Fortnight Jolene Review and Comparison

Hello friends! I hope your New Year’s Eve was enjoyable if you chose to celebrate. Mine was spent at home watching my favourite film, Wolf Children, featuring tea and various sugary snacks, topped off with reading A Dance With Dragons before falling asleep. This was the first New Year’s Eve I spent at home, and I think I’ll make a tradition of it.

Following my recent interview with Fortnight’s founder and designer, Christina Remenyi, I thought, “what better way to proceed than with a Fortnight review? ” And so here I present to you one of my favourite Fortnight designs of all time- Jolene.

Jolene is a wireless long-line bra in a dusty rose colour, with a slight brown sheen to it. In person this bra is almost a shiny copper colour, and is truly one of the most unique colours I’ve had the pleasure to wear. Jolene fits similarly to the Mira long-line, so even though this style is discontinued I feel this review has relevancy in comparison to Fortnight styles made of similar fabrics. I own Mira in a 30F and Jolene in a 30E, so this review will primarily discuss the differences in fit between the two sizes. Neither Jolene or Mira are perfect fits all of the time on me, but I find both to be comfortable depending on the time of the month and how much coverage I happen to feel like on a given day.

In these photographs, Jolene is pretty much a perfect fit. I shot these right at the beginning of a new monthly cycle when my chest is at its smallest. I adore Jolene at this time of the month, and would say it is one of my best fitting bras for the first week or two after my period. As you may have guessed (or experienced yourself!), my size increases as the month goes on, reaching its maximum right before and during the first few days of my period. It’s at this time that I prefer to wear my 30F Mira (and I’m quite sure that a 30F Jolene would fit similarly). During the rest of the month, Mira is a bit large on me so I don’t tend to reach for it.

For even more data, Vega in a 30F is like a happy medium between the 30E and 30F Mira/Jolene, so if you find that like me, neither size is absolutely perfect, Vega may be a great option from Fortnight for you.

In our interview, Christina touched on the importance of fabric choice when it comes to her wireless bras. While the band is doing a lot of the support work, the fabric needs to be doing its fair share of the work as well when there are no wires involved. Jolene’s fabric (as well as Mira’s and Vega’s) is soft yet firm. It compresses and holds, but stretches enough to accommodate and support without flattening out your chest. I did not realize that flattering shapes in unlined wireless bras were possible before Fortnight.

The cups are pretty consistent with UK brands, meaning that the 30F Mira measures like a 30F UK bra in terms of cup height and depth, and Jolene measures like a 30E. However, the fit of wireless bras in full bust sizes is kind of interesting. In a size like 30E or 30F, the gore is just not going to tack to your chest. I’ve noticed that the cups on these bras seem to fit a bit larger due to the lack of tacking. When I press the centre of my 30F Mira down so it tacks to me, I fill out the cups perfectly even when I am at the smallest part of my cycle. On the flip side, if I press Jolene down I get some pretty obvious overspill. Due to the fact that these bras don’t tack, the smaller size (30E) is generally a better fit on me than the 30F even though I cannot get away with many 28Fs (the same cup depth as a 30E). For most of the month, I feel more secure, supported and lifted in Jolene, despite that its measurements would suggest it shouldn’t even fit me.

Jolene’s band feels like a 28, as is the case with most 30s from Fortnight. Jolene’s band actually feels the smallest of all three styles that I’ve discussed in this review, but I suspect that’s due to Jolene being a cup size smaller rather than my Vega and Mira. Fortnight bands, in my experience, always maintain a perfect balance between firmness and stretchiness. I feel held in, but the band has more than enough stretch to move with me throughout the day.

While I can’t wear this bra at all times of the month like my Vega, I cannot express how much I love it anyway! It’s possibly the most beautiful bra I own, and I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of practicality for the sake of such a lovely design. And when it does fit, it feels fantastic.

You can find Fortnight available online at Journelle, LYNNsteven Boutique and Lille Boutique, or if you’re from Toronto (or just in the area) you can always check out Secrets From Your Sister in person to see what Fortnight goodies they have in stock.

-Windie