I have been breastfeeding for three years with no breaks, which means three and a half years since I relegated all underwired bras to the back of the drawer. ( …Not that any of them would fit now anyway, but that’s another matter).
So I was more than a little intrigued to try out my first underwired bra in a very long time – The Carriwell Seamless Gelwire nursing bra.
Billed as ‘The ultimate maternity & nursing bra combining supreme seamless comfort & exclusive “patent pending” GelWire™ support. Soft flexible GelWire™ provides support without the discomfort of stiff underwire – perfect for sensitive breasts.‘ – The Gelwire nursing bra has been designed to mould gently to your shape so as not to compress or damage your milk ducts.
The underwiring on the Gelwire is very subtle. You don’t feel it at all when wearing the bra, and to touch it feels nothing like the hard underwiring on ‘normal’ bras. Instead, it is structured, but very soft.
I haven’t really been able to tell whether the underwire gives me better support. I have non-underwired nursing bras that offer equally as good support. I wonder whether the underwire provides noticeable lift for those with smaller cup sizes. I am hovering at around a DD/E size at the moment, and with larger sizes underwire alone is not going to achieve the best lift and support – this is the part where I’d need to start throwing in attractive phrases such as ‘wide straps’ and ‘structured panelling’, but you get the idea.
Although I can’t work out whether it’s the underwire or the design of the bra overall, I am finding that the Gelwire bra gives me really good support, and is also one of my most comfortable bras. Strangely enough, it’s the only one of my bras that doesn’t ride up my back at some point during the course of a day’s wear. I have various bras of differing sizes, and they all do this to some degree. It’s a mystery as to why this doesn’t happen with the Gelwire, but I think it might be something to do with the ‘clingy’ material.
The drop down clasps are the usual no-fuss clasps. I like that it doesn’t come in specific cup sizes, but in ‘small’, ‘medium’, ‘large’ or ‘extra large’ – one size allows plenty of room for size fluctuations, expanding up to two bra and cup sizes. Perfect for me, as I’ve seen many fluctuations in my three years of breastfeeding, pregnancy whilst breastfeeding, and going on to tandem feed both my children.
The Gelwire nursing bra is not a pretty or fancy bra. It is very much a functional t-shirt bra, which to be honest, is all I ask for these days. Me and my Carriwell Gelwire nursing bra are very happy with each other.
RRP £31.99
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I was provided with a Carriwell Seamless Gelwire nursing bra free of charge for the purpose of this review.
