The Panache Sports Bra Review

I always thought a sports bra would be the easiest type of bra to find after having my BA. But as it turns out, this may not actually be the case. I try to exercise every day and have been making do with a cheap sports bra I bought from Kmart (an Aussie budget department store) in a 12DD (34DD). I usually wear a 6HH (28HH). Yeah. Clearly it’s time for an upgrade. So I looked to my much appreciated email pen-pal at Brava Lingerie, Becky, to see what she could recommend in my size. I was presented with three potential options and decided to go with the Panache Sports Bra, which through Brava costs AUD$79.95 and comes in a huge variety of colours – some of which you can see modelled here by the lovely Jelz (30G) and Baby (28H & 28GG) respectively.

 

 

 

I am a sucker for anything coral and so I fell in love with the coral/grey colour and as there were no 6 (28) bands in stock, I opted for an 8H (30H). The 8H however was far too roomy. It fit over my boobs but felt like a lot of bra, and not exactly supportive. I had since conferred with my fellow bloggers and discovered the sizing can be a little off in this range. So thanks to Brava’s free and easy return/exchange system, I was able to swap out my 8H for an 8GG with no problems. It arrived beautifully wrapped as always 🙂

 

But also as always, it didn’t stay that way for long 😉

  

I really do love the coral and grey combo of this bra. It’s bright and fun but still says “let’s get sweaty”. The material is pleasantly soft and extremely comfortable, and is punctuated by breathable fabric along both of the straps and the length of the centre gore. For a sports bra, it’s actually very pretty. I was also excited to note the J hook located on the left strap. It’s always handy to have the option to go racerback.

 

My first moment of terror came when I really looked at the gore. It is wide, high and appears pretty unforgiving for a close set gal like me. The idea I presume is to provide solid separation and therefore maximum support while working out. Which would be fantastic, if it fit.

It actually is a decent fit. It looks awesome on (if I do say so myself) and unlike the H cups which swam on me, the GG’s give the perfect amount of encapsulation.

  

I was very impressed with the side profile. You wouldn’t have to worry about this looking pointy or squashy under a top, it gives a great round and uplifted shape.

The band is snug but not as snug as I would like, which I should have expected as it is a band size up from what I normally wear. But being a sports bra I thought this might not matter. However it seems I was wrong, as to get the firm feeling I like I’ve already got this on the second set of hooks (of which there are 3 in total).

  

So it all seems to be going rather well so far, don’t you think? Well so did I, until I looked directly down. And shock horror, the gore floats. It doesn’t even come close to tacking between my close set cleavage. I can almost see the bra trying to come in at that point, but it just cant do it, so instead I can see right through to my toes. Sadface 😦

I could just deal with it and wear it anyway. It’s still a great bra in my opinion but I just don’t think it works for me. I could always try a 6GG or H perhaps and see if the tighter band helps pull everything in. But after more chatter with my blogging buddies I don’t think so. They have reported the same issue with the floating gore in a variety of sizes. This is a real shame, but one which I think is just an anatomy thing and not an actual fault of the bra itself. This bra would most likely be perfect for ladies who are not so narrow, projected and close set. Which means for me that the sports bra quest will continue – watch this space for more adventures to come! 🙂