Last month we featured a brand spotlight on a company that’s just emerging into the small band, large bust world: Bosom Galore. And today, I’m so excited to share a review of one of their very first sets, the Classique in red!

I’ve been talking to Katy at Bosom Galore for a while, so when she asked me to help her out with some testing on this bra, I definitely wasn’t going to say no. I had been intrigued by the initial pictures both product images and on the model since it looked luxurious, pretty and well made. I was initially sent the bra in a size 28GG but decided on 30GG as the best fit for me, more details on that below. I chose the Classique over the Amelia as I thought the shape might be better for me, plus it seems to be a very classic “luxury” bra which is what I was looking for.

As you know, Bosom Galore are brand new and are working on limited funds for this. Production of their pieces is really quite expensive since they’re using only UK manufacturers (one of my favourite things about them!) and only the best quality materials. On top of that, they’re branching out into a sector of the market that’s been somewhat ignored – luxury lingerie for small banded, larger busted ladies, in particular 26 bands – so what they’re doing is very brave! Due to the restrictions of this though, their range is small at the moment, only able to offer two sets in a slightly limited range of sizes. They are, however, very keen to offer more sizes and styles in future. They’ve already released plans for their summer collection, and even more excitingly, these are currently available to preorder as part of their Indiegogo campaign for pretty amazing prices considering all things above! I’m really keen to support them in this, so have contributed what I can at the moment (house and car buying are currently limiting my funds!), but as an emerging company, they will most definitely struggle to expand further if they are unable to raise the necessary funds.

I have been privy to a bit of inside information that might motivate you to contribute though! Bosom Galore have taken on a lot of feedback from consumers already and have two designs in mind to follow their summer collection: a charcoal and black silk plunge, plus (and I am super excited about this!) a black, non-silk strappy harness set. Seriously, there’s currently very little available in anywhere near my size in that sort of style, so I’m ridiculously excited to see this!

Anyway, on with the review of this set! Apologies for the fact that the pictures are either “artsy” or not great quality – I tried to be cool and took like 200 pictures then discovered the ones which actually showed close ups on me etc. were blurred #bloggerproblems!

Appearance & Shape

The Classique bra is a balconette style, but has a slightly higher apex than most balconettes in order to offer slightly more support for the larger busted among us while still having that classic balcony cakes on a plate push up effect. It is a foam cupped bra with a single seam running down the middle and a silk overlay with pretty scalloped black lace at the top, matching the bit on the front of the briefs. The gore is fairly high, about average I’d say for a balconette style, and is decorated with a small black bow.

The bra has a lovely rounded shape, and as I said, produces that ever sought after cakes on a plate style cleavage. The band is black mesh with a lovely sturdy 3×3 set of hooks in my size on the back. The straps are only half adjustable due to the front part being made of the same silk as the body and cups of the bra – I currently have mine adjusted as far as they will go and the bra fits perfectly there, but talking to Katy, they’re looking at adjusting the length of them slightly so there might be a little bit more length in future for those that might need it.

There was an initial worry with these first sets of Classique bras that got produced. You may know (or may not, I didn’t!) that lingerie manufacture is a pretty lengthy and difficult process – the samples they had were absolutely perfect, however they were concerned about some very minor rippling at the cup seam on the bras. Katy asked me to look at this on mine, and to be honest, it’s something that was so very minor, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all if she didn’t ask me to look closely! I think it just shows the attention to detail that Bosom Galore have though – they want their pieces to be absolutely perfect for their customers and worth every penny they spend – I think they are! This seam ripple has been sorted out though (it was due to the stitch length if anyone’s wondering!), so no worries there.

Sizing, Fit & Comfort

Sizing was something that was hard to choose with this bra as there’s currently no information about the company out there (obviously!), hence why I want this review out quickly for all of you! As you know, Bosom Galore’s range begins at 26 bands, which is amazing. In the past, I was probably closer to a 26 band (I did own one from Made In Preston at one point) but I’m now definitely more of a solid 28 band in most brands. I decided to start out by trying the Classique in a 28GG, my current “standard” size. I found that the band was pretty tight in that (closer to a 26 than a 28 I’d say) and that the cups were also a little bit on the small side for me. I also noticed that the cups themselves are slightly too shallow for my shape (I have about moderate projection), and I found that the band being slightly tighter than I’d like was pulling the cups even more shallow, causing them to act even smaller. After talking to Katy, I decided to give the 30GG a go and found my perfect fit. So do bear in mind that the bands are quite tight, plus the Classique cups are fairly shallow so you may need to go up a cup and a band size in this.

The wire width is spot on for me, ending right at the edge of my breast tissue under my arm, although I think it may be slightly wide for those who are need narrow wires in general (again, I’m about average here).

EDIT: After rewearing the bra a few times, I noticed that actually I clearly hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the wire width before (or perhaps I didn’t understand my root shape well enough then), but the wires are in fact quite wide on this bra. Not to worry though, as Bosom Galore is now rebranding as Katherine Hamilton Intimates with narrower wires!

As I said before, the 30 band is spot on for me in this bra – I’d say the 30 band fit is close to a Masquerade 30 band, nice and firm but not too tight. The 3 rows of 3 hooks is really nice to see too, giving larger busts a bit more support. I find it really comfortable to wear on a day to day basis – it’s one of those bras that you put on and forget you’re wearing because it’s well fitted and well made. I’ve worn it for whole days at work, plus an evening out to a steakhouse where I managed to demolish a steak with chunky chips plus a chocolate fondue, and even then I didn’t feel uncomfortable in it (despite the fact I’d probably expanded about 3 sizes by then; the fitted dress however probably wasn’t a great idea!).

I got the size 10 briefs to go with this bra – I never have much to say on briefs, but these fit well, are comfortable and match beautifully, so that’s a plus!

I think one of the most important things to say about this set is how well manufactured and thought-through it is. One of the things Katy asked me about it is whether I’d be happy to pay the price for it, and my answer was yes. At first, you see a bra priced up at £78 and think, no way. But then I considered the fact that I’ve purchased bras from Agent Provocateur and Mimi Holliday for similar prices (plus those pieces were in the sale), and they were nowhere near as well made as these. The fabrics are, as promised, sumptuous and comfortable; the quality is very high; the fit is excellent; and they’re offering a sector of the market something they haven’t had access to before. To me, that’s worth paying the extra.

The Classique set in red is currently available to buy at Bosom Galore – the bra is £78 and available in 26-34 E-H; the briefs are £40 and available in UK sizes 6-16; there are also matching shorts available at £40 and a thong at £35.

However, the Classique will also be available in teal and ivory this summer, and you can preorder both of these bras at a discounted price of £60 via their Indiegogo Campaign, or the thongs at £30, briefs or shorts at £35. Additionally, you can also contribute £20 and get a Cocoa Boutique box worth £35 (and after being subscribed to this for about a year, I do recommend that!). Can you tell I’m really excited to promote the campaign though? I really do want them to be able to continue to expand as a company, and every little really does help for an emerging brand!

PS: We’ll shortly have something exciting coming up – a (quite small!) giveaway with Bosom Galore! This is funded out of my own monies which are a little low at the moment, but I wanted to make sure the brand was receiving as much support as possible, so just doing what I can – keep an eye out for that!

PPS: The giveaway is now live here, so go enter! Good luck 😀