Product Review: Agent Provocateur Large-Cup Bras

We’ve been fans of Agent Provocateur since the beginnings of Knickers — they have cheeky, sexy designs, and the quality to back up their image as a saucy-yet-essential source for lingerie. We were delighted when we found larger cup sizes available in their collection (they go to 36F on some lines), and snapped some up as soon as we could afford it. Unfortunately, these lovely bras just didn’t meet our expectations — they were beautiful, but they simply didn’t fit.

Specifically, we tried out the Top Hat full-cup bra and the Eve bra (now discountinued), in an F cup. The bras themselves are lovely — Eve was a simple sheer black with vixen touches, and Top Hat had lovely mint green piping adorned with tiny bows. When I put them on, however, they went from “lovely” to “snugly,” as both the band and the cups were simply far too small. The hooks barely fastened with a size that is normally perfect, and the material of the bra itself was stiff and ungiving — there was no hint of elasticity to provide comfort, just a rigid fabric that felt like it was going to rip if you moved the wrong way. The cups were also too small — not only did I have the dreaded quadra-boob, but the cups weren’t shaped to provide any support for the breast itself, instead they just smashed the breast up against the torso to create an odd shape.

In the end, the bras were completely unsalvageable — I couldn’t wear them more than 20 minutes without feeling like I was in a straightjacket, so the better part of £100 was lost. Based on our experience, we recommend that women size up both a band and a cup size if they’re going to buy a large-cup Agent Provocateur bra. You’ll have a 7-day return period to try it out and return it if necessary.

I do think this sizing problem is specific to larger-cup sizes, as many friends with smaller cups have recommended Agent Provocateur and their reputation for quality is well-known. Sizing for larger cups is a difficult issue, as we’ll discuss in an article tomorrow that gives tips for D+ cup women. In the meantime, we can all still enjoy Agent Provocateur’s lovely regular range, and can hope that they’ll work out the kinks for next season so everyone can enjoy their cheeky designs.