Back to regular programming post-Black Friday madness (that article is truly a labour of love like you wouldn’t believe!) and jumping back a few months to pre-pregnancy again with a Big Cup lingerie review!
I’ve managed to finally get round to this one today as we currently have an EXCLUSIVE BCLC discount code for Attollo Lingerie for Cyber Weekend – use code ATTOLLOxBIGCUP to receive 20% off at Attollo Lingerie until midnight tonight!
Attollo Lingerie are a relatively new lingerie brand with a background story I love. They came onto my radar with their Kickstarter campaign in 2015 and a story of two D+ women (28FF and 30GG) who had struggled since they were 14 to find lingerie in their size range that fitted the aesthetic they were looking for. They took the plunge while at uni to found Attollo (whose name from the Latin meaning “I raise up” really speaks to me as a Latin geek personally!), and in 2017, they launched their first collection consisting of beautiful bras and knickers in lace and floral printed satin designed to be mixed and matched.
The philosophy behind Attollo is to create lingerie that’s beautiful from every angle, by D+ women, for D+ women. On top of that, everything is designed in London and made in Europe with carefully sourced materials – something we love to hear!
I knew I’d HAVE to try Attollo when they launched so I decided to purchase the Emelie bra in a 28GG (£45) and Polly bikini brief in medium (£15), both in navy, in early 2018 when they offered a £5 off discount code. Read on for my thoughts on the set.
Shape & Appearance
The firs thing I need to shout about this set is just how much I LOVE the design of it. I know lace and florals doesn’t appeal to everyone, but it’s totally my taste, but it can so easily be “grannified” in D+ lingerie. Here the longline shape of the bra’s design and the bold contrasting floral satin band are modern and pretty – this is a bra that you want to show off!
One big thing for me about Attollo’s designs is that they can be mixed and matched, meaning I could have chosen any of their light blue (which looks like a very pale blue, close to ice blue, from their product photos) or navy bras and bottoms, and any combination would form a comprehensive set thanks to the materials tying them together.
They have two bra shapes: the Emelie, which is the lace cupped longline I’m wearing here, and the Lily, the same vertical seamed lace cups on a balcony bra but without the longline. In briefs, there’s the Polly bikini style that I’m wearing, the Letty brazilian style and the Aurora thong. They’ve now launched a sleek black version of each of the bra and brief shapes, along with a new Gigi high waist knicker which I’m just dying over right now. Can I also just add how much I love these names?!
I picked the Emelie because I love a good longline every once in a while, and the navy looked cute and fun while still slightly sophisticated. In terms of normal longline bras, I’d say this is a “longer” line than your average, but not a *true* longline – however this was what I expected based on the product images, so I wasn’t disappointed. The cups with their vertical seam give an uplifted, rounded shape for me, however this more uplifted shape might be because I find them a little shallow for me – more on that in a moment!
The bra fastens with 3 sets of 5 rows of hooks at the back, meaning it’s supportive and secure. The straps connect to the cup just to the side of the apex, which I find to be slightly unusual in design for fuller bust bras, but makes a lovely difference! At the back, the straps can be unhooked so that they can be crossed over too. Again, this is something that’s more often seen in more core size bras so it’s wonderful to have the option to change this if I want. I personally enjoy wearing this crossback style with lower back tops, allowing the top of the lace or even the bottom of the floral satin band to peek through – it looks close enough to a bralette to do so while still providing plenty of support.
Size, fit & comfort
I chose the Emelie bra in a 28GG, which was my normal UK size at the time of purchase. As I mentioned, I do find it a little on the shallow side in the cups for my full-all-over breast shape, however I’ve just come across Attollo’s sizing page, and using that, it suggests I should have sized up – that’s wonderful to know that their sizing and shape advice actually relates back properly to their designs! It takes into account both your measurements, as most brands do, plus your unique breast shape – something a lot of brands forget about. I’d highly recommend using that page to find the best size for you.
In terms of comfort, the 28GG isn’t at all unwearable or uncomfortable as a 28GG – at least, when I am that size anyway; fingers crossed I will be one day again or I’ll definitely be putting in a new order for my new size! It just gives me a slightly flattened side profile shape with a little more uplift than I was expecting. Currently, however, the sizing selection only goes from a DD to GG cup size and 28 to 34 band in this bra, but up to a 36 and a HH in the new black range. This is quite standard for a newly launched D+ brand and it sounds as though they’re always working on new ideasand expanding their size range as and when they can. Check out this page where you can suggest new designs and sizes, showing how hard they’re working to get to know their customer base and desires. (I also just find this really fun ;D)
I do have a slight niggle with this bra in that when I wear the straps crossed over at the back, they have a slight tendency to wriggle out of their hooks if I’m particularly active during the day, meaning I did have one unhook itself while I was out and about once! Fortunately I was with my sister who could rehook it for me. It’s only happened that once but I have noticed when taking it off at the end of the day that they have slipped a little on their hooks. (Edit: this has now been updated though, read the bottom of the post!)
I chose the Polly knickers in a size medium and these fit well at the time of purchase on my usual size 10-12 hips. I do find that they have a slight wedgie tendency throughout the day, but they don’t claim to be full briefs, so that makes sense. They match the bra very well with the same scalloped lace around the legs and the floral satin band around the top. Personally, I think this set is young, fun and gorgeous!
EDIT: After publishing, I chatted to Attollo who had some additional bits to include here! The slippy hooks is something they’re aware of and have no fixed in their black range with new super grippy hooks. They’re also offering a complementary service to everyone who bought the blue range where they’ll change the hooks to these free of charge! On top of that, the shape of the black set is also slightly tweaked to be a little more rounded to suit shapes like mine. This all just shows what a fantastic company they are to be constantly listening to customer feedback and making tweaks based on it!
Did you find the band on this to be true to size? Is it difficult to get done up with all of the hooks? Thanks!
Heather,
I am only commenting on the ease of hooking up the longline bra. I found the 5 hooks surprisingly easy to hook up. I purchased a 32GG at the online fitter’s recommendation while my usual size is 32G. At that size combo the band fit was true to size. I have issues with the wires not fitting right. They stretch too far under my arms to the center of my side. It’s hard to explain but I’m being poked by the wires in an odd place. For me personally, I think I should size up on the band and go down 2 cup sizes. I need to have a chat with the Artollo people. Except for the wire situation, this could be a very comfortable bra for me.