Etsy Kente cloth bikini (Kentekini) review size S

I hate having my phone near water, so I has a clear cover over it, which contributed to the blurriness of the photo. I like the appearance.

I decided to buy this bikini because I wanted a Kente cloth print bikini.  As is the case these days, I have a thought, and then I forget about it. I wanted this for my trip to Miami, but I forgot until like 12 days before I was supposed to go. I looked on eBay, but didn’t see anything that was exactly what I wanted, so I googled, and was brought to etsy. The first bikini that I saw was $45, not too bad, considering it was going to be handmade, but when I emailed the seller she said it wouldn’t be shipped out for 2 weeks. Bummer. I looked around for a bit, until I came across this set. Well, I actually came across a similar set sold by the same seller, but the top & bottom were sold separately, and cost about $10/$15 more. I didn’t want to be THAT person, that asks for a cheaper price, so after emailing the seller, I settled for this suit. (I wasn’t a fan of the gold)

Before I get to the review, I do want to mention that the seller had 10 days to make, and ship this set, so I received it on time. However, I did ask her beforehand, and she said it wasn’t an issue…

With that said:

The construction of the bikini

In case you’re not aware, Kente cloth is a cotton fabric that has no stretch to it at all. So in order to wear this as a bikini, it had to be lined with a stretchy fabric. The outer fabric is the Kente cloth, and the lining is a stretchy black fabric.

Both the top and the bottoms use the same black fabric. On the top, the Kente cloth, and the lining are not sewn together. The gold ‘binding’ used on the bottoms is a stretchy fabric. The binding on the top is also stretchy. I can’t say what the actual lining fabric is  but I’d assume some sort of nylon/spandex/rayon blend.

 

When I first saw the bikini I was so happy. It was exactly what I thought I wanted. But then I really looked at it. And I’m not really happy with it, especially considering how much I paid for it ($112). I am not a seamstress, I’ve altered a few items  using a sewing machine (I can hem a pair of true religion jeans with little issue), however the sewing on this set is not good.

 

The stitching is often not straight from one part of the garment to the next. In this pic, there is a small amount of material above the stitching on the right side, but more fabric above the seam on the left side

It is like this throughout the top and bottom

The pink denotes where the stitching is. You can see on the right side the stitching is more towards the top, but on the left side it’s in the middle.

 

The upper piece and the lining of the top aren’t sewn together and it feels like there is too much of the gold fabric

 

The biggest issue I have with the quality of the sewing, is that there’s a piece of the top boning that isn’t attached to the inner part of the bikini top. This is something that should have been caught before the item was shipped out.

I’ve had this happen to me before when I would hem jeans. But I would always catch it, and I would also always take it out and redo it. If I would have gotten this set like, a month before I had to go on vacation, I would have returned it, but since I got it the day before,I decided to keep it.

 

The seam on the loops is visible, and I would have liked for it to be flipped over so that it wasn’t, but that isn’t something that effects the fit or appearance of the bottoms (unless you’re close enough to see it perhaps)

 

 

Fit

I wasn’t 100% in love with the fit. It’s high waisted, and y’all know how I feel about high waisted bottoms. But that’s me, and not the bikini. I do feel as though with the side lacing and the high waist, I look like I don’t have hips.

The crotch did seem to be on the wide side. But the back coverage was what I like.

Another thing I didn’t care for, was putting it on and taking it off. I had to lace it up, and unlaced it. So I tried to not use the bathroom too much. The loops did feel stable when I tightened the sides.

 

The gold fabric appears loose, and it’s especially loose on my smaller side. I wish the cup came up a little higher. I tried to tighten the straps but that didn’t help, because the cup is just too short. As you can see, a bit of my nipple is showing at the top of the cup

 

I dont love this set. I didn’t message the seller to tell her I wasn’t happy with the set. I didn’t ask for a refund (full or partial), because I’d already worn the suit.

I most likely won’t be paying this much for a set again. I don’t think the set was worth what I paid. I know that when you’re buying something from etsy, or something  that is handmade, you’re paying for the labor, as well as the cost of the materials.

Thinx high waisted panty review part 2

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I am going to be doing an updated review on these panties. I’ve worn them twice since my first review of them.

March 29, 2017

When I got my period in March, it was breakthrough bleeding that lead to a period. It started March 7th, and ended March 31/April 1. From the 7th – the 28th it was spotting. The kind of thing I could get by, if I used a tissue or panty liner. The 28th, I remembered that I had these panties, for some reason I forgot. Anyway, I found them, and decided to wear them the next day. If I remember correctly, I probably started the sugar pills a few days before, so I was expecting my period the 29th (I always get it on wednesdays). My periods on birth control are generally light, so I didn’t think twice when I put the panties on and left for work. When I say light, I mean a light tampon may or may not be filled, 6 hours later when I pull it out. After the first time I used to the bathroom, I noticed that the gusset felt damp. I was able to get past it, but the next time I went to the bathroom, I still felt it, and it bothered me, I literally had this expression on my face: 

Dampness in my panties is something that drives me crazy. So I got a tissue and tried to remove as much blood as I could (blood that for whatever reason didn’t get absorbed), tried to put the panties back on, and I still felt the dampness. So I did what I didn’t want to do- I put a piece of tissue on top,of the gusset. (See facial expression above). I didn’t feel any dampness any longer, however, it was a thin layer for my blood to go through. And Everytime I went to the bathroom at work after that, I had to use toilet paper. Granted I didn’t go to the bathroom that much. I did not feel secure with these panties on. I mainly sit at work, and Everytime I got up, I had to check my seat to see if there was any blood. (There wasn’t any) But, by the time I got home, I noticed that there was some blood on the outer part of the panties. The blood has seeped through all of the layers. I didn’t think to bring a backup pair of panties because I knew I wouldn’t have filled 2 tampons.

I am posting links to the pics of the bloody panties, in case someone reading this doesn’t want to see the pics.

The inner part part of the gusset (his was taken when I got home)

The outer part, it’s hard to see the wetness, but it’s in the middle

 

June 30, 2017

So I decided to wear these panties again. Main reason being, I only had ‘regular’ tampons, and no panty liners. (I just came back from vacation, and didn’t go to the store, and on my day off, I forgot to get tampons– I forgot to get some today as well…) Anyway, so I wore these to work, not expecting anything. Certainly not thinking I’d need to update y’all about the panties. So I definitely didn’t bring extra panties, or panty liners (which I still didn’t have). I put the panties on around 7am. By 10:30am, I’m at work like:

I felt that wetness, that I’m sure everyone who has had a period before, has felt. It was wetness on the outer part of the gusset. I went to the bathroom, and there was blood on the top, some had soaked through, AND there was blood on my pants. I know this sounds crazy, but this day, wearing the thinx panties basically felt like I’d worn nothing but tissue between my legs, with regular panties. Luckily for me:

-I work at a place that at one point required black pants, they’ve allowed us to wear different colors, but I still wear black. (So no leaks were visible to anyone)

-We have a washing machine & dryer. I didn’t wash my panties there, although I could have. I did have a clean pair of pants fresh out the dryer to wear (but I do have a spare pair in my locker)

-There is a store a hop, skip & jump away

-I had a patient not show up.

So I was able to go to the store and buy some panties, and panty liners, and change with no issue.

Houndstooth!

In case you’re wondering, I was able to only use 2 panty liners from 11 to 4 when I got off work. So it wasn’t like my period was regular or even heavy. (In case you’re wondering, the day before I wore a regular tampon; I wore it for 8 hours, and when I pulled it out, it was still very white. A dry tampon isn’t very comfortable to pull out)

More pics; these were taken when I was able to change, not when I first went to the bathroom.

Inner gusset 

Outer gusset (I did wrap the panties in tissue to prevent more leakage)

Closeup of outer

 

Based on these last 2 experiences, I most likely won’t wear my thinx panties anymore. I don’t fee so secure, and I don’t think I should have to change in the middle of the day, especially since I had light periods. I shouldn’t have had bloody pants 3 hours after putting the panties on.

Earlier in the morning I was thinking to myself that I needed to buy more, but if I only wore the panties 3 times, and they’re already leaky, I’m not taking that chance. Especially since they weren’t cheap. It would have really sucked if I had on white pants.