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Five bras received, five bras sent back!
In the mail this week, I received: 30H - Curvy Kate » Luxe Strapless Bra (CK2601), 30GG - Curvy Kate » Luxe Strapless Bra (CK2601), 32F - Parfait By Affinitas » Charlotte Padded Bra (6901), 70HH - Comexim » Emily Full Cup (85), and 32G - Katherine Hamilton Intimates » Sophia Bra.
They're all being returned for different reasons (except the Emily, which I will try to sell because return shipping is more than the cost of it on sale!), so let's go down the line!
CURVY KATE LUXE STRAPLESS: I did a pretty thorough review of this in 30GG, which was a slightly better fit. I had previously tried it in a 32 band. This bra and I are never going to be friends, alas.
I know it gets rave reviews, I know that some people with even more breast tissue than me have had success with it, but dang. I find this bra uncomfortable and unsupportive.
On a list of strapless bras I have tried, the 34G - Wacoal » Red Carpet Convertible (854119) still gets my highest regard, and I wish it was still workable. (When I was a solid 32, it did okay; edging towards 30, it's less passable.)Part of this bra's success was the silicone lip on the cups as well as the band; it really made me feel held in.
That CK's offering does not have this lip on the cups is definitely part of the issue, but I also feel like the band itself is just not working for me. In both 32 and 30, it manages to feel both uncomfortably tight (something about the silicone placement pulling on my skin; Fantasie Smoothing Moulded Strapless Bra (4530) also did this to me when I tried it) AND too big. The band wiggles down to sit below my fold, and stays there stubbornly, pushing down on my skin to create a reverse muffintop, squeezing uncomfortably, and putting all the weight of my breasts on my stomach. Not a great look or feel.
But I would also rate 70G - Prima Donna » Perle Strapless Bra (0162349) and 70G - Prima Donna » Satin Strapless Bra (0161331) above the CK. Unfortunately, I am in-between PD's generous French cups -- the 70G here (smaller than the G on their 70G - Prima Donna » Madison Underwired Bra (0162121)) is too small, but the H was too big.
So, here's one strapless bra resigned to the rubbish heap. I do encourage anyone in my size range to try it, but I think I might be too narrow and need too much depth for this shape to work on me.
PARFAIT AFFINITAS CHARLOTTE IN SHIMMER: I knew this cup size was too small, but I had heard this colorway was good for narrow projected boobs, so I wanted to try it -- and Amazon only had Prime shipping on the 32F!
It's not as big of a disaster as it could be, so I think a 32FF (or 30G, it was almost immediately pretty comfortable on the tightest hooks) would probably work fine. At 5.5 in a 32F cup, it is indeed pretty narrow, and that combined with me not popping out of it in this size definitely indicates to me that it is deeper than Charlottes of old. (At 5" across I seem to need about 10-10.5" of depth. I only measured 9" for this bra, but I am... not very good at getting depth measurements, alas.)
As a caveat: I am definitely between 30 and 32, so don't take this as an indication that this bra runs big! It's pretty stretchy, but with a gentle stretch of 32" and a hard stretch of 35", it's pretty typical of 32 bands in my experience. It felt very comfortable on the loosest hook, but I'm starting to realize that I might be wearing my bands too big out of fear of bras that feel too tight only for the first like 20 minutes. Measurements-wise, I should be wearing all 30s.
Continuing!
COMEXIM EMILY: And speaking of which: I need this bra in a 65. It's very stretchy, but I don't think it's more stretchy than other Comexims -- I just think I have so far worn nothing but black ones, which like many black bras run small. (I am currently in possession of a 75HH Noir that, when I first put it on, felt like a 28. This was unusually small for the Noir, I was told, which otherwise fits like the Rose -- which I have in 70, and which took me a few wears to "break in", but which only felt like a 30, not a 28!)
I think the cups may also be too big for me, which I should have anticipated since I have also only worn their padded bras! I'll start with a 65HH the next time I try a light unpadded bra and see how that goes.
This one, I would like to sell, as I got it directly from Comexim, on sale for ~$30USD and shipping it back would be $32+.
KATHERINE HAMILTON INTIMATES: I'm so sad this one doesn't fit! Ah well.
I'm in correspondence with the inimitable Katy, and between my pictures and my description of the fit she agrees that I need one, possibly two cup sizes up and is sending both. If I need the larger, this will put me at the very top of their current size offering in a 30HH.
Given what other sizes I tend to take, I think (and Katy agrees) that it seems like the Sophia runs small in the cup (though TTS in the band), and reportedly they are considering renaming their cups! WowI just have to emphasize again what an absolute pleasure Katy has been to work with, how fortunate I feel to have found out about this new brand, and how awesomely responsive they are to customer feedback!
So, even though I'm returning 5 bras this week, I feel really optimistic about future purchases.It feels like I'm getting closer and closer to my first STARRED bra. (If only the Noir hadn't started SO very tight, it would definitely be a Bra That Fits.)
Filed under Bras ups and downs