BareNecessities.com recently reached out to Darlene and me to announce that they’re now selling Curvy Kate bras, and asked if we wanted to try one. Of course I jumped at the chance, especially since the periwinkle blue “Tease Me” is one of their first offerings and I’ve had my eye on it since the Curve show.

I first started with a 28G, my usual size, but it was waaaaay too small. Of course then I remembered that the Showgirl line supposedly runs small due to its push-up effect. So I bumped up two more sizes to a 28H. But even with the correct size, the fit is still only so-so.

The garment itself is beautiful. The color is bright and the quality is very obvious. The foam-like lining doesn’t make the annoying swishy noise I’ve experienced with other foam-lined bras. It feels soft and really nice against the skin. The textured fabric and lace on the outside of the cups also feels soft and not at all scratchy.

As for the fit, I’m positive that I’m in the correct size now, because I fill out the cup volume. The wires are a bit wide, but that’s the case for me with 95% of bras. Worse is that the straps are literally in my armpits! So not only do these rather stiff cups rub uncomfortably, but my armpits are pushing on the corner of the cup, which is pushing the upper edge of the cup away from my body. It’s an effect similar to the gaping you can see in BrasIHate’s Curvy Kate review from last week. I’ll probably follow her tip on tightening the ribbon.

Here’s a gif I created to show how the bra sits on my body as compared to a CK model. The pink outline is me. It’s not spot on with the shoulder placement, but the armpit, bustline, and strap shape are an accurate representation of how it sits on my body.

It’s really disappointing because I absolutely love the look of Curvy Kate’s range, but I think my body just may not be suited for their fit. I’d be interested in trying other shapes, like the Daily Boost, the Angel, and the upcoming Smoothie, to see if maybe the balconnet is just not my thing—but that’ll have to wait since I can’t really make such an investment at the moment.

Honestly, though, I’ll probably still pick up the pink and white Tease Me even though it doesn’t fit that great. It’s just so cute, I can’t resist! Perhaps I’ll try a 28GG to see if that helps with the armpit issue. It’ll give me crazy corset-like cleavage—but that has its place in my wardrobe too.

Even though the Tease Me wasn’t a resounding success, I do want to share some wonderful Bare Necessities news. There are only a few CK models on the site right now, but the store will be rolling out more until they’ve got the entire collection. And then they’re going to keep carrying the entire line going forward. As far as I know, this will be the only US-based online retailer to offer every single CK bra, in all the sizes, in one place.

You may have also noticed that of the eight bras currently listed, they don’t all go up to the maximum available cup size (the Tease Me and Tempt Me are made up a to a J cup, but Bare Necessities lists them only up to G). So how did I get my mitts on a 28H? Well a rep from Bare Necessities tells me that they don’t have the sizes in stock yet, but they will be arriving at the warehouse soon! In fact, my test bra came directly from the vendor. So don’t worry, GG-J cup-wearers, Bare Necessities is not leaving you out.