Little Cup Review: Cleo by Panache Nina Padded Balcony in 30D

It feels like years since there’s been a Little Cup review! Just after Christmas, I abandoned Sian to go travelling in India. I made the (brave—for a lingerie blogger!) decision to leave behind my drawer full of pretties behind, and take with me only three carefully chosen yoga bras. But more on that in a later post—for now, here is my oh-so-exciting return to the blog, with a review of the Cleo by Panache ‘Nina’ padded balcony in a 30D.

As Sian has mentioned in previous posts, we had one heluva lingerie day at the Panache factory sale, and this was another score of the day. It has risen to the status of my favourite day-to-day bra very quickly—absolutely on the same comfort level as my Freya Deco, although slightly less wearable under less opaque tops!

Appearance & Shape

This isn’t normally the sort of look that would immediately appeal to me. For a start, being a redhead I’ve been conditioned from birth to STEER CLEAR OF PINK! It’s pretty much the only colour that doesn’t appear in my wardrobe; and this bra is VERY pink. However, when on it actually looks really lovely! The super bold colours actually seem to compliment my very pale skin, and the zig-zagged edging along the cups is gorgeous. I genuinely don’t think photos of this do it enough justice! The blue details on the cups are perfect accents to the bright pink. In short—I love the look of this bra. It’s fun, bright, and has great detailing. The little stripey blue and white bow on the gore is my favourite finishing touch!

The balcony style doesn’t cut as low across as others I’ve had, and is actually a really great balance between a half-cup and balcony style. The gore sits fairly low down as well, which means it’s a good choice for low cut tops, and gives a really nice shape for busts which are fuller on the bottom than the top. As I fall into that category, it gives me the perfect amount of support, as well as a nice, natural looking shape.

Sizing, Fit & Comfort

As I mentioned—the fit for me couldn’t be any better, and considering I generally wear 30Ds, the sizing is spot on by my standards! Being fuller on the bottom than the top, the balcony style fits really well, and I don’t suffer from ANY gaping at all with this bra, which is usually my problem when cups go any higher. The cups are padded, but only very thinly, and there isn’t the usual bulk of padding right at the bottom of the cup, which I generally find quite uncomfortable (and, on a side note, I also think ironically just makes me look more bulky than giving me any better push-up effect!) The wires are fairly wide and there’s no digging-in at all—less a u-shape and a sort of ‘scallop’ shape for underwiring, if that makes any sense at all! There are three rows of two hooks, and the straps are fully adjustable. I only got it right before Christmas, and I’ve already had to move on to the second row of hooks—a testament to how often I’ve been wearing it, rather than a criticism of its longevity!

As I say before, I haven’t found any bra as comfortable as this. I only wish that they would bring out this exact style in a number of different colours, so that I could have a more neutral one to go under white tops. As this is old stock, it’s only available at places like Amazon in limited stock, but usually at lower prices, so if you spot yours, grab it! The only comparable style I can see in the current range is the Juna—a padded balconet bra which comes in nude, white and black, from the Cleo range. It’s the one that I’ll be on the lookout for (with eagle eyes!) at the next factory sale!