.
From this, I decided to try a 30JJ.
Above and below are pictures of the 30JJ, which I found to be a much better fit. The Jasmine is well-known for giving an extremely round shape in the right size, which was another reason I suspected the 30K was too large in the cup. This size gives a much rounder shape, and with much better wire width. I would say the width is narrow for UK brands, although probably still about 1cm too wide for me. I found the wires to be very firm (as expected from Panache), so the gore sits flat despite my close-setness. Due to the height and firmness of the wires, this is slightly uncomfortable on me, but would be less of a problem on those who are less close-set. The straps are still slightly too wide-set, but they are much more manageable in this size.
I do find a get a little wrinkling at the bottom of the cup, possibly due to depth or root shape incompatibility. I still get minor gapping at the strap, but no more than I do in most bras. I found the height under the arm to be somewhat tall, but still more comfortable than most bras in this size range. Again, I found the band to run loose, stretching to nearly 31.5 inches when new. Ideally I believe I would wear a 28K in this bra, but sadly the smallest band size in this bra is a 30. I’m not a huge fan of the straps of this bra – they are fairly thin, as well as padded on the front section, which makes them dig in somewhat, as well as being hard to tighten more than a couple of inches. After buying this, I also bought the black Bird Print colourway in a 30JJ, which I found was pretty much identical in terms of sizing.
Finally, I decided to try the 30J, just to make sure 30JJ was the best size for me.
The above and below pictures are the 30J (sorry if the picture layout is confusing). I found I had overspill at the top of the cup (something I didn’t think would be possible in this bra!). I also found that my nipples sat well above the apex of the cup, which (since I have roughly even fullness) meant I had more breast tissue in the upper section than the lower, again showing the larger cup is better for me.
I think it is clear in this picture that the cups are too small, and the shape I get is definitely somewhat odd. I did find the band to be slightly better on this bra. I thought this was possibly due to the too-small cups making the band feel tighter, but there was also a measurable difference – the band stretched to about 30.5 inches when new, though I’m not sure if others would find the same.
Despite the little fit issues I have with this bra, it is absolutely stunning, and the stretch lace makes it a very good contender for many breast types, as well as adapting well to fluctuations in size. The stretch lace is firm and supportive, but it is also generous, able to either stretch to accommodate FoT breasts or sit flat to contain FoB breasts. I have gone down about half a cup since taking these pictures (now more like a 30K in Bravissimo balconettes), but my 30JJ Jasmines are still quite good fits. The range of sizes it could fit is very good – I found a 30JJ Panache Jasmine to be comparable in size to a 32KK Bravissimo Alana or 65O Comexim plunge. Also, higher cup sizes will have proportionally more stretch lace, which would potentially allow even more upper volume. I would say the size range potentially covers 28-40 bands and D-L cups (smaller band sizes with small cups running small in the band, and any band size with larger cups running big in the band). My only real complaints are the looseness of the bands in higher cups, the lack of 28 bands, and the hard to adjust straps. All-in-all though, it’s one of the most solid designs on the UK full-bust market at the moment, and I would recommend trying it for most people.
I bought this bra in July 2013, so unfortunately this colourway is no longer available from Bravissimo. The AW13 colourways are the luxurious Champagne/Pink and the Bravissimo exclusive Wine, and the SS14 Animal Print has just been released.
Have you tried the Panache Jasmine? What did you think of it?
Click here to follow this blog on Bloglovin
Latest posts by Anna (see all)
- Nude Bras for Women of Colour in AW16 - August 26, 2016
- The Ultimate Strappy Bra: Review of the Ewa Michalak S Przeplatanki (70K) - August 2, 2016
- Bank Holiday Sales Round-Up (May 2016) - May 29, 2016
yaaay the review is finally up ^_^ hmm… interestingly enough, I’d say how my 30J jasmine fits, looks like how the 30K fits on you. In terms of the space at the sides and maybe a just a little less space around the strap part than yours.
Cup wise it’s fine, if I went a cup size down there would be some serious spillage.
But of course you already know I adore the Jasmine ^_^ (being as its the only bra that fits me properly)
On another note..I saw how the panache Rhapsody looks….and it reminds me of the Tango in terms of shape
…I could be wrong but you can take a look, if you haven’t already seen it.
http://sophisticatedpair.com/blog/?p=11670
Yup, that looks like a full-cup. Boo. A 28 band Jasmine or Envy would be so lovely
I want it, I need it. So pretty- would be perfect for spring.
It is a gorgeous bra. Sadly, this was Bravissimo’s 2013 summer colourway, so I doubt you’ll be able to find it anymore. though you might have more luck with the Navy/Floral colourway if you look on eBay, Amazon etc.
I am looking forward to the SS14 Jasmine colourways (I personally love the animal print): http://sophisticatedpair.com/blog/?p=11670
It’s kind of hard to tell, but in the 30J, is there wrinkling in the bottom? Can you bring the up higher if that’s the case? If you can, I suspect you would get better support (too big cup = loss of support) and it would eliminate the quadboob you get in that size.
The 30J was definitely too small. Pictures can’t tell you everything, but I think comparing the three sizes makes it pretty clear. I can’t see any wrinkling in the pictures of the 30J (and in my case, lower wrinkling is usually caused by the wrong wire shape, insufficient depth, or a too-small cup), so I’m not sure exactly why you’re making this suggestion.
I also see a bit of wrinkling in the first pic of 30J (left side in the picture), also in the next picture the wire looks rather wide but with the meadow-camouflage it’s rather hard to tell. So I think the suggestion of trying to pulling the bra a little higher so the wire is in the fold of your breast is a reasonable suggestion, don’t you?
And since I’m already here and commenting: I love your bra-fit-trouble-shoot-post. It’s really amazing!
I think what you can see in the first pic is just a trick of the pattern and angle, as there is quite clearly no wrinkling there in the angled picture. The wires fit my root well around the centre, and then they become too wide and diverge after the lowest point of my root. The wires are definitely still about 1cm too wide for me, which I find in most bras.
Lovely! I found the band pretty stretchy in a 32G as well (I usually wear a 34FF/G nowadays), actually! I have only one fit quibble: the stretch lace is not very supportive for my soft tissue. It makes it a great fit for any time of the month, though!
Beautiful bra and a nice review! I love this color way. It’s interesting that you found this to have a stretchy band, though. I have the Jasmine in the original black in a 30HH, and I find it so unbearably tight in the band, even after more than a year of wear, that I sized up to a 32H.
That is interesting! I did refer to Bratabase for the band measurements through cup sizes, and most seemed to follow roughly the pattern mentioned above. I imagine there are some exceptions, though the lack of consistency is pretty annoying.
The black is way tighter. I have the black, navy, and pink one. The black one took a long time to break in because the band was so tight. The other colors were comfy from the start. I have them all in 34H.
I do have both the black (bird print) and red/floral, and I personally found the bands pretty much identical on both. Saying that, black bras do tend to be slightly smaller all over, I think, due to the dye shrinking the elastic slightly, so it wouldn’t surprise me if some people found the black tighter.
That’s a good point! I sized up in the pink, and it does seem to have a little more give to the material (although I’m still happily wearing it on the loosest hooks).
Great review! Have you had a chance to try the Envy yet? It’s supposed to be a basic version of Jasmine, and I’m curious to see how people are finding the fit. It might be worth trying the 30J if you’ve gone down in cup size to see how it compares!
Not yet, I’m pretty tempted though, especially after seeing the (amazingly tall) matching high-waist knickers. I’m not sure if I have gone down in cup size, it’s getting hard to tell. I do still get minor quadboob at the apex in the 30JJ Jasmine, and 30J Marcies are still definitely too small, so I’m not sure how well sizing down would go.
I might have to try the Envy, anyway. I think LCL have it, and there are free returns in the UK, so not much to lose
Pingback: My Blog's 2nd Birthday: Panache Lingerie | Bras and Body Image
That color scheme looks very nice on you.
I am wondering whether to get the Jasmine animal print bra. It is very sexy. My name is Jasmine too! Both attracted me to it. My question is: is the fit of Panache bras in general, and the Jasmine bra in particular, anything like Cleo by Panache? How does the fit compare? Does anyone know? I ask because the Panache Tango plunge really works for me ( although I gave not yet tried any Panache balconettes, the Jasmine could well be my first) but I have tried some of the new crop of Cleo this season (Spring 2014). Could I use Cleo bras as a fit guideline to this bra? Or are they completely different? Any advice would be most gratefully received!
I would say the Jasmine is somewhat similar in fit to the Cleo Marcie, except Marcie has a rigid open upper half, while Jasmine has a very stretchy, versatile upper. This means that Jasmine is probably one of the Panache bras which fits most like Cleo, but it also has more leeway in which shapes it will fit – Cleo bras are good for even to top heavy breasts, whereas the Panache Jasmine could would for almost any breast type, as long as it was in the right size.
If Cleo works well for you, there is also the Panache Floris, which is basically a Cleo cut but also available up to a K cup, and with a three-hook band. I definitely need to try it out myself
Pingback: Mini-Review: Panache Jasmine in Animal Print | Bras and Body Image
Pingback: Review of the Panache Olivia in Deep Jade (30JJ, 14)