So I’m imagining by the title of this review you were thinking we’d got a Guest Cup in for this post – 32DD is quite a way off Charley’s usual 30C/D size and my 28GG/30G. In fact, nope, bringing you this post is me, the Big Cup, squeezing into a size that I thought I’d never squeeze into again! I’ve been stashing a few “wrong” sized bras for a while, wearing them occasionally but not reviewing them on the blog because “they’re not my size!” Well, I decided after my “Why your bra size isn’t the end of the world” post that I would just get over myself and my obsessive bra fit ways and publish some reviews of ill-fitting and wrongly sized, but OH SO PRETTY bras.
I bought the Agent Provocateur Tina bra in a post-Christmas sale a couple of years ago and it was my first Agent Provocateur experience – hence the buying-in-the-sale thing, I didn’t want to waste money on something I knew wouldn’t be an ideal fit and I wasn’t sure about. I also bought the Electra waspie at the same time, but this was a disaster as it was way off from the sizing chart and came with a small tear in the mesh so it went straight back to them.
So this is a bit of a mini review (as mini as mine can get anyway!) as the bra is only now available through discount sites and eBay as it’s no longer stocked by Agent Provocateur (and I’m actually selling mine here) – how did my first AP experience go?
Shape & Appearance
I mean, just look at this bra – it’s amazing!! At the time I bought it, there was pretty much nothing out there that even came close to it in terms of strappy over the top style in a full bust size. Now we’ve got a few more options as Scantilly entered the scene and bondage style lingerie entered the mainstream more so other brands picked it up.
It has a quarter cup (or possibly even less than a quarter?!) in foam on the lower half, then the top half of the “cup” is made up of strappy lacey mesh that crosses over and attaches to the shoulder strap. Where the cross meets in the middle is a piece of nude mesh on the inside to hold the pieces in that formation and to provide a little modesty. It’s also decorated with a small bow at the gore.
The band fastens with 3 rows of 2 sets of hook and eyes and has fully adjustable straps. The sliders and hooks are all made with gold coloured metal which is a nice added touch that you expect from something that’s more luxury than your average bra. Overall though, I don’t find the construction or materials used in the Agent Provocateur bra to be considerably better than my others for the price paid. They do have more adventurous designs than you’d find in the average lingerie brand, so if you’re looking for something more out there, it’s worth paying the price.
Size, fit & comfort
As I said, this is quite far out from my usual size! The sister size for a 32DD on a 28 band would be 28F, so it’s a good 3 sizes too small for me in the cups. The reason that I can get away with it is due to the 32 band allowing a little extra “room” and the strappy lace mesh on the cups having a bit of stretch.
The wires are definitely on the narrow side for me in this bra so it sits on breast tissue, the gore doesn’t tack, and it’s difficult to see from these photos (as I picked the better ones ;D) but the cups do dig in quite a bit so it’s not exactly comfortable to wear for an extended period of time! Nevertheless, it’s still pretty awesome.
I’ve had this bra for a couple of years, but in the end decided I actually have so very rarely worn this (I’ve tried it on multiple times in the hope I’ll like it better every time but never actually worn it) that it’s not worth keeping it around. Because I know the signs of a badly fitting bra, it makes me annoyed to wear this one as I’m constantly seeing the bad fit of it, so it doesn’t make me feel good about myself – and this isn’t what I want my lingerie to do. So as I said, I’m selling it on eBay for about half of what I paid for it – if you like the look of it, the listing is here. Hopefully it’ll work much better for someone else than it does for me!
Love this post, and the bra! It seems very comfy, but also very hot. I adore erotic lingerie and this is definitely something I’d wear. I like how it shows a little bit of skin, it’s sexy and daring.