Today I wanted to show you two different styles of the Essentia bra from the Polish brand Avocado. Also, one lucky reader can win an Essentia bra!
First, a small announcements: Avocado is looking for wholesale buyers, if you know someone who is interested, do contact them at paulina.gizycka(at)avocado.com.pl
Avocado is a brand that is focused on bigger cups, and carries bras in five different constructions which are named after a letter of the alphabet, all nicely explained here. The Essentia line is the most affordable of their lingerie, and in it's simplicity a departure from the luxurious style of the brand.
I got a black Essentia in the K shape and the caramel one in a H style. These styles did not work as well for me as the A style did, but they could be the absolute hit for breast styles different from mine.
The bras were provided to me as a review sample, but all
opinions are my own, as always. Currently my measurements are 68/81. I got a 65D in both styles, but remember that Avocado has its own sizing!
Aesthetics: 4/5
The Essentias are designed to be simple but interesting everyday bras that don't show up under clothing. I heard that the design was even simpler before, but the clients wanted a bit more decorations. As for me, it is refreshing to see a bra other than the Panache Tango II that can be worn under fitting clothing but is not a (padded, boring) T-shirt bra. That is the reason that I gave the Avocado Essentias 4/5 for aesthetics even though the style is not drop-dead gorgeous.The cups and a part of the wings are made of a pretty mesh, which is backed by a softer fabric on the lower parts of the cups and by a simple net on the top of the cups and the wings. The top edge is lined with a thin strip of lace. There is a small key charm between the cups, it's the only element that sticks out under T-shirts but it can be snipped off easily. I like the effect of the pattern on the mesh, it makes the bra look interesting yet simple.
The colour of the caramel bra is a rather unsaturated caramel, rather sepia. I think that the photo above is pretty accurate, at least on my screen.
Fit: 1-3/5
Though both the H and the K styles didn't work for me, they might be amazing on other women.The cups of the two bras have a 3-piece basic cut, but very different proportions. For the purposes of the next paragraph, I'll call the three parts of the cup the outside piece (the one near the armpits), the inside (near the gore) and the top piece.
On me, neither cut worked as well as the A cut did. In the H style there was loose space on the outer top parts of the cups. If you look at the photos of the caramel H Essentia bra you will see that the strap is attached to the outside piece of the cup; and when the straps are pulled tight then the entire outer piece of the cup becomes flatter. This is why the cups still kind of fit me but the material of the outside piece wrinkles.
In the black K style the strap is attached to the top piece of the cup, and when the straps are pulled tight only the elastic on the outside piece of the cup gets stretched (the elastic starts at the end of the strap and goes to the under-wire). On me there was too much free space on the top of the cups. The K has a lot of projection where the horizontal seam is, much more than I need. I would like to have tried it in a smaller cup, but unfortunately the 65D is as small as Avocado goes.
The top of both the cups are lined with elastic, however this doesn't seem to stretch at all (unlike that on the A cup). Both cups are rather closed on top, so if you have full-on-top breasts the edge may cut in a bit.
The underwires of the H style are much longer and narrower than those of the K style. Generally Avocado is the holy grail for women who need narrower underwires. The underwires of the K model are shorter, so they feel wider even though they aren't really. The center gore of the H model is around 1cm shorter than that of the black.
Straps are fully adjustable, but not very long -- if you usually need longer straps you might be disappointed.. They are much more widely spaced in the caramel than in the black.
The Avocado bands are generally nicely snug, and the Essentias are no exception.
Comfort: 5/5
Avocado bras are some of the most comfortable ones I have tried. The part I liked best is that the hook closure of the band has a little padded cushion! The hooks and eyes themselves seem to more rounded and flatter than those of any other bra I have seen. The mesh fabric is soft and not at all scratchy. Even the inside of the straps is softer.I have not felt any discomfort from the band or the underwires.
Summary:
The Avocado H and K styles are not "mine", and in the future I would go for the A cut (as well as cuts I haven't tried yet). However these cuts could work for women with different breast shapes from mine. I must say I enjoy the way Avocado has labelled their five different cuts, which really helps to navigate through all the bras that they offer. It saves you a lot of guesswork -- many other brands re-use the same cuts, but as they don't give out the information it's often a matter of guesswork and luck to stumble upon another bra in a cut that works for you.If you have tried the Avocado Essentia, let me know in the comments how it worked for you!
Avocado Essentia S192K in black Stats:
Band unstretched: 60CMBand stretched to the maximum: 78cmUnderwire length: 19,5Underwire width: 12,5cm
Avocado Essentia S192Hn in caramel Stats:
Band unstretched: 62cmBand stretched to the maximum: 80cmUnderwire length: 23cmUnderwire width: 13cm
Avocado Essentia Giveaway!
Avocado is kindly sponsoring a give-away! One lucky winner gets an Essentia bra in the cut and colour of their choice (of course you can exchange it if you don't get the right style or size the first time).
You can enter via the Rafflecopter form below, and don't forget to tweet to get extra entries.
The giveaway is open worldwide and the winner will be notified via email (check your spam folder) and on this blog. Good luck!
