Last year, we ran a review where we both reviewed a bralette in the same size – the Emerald Non Bra from Neon Moon. It was really weird to find that despite us being vastly different sizes, 28GG and 30D, the bralette worked to fit us both really well.
We then reviewed the Lepel London Charlie bra, again, both of us (accidentally!) in the same size. Again, it wasn’t exactly ideal for me (as a Big Cup), but it managed to fit us both well enough that it is still in rotation in our bradrobes.
And today, we’re reviewing another bralette, again in the same size! As before, this one has worked magically to fit both our sizes. This is the beauty of a bralette – whether you’re a small, medium or big cup, you might just be able to get away with them since they don’t have the structure of a normal bra with defined cup edges and underwires. Granted, a bralette may not provide the best support or uplift for a bigger cup (or perhaps none at all!), but sometimes, we just don’t want want or need or that.
Dorina has been around since 1968 when they were launched as affordable but high quality lingerie, but they only came to our attention in the past year or so. They have a standard “fashion” collection, a Curve range, swimwear, solution underwear and swimwear. They’re stocked at a range of high street and online department stores including Debenhams, ASOS, House of Fraser and Very.co.uk.
We were both sent the Dorina Hannah Bralette in a size medium and the Hipster Brief in a size medium to review. We’ve spotted this available to buy in a size small at House of Fraser for £8 and ASOS in sizes small to large (to fit 8-18) for £8.
“PROPS! WE NEED PROPS!!” strikes again.
Shape & Appearance
The Hannah bralette from Dorina is a soft, non-padded bralette in a pretty burgundy shade. The colour isn’t quite as rich as a normal burgundy, I’d say it veers more on the side of purple toned red wine, with an undertone of pink.
The bralette has a wide soft-sheen satin microfibre band which is really smooth and comfortable against the skin. The cups are designed from a delicate scalloped edge lace with a large floral design. The cups attach fairly high up where the gore would be on a normal bra, so it’s almost closer to being a crop top style than a bra I’d say. The cups have a single vertical seam to allow for more room in the cup, and the lace is lined with a beige (skin tone for us) stretch mesh, that gives the illusion of the cups being more sheer than they are while providing a little more support.
The bralette has enough stretch that it doesn’t need any fastenings and can simply be pulled on over your head. It also has racerback straps where the first section, from cup to shoulder, is a normal adjustable bra strap, and the lower part, connecting the shoulders to the back band, joining with a ring in the centre back just below the neck, is decorated with the same scalloped lace from the cups. I love this detail as it’s not something you often find in fuller bust bras, so being able to wear something like this as a larger cup size is awesome!
It’s all about the details with this set! The elastics on the bra are all picot edged. The bralette and briefs are decorated with a small teardrop diamante on a bow at the centre front, and they each have a small gold metal tag with the branding “Dorina” on. Another interesting part is the cross-hatching at the sides of the bralette where the cups meet the back of the band and on the briefs where the centre front satin microfibre panel meets the lace side panels.
Size, fit & comfort: Big Cup
The bane of a Big Cup (and small band’s) life is often bralettes that are designed without fastenings. The band will need to stretch over the larger circumference of our bust to get it on, but it also needs to fit tightly enough around the underbust to give enough support, and that’s a tricky combination to get right!
Fortunately the Dorina bralette, while it goes on easily over my bust, is comfortable for me to wear. No, it’s not ideal in sizing as the band is on the large side, but it’s not the end of the world. The stretch microfibre band is pretty sturdy, so it bounces back into shape after stretching over my larger bust to fit snugly at my underbust.
The cups themselves provide enough coverage that I’m really happy with them. In fact, it’s more coverage than I’ve had in any other bralettes so far. I do find that the band disappears on me, as in, to get enough room in the cups, my underbust swallows up part of the band, but again, it’s not uncomfortable to wear.
The briefs are also really comfortable to wear and are true to size as a UK size 10-12 in briefs. I find the microfibre fabric really soft against the skin here again, and they don’t ride up or bunch uncomfortably. A win all round!
Size, fit & comfort: Little Cup
It blows my mind a little when Sian and I get to review matching sets in style as well as size! My first thought is always—surely, this CAN’T work, but this is the second time when it seems to work pretty much perfectly.
Obviously, being the smaller end of the spectrum, I get a slightly easier deal when it comes to the bralettes, soft cups, and crop tops which fit us both. I require far less support than Sian, and in general tend to favour compression style crop tops over underwired bras.
What I love about this bralette in particular is the slightly deceptive impression it gives in design—in my opinion, it could totally look like a ordinary bra to the untrained eye! But with all the comfort and wearability of a soft, non-underwired crop style. I also love the racerback detail at the back: super beautiful with its lace triangles and crossover effect.
I’d say the main difference in the fit for this style is (obviously!) the amount of fabric we have to ‘play’ with. Whereas the cups fit rather snugly for Sian, the extra fabric I have across the chest means that the band can pull down a little further into almost a longline style. The bottom edge of the band sits just under the top of my ribcage, rather than snugly under the bust as you can see on Sian. It’s a comfortable fit, but I do find that I have to pull the bralette down throughout the day, so that the band sits smoothly and doesn’t wrinkle up.
And a final nod—to the knickers! New faves. Perfect fit with fabulous coverage, in an incredibly soft and comfortable fabric. All the thumbs up to the bottoms!
WAIT! This isn’t a guest cup! Whoopsys! XD