Cleo Maddie Reviewed

When I saw that Cleo would be releasing Maddie in basic black and beige for Autumn/Winter 2013, I was quite excited. I have had a difficult time finding basic lined bras that work for my shape, and I thought “these will be the ones or sure!” But I should have reigned in the enthusiasm, because it turns out they will definitely not be the basic lined bras I have been hunting for. Enter Maddie:

I decided to try the Bravissimo exclusive colourway to find out how Maddie fit. I heard it ran small, so I went for a 28G. And boooy, does this bra run small in the cups. In this size, my smaller side is very happy. My larger side is…well… here’s the profile shot:

While the Cleo Bella was an example of a bra that worked fairly well for my asymmetry, Maddie clearly does not. I spill over the top on my larger side, and the problem only got worse as I wore the bra longer because the wires wouldn’t stay put. This bra doesn’t have much depth, which I think was an issue for me. The profile is pretty minimized, and appearance from the front is a touch wide (though I don’t consider this a bad thing. It’s just part of the trade off for attaining a minimized profile).

I’m a pretty narrow person, so the cup width (not wire width, I should specify) caused some problems for me. Despite the fact that the cups were filled to the brim, after settling in I would get empty space at the top of the cups near my armpits. I just don’t have enough breast tissue there to fill it completely, so the edge of the bra would show through thin tops. So given my experiences with the cups, I don’t think this bra will work well for those with narrow roots. The band felt like a pretty “true” 28, stretchier than many of Cleo’s other models (Meg, Marcie, Melissa, Bella) which I would describe as firm. True to Cleo, it closes with three columns of two hook-and-eye closures, and the fully adjustable straps are fantastic, though quite thin. If you prefer thicker straps, you may want to stay away from this model.

A serious pro about this bra is the material the cups are made of– it’s SO soft, I wish this bra worked for me for that reason alone. I also feel it’s worth mentioning that my photographs better capture how the print looks in person than the stock photo on Bravissimo, in which it looks to have more contrast. For all you wide root shallow ladies looking for a cute t-shirt bra, I recommend checking out Maddie (wear her for meeee!).

-Windie