Now that Curvy Kate has reached the States, I’d be interested to hear how many of Hourglassy’s stateside readers have tried the brand? If you’re like me, you’ve read the reviews of bloggers from the UK, Canada, Australia, and Europe and been curious to try it, but not curious enough to deal with overseas shipping.
Overseas shipping is no longer an issue since Bare Necessities now carries Curvy Kate. So the next issue is what size to order?
That’s a really good question. I began with a 34FF Princess based on the Bare Necessities conversion chart for Curvy Kate, and the cups were far too small. I exchanged it for a 34H and the cups were almost okay, but the underwires extended too far past my breast in back (I have the same issue with Elomi), and the “lift” was actually droopy.
I didn’t feel comfortable asking to exchange my free bra yet again, but I also didn’t feel comfortable publishing a review based on my limited experience. Perhaps it was just the Princess style on me, or perhaps I needed a 34GG. So I ordered the Princess and two more styles in 34GG: the Romance and the Lottie. I also ordered the Tease Me in 34GG because that was the largest cup size available in that band. Unfortunately, in each of the Princess, Romance and Lottie, the 34GG cup was back to being slightly too small. I also tried the Romance in 34H, but that size was back to being slightly droopy on me. The fun Tease Me looked great from the front but squashed from the side because the cup was simply too small (Leah wrote about a different fit experience with the Tease Me here). I checked in with other Curvy Kate wearers and learned that others (but not all) have had similar experiences.
So I’ve been holding onto these bras for over a month now (thank you Bare Necessities for your 60 day return policy), dragging my feet with this review because (1) I didn’t want to be negative about a brand that is doing so much to boost awareness of large busts on non-plus-sized figures; and (b) how can I accurately review something I haven’t walked out of the house in? Yes, I can write about the style and quality of the brand, but those aren’t nearly as important as fit and support.
If I were to write about Curvy Kate based on my limited experience, the review would take just a few lines:
- Quality: ok. The materials aren’t remarkable. After handling $100+ brands, the difference in Curvy Kate bra quality was tangible as I took them out of the box. They’re not bad. They’re just not top of the line, which they can’t be at their price.
- Style: fabulous! I was so sad that the Princess didn’t work for me because it would have made such a sweet everyday bra. And the Romance’s quiet beauty made me feel pretty in it (from the front). I loved the little round curly-cues in back that matched the curly-cues at the center gore. If the Thrill Me had fit, I would have kept it even though I wouldn’t have many opportunities to wear it (June from Braless in Brasil has removed the lace so that she can wear it under knits). It gives the major lift that I love. Finally, despite what I said about quality, the bottom of the Lottie cups has a strong, firm satin feel. It’s simple and sweet.
- Fit: Boo!
- Price: Meh. They’re made in China. If they were in the $65 or lower range, the price would be perfect, but at $68+, I expect a little more.
Fortunately, I came up with a work-around to my dilemma. I looked up the US stores carrying Curvy Kate (only 16 so far!) and realized that I knew one of the owners, Benita Kimball of At Last Bra and Lingerie in Sacramento. Last December, Benita called to ask me about Campbell & Kate because she realized how badly her customers needed shirts like mine. When a lingerie store owner asks about outerwear for her customers, you KNOW she cares about the women who come into her shop.
Based on our conversation, I knew Benita would give me a fair assessment of Curvy Kate. A 32J, Benita has been wearing custom bras since she was a teenager. She knows what fit and support feel like, and she fits women of all shapes and sizes into bras. She also targets the woman who spends less than $100 on her bras, which is exactly the Curvy Kate market.
It turns out I couldn’t have asked for a better reviewer. Benita tries on every bra in her store that comes in her size. She wears it straight through for one week solid, even though this means she has to sacrifice wearing the matching panties that she loves. Then she washes it the way she knows her customers will wash it–not the way she instructs them to. After that, she wears it a few more times. In that period, she’s been chasing after children, lifting merchandise and working with customers.
What is Benita’s bottom line about the Curvy Kate brand? She LOVES it. But not blindly. Tomorrow I’ll tell you more.
Sorry that your experience wasn’t good 🙁 I haven’t had the best time with Curvy Kate either. I finally found my size by doing a massive order of every bra they sell in multiple sizes, but I ultimately decided the shape wasn’t perfect for me, especially in the Princess and Angel. The Emily is the one that works best for me but I still prefer Panache/Cleo and Freya. I think it comes down to them being a young brand, and I hope they’ll add different cup shapes in the future.
Bare Necessities might give free US shipping, but their inflated prices still bum me out. Even if I ordered a bra full price from the UK and paid £10 overseas shipping, I would still save $5 over the hiked-up Bare Necessities prices. Seems to me like US ladies have enough troubles with bras without having the prices made higher than the market price. I think they should just do a direct currency conversion on the UK prices, otherwise they’re cheating us and will never be able to compete with UK companies, at least not for my money. Curvy Kate bras should cost about $45 based on what they cost in the UK. I’d pay more in a shop, for the service, but not online.
*And to clarify, I do understand that overseas shipping will become much more expensive if you have to do returns/exchanges, so US companies are definitely better than that. But for things I know I won’t return, I can get a better price ordering from the UK.
Oh, actually I have my post of the Thrill Me done and plan on posting it this week. One thing that I found with CK bras is that I HAVE to sew in the center gore, otherwise the shape is just off for me. I have a 28JJ Lottie coming that I’m giving a last chance to for the sheer cups but otherwise I think I’m really sold on the Showgirl range, which suit me very well (but again only after sewing in the center gore).
One thing I’d suggest for you is trying a 36GG in the Tease Me and sewing in the center gore. I have the 30H and it really does work well for me doing that (granted I’m not the smallest 28 band either so I think that’s why it works).
Even though the US is starting to carry Curvy Kate they are only selling a limited size range. Bare Necessities is not selling the full size range in the Showgirl range and Herroom is only selling up to a G cup in the 4 bras they offer. I tried every bra I could in 34H and 34HH and had to go with the 34HH in all of them. I liked the Portia the best but came up too high in my armpit. I might order a cheaper one overseas anyway because that is how much I liked the lift and shape. I found the princess to run a tad smaller than the rest and I too was very disappointed that it didn’t work out. The lift and shape was meh. I ended up returning them all (thanks Bare Necessities for free shipping and return). I recently tried the Daily Boost (ordered from ebay UK) and it was a daily bust. It is the most comfortable bra I tried from CK but the shape was dreadful. It flattened the top of my breast but I did not have quadboob so I did not need a bigger cup. What a shame because the material was so comfortable. I also had the extra fabric at the bottom of the cup problem like Invest in Your Chest did. I won’t give up on this range because they have some beautiful bras coming out but I am really sad that CK doesn’t seem to be working out for me cause they have really cute bras. When I loose weight and if my bra size goes down I will try them all again.
Bizzy, that’s hilarious–“the daily boost was a daily bust”. Thanks for sharing the range of your experience w/ this brand.
Bras I Hate, I totally wanted to link to your reviews & pics but ran out of time for this post. Hope to do so in tomorrow’s.
And June, I can’t wait to read your Thrill Me review.
I wish it weren’t so challenging to figure out sizing in this brand because the designs really are pretty! I’ve tried Lottie, Emily, Romance, and Tease Me so far and they were all a bust 🙁 The Tease Me shape was great but the cup was too small in the max 28J size and the band too loose to try a 30J…I’m hoping I can fit into it post-pregnancy if the boobs go back down. The shape in the regular line does seem much different than other bras so that also makes it hard to figure out what cup size to go for. I went ahead and sized up two cups and am waiting on a 28K. We shall see!
I also have been disappointed by Curvy Kate. I think they are really pretty bras, but not for me. I tried three styles – Princess, Emily, and Criss Cross. I found the band fine at my usual 30 – but I had to go up at least one cup size from G to GG (maybe should have tried going up two?). I think the cup shape was just not right for me – not much lift, just sort of blah, and I couldn’t escape the quad-boob no matter how much shifting I did. The Princess I don’t think would have worked at all for me, but even in the other two, the larger cup cut into my armpit so badly that I didn’t try another exchange. Sad, the Emily in Grape was gorgeous.