Lace ruffled bra and rhumba panties - bra and panty set discontinued by Leg Avenue - review by Owl Identified

Hmph! I wish this weren't such a difficult review to write. On the one hand I think these are very sexy and so stunning for their price. I was genuinely impressed by how pretty these are and in fact they look much better (although much more transparent, too) in person. On the other hand...the panties. (Shakes head in disappointment) ...they are almost completely useless. They fail in their most basic function, which is to cover a part of your body and not fall right off of you. I was honestly feeling optimistic about this set because my sizing (36C, 27" waist, 39" hips) falls pretty neatly into the medium range of Leg Avenue's size chart. To give you a more complete picture, I'm also about 140 lbs. and 5'8" tall. Feeling like Leg Avenue's size medium poster girl I placed an order, confident that this little bra & panties set from them would fit me perfectly. If these were going to fit ANYONE they would fit me, right?

Well. They didn't. At all.

You see that very sexy model in the Leg Avenue promo shots of this ensemble, how she is sitting down in the first one? She does so for a very good reason: these undies don't stay on standing up! There's also a good reason why she's turned to her side in the second photo: she's probably trying to hide the wedgie that these underwear are giving to even her quite small butt!

Oh sigh, gorgeous as they are these panties are not very well thought out in their design. As other reviewers have mentioned they have two major flaws - their inability to stay in place and their tendency to ride up something awful.

The waist of these one size fits all underwear can accommodate the teeny tiny to the curvy large. The sides tie with black ribbon, and from one end of one ribbon (on either the back or front panel) to the end of the other (including the panel of fabric in between) measure about 22", making the possible waistline 44". If you have a waistline that is larger than 44" you may wish to seek a pair of panties that accentuates your curves more comfortably. Mine fit me nicely in terms of the sizing, or so I thought. After sitting on my bed with the open panties under my butt, I tied the sides around me - feeling oddly like I was fastening a very fancy and very adult diaper.

They felt great though, until I stood up. Suddenly I found the butt drooping, and when I picked the butt up then the front would start to sag. I retied them while standing but no matter how high up over my hips I tied them and no matter how tightly they continued to fall. The ribbons have no elastic at all and absolutely just flop right off your body if you move too much in them. Mine got into the habit of rolling down, although I hardly have narrow hips that are easy for a pantywaist to skim right over.

My second issue came with the size of the front and back panel. The back panel (adorable as it is) does not cover my butt. Not even close. My butt is also not what would be considered particularly large by the standards of most...not flat, but certainly not particularly round either. Though the waist fit me well enough the panel of the butt didn't even extend far enough up to cover my butt crack all the way. Unless I'm standing or lying perfectly still a good portion of these ruffles end up wedged between my butt cheeks. Which is...less than hot to put it delicately. You can see in the first picture of the model that the panties are a bit bunched up in the front as well, especially around the bikini line - as if there were too much fabric. In my experience this is the case. The front panel is too wide and there is excess fabric that kind of wrinkles up. It's a much less irritating little flaw and I wouldn't mind it too much if my booty were adequately covered!

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On the other hand, the top fits quite like a dream for me. It closes with a stiff (sort of uncomfortable) hook and eye closure like most bras do. There are two hooks in each vertical row and there are three different bust settings. Unlike some nicer bras the panel that the closures are stitched into aren't lined with a softer fabric so this can be a little itchy, but other than this both the panties and the bra are made from a soft mesh. Even the rows of black floral lace on the butt and along the top of the bra cups are very soft.

The straps of the bra can be adjusted easily to accommodate a wide range of sizes. As I said earlier I am a 36C and this bra was pretty flattering on me.I definitely think that if you are smaller than a C cup this isn't going to be the most flattering because there are no cups to give shape and lift, although if you're much larger than a D cup then you probably won't have enough support (although your breasts would fill the sheer cups out beautifully!) Cs and Ds will probably look best in this bra.

As annoying as the underoos of this set are - and I do have to rate the whole set a generous three stars because of them - I still kind of adore this bra & panties pair. I've found that as long as you don't plan on romping around the bedroom too much before you take them off (and don't even think about wearing the panties out of the house, it just won't work) then they're really sexy. Ideal for modeling in or wearing while you wait on the bed for your partner to come home. Just...don't leave the bed. Or move around in it too much. Or you'll lose your panties.

In spite of the issues my boyfriend was instantly enamored of the shocking white mesh juxtaposed against the black ruffles, and he loved "unwrapping" me like a present by loosening the ties of my bottoms. He kept me in the bra while we fooled around because he could kiss and lick my nipples through the very sheer fabric, but still enjoy the tease and me being semi-clothed. The bra can also be easily pulled to the side for direct contact which I love! The panties have a nice cotton liner which is a detail I always appreciate. Really, the set isn't a TOTAL bust, I just kind of wish I could walk in them.

Maybe I was too hard on this set initially. Truth is that yes, the panties do not stay up on their own and they can be a terrible pain if you're moving around much. However, they have grown on me for lounging around, being a princess with my guy, teasing him with the sheerness of the bra cups, the pretty lace on the butt. I've been tying them tightly *before* pulling them up and it helps a little - granted my circulation is nearly severed altogether while pulling them over my hips. Nevertheless, these have found a place in my heart and my bedroom even if they aren't the most practical of lingerie sets. If you want something to wear under clothes or do a lot of romping about in then quickly click away to something more practical. For modeling or being worshiped like the goddess you are in a sedentary position? Well, these actually are quite handy for that.