After spotting the Tres Sexy leopard bustier on Eden for the first time, I was surprised at how much its leopard print appealed to me. I have a wardrobe and lingerie collection that is relatively free of any type of animal print and would consider animal prints hard to get right or hard to pull off. I decided to take a chance, try something different and see if perhaps the Tres Sexy leopard bustier could be the item to change how I feel about prints.

Packaging:

The Tres Sexy leopard bustier by Oh La La Cheri arrived on a black plastic hanger with a clear plastic cover. Writing on the plastic cover simply reads: ‘Tres Sexy by Oh La La Cheri’ underneath this is a website address for Oh La La Cheri. The hanger that the bustier arrives on is quite small, the size you usually associate with bras. Printed on the hanger is the name ‘Oh La La Cheri Paris’ and again their website address is listed on the back of the hanger.

Material/Care:

Both the bustier and the thong are listed as being 95% nylon and 5% spandex on their labels and the bustiers boning is made of plastic. It is safe to wash the set at 40 degrees and you should not iron or tumble dry the set.




First Impressions:

At first glance the set seemed to resemble the photos on site quite well. I had been afraid that the type of leopard print you get might vary but it is definitely in the same style as shown on the model. On closer inspection I noticed that there are tiny specks of silver glittery thread running through the leopard material, which as far as I can see doesn’t show on the product photos. It’s not noticeable from a distance but up close I feel it makes the print look cheap. Glittery animal print is not something I would expect from a Parisian lingerie company and on close inspection of the product photos I notice that the material worn by the model is definitely free of this glittery thread.

Removing the bustier from its hanger to inspect it for the first time, I noticed that cut of the bustier looks a bit off, with small cups and what looks like too much material around the waist. Being a UK size 8, I ordered a size small, while I expected the cups to be a bit on the small side to cover my 34D bust, I expected the waist to be a nice fit, I could tell by just holding it up that it wouldn’t be as slim fitting as you would want a bustier to be.

There were two things I noticed before even trying the bustier on were, first, threads sticking out in a couple of places (luckily they could be cut away without affecting the stitching) And secondly, my set actually only had three of its four suspenders. Seeing as the set arrived sealed in plastic I was convinced at first that I had simply dropped the missing suspender, but no, it had actually arrived sealed in its plastic cover with one suspender missing. I have plenty of spare detachable suspenders that I can use but was so surprised to find any piece would be missing from a set that arrives sealed. I’d feel bad for anyone who has that happen and has no spares to use!

Sizing/In Wear:

Trying on the bustier on its smallest hook and eye closing, I found out just how off the sizing of the small is. While the cups of the bustier are suited to an A cup to small C cup (as you would expect from a size small) the waist measurements are incredibly generous for a piece that should be form fitting. I had to double check the label to make sure I hadn’t been sent a medium by mistake; I feel the waist of the size small could easily accommodate someone three clothes sizes larger.

Taking photos of the set on, I see that the fit in the bust isn’t too bad. The cups are a bit small for a D but the snug cups make for some push-up bra style cleavage. Taking side profile photos of the set in wear it shows how the extra material in the waist and awkward boning mean the bustier sticks out quite a bit instead of being form fitting or creating a nice shape. Even on my hips the material sits loosely, adding bulk. While part of me wants to recommend people simply opt down a size when buying this set, I think that the problem isn’t as simple as that and is a combination of bad sizing and an unflattering and unrealistic choice of cut. Because of its plastic boning, the end of the bustier sits awkwardly and noticeably juts out from the body. The straps of the bustier are another awkwardly fitting feature, they are so badly placed and close to the underarms that they are uncomfortable in wear and have a habit of twisting by themselves.



Thong:

The sizing of the sets thong is really no better. I had to hold the waist strap of the thong in all my photos so as not to show too much, that’s how loose it is on. I’ve never come across such a large size small in all my lingerie buying. Even the triangle of material at the front seems so generous that It reminded me of a men’s thong, I really don’t know what all that extra room is for and I am in all seriousness going to tell my husband that he can have them for when he wants to cross-dress. I am confident they will fit. I just don’t have the junk to fill these!

The glittery material looks particularly cheap on the thong and the inside of the material feels scratchy. The waist straps are quite stretchy and accommodating but the two points where the stretchy side straps meet the back of the thong are uncomfortable as there is a hard lump of material on each side where they have been sewn together.





-Bustier fits in the bust but is quite loose on the hips and waist, the thong is actually so loose that it needs to be held in place to prevent a full frontal-