lingerie review: the sheer bralette and thong – heist studios

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the bralette* from heist studios was gifted to me. all thoughts and opinions are my own and, as always, entirely uninfluenced.

i know a lot of you have been waiting on this review, and i myself couldn’t wait to get it written up! i recently reviewed ‘the outer body’ from heist, and then published a bit of a feature on their new underwear collection. as a 28G, the search for the perfect bralette seems never ending. i’ve built up a great little collection of tried and trusted styles, and i’m pleased to say i’ve found another one that can be added to this list. i won’t bore you with a long intro, so let’s just get straight to it.

the look

the bralette* from heist is simple and modern, yet sexy and appealing, designed with clean lines of opaque microfibre and sheer mesh panels. the stitching is uniform and finished exceptionally well, and the straps are slim and fully adjustable with a slider. it boasts a longline shape which is a winner for bralettes in terms of adding support along with looking aesthetically pleasing. the neckline is low but still offers moderate coverage. there’s no boning anywhere in the bralette, with no hook-and-eye and minimal seaming to ensure a smooth finish. like the outer body, the bralette uses HeroPanels™ to give that second skin feeling and fabulous breathable support, and has non-padded cups with a single horizontal seam joining the mesh top cup to the opaque bottom cup.

from the choice of four knicker* coordinates, i chose the thong*. this is my preferred style for day to day wear, and just like the bralette it is made from soft opaque fabrics and sheer mesh with a defined, clean cut line to it. with both the thong and the bralette, the sheer mesh panels nicely balance the opacity and work to add a little something extra to an otherwise classic set.

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the fit

based on heist’s size guide, my underband measurement fell within their ‘small’ while my bust fit into the ‘medium’. being a G+ cup i am used to this, and will always choose to size up to accommodate my boobs – so i opted for the medium in the bralette* while sticking to my usual size small in the thong. they also have a handy chart of cup and band size conversions if you know your true size, which states a 32F (my sister-sister-size from 28G > 30FF > 32F) would fit a medium so definitely lines up with the measurement suggestions.

so, did the bralette* fit? yes! the size was spot on. could it do with being a little bit snugger in the band? absolutely, but that’s to be expected for someone with a fuller bust when trying on clothes-sized bralettes. the cups comfortably contained my breast tissue with no overspill and no gapping, and despite the band being a wee bit loose it remained in place with no riding or sliding around when i tested it out over the weekend. when i first put the bralette on i was concerned that it wasn’t giving me the lift and shape it promised, but after a scoop and swoop (always important when putting on a bra – even a non-wired one!) to get all my breast tissue sitting front and centre, it really did look like i was wearing underwires! the seams on the cup where the underwire would usually sit don’t lie flush against my ribcage, and of course the centre gore doesn’t tack to my sternum, but you’d be hard pressed to find a non-wired, non-padded bra that does. it would likely improve with a firmer back band, but for a non-wired bra it is a minimal issue as you don’t run the same risk of damaging breast tissue as you would with an ill-fitted underwire bra.

based on how the bralette* fits me i would say that heist’s size guide is pretty accurate. had i gone for a small i just know the cups would have been too small and dug into my breast tissue along the neckline. speaking of the neckline, the mesh top cup strip is very stretchy but holds its shape well at the same time so you get a really flexible fit. i would say if you have softer breast tissue or a less full-on-top shape then you may get away with fitting an extra cup size in there, but if you’re like me with firmer, fuller breast tissue then definitely stick to what the guide says.

the thong* is spot on in a small, fitting my 8-10 bottom half comfortably (definitely more of a 10 right now thanks to covid!) and giving a real second-skin, barely-there feeling. the gusset is a good length and width, the fabrics are soft and the stitching is non-irritating. even if you don’t fit into the bralette, heist’s underwear is an absolute game changer and i think i need one of each style* if they’re as comfy as the thong (i guess that’s thanks to their CO.LAB.12 program where these briefs were designed with 150 women to make them perfect!).

the verdict

i am super duper impressed with heist’s underwear collection – it’s well made, reasonably supportive, and overall at a reasonable price point of £45 for the bralette* and £22 each for the knicker coordinates. given the fabrics used, the technical design of the items, along with the comfort and wearability, i’d say this is more than a fair price.

similarly to the outer body*, my only real gripe is with the straps. with a fuller and therefore heavier bust, the thin straps can dig in and twist/flip a little especially if you have softer shoulders like i do. credit where it’s due though, it doesn’t feel like cheese wire cutting in, like so many other bras and bralettes with thin straps can! after wearing it for pretty much a whole weekend i can hand-on-heart say that it’s one of my top 5 non-wired bras.

can you run for the bus in it? probably not (unless you’re a smaller A-B cup!) but let’s be honest those days seem to be pretty much behind us with the rise of remote working. if you’re looking for a comfortable, lightly supportive bralette with a modern look that can hold up to a whole day’s wear then this might be the one for you.

do you like the look of heist’s underwear collection? shop the bralette* and the sheer collection of briefs* directly on their site!

xo, the lingerie princess