Let’s try and remember how to do this thing!
One of the first new bras I bought at the beginning of this year when my size started to settle down somewhat was this one: a strapless bra. That might seem like a strange choice and not really one that’s a priority, however I’d just invested in a few tops that were scoop neck and off the shoulder, which meant that if I didn’t want bra straps on show, I didn’t have much of a choice.
I’ve had a couple of strapless bras in the past including the Curvy Kate Luxe which was good but not the best fit for me – it was too shallow and meant I got a strange sort of push up effect that was too visible – and the Wonderbra Ultimate Strapless. The latter was my favourite strapless bra, but it had something of a bulkiness to it, and it sat pretty low on my ribcage which was a strange feeling if it was for a long day’s wear.
So this time I decided to try another DD+ strapless bra, and the Cleo Faith popped up in my searches. Here’s how I got on with the Cleo Faith Moulded Strapless Bra (You’ll have to excuse any inconsistencies with my photography – I’m shooting on a phone after my camera broke a couple of years ago, and I’m a bit out of practice now!)
Shape & Appearance
I chose the Latte shade of the Cleo Faith bra which is a pretty close to my skin tone. I’ve worn it under a couple of white jersey tops where the material is quite thin and it doesn’t show through, although I do notice that I can see the top edge of the cup at times.
The cups are entirely moulded with a very rounded, smooth shape. This plays in favour of the bra over the other two strapless bras I’ve tried where they were pretty, but had more detailing on the cups. The fabric is described as a semi sheen recycled microfibre. For a functional bra, which I consider this to be, it works perfectly. It isn’t totally plain though as it has a little silver ring decorating the gore.
The shape is closer to a plunge than a balconette, the gore is pretty low at the front. The bra also comes with detachable straps, which is a nice touch, but I haven’t actually used them once!
As I’m sure you can see, it is wired, but the bra also has boning at the sides and has silicon elastic around the inner edges of the band to help hold it in place throughout the day.
Size, Fit & Comfort
I bought the Cleo Faith Strapless Bra in a 32H, which is technically a cup size up from what I would consider my standard size at the moment – 32GG. At the time of purchase, I was wearing a 32H but thinking they were feeling just a smidge too big, but the 32GG was out of stock, so I went for the 32H anyway. I’m glad I did size up as the 32GG would have been too small, especially at the time of purchase.
While at first glance, the fit doesn’t look too bad for a strapless bra, take a look more closely at the images, specifically the bottom of the cup. There is a whole section of empty space where the cup folds in on itself. I’d imagine this is because the cups are too shallow for my breast shape which is still very projected. It doesn’t look great, but honestly, it’s not too much of a concern for me as the bra still stays in place – I wore it for 8 hours walking around Disney one day and it was plenty comfy enough!
As I said, the cups are moulded, which with my current breast shape, is more tricky for me than it used to be. Moulded cup bras often have a very globe-like shape. This worked for me well in the past when I had a rounded, firm shape. Nowadays my tissue is a lot of softer and more malleable – this means it does move to fit the cups, but also moves into (and out of!) the centre of the cups sometimes. You can see here that I am experiencing a good amount of cleavage from the bra, but if I jiggle around a lot – a test which must be done on a strapless as it might be worn for dancing! – then I do get this effect.
Like I said, I wore this bra for an entire day in Disney, and I also wore it as a bridesmaid from around midday to beyond midnight, and it held firm for all of that too! So as a strapless bra goes, it’s a win in my books. However I would still love to find that unicorn that I need – a strapless bra with deeper cups! Tricky in terms of construction I’d imagine, but maybe one day!
