The Curvy Kate Portia Balcony is a very, very cute bra, with a cute contrasting ribbon woven through the upper lace panel. The three part cup provides moderate lift. The sling-shaped outer panel is much larger than the inner triangle that comes off of the gore, though, to it tends to push side-breast inward more than center-breast outward and give a slightly pointy shape. On my very soft boobs this resulted in a flattening of the outsides and a falling to the center. This is the same exact cup shape as the Freya Gem Balcony Bra (1361) .

Sensitive types may not love the picot edging on the straps, or the exposed seams and ribbons woven through to the inside on this unlined bra, though the fabric and materials themselves are soft. There are just a lot of textures. The thick elastic straps are sewn on to the apex of the cups rather than looped through a ring, so there is a sharper-than-you-would expect edge of cut elastic with pokey corners. This could be problematic for those with strap-boob bulges.

Short ladies will appreciate the low gore and wing height, and the minimal .6" underband, which is cut out under the gore to give room for tummies.

The wires are very rounded, with the outer edge just 1/2" higher and slightly straighter than the gore. They are 1/4" taller at the gore and wider at the outer tip than the sister size 28FF - Curvy Kate » Portia Balcony Bra (CK4001) . They also happen to be almost exactly the same wire shape and size as the 28FF - Freya » Gem Balcony Bra (1361) except they are 1/2" shorter at the gore and the Portia 30F band is 1" longer. The distance between the outer tips of the wires is 12.25" but they easily stretch wider, which could cause distortion and the consequent wire poking for ribcages larger than 27", unless you have wide roots and need the cup to go around the edge of your rib cage.

I am a comfortable 29" (27" tight) and the gore and wires did not contort enough to dig. The straps, though, were too wide for my petite 10" wide frame width and because they are not on rings in front, the top of the cups wrinkled when shortened and positioned on my shoulders.

Black/Pink colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on May 27, 2015 Flag this

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