Bra Review: Gorsenia Margo K280 padded balconette, 30E/65E & OtherEden.co.uk Giveaway!

I’m excited to introduce another Polish lingerie brand in this post. I tried my first Gorsenia bra in the beginning of 2017, but it didn’t work out and I didn’t have the chance to try again at the time. So I was thrilled when OtherEden.co.uk offered to send me a set of my choice to review. Read to the end for a giveaway!

If you haven’t yet heard of OtherEden.co.uk, they sell a wide range of European lingerie brands like Ava, Axami, Kinga, Kostar, Gorteks, and their own house brand, Vivisence. They sell from their own website as well as eBay and Amazon. Luckily for me, right at the time I was getting underwhelmed with UK brands, Other Eden’s stock of Polish bras opened up a lot of options for me. I spend a good amount of time on their site just browsing around and discovering what’s new. I ordered my first Gorsenia bra from them via Amazon UK a few months before they got in touch with me about a set for me to review. So I can say objectively that from personal experience their customer service is great, shipping is quick, and returns are effortless. They even have a local return address in the US and Canada to make international returns easier.

Appearance

On to Margo! After I struck out with my first Gorsenia bra, an unlined balcony style, I was a little nervous about trying again. I was tempted by many brands at Other Eden, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to try again with Gorsenia.

There’s a distinct aesthetic that sets the designs apart from UK brands that I’m used to. I’m not sure how to pinpoint it … perhaps I would say that they have a little more glamour – a touch more elaborate embroidery, a bit more sparkle, fabrics and materials that catch the light, bolder embellishments on often neglected parts of the bra, and so on. You’ll know from my previous reviews that I love when lingerie has those just for me details. With Gorsenia, I feel like their styles have a personality and that’s fun for me.

Since I’ve become more choosy with lingerie (leaps and bounds from my plain beige minimizer days), I notice that I latch onto bras that speak to me design-wise, sometimes in ways that I don’t even expect. My choice of Margo from Other Eden therefore has a little bit of sentimental value that might sound a little silly to some. Yes, I get attached to my bras, okay?

First, I’ll admit that I can rarely turn down floral lingerie. From subtle rose prints to wild punchy blooms, a colorful bouquet on my boobs is too fun to resist. Then the gore charm – a tiny butterfly cameo – caught my eye and the reason I was immediately so fond of Margo clicked. It brought me right back to the happiest times I had as a kid spending time with my grandmother and her sharing with me her prized collection of antique cameo jewelry. It might not sound like a compliment to say that this bra reminds me of grandma, but in this case, it is!

I know she would have loved the rose embroidery, and having it close to my heart felt like a perfect homage to someone that I miss every day. Every cameo she kept had a story worth telling. Isn’t it funny how something like lingerie or clothing can speak to us in unique ways? Well, it’s a bit funny to me as someone who didn’t care one way or another about lingerie until recently, let alone considered that I could be emotionally affected by it. And now Margo has a story for me. I don’t know if it was worth telling in this case, but thank you for indulging my tangent. Now on to the rest of the review.

I love that Margo has double layers of floral details. It begins with the touchably smooth satin-finish cup with two of my favorite colors – violet and green – against that antique ivory base. Then the wide band of embroidered lace detail on the top of the cups adds some more depth. It extends slightly above the cup edge, too, which gives a nice effect against the skin.

The cups are uniquely structured, like a cross between a half cup and a balconette. They might look like a typical vertical seam half cup from the front (and Gorsenia does make bras with this cut), but actually at the top part of the cup is another horizontal segment. I think it’s possible that this helps the top of the cup to contour a bit more to the bust, making an otherwise half cup that is also more friendly to shorter roots or FoB shapes like myself.

The jagged line that you can see in the interior of the cup is from where the lace has been attached through the other side. The floral print covers the entire exterior of the cups and wraps around onto the wings, while the interior of the cups is a solid beige foam. The straps are textured and fully adjustable and the closure has 3 columns of 2 hooks. There wings also contain side boning.

Size & Fit

The last Gorsenia bra I tried was an unlined balcony style in size 65F (corresponding to my usual 30E UK size). It was far too big on me, so I opted for this style in a 65E with some trepidation. Since losing weight, sizing has been a bit up in the air for me and I noticed most of my bras gaping, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to size down. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for this padded style. The 65E fit my smaller side wonderfully, but my larger side quadded considerably and pushed the gore away from my body as well as distorting the cup shape.

That said, the bra itself is very lightweight and soft and the band runs true to size. I was pleasantly surprised by the overall projection offered. I can say that when in the right size, the cup gives a wonderfully round and uplifted shape with a great profile under clothes. The embroidered lace shows only a little under the thinnest tops.

I definitely recommend fitting to your larger side. Some Gorsenia balconettes of this type include cookie pockets to correct asymmetry, but Margo doesn’t. (I’ll be reviewing another style soon that has pockets). Those with a bit more upper fullness will likely see some cakes-on-a-plate cleavage.

Apart from the appearance, my absolutely favorite fit aspect of this bra is the delightfully low side wings. At 5’1” with a flared rib cage, I appreciate the support and comfort this provides me without gaping at the top under my arm as so many bras do.

Shape-wise, I would say that this balconette cut would work for narrow and moderately projected breasts. The wires are fairly narrow at 5.1″ and the cups are quite deep for a padded bra – just a tad shallow for me at 8.5″ (8.8″-9″ is usually ideal for me in a size ~UK 28F). The gore is about average width (.75″), but somehow the channels feel narrower on the body than, say, Panache wires. I’m close-set and center-full, but I don’t believe that the gore would have any trouble tacking if I had the right size cup.

Judging by the fit on my smaller side, there appears to be ample space for my center fullness (at least on my smaller side), bearing in mind that I need to size up for a better fit (so take this as a guesstimate). The cup itself has good overall depth for a padded balconette. Even in a too-small cup, there is sufficient space at the wire for me. I also need a lot of apex depth, hence my better size being a 65F. The cups are a perfect height for me at 5.5″ tall, compared with the unlined Gorsenia balconette I tried that had a 7″ tall cup. This style is a much better fit for me for that reason.

The top panel closes in on the top of the bust, but not dramatically so. I think it would therefore work best for fuller-on-bottom shapes with shallow roots, or even-to-FoT shapes with short roots. Only the fullest and tallest roots would probably have an issue due to the relatively short and slightly closed cups.

Update: I’ve included measurements at the foot of this post.

Comfort

I can’t fully rate the total comfort of Margo because the 65E was a little small for me. The cup was tight on my larger side which meant that the gore wasn’t sitting flush to my skin and the wires didn’t feel right because of it. As for the rest of the bra, it felt fine. I was curious if all the seams on the inside of the cup would bother my sensitive skin, but I didn’t feel anything. Only the section where the straps attach to the band at the back was slightly scratchy/itchy, but I do have very sensitive skin.

For me, another point for comfort goes to how lightweight the bra is. It’s definitely a stiffly padded style, but the padding is not heavyweight. The bra itself is cloud-like on the body.

When I hear the word “boning”, I instinctively worry about comfort. However, I didn’t even realize there was boning in the wings until I examined the bra closely. I didn’t feel anything when I had it on. I also have other bras including longlines with boning and never feel that either, despite my bony ribcage, but the segments of boning are quite small here and I completely overlooked them. It’s possible that it’s the boning which allows the wings to be otherwise so narrow and liberating while maintaining plenty of support. A+ in my book.

If you love the look of this bra, but prefer unlined balconies to padded balconettes, Margo also comes in this balcony style.

Briefs

I neglected to specify what kind of bottoms I wanted to go with my set because I didn’t realize that Margo comes with a choice of a full brief and a Brazilian cut. I have never worn anything but full briefs. Having quite a bit of jiggly junk in my trunk means that they feel quite low coverage on my booty area. Yes, that’s intended, it’s just new for me 🙂 They are super cheeky and ride up just a bit, but the material is wonderfully smooth and light. They are gloriously soft and stretchy and hug the body without binding. The bow detail matches the bows at the straps on the bra, which is a nice touch, as are the little trails of circle embroidery down the front.

For reference, I wear a US size 4 jeans, but a UK 12 or Medium undies in most brands (?). I would say that these fit perfectly true to size for a UK size 12/M.

Quality

I think Gorsenia bras are at a perfect price point for the construction and materials. The (now 3) bras that I have tried are great for everyday wear, well-made, and affordably priced in the £15-25 range at Other Eden. Despite the reasonable price tag, the stitching is very clean and the embroidery is detailed and bright. There are no technical faults with the bra or the briefs that I can notice. I can easily see myself keeping a few Gorsenia sets in my collection and have already started choosing some other models that I’d like to try next.

Final Thoughts

I adore Margo and I am super bummed that the size I received didn’t fit and that it was out of stock in a 65F. Other Eden graciously provided me with a replacement set in a different style and the option to give one lucky reader (US recipients only, sorry!) a chance to win this 65E Margo K280 bra. Keep reading to see how to enter the giveaway!

Gorsenia Margo 65E/30E K280 padded balconette giveaway

Visit this link to enter a giveaway for the bra featured in this post in size 65E/30E.

You’ll be required to leave a comment on this post and can also rack up extra entries with the social media options listed. The giveaway ends August 16, 2017, and the winner will be notified by email shortly after that. Good luck!

Measurements: