Disclosure: The suit in this review was a gift from Eveden. All opinions are my own. Clicking the affiliate links in this post may result in commissions paid to Hourglassy.
I love this suit! It’s more functional than flashy, but cute and comfortable. The color is just enough bright for me and a nice change from the black and navy suits I usually buy. This is the Ottawa Tankini and Mid Rise Bikini Brief by Fantasie. Darlene reviewed the Ottawa Bikini last year. It’s a very classic and simple style and I like the neckline. The Mid Rise Brief is fully lined and has a nice gathered detail at the waist.
The fabric of this suit feels soft and isn’t like traditional swimsuit fabric. It has a nice texture that provides subtle detail. It might be a little more snag-prone, but the nubby texture is better at hiding snags as well. The top and bottom are fully lined. With mesh cups and an underwire, this is about one step up in support from a shelf bra, but it’s not bad. I think I’d prefer a moulded cup but the soft cup feels very comfortable. This is a hang-out at the beach all day suit. The Fantasie Palawan that Darlene reviewed earlier this week is a very similar style but with a little more support due to the padded cups and firmer fabric.
This is only my second bra-sized suit, so I’m still learning about how to find the right fit. My band measurement is 34″ but I find 36” bras fit me better. My bust measures 41” and I tend to take an F or FF cup. I ordered a 36 F, G and GG and selected the G. I suspect a 34 GG might have fit better around the band, but I was worried about giving up too much room in the torso. My measurements of other suit brands showed there could be as much as an inch difference in the hem measurements between band sizes. The back band of this suit is very stretchy and seems to be more for pulling the suit parts together than providing bust support. I tried to fix the rippling across the front with a larger cup size but it didn’t help.
I had a hard time finding any sizing information beyond the bra. Since I prefer tankinis and need extra room in the torso, I would have liked to have the corresponding length, waist, and hip measurements, but none of the sites I looked at provided those measurements. So I took my own. I hope you find them helpful, but they aren’t official. The 3 sized 36 suits I tried measured 11.75 inches from the base of the underwire to the hem and 18.25 inches across the hem (36.5” circumference). The circumference is about the same as other 36” band suits in the other brands I tried, give or take up to 1/2 an inch. I also measured across the top of the underwires and across the suit at the base of the underwires. These measurements varied with the cup size by about half an inch. So if you need more or less room in the torso, try a sister size. I found measurements for many swimwear brands here and it helped me find bottoms that fit, but since this is a third-party site, the information may not be accurate or up-to-date for all brands.
This suit stays in place very well. I dove into the pool and swam a few laps and most everything stayed put, although the hem of the suit floats up a bit in the water. A smaller band size would probably fix this by providing a closer fit around the bottom of the suit.
