I began my first Comexim journey with the Victoria 3HC almost 9 months ago now. The bra I received was beautiful, but didn’t fit, mostly because the band ran abnormally tight. This post will explain what I did next – I simply wasn’t prepared to give up on Victoria!
Before I begin, this is the final post in a 3-part series. In case you missed the earlier parts, you can find them here:
My first Comexim order: a fit odyssey, Part I
A Comexim fit odyssey, Part II: Victoria 3HC, 65HH
Continuing my Victoria 3HC saga
I wrote to Anna at Comexim shortly after I got over the heartbreak of my Victoria in 65HH not fitting. I let her know that it was too small in the cup and band and asked her if it was normal that the 65 band was so tight, stretching to only 25″.
You see, my main dilemma with re-ordering was such a great disparity between what I expected in a 65-band and what I got. I know band sizes can be inconsistent, but I was counting on that by ordering a size 65 (30″ equivalent) to fit my 28″ ribcage (a 60 would be a direct conversion for a 28″ band). The way-too-tight band made it really difficult to diagnose my fit issues with my 65HH, but I was pretty sure that the cup was also too shallow, because I was spilling out all over it even with a full extender. [Ironically, I lost a little more weight since I sold off my first Victoria and I regret selling it so quickly to fund my re-order, as I think it would fit better now, which makes me want to cry. But I digress.]
After two weeks without hearing anything back from Anna about my first order with the mystery band size, I tried another volley of emails. My questions were, basically, did I get an abnormal bra? Should I go for a 65J or 70HH for my next order? My gut told me a 65J, but I needed solid advice. I sent photos, too.
I finally did get a very brief reply from Joanna, who simply said that if the 65 band was too tight, I should go with a 70, and didn’t refer to any other specifics in my email(s). I tried to put a lot of Polish translation in my messages to avoid any confusion. I don’t think my emails are that effective, to be honest. Regardless, I took the 65J out of my cart and replaced it with a 70HH. The first 65 band really was tight and it was my first Comexim order ever, so all I had to go on was that the 70HH would run like a snug 65.
Where I was equally stuck is that my first Victoria came with alterations I didn’t ask for (namely, 3×4 hooks instead of 3×2, and overlapping gore wires). I obviously couldn’t go through all of them with Anna or Joanna, but I had been advised by a user on Bratabase that the 3×4 hooks they added could have contributed to the tighter band, so I had to make sure the 70HH would have the same, otherwise it would be way too big.
I didn’t want any extraneous variables, so I put all the alterations from my first order in the comment box plus the alterations that my first one came with that I didn’t ask for, and also asked for cookie pockets for good measure. I figured if I overshot the cup size, the cookie pockets would help, and had also read that they add a luxuriously soft lining. I think it came out to 6 or 7 alteration requests. Holy frankenbra, Batman!
To cover my bases again, I also added photos of the first bra in 65HH with my order because I wanted the new bra to look exactly the same, only with a longer band and deeper cup. So, armed with only a brief sentence or two from Joanna in response to my lengthy and confused emails, I sized up in the band and cup to 70HH on another Victoria 3HC. Against all logic. But there ya go.
Strike Two
I’m not going to do a full review of my second Victoria here, because appearance-wise it’s more or less the same bra as before. The purpose for recording this is more for those who might find themselves in a similar situation of ordering blind when very new to this brand as well as combating size inconsistencies.
As noted above, I took Joanna’s advice and got a 70HH to replace my 65HH. The cups actually felt much better in terms of volume. My 65HH looked partly decent when I had it on, but the shallow cups were compressing my boobs something terrible and it was uncomfortable. I have now determined that the 3HC cut is generally too shallow for me, because the 70HH proved that I had to size up in the cup to get enough space for my boobs. That made the 70HH more comfortable at the apex; however, the bad news is that the wires in the second bra were far too wide. To be fair, they were a little wide in the 65HH, too. Like I said, this led me to the conclusion that a standard 3HC is a shape mismatch for me.
The extra bad news is that the 70 band was too big for me, so there was not much I could do to save this bra. Although it came with the 3×4 hook alteration, the 70-band stretches to 30.5″ (compared to 25.5″ for the 65). My 28″ UB is at least 2″ from each of these, so once again, not a great fit. I had to start the bra on the last hook right away. Overall, it just felt like a bra way too wide for my frame.
Some smaller details are worth noting. On the 65HH, the cup edge was finished with a thin, satiny blue ribbon. On the 70HH, that ribbon has been covered with the blue lace from the body of the cup. Both are fine, it’s just different.
My 65HH had arrived with the tops of the gore wires completely overlapping. I didn’t request that alteration, but I liked it. So I entered that same alteration in the box for the 70HH and as far as I can tell, it wasn’t done, or if it was done, the overlap was much more negligible.
More importantly, while the volume of the cup itself was much improved, especially at the central vertices and apex, and with great relief for my center fullness near the gore, the outer portion of the cup beyond the strap has an empty section that sticks out at the sides. I can pinch the fabric completely. It’s not terrible, but it does give a funny shape because the bra pouches out from my body at the sides and makes me look wide and flat (as you can see below). The 3HC cut just isn’t narrow enough for me.
As the side shot shows fairly decently, I’m filling out the cups well at the center, apex and bottom of the cup, but the wires are reaching well into my armpits and are basically empty beyond the strap attachment.
I also asked for cookie pockets.
As for the cookie pockets themselves, I was expecting a luxuriously soft cotton interior, but it’s … not? Instead, it’s a very soft mesh fabric. I don’t know what it’s made of, but it differs from the soft cotton lining I received in my Irish Coffee bra. I actually like it as a cup lining in theory. Unfortunately, with the empty space on the sides, it just feels extra pouchy and I can hear it rustling. Keep in mind that I haven’t really tried the bra with cookies, just some thin bikini inserts. I don’t think they would help solve my issues in this case, though, because the excess space is only at the outside of the cup, whereas the apex is a snug fit. Padding just the outsides of the cup doesn’t appeal to me.
While on the subject of materials, the cup foam used for the 70HH is much softer than the firm, rigid foam my 65HH was made out of. I was surprised that my 65HH felt so rigid when everyone raves about the softness of Comexim’s materials. Well, every other Comexim bra I tried since my 65HH Victoria has been softer, making my very first order the anomaly. In terms of my getting the correct fit, worrisome still is that this might also have been why the 65HH cups had less give and felt shallower/smaller. That is just one too many variables to wrap my head around even when I’m in full Comexim geek mode, so I ignored it for my next order.
One More Time
In trying to place my next order, I began thinking – with no small amount of paranoia – that the pouchy outsides of the cup must have had something to do with having the straps moved in. Could that alteration be affecting the outer section of the cup to my detriment?
I wrote for advice again when Comexim got back from vacation on August 1st, leaving me less than a month before I was moving to try one more time. I asked Joanna again about band size anomalies and didn’t get any definitive response to that. I also mentioned that I didn’t think the gore had been altered on my 70HH the same as the 65HH (no overlap) and she replied that I hadn’t requested that the gore be lowered. I guess that got lost in translation and I quickly wrote back to say the gore was fine because I don’t want my next bra coming with a lowered gore.
I hastily put in another order, this time for a 65J, with no cookie pockets, overlapping gore, but straps *not* moved in 2cm, to remedy the empty side-cup problem. If you’re still reading this, I bet you’re dying to know how it went …
Strike Three
Yeah, not so well. This post is longer than I intended, so the short and sweet version is that I received another beautiful Victoria and the fit was not great. The band was the perfect length (finally!), but the cup was bigger and just as pouchy as before. Not having the straps moved in made the bra invade my armpits. Even though they are sister sizes, the cups seemed just generally a different shape compared with the 70HH, more open on top and less tapering to the bust.
I have some comparison photos between the 70HH and 65J to show the difference in strap placement and cup shape.
Not having the straps moved in 2cm on the 65J was a mistake. You can see in the pictures that the entire top of the cup in the 65J just looks… different. It’s wider, more open and has more material adjacent to the gore whereas the 70HH tapers more down to the gore.
Comparison measurements: 70HH vs. 65J vs. 65HH
When is it time to give up?
Apparently never. This review takes us up to my third Victoria. I am currently in the process of placing my 6th order, this time for my (second attempt) plunge version. This concludes my Victoria 3HC saga, but there will be more Victoria reviews on the blog in the future as well as several other Comexim styles coming up soon.
Let's talk about bras 
I tried a Victoria in 70HH. I found it to be both shallower and have a higher gore then other 3HCs (Beauty, Ginger, Geisha, Annika, Anna Pardal Sabine). Also it fit like a true 32, which surprised me because I also have a 28″ ribcage and generally wear a 30 in UK bras but a 70 in Comexim (although my last couple have been more TTS so who knows??)
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You can request to have the strap to armpit area shortened as well when you request straps moved in. I haven’t tried this yet, but have received a couple bras with the pouch on the side issue and when I emailed about it, this is what I was told. I think that should be an automatic alteration when the straps are moved in, but it must depend on who is working on the bra or something as I have some that are fine and others that aren’t.
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Wow, that is fascinating. I have never heard of that alteration. I wrote to Comexim after each of these failed attempts, but never got anything substantial back from them. In the end, the 3HC cut is just not projected enough for me, so I have moved onto plunges where the standard straps have never been a problem. For my next order, I’d like to try reduced cups and straps moved in, so I wonder if it will suddenly become an issue again.
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