Bra Review: Comexim Victoria Plunge 60H standard & 60HH reduced cup comparison

By now, you might be thinking that I have an unhealthy obsession with Comexim’s Victoria bra … and you’d be right. I’ve tried it in every cut available and nearly every combination of alterations. What’s different about this review is that I may have finally found the one. Join me once again to admire this lace-adorned beauty from my favorite Polish lingerie maker.

In case you missed it, I have previously reviewed Victoria as a 3HC (3-part half cup) in several sizes across a three-part series. She was the first Comexim bra I ever ordered and I’ve kept at it until getting it right, which has been no small task. I’m thankful to Anna at Comexim for her amazing efforts throughout this process. Since I’m likely to draw comparisons throughout this post, you can read my reviews of the 3HC version(s) here:

My first Comexim order: a fit odyssey, Part I
A Comexim fit odyssey, Part II: Victoria 3HC, 65HH
A Comexim fit odyssey, Part II: Victoria 3HC, 70HH, 65J & 65HH comparison

Today’s post, however, is going to focus on what has turned out to be a much more successful Comexim bra style for me, the plunge.

Appearance

Victoria captured my heart long ago. I love everything about the design. I adore all kinds of blue lingerie, but navy is one of my favorite colors in all clothing. The deep navy floral lace is both sweet and sultry, wraps partly around the wings, and is finished with eyelash details. The light cream underlay is a perfect contrast and quite close to my skin tone (yes, I’m that pale). Victoria’s soft and smooth straps are my favorite out of all of my Comexim bras. They are supportive, but super friendly to my sensitive skin. I have gushed again and again about the appearance of Victoria in my previous reviews, so I let the photos speak for themselves and will try to stick to the fit comparison.

Comexim Plunges

In case you’re new to the brand, Comexim’s “plunge” bras are comprised of a 3-part cup made from lightly padded foam. The bottom portion of the cup is divided into two parts and there is a horizontal seam with a top section above. The cups are comparatively taller than Comexim’s other two cuts which are both half cups. The plunge name is a little misleading, as the gore is not very low as standard, so it’s not a deep plunge where slippage above the gore would generally affect soft tissue. It’s almost like a padded balconette cut when compared with British bras. When I refer to the “standard” cut, I mean with minimal or no alterations (more on this below).

While the sides of the cups near to the strap attachment are therefore taller than a half cup, the wings on Comexim plunge bras are quite low and the cup width is typically  narrow for the size. Comexim bras are therefore highly recommended for those who need deep, projected cups and narrow wires.

The deepest part of a Comexim plunge cup is just below the horizontal seam at the cup’s apex. The bottom of the cup is generally somewhat shallower just above the wire, so the bra is most friendly for narrow and projected breasts that need a lot of space at the apex, like mine. In contrast, I have always found the 3-part half cup or 3HC cut to be too wide in the cup and shallow at the apex for my shape. Finding my fit in the Comexim plunge has been nothing short of an epiphany for me.

In addition to their stunning designs, projected cups, and great customer service, one of the reasons why Comexim is so well-loved in the bra fitting community is for the nearly innumerable variety of alterations that can be requested to customize the fit of their bras. The gore, straps, bands, cups, underwires, trim, and even number of hooks on the closures are all open to modifications upon request.

While this makes the potential of finding a truly exceptional and individualized fit even greater, the sheer number of permutations can be daunting. It can be difficult to deduce based on one bra whether it’s a size issue or something that can be fixed with one or more alterations. And then there’s the fact that no two bras are precisely the same, so alterations on one bra might not work out quite the same for the next. I learned this first-hand through my dedication to Victoria.

I already own 4 or 5 other Comexim plunges in size 60HH (beginning with Elena) with a standard cup height. The cups on my 60HH are extremely comfortable in terms of depth, but I get a lot of gaping and empty space at the top from the horizontal seam upwards to the strap on most of them. There is some variation between styles, but for at least 3 out of 4 of my plunges, it’s basically just an empty triangle bubble of cup there. In every other way, the bras are supremely comfortable.

I sent Anna some fit photos a few months ago and asked her advice on how I could get rid of the bothersome empty space. She suggested that the cups were far too big and that sizing down to a 60H would help with that. That made a lot of sense to me as at the time I was needing to trade many of my UK 28FFs for 28Fs after losing a few pounds.

Victoria Plunge – 60H

I took the opportunity to make Victoria my first 60H plunge. I kept my usual alteration of requesting overlapping gore wires, but that’s it. Through trial and error, I have found that this simple gore alteration makes the Comexim plunge more accommodating of my center fullness. In every other respect, my Victoria in size 60H is just a standard plunge.

Sigh. Isn’t she pretty?

In terms of fit, the 60H is very close. The cups are sadly about a quarter to a half a size too small on my larger side. Evidently, the gaping at the top of my other 60HHs that made them look far too big was deceptive. In fact, I require quite the full amount of apex depth and a shorter cup.

The result is that this 60H Victoria plunge is too shallow and the top edge of the cup comes up too high, so it remains unfilled while simultaneously cutting slightly into my chest. On the plus side, one benefit of moving down to a 60H was that I discovered that the slightly narrower and followed the outline of my breast root better than with the 60HH.

Now, just to keep things complicated, something worth keeping in mind with Comexim is that – perhaps more so due to the hand-made nature of the product – there are occasional variations between two bras in the same cut (i.e. 2 plunges) in the same size across styles. For example, I ordered an Ingrid in 60H at the same time as this bra, with exactly the same specifications, and both of the bras fit nearly a size different between them in the cups and with slightly different band lengths. I would say that this is within the margin of error for Comexim, but worth bearing in mind if your boobs are as picky as mine are.

So, what did I learn? Obviously my fit issues were focused on that top part of the cup. Anna agreed that we should try again and so I pressed onward to my 6th Victoria, which she graciously provided for the purposes of this review.

Victoria Plunge – 60HH with reduced cups

My next experiment would prove to be my most altered Comexim. After some additional consultation with Anna, I decided to size back up to a 60HH, but added 3 new specific alterations (in addition to overlapping the gore wires): reduce the cup height by 2cm; move the straps in by 2cm; use the wires from a 60H.

I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to consider the reduced cup height alteration. Bras are nearly always too tall on me. I decided to go with the narrower wires since the 60H was a good fit in that regard, just too shallow for me. Finally, I had the straps moved 2cm because I had seen it recommended before in combination with the reduced cup height in order to keep the bra’s straps from becoming too wide set.

Victoria 60HH with reduced cup height

If you’ve been following along, I had some doubts about the “‘straps moved in 2cm” alteration on my 3HCs. The first two that I ordered had the alteration, while that last one did not. I never did conclude if some of my fit issues were caused or remedied by the alteration, but I did prefer to have the straps moved in away from my armpits, at least based on the 3HC. That said, I never had an armpit problem with my standard 60HH plunges.

Well, there must have been a planetary alignment or something, because when my custom Victoria arrived… she fit.

IT ACTUALLY FIT.

The cup height really did make an immediate difference to my comfort. The lower coverage suits my body much better and I feel like I finally get the full Comexim experience without that extra fabric on top. The cups hug my boobs without smothering them. It’s super comfortable to have a full range of motion in my arms nothing venturing into my armpits.

Could I do with a half a centimeter more cup depth for my larger side? Sure, but it’s still a great fit given my asymmetry. As a petite girl, I rarely get anything that is scaled down to the right proportions for me like this bra. Another benefit of reducing the cups is that it makes the eyelash lace look a lot nicer, in my opinion, because it doesn’t reach quite so high up on my chest or poke out of the neckline of my shirts.

I am wary of “frankenbras” because they can be difficult to replicate. Nonetheless, I think I’ll be sticking to this set of alterations for the time being.

Fit & Alterations Comparison

This is the part where I usually review the comfort and quality of the bra, but I don’t need to repeat how Comexim excels at both those aspects. Since this is a comparison review, I’m going to move on to some photos directly comparing the 60H standard and 60HH reduced cup versions.

Here are photos of the two bras with the reduced cup version on top:

It doesn’t look like a huge difference, but it definitely helps. Note that the gore height stays the same and moving the straps in 2cm on the reduced cup version keeps the strap width in line with the standard 60H, so that’s why those alterations are often paired together.

And here is the difference when worn:

Victoria 60H (standard)

Victoria 60HH (reduced)

Sorry for the difference in lighting. They were taken on separate occasions.

In the fit photos, you can’t tell so easily, but while the 60H may look roomier, it actually feels tighter. It’s the deceptive top panel that’s hiding the fact that I need all the apex depth I can get.

I know a lot of people wonder about the effect that reducing the cup’s height has on the rest of the fit of the bra. I have heard competing advice about whether or not the effective depth of the cup is impacted by having the height reduced. When the cup height is adjusted, it is done from the top, horizontal portion of the cup above the seam (to where the strap attaches). Since the deepest part of a Comexim plunge is just below that seam, it would seem logical that the depth would not be affected. It might feel smaller for those who are very full on top, because they would lose that extra coverage above the horizontal seam.

However, in this case, keep in mind that I also requested that the 60HH use the smaller wires from the 60H. I ended up with a cup that is noticeably smaller than a standard 60HH, and just a smidge deeper than the standard 60H. In my case, it worked out at the ideal depth. Had I wanted a 60HH as roomy as my previous purchases, I would probably want a 60J reduced with narrower wires. Bear in mind that this abstract math is based on a sample size of only 1 bra!

Fellow bra geeks, you can compare my measurements at the foot of this post.

Final thoughts

The 60HH with reduced cups is definitely my Comexim jam. I’m also thinking that I might just benefit from the “deeper cups” alteration that I’ve heard rumors about, where the portion of the cup just above the wire is given more depth to accommodate bottom fullness. I don’t think it’s fully necessary, but I could always do with a little more depth in the cups and I’d like to try it in the future.

As always, I am incredibly thankful to Anna at Comexim for her tireless attempts to get this bra right for me. ❤

If you’re thinking of ordering directly from Comexim, they close for the month of July and start fulfilling orders again in August. That gives you plenty of time to obsess over their site for a couple of weeks while you try and narrow down your decision. I’m not saying that’s what I do or anything …

Alternatively, US-based readers can take the Polish plunge by ordering from these retailers:

Zathiya (get 10% off with my referral link)
Wellfitting (get 10% off with my referral link)
Breakout Bras (no alterations)
Bra Obsessed (Canada)

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Speaking of obsessions, have you ever tried 5 or more times to get a bra that’s just right? Let me know in the comments so I don’t feel so strange! 🙂

 

 

Measurements

60HH – reduced cup height

60H – standard cup height