Sleeping bra: Alisha by Panache

I've been looking for a sleeping bra for some time now, my requirements mainly being price and size. I wanted a bra that was slightly too big for me, because I did not want to sleep in anything tight, and when I am already at the outer limit for most bras, that was a bit of difficult task. But I found Alisha at Bravissimo on sale for £21.50, so I gave it a go.

Why do I need a sleeping bra, you may ask? For 2 reasons: One being that I like to sleep on my stomach. No problem there. No, the problem starts when I turn to lay on my side: Often my boob will be squished under my body as I turn, which results in an uncomfortable pulling of my boob. So I figured a bra would help them keep closer to my body, and follow me as I turn.
Next reason being that I volunteer at camps several times a year. Which means that I share a room with the other volunteers, we often hang out for a while after we have gotten ready for bed, and I also sometimes have to go in my PJ to make sure the students are sleeping etc. Which means, I don't want my boobs all over the place, a bit of lift and control would be much appreciated. 

So, that brings us to Alisha in 36J. 

One thing that certainly suprised was that it in fact was not extremely big in the cup. When I placed this order, I got 34H and 34HH's, so I really expected a 36J to drown me. Therefore, I redid my measurements on bratabase, and it seems my breasts have gotten bigger somehow. I've also lost 5kg, so I don't really know where it is coming from. Perhaps breast migration? It was only last summer I still bought 36F's, and since the bras I wear now (though not good fit for me) are 34H, 36H and 34JJ, perhaps some breast got back where it was supposed to be?* 

Anyways, back to Alisha: I would have prefered the straps to be more in the sides of the cups than they are, to catch any sideboob, but I guess for sleeping, too wide-set straps could be uncomfortable too, so I am not actually that bothered. You can see on this photo that the straps looks to dig in a bit, but since I will be laying down most of the time in this bra, the weight will be taken off, so I am not actually that bothered. I could also loosen the straps more than they are here, which means this bra can actually both give a quite good shape as seen here, yet still be very comfortable. 

The material is 98% cotton, and quite thick, it may actually get a little hot for summer nights, but it is quite soft and comfortable. I also find the color and design quite sleep-appropriate. 

Obviously, this doesn't give the shape that you get from underwired bras. You can see here that it is quite "natrual", as it doesn't give a big lift (you can see here my boobs are actually lower that the band), and it doesn't make round orbs on the front of your chest. Again, I think this is good for sleeping: I don't want something that screams that I am wearing a bra, so this is a slightly improved natural look ;) 

The band has 7 sets of hooks at the back, so even though 36 is definitely too big for me, you can get a lot of different band lengths in here.

Now, what you all must have been thinking: MONOBOOB! It does go in slightly at the center, so if you are wearing a loose T-shirt, you will get the tip of 2 boobs rather than one poking at the shirt, but it wouldn't take much for the monoboob to show. Because this is for sleep only, I don't mind the appearance of it too much. What I do mind though, is that it may be too warm for my boobs to be squished together. So I took to some sowing to wrinkle up the center gore, creating a bit more depth of the cups:

It didn't do quite as big a difference as I thought it would. I only did it to the bottom half, but I may go ahead and do it all the way up. However, it did allow some air between my boobs, so it is still and adjustment I am glad I made. 

I have slept it in a couple of time now, and I have to say, it works for the purposes it was intended for. Also, on a lazy sunday, it is not so unsupportive that I can't wear it around the house, so I am quite impressed that a loose banded non-wired bra could actually work so well, so points to Panache for this one, despite the monoboob!

(*Something that also made me realize that my boobs must have grown was my reordering of the Demi Diva in 34HH: In April, I returned it because I thought the wires were too wide, but now I just reordered it, as I remembered it to be a good fit: Not anymore: