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Since I’m on a bit of a roll with show season essentials right now, I’m going for another one! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to try and review the Cheata Trotter Bra! Now I don’t have the biggest girls in the world…but I hate them. Yeah…I’m one of those women, sorry. I just think they get in the way of everything. My normal show day bra was basically a bear trap torture chamber situation for my boobs. It made me look as flat as a 11 year old boy (a skinny one) but man was it uncomfortable. I had no jiggle…but I also had restricted movement in the shoulders and could barely get the thing on…and really couldn’t get it off after I had sweat in it for a few hours at a show. It left terrible marks and chaffed my skin and made me feel hot and trapped. It was basically adding a torture device to control my built in sitting trot torture devices. Not much of a solution.
Then a Cheata walks into a bar(n)… All joking aside the Cheata Trotter Bra slinked into my life and my things have changed! This baby traps my girls and flattens me out just as well as the bear trap…without the discomfort, pain and restriction. How? Magic…or technology…or maybe a bit of both. The compression of the bra was created to work like layering two or three different sports bras and boy does it ever work!
This bra really smooths everything out under tight show clothes and jackets. It does give a little bit of bra fat look in the back unfortunately and does smush your boobs quite a bit, so it’s not the most attractive look under clothes, but it’s also not terrible.
The material of the bra is soft, but strong and structured. There’s no pinching, itching, restricted movement in the shoulders, arms or chest (exactly what an equestrian needs) and it’s comfortable enough to wear all day. It isn’t any hotter than any other bra and the material wicks sweat away and keeps you dry, so I have had no chafing or sore spots from this bra at all. I have no desire to rip the thing off as soon as I finish riding like I do most of them. There’s no digging into the tops of your shoulders or a sore neck and back. Much more comfortable than 99% of my other bras..and those that beat it for comfort literally have no support…so yeah…they don’t really count.
It does have a very particular fitting method so you need to read the directions before just putting it on and winging it. If you do it wrong…it’s not going to be quite as effective or comfortable. They do have a handy video on their home page (and the bra comes with a paper instructional sheet as well). I had some fails initially when putting on this bra and you can see in my photo shoot that it’s not exactly fitting right. By my first show in this baby, I had all the kinks worked out. Their sizing very specific (and important), so make sure to read the size chart. I probably could have gone a size smaller since I was right on the edge of the sizes for more compression, but I’m quite happy with the level that I got from my Medium (34/35 B1/2 or C). It’s a little tricky to get on and off…which is an issue I have with it…especially when you’re really sweaty and hot.
It washes easily in the washing machine (I put it in a garment bag like I do all my bras with cool water) and air dries quickly. So far after two shows and about 6 wears schooling in it the bra still looks, feels and fits like new. There’s been no stretching out.
It’s price is in the same price range as any similar hard core performance bra and certainly cheaper than layering multiple bras, so I think the value is fantastic. The quality is also good and I’m not concerned about the zipper going out or this bra stretching out anytime soon. The top layer tends to ride up on me and I think it’s just simply because I’m so short waisted…so if you’re normal or long waisted this shouldn’t be an issue for you at all.
If you ride, golf, run, play tennis (or really any other sport), or happen to have a wildly physical and demanding job (I’m talking to you amazing police, fire, and military ladies), this bra is going to be your new favorite. Cheata makes a couple of other bras (including a full tank top version) to suit all your girls needs! For me, this bra is a dressage must have. You can buy the Cheata Trotter Bra online here.