I have mentioned bra swap groups a few times before now. I belong to a Facebook buy/sell/swap group. It’s really a great thing because you can sell or trade the bras you thought fit but you find out don’t after you take off the tags. Or even the bras that would be a huge hassle to ship back to another country. It’s bras, dresses, clothes, and all friendly to a busty figure.
I got lucky and snagged the HP Kobalt from the group. It’s made by Ewa Michalak, a Polish designer that makes bras in a large variety of sizes, you can even special order bands smaller than a 28 (30 and above are not special order, certain cupsizes are special order). It is an absolutely gorgeous bra.
HP Kobalt is a half cup bra meant to lift the breasts high on the chest. This bra is a 28J, a special order. That means that it is basically a cup made for a larger sister size, then the band is worked down. Unfortunately for me this causes some fit issues. But as you can see the color and fabric is absolutely gorgeous!
The rose print fabric continues on to the straps which are lightly padded. This makes them very comfortable. Unfortunately because the cups come from a larger size put on a smaller band they are placed too wide for me at the armpit junction. This causes some painful digging in the soft tissue.
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Cup interior
Black cup interior shows the three part cups constructed with two vertical seams. These vertical seams are what gives the great lifting appearance in this bra. The CH style is also a half cup with the same vertical seams, but is constructed to be more projecting where the HP is constructed to give more lift with less projection. The CHP, same vertical seams, is a combination style, which I hope will provide the best of both bras.
The gorgeous fabric continues along the back band to the coordinating hooks. The bra has three sets of hooks & eyes. This particular 28J is of average band length. But with special orders the length of the band seems to vary quiet a bit. The band size variances are not limited to this particular bra, it seems that many special order bras have varying band lengths.
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You can see that the side of this bra is pulled back by the band. It causes the wires to be too wide and the straps to dig at my armpit. But at the same time the center gore lifts slightly. It is definitely not a perfect fit. Eventually I plan on moving the straps on this bra to give it a better fit. I have an older HP that has this alteration done and it is my most comfortable bra.
I really do wish that the process for making a smaller band bra was more manufacturer friendly. I think that Ewa Michalak bras could be the perfect bra for me, if they were graded down to smaller bandsizes better.
In addition to the bra I also have the matching panties in a size 34 (6). I’m not sure what that equates to in US sizes, but they are a tiny bit big on me. They come up a little higher then what I am used to, but they are comfortable & wedgie free. The fabric is the same rose detailed fabric. They look to pretty to think of as underwear. The entire matching set is beautiful, one that you can let peekaboo in the right setting.
Other reviews:
Faustineli
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
