UPDATE APRIL 2020: It looks like the Bad Romance Chemise is not currently in production. This review remains as a reference for anyone who needs it.
The Bad Romance Chemise is a pink and black chemise. Made of elastic and nylon, the Bad Romance Chemise is manufactured by Escante (which, in the past, we’ve had issues with their items running a bit small). In this review, the pictured and reviewed item is a size Medium though this chemise is available in Small through Large. The chemise features no underwire, comes with a g-string, and features two over-shoulder straps that criss-cross in the back.
As a note of a disclaimer, I am reviewing this from the point-of-view of this being worn on a male body. My “model” is 6’0″, wears a size 5 in women’s pants and a medium/large on top. His “bust” is 35 inches, waist 32 inches, and hips 36 inches to give you an idea of how this fits on him as well as how it may fit you. According to the size charge, he would fall in some very wonky-ish places and somewhere between the Medium/Large size in Escante. We ordered a Medium, so that’s what is shown and talked about in this review.
The first thing to mention about this piece of linger is that it’s pretty flexible for sizing. This is because the majority of the chemise is made from an elastic blend. So it will stretch. However, with that in mind, it WILL stretch over any bulges or “rolls” you may happen to have, so if you have something you want to hide, or avoid, make sure to order up a size instead of ordering down just because it’ll skim over tighter parts more “smoothly” versus clinging to them. However, if you are a huge fan of how your hips are wider than your waist or something like that, the Bad Romance Chemise will definitely accentuate your natural shape as well.
Something I think you’ll notice pretty quickly about the chemise is the complete lack of breast support. Really. It has pretty much none. The portion underneath the bust isn’t really “cinched” in or anything, and the straps are stretchy as well, so expect nearly zero breast support out of this chemise. If you have semi-perky breasts and they tend to stay up on their own, this will look okay for you. If you have anything larger than a C-cup (and I think that’s pushing it), your breasts are going to start to “overfill” the cups (at least in a Medium!), and you might find that the cute “cup” design ends up riding up your breasts so that your breast is underneath the cute cup design. I can’t say it for certain, but even with our “fake” breasts that are perky and estimated around a B/C, they were obviously a bit too large for the cups of this lingerie.
If you have a bare minimum bra, you could possibly wear a bra with this. I’m almost 100% sure that most strapless bra straps would show on your back when worn because of how low the back dips. Along with that, it’d have to be pretty minimal in coverage just because of how small the fabric of the cups is. The model for the item on the website, as sexy as she looks, I think, must have her breasts taped or photoshopped because there really is nearly no breast support in this lingerie and she almost has a bit of cleavage going on. Almost.
The cute little slits around the bottom of the hemming is actually my favorite part! I love how cute the hems are, but unless your wearer is bending over or in a stretching position, the flaps don’t actually “open” – at least for us. If you’re bending or, like the model is in the display pictures, stretching up or slightly bending, you’ll get that sexy gap between the slits, but it seems like regular standing around doesn’t produce that cute slit. For someone who has wider hips, though, they may have a different experience. Along with that, the slit is surprisingly well sewn. We didn’t notice any unfinished sewing or threads on ours, and the lace actually isn’t scratchy at all either. I wouldn’t want to “cuddle” it or anything, but the lace doesn’t hurt my skin when it’s rubbed against my skin either.
The fabric is pretty darned breathable. In fact, it’s the same type of fabric that my partner uses for his regular nightgown every night. (He prefers sleeping in underwire lingerie – total nutcase, I think.) It’s very, very comfortable material, and we both definitely agreed it’s some of the more comfortable lingerie material that we’ve felt. It’s comfy stuff, and we both think we could sleep in it. However, if you do have larger breasts and the chemise doesn’t support them very well, it might be annoying or have cup seams press in unintended places on your body; I can’t comment on that with use for us.
Another note: while it looks like it may be sheer, it actually is not. It is completely opaque, and I think, even if you stretched it pretty intensely, the chemise would continue to be difficult to see-through. For those that prefer a bit more “mystique” to the eyes, this could be perfect for you.
Another, another note: This lingerie chemise does come with a thong. It’s a pretty traditional “lingerie thong” which means we didn’t really pay it much mind. However, I *THINK* it matched the chemise in color and design, and I remember it looking cute – just that it wouldn’t work for us.
Cleaning this lingerie seems to take less effort than some other brands. It can be machine washed (according to the tag) on a gentle cycle separately from other clothing (we just throw ours in a lingerie bag in with the rest of the clothing). It can then be line-dried, and you should avoid using chlorine bleach on it as it will harm the color.
Overall, the Bad Romance Chemise is not the most attractive piece of lingerie we own – at least not on my partner’s body type. However, it’s still pretty cute, and I think it would work really well for wearers who have a wider waist-to-hip ratio as the lingerie will really accentuate that. It’s also very, very comfortable to be in which is always a plus. If you have larger breasts, though, you may want to proceed with caution.
