Bettie Page Lingerie by Playful Promises

When I heard that Playful Promises would be doing an overwire bra in the Bettie Page collection I was over the moon with excitement. It’s a style that I’ve always wanted to wear, but could never really find. I missed out on the style that Dita Von Teese released and I was on the verge of ordering the cathedral bra from WKD in last year’s sale which is a similar concept but not quite the same. I ordered the Bettie Page Longline Overwire set while it was on Pre-order in February and it arrived at the start of May.

I ordered the bra in a 32DD, suspender in a size 8 and the brief in a size 10.  The total cost of this set was $209 AUD. I usually wear a 30E in Playful Promises, but as this style didn’t come in their full size range, I sized up a band size and down a cup size. I decided on the longline style not only for its outfit and lingerie as outerwear potential but also as I thought it would have the best possibility of fitting.

My first impression on wearing this set was cute but not practical. The suspender is a good size but it’s made out of mostly very soft stretchy mesh. It does hold up my stockings all day and that is the most important part, but I feel in the long run it will stretch out. The high waisted undies are only mid-rise on myself and don’t match up height wise to the suspender. There are two types of people who wear suspenders and stockings. You either wear your undies under or over. I’m in the over camp. With this set I can’t wear the undies over the suspender no matter how hard i try. It looks ridiculous if I try and also it’s really uncomfortable as the cut isn’t right on both items to do this. As you can see in the photos the brief and suspender don’t work that well together. The bow on the undies becomes very squashed and bulky. I wouldn’t mind so much if perhaps the satin panels had been swapped with the mesh so it wouldn’t be as easily seen. If you know much about me, I love a practical set. I do know this set hasn’t been designed for everyday wear but I feel it lacks in certain aspects where it shouldn’t.

The bra is the reason I purchased the whole set. While I do love it, it doesn’t work that well on me. I find this 32 comes up quite big, by the end of the day it had almost completely fallen off and ended up digging into my waist where it came to rest. The cups are very shallow as well so if you are in between cup sizes I would recommend sizing up.  If you have a smaller rib cage and are thinking of sister sizing up like myself, unfortunately this is not the style for you. Straight away I was wearing it as tight as it could be without it having any real staying power. I would say this style is better suited to someone who isn’t top heavy and has shallower breasts. Anyone that is top heavy will find the weight of the tissue presses down onto the bra, tipping it forward and this results in the bra sliding down.

I do really love this style, I guess I’m just upset after wanting it for so long that it is a less than perfect fit on me. The details that really stand out to me positively in this set are the cushions on the side boning to make it more comfortable to wear, the spiral stitching to give it a very 50’s silhouette and the metal components of the suspender are of high quality and feel robust. The two main elements of this design I would change is the mesh used and the bows. There needs to be a studier mesh in the bra and suspender as this would help with size and fit issues and the bows are too big/too many for my personal taste. For me this is defiantly a ‘fun’ style to wear every now and then. It’s one for the collection and the novelty of owning an overwire bra rather than something you could wear every day.

What are your thoughts on this set? What has been your experience with overwire bras both vintage and reproduction?