This bra is surprising, in a few ways.
Firstly, the band is strangely just one layer of thin, stretchy mesh, not firm powermesh. Secondly, the bottom of the cup makes my boobs... Wavy?? Lumpy?? Not sure what's going on with the seam between the two lower parts of the cup, but you can see in my angle shots there's a strange dip in the middle. And the third thing is the cradle shape. By this I mean that the underwire channeling is super short, but the gore isn't a plunge. This makes the gore almost too high or wide, especially would be if you have super close boobs, ... and the under channeling end very shortly under the arms. What also doesn't help is that the underwires are over half an inch shorter than the channeling, so they're definitely too short in the underarms. I can push the wires away from the gore and into the underarms, which helps, but we'll see if they stay in place.
Despite these few strange construction quirks, I like the fit and overall shape it gives me. I wish the 28E was available to exchange for. By the measurements and reviews here, I was afraid the 28 would be too small. But with the super stretchy fabric, it might be necessary. Then again, i find stretchier fabrics create less flattering back rolls, and would prefer firmer fabrics over tighter band with stretchy fabric.
I LOVE the color... So much I bought the matching panty, which I rarely buy sets! Haha. It's a size 10 and fits without stretching much at all over my 38" hips. This would be fine, as it doesn't cause any cutting in, but it means there's too much fabric in the front and it wrinkles. Not sure if I could be bothered to exchange it for an 8 (granted it's available).
Overall, I like this bra; the style is beautiful, and it gives my boobs a lift. The stretch lace upper cup helps with my tall roots despite the overall cup design being short. My right side is slightly too small, but fits the left nearly perfectly! Will wear for a day at home when I can before determining if it needs to be returned or exchanged. If I keep it, I want to add a layer of powermesh to make the band more firm!
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Crimson red colorway

Updated on Jan 23, 2018 Flag this

Cups are smaller than my other 30DD in Crimson (I was banking on it being smaller since it's darker and dark dye usually means smaller) but damn are the wings stretchy!! Even worse than my other! It's WAY too big right off the bat, you can see wrinkling cup fabric under my arms since the underwires didn't spring. Being big to being with, and having super duper stretchy wings (what is with the one layer of weak mesh??), and stiff wires, it takes a LOT to get the wires to spring.

Cups are great accept that the lace is looser than the lower cup portions, but then the top ... elastic is tight, so it creates an in-cup quad effect when first scoop and swooped, but then the top cup edge slides down within a couple seconds of movement, causing it to create a bubble.

I love the style even though the wires are a bit too wide even not being sprung, but I definitely knew sizing down in cup would be disastrous as I've already tried that, and by some fluke it was $14.89 on Amazon Prime (now it's $72???) so I took a chance. Ideally I'd want to try this in a 28E, but it's $54.95 which is a HUGE price difference. I need to just bunker down and sew some freaking black powermesh onto the wings, and it will all be good!! Also might remove the narrow elastic along the top of the lace. What's the point of stretch lace if you're going to have tight elastic along the top edge??

If they could create a slightly narrower-wired version of this bra, with actual powermesh as the wings, and didn't tighten the top edge of the cup, it would be the perfect bra for me. If anyone knows of one matching this description, let me know. https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />

Update after a full day of wearing: the wires are too wide, so my boobs settle into the armpits, and the cups end up puffy and empty in the upper part of the cup throughout the day. https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" /> It's obvious under tight or thin or clingy shirts, and I continually feel the need to readjust. This bra might have to be a large project: add powermesh to wings, adjust armpit elastic, put in narrower wires, and maybe have to take out some center cup depth. We'll see.
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Black/Champaign colorway

Updated on Jul 19, 2018 Flag this

This is my second Curvy Kate Ellace, as I had tried it back in my 30D days and it didn't fit. I thought that since I've gotten more upper fullness that this style might fit me now in a size up, so I grabbed the 30DD when I saw the price drop on Amazon. Unfortunately, while it fits my larger side pretty well, it still has the same problem on my smaller side.

I feel that the cup shape in this style is shallow in the bottom of the cup, and the fullest point of the cup is set a little higher than normal. This would ... indicate that it's more of a FOT style than FOB. However, I am leaning functionally FOT these days, so it did fit my larger side pretty well, though I could've used more room at the bottom of the cup since I'm pretty even. On my smaller side, it's obvious that there's not enough upper fullness, so the stretch lace portion of the upper cup ends up too empty for me. Ideally, the bottom mesh cup would be lowered and the upper stretch cup would be lengthened, bringing the fullest point of the bra down a bit, which would improve the fit on me.

I think that the stretch lace portion is going to be tricky for anyone who doesn't fit this bra perfectly. Though it fits my larger side pretty well, I do notice that the lace shifts a bit when moving and doesn't stay totally flat. The smaller side looks like a disaster, so unfortunately this is a bra where my asymmetry renders this bra unwearable.

I've also noticed that Curvy Kate bras in my size range measure identically in depth and wire length, but recently I've been more comfortable in bras with longer wires along the outer portion of the cup. I have breast tissue that wraps around and goes under the armpit, so I really need some extra help with the wires to contain this tissue. The Curvy Kate bras I've tried have all been short and shallow in the wires. I didn't mark this as a fit issue because I don't feel that the wires are causing tissue to escape, but it isn't the ideal shape and length for me.

Lastly, I want to comment on the band as this style has an EXTREMELY contoured band. I took the bottom band measurement at 60 cm / 23.5" and interpolated the upper band measurement to be around 69 cm / 27". That means the bottom of the band fits like a true 28-30 but the upper portion of the band is like a large 32. The contoured band is supposed to suit V shaped ribcages better, but this is too contoured for me. If I wear this at the normal position where I wear my bras, the upper portion of the band gaps under the arms. It is better if I wear it lower on my torso where my ribcage is more tapered, but this messes up the fit of the cups.

Please see my review of the 30D for comments and details on styling. It is a very pretty bra, but I don't think that Curvy Kate styles work for me anymore in my current size and shape.
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Latte colorway

Updated on Mar 15, 2020 Flag this

This bra is beautiful and so comfortable! I’m very projected, even to FoB with tall roots but they behave as short ones because they are very shallow where they start.
I have about a cup size difference between my breasts so in this size I have a few fit problems. I also have narrow roots and although this bra is on the narrower side, it should be narrower for me. The underwires needed to be longer, there is fabric on the sides of the cup without wire. The gore doesn’t lay flat on my larger side. I quadboob a bit on top of the cup in the transition between fabric and lace. The 30E should work better for my big one but it would be to big on my smaller side and would wrinkle on top of the cup where the lace is.

I keep wearing it because it’s comfortable and pretty, but not my perfect fit.

Latte colorway

Updated on Aug 26, 2019 Flag this

People say this bra fits narrow and projected. I would say this is true! The cups run deep for a 30DD - 9" deep! I am more of a 30E and find this bra on the cusp of being too narrow - something I haven't experienced! The low wings and sides of the cups are also a bit problematic. A 30E may be better, but the cups would probably be too deep for me!

The band fits true to size to slightly tight.

The materials are softer than my Cleo bras, but also slightly sheer. I really like the stretch lace, but I also fear it is fragile. A seam has a few loose threads. I like the soft materials but also think they might wrinkle a bit more.

Compared to Bardot, I would say it is less closed on top and has deeper cups.

30:5 30DD

Too narrow? Wrinkling on one side.

Curvy Kate

Ellace Balcony Bra (CK4401)

2 suggestions

Black colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Oct 18, 2016 Flag this

Didn't write a review

Burgundy colorway

Added on Jun 27, 2019

Didn't write a review

Added on Jul 13, 2019

Didn't write a review

Black/Champagne colorway

Added on Aug 08, 2019

Didn't write a review

Latte colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Added on Nov 28, 2020

Didn't write a review

"Nude" colorway

Added on Oct 15, 2021