Product Review: Bonds Bumps Soft Cup Contour Maternity Bra

The last time I posted about the Bumps Soft Cup Contour Maternity bra by Bonds I had yet to try it. Now that I've worn it several times, I thought I'd post a "formal" review in case any of you have been searching for something similar.

I bought it for A$28.45 (sign up as a member and get a slight discount off original price) on Zodee, an Aussie site. The registered shipping cost an additional A$7.95 and took about 2 weeks to arrive. Total comes up to A$36.40 (approx. S$45) which I think is a really good price considering how rare it is to find something like this here.

I'm lucky that I got my sizing right - I just took my current size and coverted it against the Aussie sizing chart. Didn't bother measuring myself.

It's marketed as "Maternity" but it is a nursing bra that can also be worn during pregnancy. Have to say that I am very pleased with it as it has all the features I'm looking for. My favourite things about it:

+ It's a basic, seamless bra in black - great for wearing under fitted knit tops.
+ I like that the cups are padded to give sufficient coverage but are not overly bulky. I don't wear nursing pads as I don't need to, and anyways I find that they bunch up and look so bad under the thin fabric bras.
+ The cups fold down smoothly and easily and STAY down (my MIM one kept popping up, was overly padded and did not fit well).
+ It's lower cut than my other nursing bras so I can wear tops with more open necklines. The existing bras I have are cut such that they tend to peek out at the corner of scoop necklines.

The bra is made of cotton - feels similar to a thin T shirt-y material and does not have an underwire. I would have preferred a microfibre material - but this works out ok. It has 6 settings on the back opening, which is great for our ever changing proportions. The straps are even adjustable to make it racerback but this isn't a big plus for me because I rarely wear such styles.

Fit wise, there is a bit of a crease at the bottom of the cups where it doesn't fit me a 100%. It's also not as well fitting as my regular Marks & Spencers underwire, but of course that bra cost me almost double what I paid for this one. However, it feels comfortable on so I'm not complaining. Also, I wish they had a nude version instead of white - not that I don't like white, but it tends to show up under light coloured clothes.

The best bit for me is that it's built like a regular bra, so you feel actually feel like a normal person again! It seems like a small thing but it made a huge difference to how I felt in my clothes. Better and definitely happier.

I did try the MEV knitted bra and it was comfortable and well priced. I think I might have gone for the MEV bra if I was a newly nursing mum - it's soft and straightforward to use but at this stage I want something that is closer to a regular bra. Also thought the colours of pink and grey slightly odd since I'm used to basic black or nude.

In any case, I'm giving the Bonds bra a huge thumbs up - go get it!