Something you probably don’t know about me is that I am obsessed about reaching goals. I make lists pretty much constantly. This doesn’t mean that I reach them all but when I do it makes me the happiest person. At the beginning of the year I told you about a handful of lingerie brands I wanted to try in 2018  and I am particularly excited about starting to introduce these brands to you guys.

Alexandrea Anissa is a brand I have been lusting after for quite a long time. Actually what put me off buying from this brand at the beginning was that every styles seemed to be made with smaller busts in mind and the price point didn’t seem affordable considering the risk. Last year however, I decided to buy less lingerie in order to be able to afford more indie designers work and for my birthday in Fall, my boyfriend and I put some money together so that I could finally try Alexandrea Anissa’s Dottie Floral set.

I asked the designer if a custom set was still an option since the floral fabric she used in the original version was out of stock and she kindly offered me several other fabric options to create my bra. The process took quite a long time which finally allowed me to take advantage of her Black Friday offer and I got 20% off my set, which was pretty nice since the set is retailed 200 USD. I gave the designer my measurements for the bra and following her size chart opted for the brief in size Medium.

At the top the newest bra, and at the bottom the first bra I received.

Unfortunately the first set I received was far from my measurements. The brief felt really big and went way higher than my waist, and the bra was both big and shallow in the cup. Actually the amount of fabric used seemed similar to my usual bras but it was so shallow, like it was almost flat and my breasts were pushing it so the wires and gore were nowhere close to my sternum or even my breasts at the side. I contacted the designer and she was so sorry that she offered to refund me for the bra if I wanted to return it. Admittedly, I was a bit upset because the bra looked so ugly on me and the design far from what I expected but I really wanted this set to work so I gave it another try so that she could make a better one. She also sent me a new brief in size Small.

Now if there was something I liked about the first bra I received, it was the large band featuring 3 sets of hooks and eyes but unfortunately it was not very coherent with the super thin half adjustable spaghetti straps.

The new set arrived in a discrete black plastic envelope but packed in two cute little paper envelopes with hand written thank you notes.
Aesthetically, the new bra is way closer to the original design that I loved so much. Actually, it is exactly what I wanted it to look like. Cute, delicate, feminine and unapologetically sheer. I love the little details about this bra. The cute elastic edges and the delicacy of the dotted mesh. I love the asymmetrical floral pattern on the cups. And most of all, I like this horizontal seam in the middle of each cup. I really didn’t know how this bra would shape my breasts, since most full-bust bras have vertical or diagonale seams but surprisingly, the Dottie (Lilith if bought separately) bra managed to give me a lovely rounded shape.

Sadly the fit was once again a little bit off and as much as I hate writing sad reviews about small brands, I can’t say that this bra reached my expectation. Since one of you asked me about the measurements, here they are:
Cup width: 15.5cm
Cup depth: 19cm
Wires length: 24,5cm
Cup separation: 2.3cm
Cup height: 13cm
Band: 60,5 cm (unstretched)/ 74cm stretched
Note that my bust radius is around 13-14 cm. Which means that there is 13.5cm from the root of my breast to the middle of my nipple.

As a result, the bra is too shallow to contain my breasts properly. It doesn’t show much in my pictures because I can manage to make them stay into the cups in a decent way (thanks shallow, full on bottom breasts) if I am not too active, but since the cup height is smaller than my bust radius, I can’t avoid nip slip with this bra. Also since there is no depth, the wires cannot sit flat against my body and there is space between my skin and the wires on the side of the cup and at the gore.

Above: View from above my breasts after some time wearing the bra.

This bra is wearable but more like a bralette. I will probably never wear it outside the house because it provides no real support to my breasts. It also gives a rather low profile. However, the straps and band lengths are good enough for me to wear it comfortably if I am not very active. It looks cute on me and provides some cleavage, and not in a ugly way for such a small bra. I wish the band mesh was lined with a sturdier one to make the bra more secure. I don’t think it is really suitable for fuller busts with this pattern. I also wish there was a thicker straps customization option. That said, I am glad that my breasts don’t escape at the sides, which makes this bra look rather good on me.

The knickers are truly adorable and well-fitting. I love the silhouette and they are super comfortable to wear. Like the bra they are very delicate so I have to be careful when putting them on but once they are on they make me feel like a real babe!

At the moment, my opinion about Alexandrea Anissa is that while I love the aesthetic, spirit and imagery of the brand, it is definitely more suitable for smaller bust ladies. The customer service is very good and I am confident that the designer will improve her patterns with time and experience but considering my limited budget I would probably not reiterate the experience until then. However, I have seen two full-busted babes on Instagram who were luckier than me with their orders. Though, I don’t know if it is a question of breasts shape or simply because their bras were easier to adapt to their size. If any of you had a better experience with this brand, I’d be happy to hear from you! <3

Sending good vibrations :-*

Yours truly,
Wen