The Charlotte bra from Parfait by Affinitas is a well known one amongst the lingerie blogging world – not only have we both reviewed it before in our separate sizes (Sian in a 28H in Icy Blue, Charley in a 30D in Peach), I’ve actually owned two Charlotte bras in the past! I reviewed the red one a long time ago, back when I used to wear a 30F and this blog didn’t even exist.
Anyway, we were speaking to Lazeme about the Charlotte bra as we’d heard from a few people including the Petite Collegiate, who did a brilliant review of this here, that the shape was entirely different to previous seasons. We loved the new Floral Shimmer colourway and were intrigued to hear that it might be less shallow than previously, so when Lazeme asked if we wanted to do a joint review to show how it worked for both us, we were only too happy to say yes.
Now, we managed to take the photos for this on two separate occasions – so sorry about the lighting being entirely different in one set! But here’s how we got on:
Slight hint for you in the picture above…unfortunately it didn’t work for one of us!!
Charley: Parfait Affinitas Charlotte 30D
As you can see from the pictures—this definitely fits into the ‘bra that doesn’t fit’ category! In a bizarre turn of events, the Charlotte in Floral Shimmer has a COMPLETELY different sizing scale to the Charlotte in other colours. A couple of years ago I reviewed the Charlotte in exactly the same size, and was thrilled with the fit. It remains a firm favourite of the bra-drobe to this day, and so I was really rather excited to receive the same perfectly-fitting style in another colour. How wrong I was! Interestingly, the 30D in the Floral Shimmer was pretty enormous on me. You can see the gaping pretty well on the side view shots; especially when you’re pinching the fabric. I couldn’t say for sure why this has happened (or for what reason?!) but the cups are much more projected in this colourway, and simply just larger! The band still fits well, and if I was to re-order I’d probably size down at least two cup sizes to be sure of a snug fit. A 30C might just about cut it, but I’d be more willing to put my money on a 30B at this point.
Oh the mysteries of lingerie!
Sian: Parfait Affinitas Charlotte 30GG
Fortunately for me, the Charlotte bra did work – yay! I was sent this in a 30GG as a 28 band wasn’t available from Lazeme at the time, however they’re now adding 28 bands to the site as they’ve become available. My icy blue version of the set is a 28H and fits quite well but is too shallow for me. It’s not a massive problem and I can get away with it, but the gore did sit on tissue as there wasn’t enough projection there and I did get a tiny bit of “smush” at the top of the cups. I was worried about sizing up again though as the bra was already big all over and seemed to take over a lot of my body – it seemed like it would end up too wide and too tall if I went up a size.
So Charley found the cups of her Charlotte to be way too big – did I find the same? Luckily, no! BUT, I do have to agree with the Petite Collegiate that the shape is really quite different to previously. I’m definitely finding that there’s a lot more projection, both at the bottom of the cup and the top, so I’m not getting quite as much of that shallow “smush” and the gore is tacking a lot more closely. I’m also finding it to be quite a bit taller too. I did intend to talk to Affinitas about this when I visited their stand at Moda, but unfortunately the person who would be able to answer my questions was busy at the time and I didn’t have enough time there to come back later, so no official quote on this as of yet. The bra is still “big” in general, with wings that come up high under the arms, thick straps, and a really wide band.
I compared the bra against my 28H Charlotte in icy blue to see whether the difference was obvious off the body and I’m finding that, yes, it definitely is:
The bottom of the band on these bras is level, the wires are sitting on top of each other (you can just about see the bottom of the floral band poking out at the bottom left corner), and as you can see – it’s way taller in the new version! It is of course possible that there will be some differences as the sizes are different: 28H and 30GG. But technically these are the same volume and shouldn’t be hugely different.
Looking at a comparison on the body too, you can see the difference too – the lines on the lower cup seem to be longer in the floral as the lower cup sections are bigger. The upper cup section seems to sit higher on the body and has more of an angle down to the gore than the icy blue version had.
I haven’t taken any measurements of it such as cup depth, width etc. as I’m spectacularly bad at doing so, but I think you can definitely tell that there is a difference, and that the new version fits me much better!
Edited to add: I’ve also lined up a couple of side on pictures to see the difference, and I feel like you can definitely see it here! What do you think?
While the floral shimmer is a band size bigger, I’m finding that the bands feel exactly the same to me. I’ve been warned in the past that the Charlotte’s band runs a little tight, but my 30F band was too big and my 28H was just right. I’m finding the floral shimmer’s in a 30GG to fit just the same as the 28H, so maybe I’ve finally got one that runs a bit tight?! I think the 28H might be a little too small for me in the floral shimmer despite my 27″ underbust and am happy in a 30GG for this.
Anywho, back to the bra as a bra rather than a point of comparison – how pretty is the new colourway and pattern? It’s feminine in a not too over the top way, still pulled back to earth by the heavier black detailing giving it that pin up vibe it’s known for.
I went for the normal briefs this time around as I’ve always gone high waist with the Charlotte in the past, and I went for a medium. In the past I’ve always gone with a small or size 10 in briefs, but I’ve recently started sizing up occasionally – it’s not that my measurements have changed, but rather sizing up gives me personally a more flattering fit with the elastic waistband around my hips and is more comfortable day to day. These are lovely daily knickers that I pull out quite often as the material is soft with just the right amount of stretch, and they’re a nice cut.
So the big question: have you tried the new Charlotte bra and experienced any size/shape changes in it?
I’m so pleased to see they’ve changed the fit of this bra. I’m a 30 H ish and I’ve also owned several in older styles and I do find that they smush my boobs at the top, and it doesn’t seem to be a sizing issue. I’ll definitely be putting this on my wishlist =)
Some people are concerned about the new fit as it won’t work for them, but it works for others like you and me 🙂 Hopefully they’ll continue making both styles!
If I am usually 30G in most bras, should I consider sizing up the band in this bra? It looks gorgeous.
I wouldn’t say you’d need to size up in the band if you’re usually a standard 30G – I’m between a 28 and 30 band normally and went for the 30 because the site it came from didn’t have a 28 available at the time, but I probably would have been happy with the 28 anyway. So I’d say to go for your usual size 🙂