At Curve yesterday, we learned that Adina Reay’s strapless will will hit stores soon. Leah wrote about it after the February Curve.
This is the Curvy Kate DeLuxe that they showed us at Curve yesterday. It’s a fancier version of the Luxe (embroidered trim, detachable suspenders).

July was supposed to be the month of the strapless. I’ve wanted to do a roundup of strapless bras for years. But when the dress I wore to the May wedding didn’t require one, I didn’t have a good excuse to buy one.

I ordered a bunch to try anyways–each style in a 34FF and a 34G (or their sister sizes), and I was naively shocked that not one worked perfectly on me. Some pushed everything (including armpit fat) up so high that I looked like a mushroom. Most had extra space at the base of the cups. The one I had the highest hopes for gaped at the top of the cups.

This was my clue that reviewing strapless bras may be more complicated than I expected. When I realized what a monumental project it would be to try every style and size combination out there, I reached out to boutique owners who fit women into bras for a living. You can read what they had to say in the Campbell & Kate blog post that I published last week (there’s a surprise Wacoal strapless in the post that even more store owners recommended to me at Curve yesterday and today!).

I also reached into our archives for past strapless and bustier reviews on Hourglassy.

  1. Freya Deco strapless long line
  2. Gossard Super Egoboost Strapless
  3. Wonderbra Ultimate Strapless
  4. Le Mystere Soiree Low-Back Bustier

And here are links to online articles by women who included photos of their own search.

  1. This writer for Self shows us what Curvy Couture, Curvy Kate Luxe, Freya Deco and Panache Evie look like on her. I can see some of the same issues that I struggled with on her–makes me feel normal.
  2. This Daily Mail article is from 2014, but I appreciate that it’s a mother of three showing us how each style looks on her E cups, and she includes the Wonderbra, which is on my list to try.
  3. I’m usually not a fan of Buzzfeed’s click-bait treatment of big boobs, but this is a fun article by two women who supposedly wear 40DDD and 40DD, and their cute outfits make me want to run out and buy a strapless-required dress or blouse.

Finally, from other bloggers:

  1. Big Cup Little Cup has great reviews of the Wonderbra from the perspective of a 28GG, plus an excellent list of other bloggers’ reviews of the Curvy Kate Luxe at the bottom of their own review.
  2. In December, Comics Girls Need Bras, who wears a 30GG, wrote a strapless roundup that covers Charnos Superlift, Wonderbra, Fantasy Smoothing, and Gossard Superboost Strapless Slip. She followed with a review of the Empreinte Melody Strapless.

Frankly, I’d love to crowdsource this topic. If you’ve purchased a strapless bra recently or know you’re going to need one soon, would you consider walking our readers through your process– what made you settle on your final choice, and how it worked when you finally wore it? I’ll even create a review template if that’ll make it easier for you. And no underwear pictures required–we only want photos of you wearing it under an outfit.