Yay, my not-at-all-a-surprise Christmas presents from my husband are here! Parfait’s Donna (bra size 32E, boyshorts size medium) arrived first, so I thought I should review it first.

First of all, I am so happy to have a black bra again. This is the first black set I’ve gotten in my “correct size,” and man, I’ve missed it! Which means that I’m currently being fairly forgiving of some not-so-great issues I’m having. Actually, just one issue. See if you can spot it:

Do you see it, you guys? I know it’s a little bit tricky to see in the picture, but look at that center seam. It’s cutting in. I have a fair amount of seamed bras and I can’t recall any other ones that do this. I’m going to have to assume that it was a design or manufacturing flaw, because I can’t think of any reason for rest of the cup fabric to stretch more than the seam does. I suppose it could be alleviated by going up a cup size. My other Parfait bras (Charlotte and Lola, which I’ll review next time) are both great fits in a 32F. Though with my soft breast tissue I kind of doubt it would make a difference. That seam creates a heck of a line across my boob. Luckily, though this is obviously visible under a tight shirt, it doesn’t show under most of my clothes. Since this is the only black set I have, and my husband doesn’t seem to be bothered by the line I’ll let it slide. Especially since I don’t have any other problems with this set at all. Well, to be honest, I was hoping to get a little more lift, but I guess you can’t win ’em all.

Everything else about this set is great. I love the design. I love the floral-but-not-frumpy embroidery.

The band fit is perfect. Perfect! I can fit exactly two fingers under the band, no more, no less. For reference, I recently re-did my measurements. My not-tight ribcage measurement is currently about 32.75 inches and my “break the tape” measurement is about 30.25. So I would say that as far as I’ve seen, Parfait’s bands run pretty true-to-size.

The cup also seems to be a good fit, seam problem aside. Gore tacks. No quadboob. Wires are a good width for me; they’re fully encompassing my breasts without much extra space at the sides. I would say the wires on this are medium-width. Not as narrow as the Charlotte, but definitely not wide. The Donna has fully adjustable straps (yay!) and I have mine adjusted about halfway. So plenty of room there. Plus, you guys, it’s comfortable! The straps aren’t as wide-set, nor the sides of the cup/wings as high as the Charlotte (common complaints), so I don’t get any uncomfortable rubbing near my armpits. Honestly, of the three Parfait bras I own, this one is absolutely the most comfortable. And like the Charlotte, the material is nice. It looks good, and it feels good. Those are great qualities in a lingerie brand, especially one that is comparatively inexpensive. My husband says “This bra feels like stockings, but for your boobs!” (That’s a ringing endorsement, Parfait…you’re welcome!)

That brings me to my next point: The material is sturdy. Unlike stockings, the mesh material that this set is made of is not so flimsy. I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago about how fancy bottoms have ruined inexpensive undies for me. She mentioned that she had read my Panache Ariza review and that she was afraid that she would accidentally pop a hole in the fabric with her finger. And I’ll admit, I was nervous about that at first, too. I have absolutely destroyed several pairs of lacy panties, and untold numbers of stockings, tights, and pantyhose by snagging them on a jagged fingernail or, yes, somehow pushing a whole finger right through the fabric. I don’t need to worry about that with this fabric, nor with any of the other lingerie I’ve reviewed on the blog thus far. Sturdy stuff.

Anyway, the shorts themselves are amazingly comfortable. Like, I’m sad when I have to change into a pair of Victoria’s Secret panties because those now feel so inferior. This is true of the Charlotte and Ariza briefs, too. Like I said before, I never saw the point in paying more than a few bucks for a pair of panties; now I do. No shifting, no bunching, no riding up. Amazing. Seriously. As far as sizing, the mediums fit me just fine.

I know they look like they’re digging in a bit on my hips and my front, but there is plenty of fluff for them to dig into right there. It’s nowhere near as bad as I was afraid it would be. See, the set was available at a huge discount, being from AW2012, so it was medium or nothing at all. They cover my whole butt, no problem. Which, unfortunately, means that Parfait’s bottoms sizing might be a little wonky. My Charlotte briefs are XL and they fit just fine, though I could possibly size down, maybe. I don’t think I would size up in the Donna shorts.

The only other thing I want to be sure I point out a discrepancy between product photos and actual product. All of the photos I’ve seen show a solid black front panel on the shorts. Obviously, that’s not what I got. The whole front is sheer. So be mindful of that if you aren’t the type of person who likes too much sheerness.

Where can I buy this?

Even though Donna is from a past season*, it is still available from a whole bunch of places. I got mine from Beautyfull Bras, though they are only currently selling the short. The full set can be had at HerRoom. The Donna is also available in a padded version. Bra available in 30-40 A-G, shorts available in XS-2XL.

I want a second opinion!

Cheryl reviews the padded version at Invest in Your Chest. I can’t find any blogger reviews of the unpadded version, but there are several informative reviews on Bratabase.

*Donna was manufactured from AW2011-SS2013. The black version I have was made in AW2012 and SS2013. Unfortunately, I don’t see the Donna in any of Parfait’s current lines.