It been over two years since Elle’s name disappeared from our favourite lingerie line. Replaced by Heidi Klum’s, the lingerie was pretty much the same but I personally felt it has lost some of its grandeur. A few days ago as I was doing my weekly rounds at the shops a spotted the familiar name. But what it was attached to was a far cry from what I was expecting.
Elle Macpherson body is now manufactured by Simon De Winter which also does Fine Lines and Kayser. This might explain the difference in overall style. With Bendon group I tend to think girly, lace and colour. Simon De Winter is more seamless underwear, practical and dare I say a bit boring to me. The change in style may also be to set a point of difference with its now competitor Heidi Klum. The styles of underwear that I have seen from this new collection, hasn’t stolen my heart. I don’t need any of it in my life unless I require a seamless t-shirt bra and all the rest of mine have caught fire. Although it’s not my style, I do see why Elle Macpherson Body has chosen to go in this direction. Athleisure is at its most popular and this style of lingerie fits right into that aesthetic.
The range so far consists of Bodysuits, T-shirt bras, plunge bras, balconette bras, triangle bras, crop tops, thongs, G-strings, high-cut briefs, bikini, tanga and hip huggers also known as boy shorts. There are a lot of terms thrown around like “micro” and “basic” and something called “knicker program” which I guess is their way of saying you can mix and match me with any bra. From the few news article about, it seems there may be an extension into men’s, sleepwear, gym gear as well as the traditional silk slips.
At this stage there does not seem to be a website for the brand. You can purchase from Myer and David Jones and apparently Net-A-Porter but I have failed to find the product on there as yet. From what I’ve seen, the quality looks good for the price and I do like a lot of the cuts and fabrics. Mostly I feel it’s the colours letting this collection down and the one print I’ve seen is terrible.
I did find one bra that I liked but unfortunately there are no matching knickers available as yet. I purchased it anyway as I had a $20 voucher to use and I thought I might as well try something new. I’m glad I had the chance to try it on because the sizing comes up small in the Dash bra. I first tried on a 30E but had way too much spillage. So I have taken home the 30F and its fits fairly well. The gore is a good height and the wires don’t dig into my underarms. There is a bit of gaping on my smaller boob but nothing that a random cushion won’t fix. Not sure what the complete size range is but the Dash bra is called a fuller bust bra but I was only able to find it available up to an F cup and starting at a 30 band to a 38. This was one of the more expensive bras in the range sitting at $79.95 which is $10 more than the dash plunge boost bra that is available in core sizes. You can tell that this isn’t really engineered to be for a fuller bust. The detail in the middle is a gold O ring that gets completely squashed by my boobs. The straps are quite thin and there is basically no adjustability of the shoulder straps. I’m fairly tall and I have them adjusted as short as they can be. This is an area the design team really need to look into. It would be a great everyday bra if they fixed the 2 issues with the straps. I also tried the Zest soft cup bra. This style also comes up small and has a minimising effect on my breasts but for some reason I don’t think that was the intention with this style.
First impressions are important and I’m not sure Elle Macpherson Body has quite hit the mark. It is still a very young brand so it has lots of time to develop and grow. It does have an edge over its competitors with worldwide connections and years of experience from its creators. I guess only time will tell how successful Elle will be second time round.
Have you seen Elle’s new Lingerie or tried it for yourself? Let me know your thoughts!
E. x
Lace and Haze 
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