Like Darlene, my first choice for Curvy Kate swimwear was also the Ocean Drive set, with the halter top and shorts bottoms.
And like Darlene, I had an “I’m begging—don’t send me [blank]” moment with a particular style, in my case a bandeau. Ordinarily, I just don’t do strapless. And just like Darlene, I received exactly what I was hoping to avoid! However, also like Darlene, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the item, the Cocoloco bandeau and skirted bottoms.
Disclosure: This bikini was received as a review sample. All opinions are my own and based entirely on my experience.
Since I’ve never tried Curvy Kate swimwear but I know I’m a 28G in their bras, I opted to request a 30FF top. Having read that their swim bottoms run “true to size,” I went with size Medium.
Unfortunately, the 30FF was too small in the cups, giving me loads of quad boob and escaping side tissue. Apparently Curvy Kate is another brand in which I have to size up in the cup with swimwear:
The bottoms they originally sent were actually the side-tie briefs. These briefs are extremely low-rise, especially on my extra-long torso:
Most of my underwear just barely grazes the bottom of my hip tattoo, so if a bikini is more than a full inch below it, you know it’s really low. If my bikini area wasn’t groomed, I’m pretty sure there’d be hair visible. Not to mention the fact that any bending would expose my buttcrack, which was about a mere inch below the top of the bikini in back.
Anyhow! Since I had to send the top back for a bigger size anyway, I asked if I could swap for the skirted bottoms too. Since the briefs felt okay in terms of tightness across the waist and across my butt, I stuck with medium.
As I waited for my new set to arrive and stalked the Curvy Kate website in the meantime, the print and color mix of Cocoloco continued to grow on me until I was even more excited to receive the replacements. And I’m happy to report that once I had the bikini in my greedy little hands, the 30G and skirted bottoms are a much appreciated improvement in fit.
I am really impressed by the construction and fit of this top, especially considering that it’s a bandeau, and my full-on-bottom boobs tend not to get along with strapless anything. The cups are made of a lightweight yet strong foam with two vertical seams. It’s then covered in an outer layer of swim fabric that’s gathered and sewn in place in the middle and at the sides.
The wings are lined with power mesh and feature a piece of vertical boning next to the underwires. There are also removable, fully adjustable straps that don’t attach too far out to the sides (a problem I have with CK bras). Finally, the back of the band is a little thicker than usual, a nice counterpoint to my complaint about the thin-ness of last week’s Fantasie Lombok.
Even though this suit is a 30 band and I’m really a 28, this thing stays up amazingly well. I felt so comfortable in it, and even after jumping around at home it stayed in place. It doesn’t even have silicone strips! I would bet that the thickness of the band is helping with this. It makes me think I should give the CK Luxe Strapless a try—it even has the same vertical seaming as Cocoloco. The gore also tacks really well, a major feat for a strapless.
There is one thing I have to complain about: The cups are too shallow. So close to perfection, but my full-on-bottom boobs strike again! Thanks to the looser outer layer of printed fabric, it’s not visible to the naked eye. And thanks to the high quality foam and the vertical seams, cup crushing at the base of the cup is kept to a minimum. But I can clearly feel that it’s slightly too shallow for me and that the wires are being pushed down my ribs. This is such a common occurrence for me, though, that I hesitate to even classify it as a negative trait. It’s more just a fact of life.
Sadly, this was another non-swimming week, so I can’t really assess the practicality of the suit. But I can say that the top of the cups are pretty open, an excellent feature for avoiding quad-boob, but maybe not so great for jumping off a high dive. However, I would definitely feel comfortable wearing it in waves or diving once I attach the straps. They feel nice and secure.
Lastly, let’s discuss the bottoms. I think the adorable-ness of the skirt is self-evident. But as for the fit, honestly I wish I’d requested a large. Although the medium doesn’t cut into my butt at all (success!), it just feels tight and a little binding overall and it’s not doing my muffin top area any favors. Since I’m generally between medium and large, I don’t think these run small, it’s just that I prefer a slightly roomier fit. Additionally, the seam where the skirt is attached is a little itchy in front, and I think a bigger size would help with this since it wouldn’t be pressed against me as closely.
