Review: Trashcat Pentagram Cage Bra

 

TrashCat is a fairly new lingerie company that focuses on custom items like garters, decorative collars/chokers, and yes, cage bras. The entire range of stock is beautiful and worth sighing over, but I've been wanting a pentagram-shaped cage bra for simply ages. Everybody likes fancy strappy undies, or so it seems -- unnecessary bungee-cords are in these days, and lingerie that extends to your clavicles is very haute. I spent far too long drooling over all the babes on the internet who manage to look gloriously chic despite being a single ungainly dance-move away from disaster, and when I saw that TrashCat is both local and entirely handmade, I was super excited. Oh Glow is still a small, South African blog, so we love small, South African manufacturers and retailers. This review is for an item of my own purchase, but, as always, my reviews are entirely unbiased.

Firstly, TrashCat is an entirely Facebook-based brand. You send a private message with the code corresponding to the item of your choice along with your contact details, receive an invoice, and pay via EFT. The courier costs R99 extra, and I must say, the service you get is really fab. You can tell that the seller really wants her customers to have a personalised experience, and she is a delight to deal with. Justine gives regular updates on the status of the postage, is prompt with the waybill number and generally provides a lovely customer experience.

The product itself was labelled discreetly on the outer courier envelope, and was packaged in a cute little brown box that was closed with a ribbon. It's an understated prettiness that is neat and simple, and I kind of loved the minimalist touch of fancy. Inside was the cage bra in all its strappy glory, and as I lifted it out of its nest of tissue paper, I wondered if I'd need assistance. At first, it just looks like a mess of elastics -- not tangled, just difficult to figure out. Once I worked out that there were two hook-and-eye clasps on the back, things became a little clearer. But in my excitement, I still managed to get it a little twisted on my first try. What is the right side on even? Well, clearly not the way that has the decorative grommets facing outwards. That would just be silly.

Initially, I was a little ambivalent about the embellishments. I quite like simplicity in my dress sense, and the inverted pentagram is fashion statement enough. Despite this, they really grew on me and still have a minimalist appeal despite not being strictly necessary. TrashCat's attention to detail really impressed me -- if I had to make my own cage bra, I wouldn't have bothered with all the bother of clasps, grommets, and actual bra straps. I would have just popped of to the fabric store, spent an hour wrestling with elastic, and then scrapped it all in sartorial defeat. But this is pretty quality stuff, with adjustable shoulder-straps and a couple of hook-and-eye closure points to provide a little extra adjustable leeway. I did find that the two bands that circle my ribcage were a little tight at first, creating a little bit of splooge where it made contact with my squish, even on the loosest clasp. However, I know the elastics will stretch with time, and it's not an uncomfortable tightness so I actually prefer this to a larger band size. Also, the red marks created by the elastic makes me feel like I've been lightly branded by the dark forces, and I find this hilarious.

During wear, the bra is comfortable once you've arranged the straps in a way that suits you. Initially, I found the topmost band dug into the pudge created when my arms fall by my sides, but all you need to do is keep that band high enough when putting it on. I also found the clasps a little itchy -- I can't quite figure out what's rubbing me, but normally try to arrange the lower band clasp so that it sits on my bra band. None of those little details bothered me, but I did have to add some stitching to the left shoulder strap -- the loop which allows the hook of the bra strap to connect was a little loose and the strap kept escaping. About thirty seconds of DIY and it hasn't bothered me further -- I'm pretty sure it was an oversight anyway.

Despite these little niggles, I love wearing this lingerie item and have incorporated it into my wardrobe effortlessly. Unexpectedly, it also provides a shocking amount of support. Yeah, it has no cups so you'd probably want to wear it with a regular bra (depending on your preferences), but the elasticated pentagram effectively creates a sort of safety-net over your bust. This reduces bounce dramatically. I want all sports bras to incorporate a pentagram chest-net. Pentagrams will revolutionise jogging and impact sports. I tested this theory out by taking my cage bra for a night on the town, dancing up a storm and never feeling the slightest jiggle. Pentagrams. Who knew.

 Overall, I wholly recommend this particular TrashCat cage bra, although there are many other fabulous styles to choose from. Check out the whole range at the link below!

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