Agent Provocateur: Callie

Size: 32D, AP 2 / Material: Tulle / Purchasable from: Agent Provocateur

It wasn't until after I tried on Callie, that I fell in love with it. I was initially intrigued by the striking turquoise tattoo-esque embroidery but in comparison to the other items from Agent Provocateur's A/W 2015 collection, it did not excite me the way Robyn and Lindie did as it was merely a sheer black underwired bra. So what was meant to be 'just-another-thing-I'll-try-on-for-fun' turned into an AP set I could not stop thinking about for a month, before receiving it as a 3 year anniversary present. 

The fit of Callie was simply perfect. It is made up of not one, but two, layers of darted tulle, and depth wise the cup is really shallow, which worked wonders on my shallow bust. I had initially tried on the bra in my usual size, a 32B, however my boo noted that the elastic black seam running diagonally across my bust was cutting into my breast tissue and suggested that it might be wise to go up a cup size. Indeed, the 32C fit me even better whilst still giving me an amazing cleavage. However as the placement of my pierced right nipple was literally caught right in the middle of the elastic seam, I didn't want to risk irritating it and tried sizing up once again to a 32D. To my surprise, the cup did not gape, the tulle did not wrinkle and my nipple was out of danger zone. The main difference was that whilst my bust was still rounded, my cleavage was less impressive as there was less compression from the cups. The underwires were also much bigger (duh) and was more pushed back towards my armpits, which was something I'm not used to. Occasionally the underwires also dig into my ribs, however I'm not sure why as the placement of it is the same as all my other wired bras (i.e. the underwire is right below my breast tissue). Fortunately, the slight pain goes away after some time and Callie still holds up as one of my most frequently worn everyday bras.

As usual there's not much to say regarding the fit of the knickers. The size 2 feels a little loose on my hips but unfortunately this was the smallest size in the Callie range. For a pair of knickers that were this low-rise, I was hoping for something that would hug my hips a little to prevent them from sliding down. There is also not much back coverage due to the criss-cross design, which is something to keep in mind, though undoubtedly it is uber cute. Lastly, I got the matching seam and heel stretch hold ups in black/turquoise in a size 1 and they fit perfectly – no baggy heels (for reference I wear a UK 3/EU 36 shoe size) and no cutting in on my thighs. 

A class above a basic black lace underwired bra, Callie is definitely both a beautiful and functional piece that everyone should own. And for £195 for the whole set (as the price was reduced by £20 per piece if I recall correctly) it is definitely a bargain. I mean, that's only £35 cheaper than just buying the Annoushka bra! So what are you waiting for?

Rating: 10/10