I love wearing this bra, but it only works with a relatively narrow subset of my clothes. I was looking for a general-purpose bra compatible with all of my normal everyday clothes, and unfortunately this one doesn't meet that mark. I also have some concerns about it's long-term wearability once the elastic starts to stretch.
The good:
The comfort of this bra is wonderful! It's definitely among the most comfortable bras I own, the shape is flattering, and the lace-and-mesh construction makes it nice and cool. The lace itself is flat and soft and doesn't show a noticeable texture through knit fabric. The front-adjustment on the straps is nice, and the set-up to switch to racerback configuration is very easy (although it comes with some issues, described below).
The bad:
The seams on the cups are very prominent, due to both construction (i.e., the thickness of the seam itself) and the location of the seam vertically over the most projected part of the breast. As a result, I can't wear this bra under plain knit tops or dresses without the seams showing through very obviously, only under more structured fabrics or T-shirts with designs that obscure the seams. I realize this isn't advertised as a "T-shirt bra," and I don't expect bra seams to be completely invisible under knits, but I have other seamed bras (with flatter seam construction) that work fine under knits, and the palm lace material of this one would be fine under knits except for the thick seams.
The strap design for conversion to racerback style comes at the cost of adjustability in the standard strap orientation. Because the rings are set at a fixed position in the strap, the slider to adjust the length can only adjust the front side of the strap *and* the maximum strap length has to be longer to accommodate the racerback configuration. As a result, in the straight-strap configuration that I wear the most, I already have the adjustment sliders quite close to the rings--it won't take a huge amount of stretch in the straps before I run out of room to shorten them any more in the straight configuration (there is considerably more room to shorten the straps in racerback configuration).
On a very minor note, my first impression of putting on this bra was that it felt "flimsy." After actually wearing it, it seems well-constructed. I think my first impression was skewed partly by the fact that the tab with the three sets of hooks, which has been made of non-stretch fabric in all my other bras, is made of stretchy fabric in this one. I find that the stretch in this tab makes it slightly more awkward/difficult to hook. I'm not sure if that part being stretchy will affect how the bra stretches out over time or not.
Fit notes:
My measurements are about 32" underbust and 38" bust, so Lively's size chart recommends a 34D. I actually got the 34C, based on my sizing in other bras, and sizing down a cup size was the right call--the fit of the 34C is good. The middle hook on the 34 band feels appropriately snug on me; on the loosest hook it's still functional, but feels on the loose side.
