Last year, I reviewed the Panache “Summer” vintage-style bikini and gave it a very positive review. However, the triangle top showed off so much cleavage that I haven’t felt comfortable wearing it in public, so I recently went hunting for the wired molded Summer top that has more coverage.
Luckily, right around that time, I was alerted to the existence of the then-new Panache outlet shop on eBay. This outlet shop is amazing! There are tons of different bras, swimwear, and other lingerie pieces from previous seasons in a wide assortment of sizes. Not every item comes in the full size range, of course, but there are so many offerings, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find something you like.
Items are posted from the UK and shipping is not automatically combined, but each item’s postage to the US is only about £2-£3, so it still adds up to a reasonable amount. If you’re making a really big order, you can always try messaging them to see if they’ll combine the postage or provide a postage discount to make it more accurate.
The outlet even takes returns! And if you pay with Paypal, you won’t have to pay for international return postage since Paypal will refund return shipping costs up to 12 times a year (sign up for free at https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/returns).
Right away, I found the Summer wired top. Not only that—I found the red, black, white, metallic gold striped version from the set’s first release. Instead of just getting a new orange-stripe top, I ended up buying the whole red-stripe set (oops!).
Since the non-wired triangle top ran small, I ordered the wired top in two sizes, 30G and 32G with the plan to send one back (it only goes up to G-cups, otherwise I would have gone for 30GG). I also got the bottoms in the same size Medium as last year.
The 30-band definitely fit better, but the 30G was, as expected, a little small. I had a fair amount of pillowing on my bigger boob.
The 32G was perfect on my bigger boob and a little big on my smaller side, but I figured I could just tack in a small pad at the base of the cup if it really bothered me. It’s such a minor sizing issue that I haven’t even bothered, and I’ve since gone pool swimming in the bikini twice. Be aware that these molded cups are pretty stiff. They’re very round and suit my breast shape pretty well (full on top, very full and projected on bottom, and tall roots).
I measure 38”-29/30”-42” and height 5’6”. In Panache bras, I mostly wear 30G, or in Cleo by Panache 28GG or 28H.
Mentally speaking, this wired top feels much more comfortable than the non-wired one. The non-wired wasn’t physically uncomfortable, and in fact it provided surprisingly good support and stayed in place despite my cannonballs into the pool. But I just prefer less cleavage, and this one delivers. Plus, that wide halter strap has a slightly more authentic vintage look.
Happy summer!
