I love when black and red get paired together, and when this first got released, I was chomping at the bit to get it. So I waited patiently, and finally, one day, it was mine!

It came in a plastic bag, which can also function for storage if you don't want to hang it or keep it in a drawer. If you opt for a drawer, make sure to only ever fold it lengthwise, as folding it where the top and bottom meet will likely cause permanent damage to the boning. There's one tag on the inside that tells you that this item is made of 100% Nylon, exclusive of the trim. You should also hand wash and let drip dry.

I got this in a size small. To Coquette, that means I should be a size 4-6, with a B cup, a 34-36" bust, 26-28" waist, and 36-38" hips. Personally I'm about 5'2, I weigh about 105, around my bust measures 31" and underneath measures about 28 1/2". I've got about a 25" waist with 33" hips and wear a B cup. It fit me beautifully. Tight enough to look great but loose enough to be pretty comfortable.

For the other sizes available, Coquette has the following measurements listed:
Medium: size 8 - 10, B cup, 36-38" bust, 26 - 30" waist, 38 - 40" hips
Large: size 12 - 14, C cup, 38 - 40" bust, 30 - 32" waist, 40 - 42" hips
X Large: size 14 - 16, D cup, 42 - 44" bust, 34 - 36" waist, 44 - 46" hips
1X/2X: size 18 - 22, D cup, 46 - 50" bust, 38 - 42" waist, 46 - 52" hips

If you're right on the border of the measurements, I'd order the size up. If you do order a size down and it's too small but just barely, you can also get a whole bunch of band extenders that would normally go on a bra, but should hook in here just fine.

The inside is a plain black, and feels very smooth to the touch across all 12 mini panels. You'll also find sewn across the center of the piece a 1 1/4" thick band of elastic. It's pretty stretchy, but still springs back enough to help pull in anything in the midsection. The inside of the cups is a nice black padding, and there's no underwire here. While that might be bad for some, it's also nice because it will allow you to wear a bra underneath it without having to worry about dueling underwire.

The front is very striking. The cups as well as 9 pieces of boning are a lovely shade of red. Bright enough to catch your attention, but not so bright that they beg to steal it from everything else around you. They contrast very nicely with the black. The panels between each piece of plastic boning is a really soft black floral lace. Where the cups meet in the middle is a red bow a bit brighter than the red of the cups. There are two more bows that lie on the "hips." These are backed with a safety pin and come off very easily, leaving no trace they were ever there.

All along the top is a very close cut band of lace that features a red ribbon that matches the other red weaving in and out across the tops of the cups. At the bottom is two sets of lacy ruffles, the longer one coming down about 2" being the floral lace form the front, and the shorter one coming down about an inch is I believe pretty much the same soft mesh from the backside. The 18 sets of double row hooks that secure it down the 13" tall back are sturdy and come undone easily enough that you can do it yourself, but not so easily that you lose all your hard work with one awkward breath that shifts things. I find that the best way to get this on is to put in on with the hooks in the front so you can do them up, and then twist it very carefully around so everything lays where it's supposed to. The ruffles at the bottom can get in the way during sex if you have a shorter torso, but shouldn't be a problem for most. The garter straps work well enough for things like fishnet and other thigh-highs that aren't designed to stay up on their own. The garter straps and the bra straps are both removable, and I recommend putting the bra straps on "backwards" to make it easier to adjust them yourself.

Overall, I was pretty happy with this. It's not quite as comfortable or stretchy as say, my bow mesh or stretch lace "corsets", but I didn't find myself to be all that uncomfortable while wearing it.

When I first got it, there were some loose threads that were easily snipped off, and I haven't seen anything else come back. The bows however, are a slightly different story. One of them looked as though it had caught on something and had some pulls, similar to what a pair of stockings might do. There were also some edges that looked like they had caught and were now freely running, basically unraveling the bow as it went. This, coupled with the fact that I personally prefer this bustier (it doesn't lace, therefore isn't actually a corset) without the bows is why I chose to remove them and haven't put them back on.

It's comfortable enough to wear for relatively long periods of time, although I did find that after about 6 hours I really wanted it off. I was able to wear a bra underneath, but again, after a while it became a bit uncomfortable. It doesn't suck you in like you might expect a corset to, but it's not a corset, so I didn't expect it to. It will pull in some and create the illusion of a tighter stomach thought.

My husband really liked how this looked on me, and me wearing it out is actually the background on his cell phone right now.

Here's a few pictures with the bows, without the bows, and from the side.