Cleo Bella Reviewed, and I’m Done University

I just finished my last exam, which means I’ve finished my post-secondary education! This is a huge deal, as this last semester was by far the most gruelling and busiest I’ve ever had. Now I can get right back into blogging regularly. I’ve missed you all very much!

Though Bella is a bra I’ve only recently gotten, and I have a stack of reviews to get through (be prepared), I wanted to give you all a very positive review today since it’s a special day for me. So let’s just jump right into it!

I was actually pretty sure this bra would not work for me. While the Cleo Marcie is one of my best fitted bras, Meg isn’t a perfect match in my current size, and Melissa was all kinds of wrong on me. I’d always heard Meg, Melissa and Bella said in the same breath together, like “if one works, the others will too!” But that has not been the case with me at all, and Bella has gone and proven itself to be a completely different fit from either the Meg, Marcie or Melissa (for the better in my case!).

I found that the Melissa had a lot of space in the lace upper section toward the very centre of the chest, and I could not fill it in a 28FF, but a 28F was much too small. The Bella fits me perfectly in the cups in a 28FF though, so if you had difficulties filling the Melissa, Bella may still work for you. Along the same vein of thought, if Melissa worked well for you, Bella might cut in at the top. Characteristic of Cleo, this bra sits very low under the arms, even a touch too low on my bigger side I would say, but I’m being very, very picky here, as this bra is quite close to the illusive “perfect fit” on me. The shape is very uplifted and a touch pointed, so it’s lovely and natural. It’s worth noting that I consider myself to have pretty even fullness (more full on bottom, but I have a decent amount of top fullness as well), and I’m not especially deep or shallow. I’m one of those “in-betweenies” in almost everything.

Something I haven’t discussed a lot in the past is my asymmetry, and moving forward I plan to make that a bigger part of my blog by providing profile shots of my smaller and larger sides. I don’t have a drastic difference between my boobs, but it’s enough that it often makes or breaks the fit of a bra for me. Bella obviously fits my smaller side better, but I don’t find it problematic on my larger side. The mesh upper section isn’t stretchy, so I attribute the fit to the depth/cut of the bra. Most people in the bra fitting world will tell you to fit your larger side if you are asymmetrical, but I actually prefer fitting the smaller side when it comes to unlined bras. In padded bras I will always fit to the larger side though, since the padding/molding will keep the shape of the smaller side. As long as the cup isn’t pushing breast tissue up into your armpit, I don’t think it’s a problem to fit slightly smaller than is optimal.

The Bella has a firmer band than the Melissa, so watch out! I actually found it a bit too firm in a 28 for me, but I wouldn’t have wanted to go up a full band size. I’ll be wearing Bella with one extra row of hooks thanks to my trusty extender. The straps are fully adjustable and suited toward petite women, as I find most Cleo bras are. I did not have to adjust them too much to get a good fit.

Something I love about this bra are the materials. The band and patterned material of the cups is silkier than most Cleo bras I’ve tried (perhaps like the Melissa? I did not try on Melissa long enough to note the materials). Once I break in the band a bit, I’m sure this will be one of my most comfortable bras. I’m so happy I tried Bella despite my back of success with Melissa, and discovered that the two are totally different fits.

-Windie