Leopard Print Bodysuit – Long Sleeve

Prowl Leopard Print Bodysuit

This is the piece in the range with two lives. Worn on its own it is lingerie. Worn with high-waisted jeans and a jacket, the mesh waist disappears under the waistband and it is simply a long-sleeve leopard top with an impossibly clean tuck.

The mesh waist

A sheer black mesh panel runs around the midsection, held by vertical boning that keeps it from collapsing into folds when you sit or bend. The boning is light — it holds the panel smooth, it does not cinch or compress. Anyone expecting shapewear compression from this will be disappointed; anyone expecting a clean line will not.

The rest of it

Long sleeves to the wrist, a high mock neckline, and a high-cut leg that lengthens the thigh. The leg line sits above the hip bone, which is deliberate — a lower cut would sit under jeans and print.

The fastening

Three-snap gusset. It is the only closure on the garment, so the bodysuit pulls on over the head; there is enough stretch in the print fabric to do that comfortably, but mind your earrings.

Wearing it as a top

Under a high-waisted trouser or jean the mesh sits entirely below the waistband, so from the outside you see a fitted leopard top with no bunching. Under a low-rise anything, the mesh shows — which may be what you want, but decide on purpose.

Fit notes

Bodysuits are sized on torso length as much as on width. If you are long through the body, size up: a bodysuit that is too short pulls the gusset up and is uncomfortable within an hour, no matter how well it fits everywhere else.

Worth knowing before you buy

Fine mesh is the weak point. Rings, watch clasps and rough nails go through it, and it cannot be repaired invisibly. Wash by hand or in a mesh bag, cold, and never tumble dry — heat warps the boning channels and the panel stops sitting flat.

Care

• Hand wash cold, or machine wash cold in a mesh bag
• Do not bleach
• Do not tumble dry — air dry flat
• Do not iron the mesh panel
• Store flat or hanging, not folded at the boning