After buying the Brazilian underwear in Crimson that matched this bra, I decided to give it another chance. I really love red bras and I was determined to make it work. What I noticed about the underwear (and RollsAndCurves' review of the bra in her size) was that the mesh material stretched a bit after wear.
This made me think that my previous review of 38J - Curvy Kate » Ellace Balcony Bra (CK4401) may have been problematic because the fit was off. First, I am solidly a 38 band now, and originally I needed an extender which changed the ...fit of the bra. Second, I hypothesized I would need to size down in the cup to get the slightly stretchy fabric to give me support. Finally, I realized the lace in cup quadding was actually due to the lace section being too loose, not too tight (because I tried a bunch of sizes and it was worse on the bigger bras I tried than the smaller ones). Hence here I am with a 38HH, which is 1.5 cups smaller than I normally wear, but my normal size for stretchy fabric cups.
So the straps on this colorway are much nicer than the slippery ones on the black colorway. They are wider and padded. That's a big change and makes the bra wearable. I have them cinched up more than I normally do for padded bras, but I had no shoulder pain after wearing it all day today.
The wires are also slightly firmer than usual CK bras. The gore tacked very firmly, providing a lot of support. Unfortunately, it's slightly too tall for me and my touching breasts on the top of my root rubbed against the sides of the gore. I'm thinking of shortening the gore to correct this problem (my breast roots are only about 3 inches tall so this is a normal problem for me. The bra is great in general for short roots).
The band measured about 38 inches stretched when I first got it. It's stretched out to about 40 inches now after one wear. The top band elastic is looser than the bottom.
The underbust elastic is nice and soft. It does roll under but that's all bras for me.
The wings poke. I think the wire ends should be padded because this bugged me all day. I will probably fix this problem with padding on the ends.
The lace accommodates my full on top shape well. The shape I get is like Jasmine but rounded and with a shorter apex for my short roots. It's quite projected and incredibly narrow for this size in a U.K. Brand. Pretty nice. Materials are softer than Jasmine too.
The color is a beautiful blood red/burgundy color and the contrast bows and elastic are a darker purply red. It's very elegant. Again I have the matching undies which are nicely low rise and Brazilian. I do feel sexy and adult in this set. It's a good look for CK.
Edit: after wearing this bra all day a few times and washing it, I have a few things to report. First, after washing and pushing the wires all the way back towards my armpit in their channels, I don't get rubbing at the gore or armpit pinching and the armpit scratchiness is basically gone.
Second, just as I expected, the fabric does stretch slightly throughout the day, and it's just not a super firm support bra, although I don't notice a change in shape over the day. This is not the bra I'll wear out dancing, but for walking and sitting at a desk, my normal activities, it is very comfortable. I can wear it for 10+ hours with no back and neck pain. The band has not stretched further and is quite comfortable as well. Read more 575 more words
Beautiful bra and looks good on you. Nice that you have the set! Lots of stretch in that band after one wear. Hopefully it still works :)
I have it hooked on the last hook on the bottom and the first hook on the top so I think I might need to sew darts in the band on top at some point to fix the tension as this is definitely made for a v shaped back. But it feels very firm hooked like that right now so I'm hoping that's where it stays for a while! I do believe the bottom elastic is very sturdy so I hope it works for a while.
I hope it does too! It's a gorgeous color and looks great on you!
Thanks so much! I wore the set for the first time yesterday and walked around feeling very good about what I might look like under my bundled up winter clothes. :D
This fits you so well! I expected to see in-cup quadding, but you don't quad along the seam. Perhaps they remedied that fit issue in your size? Gorgeous on you!!
Love4Pollinators get this. I tried this bra in a 40J, 40HH, 38JJ, 38J, and 38HH. In all the sizes but the 38HH I got in cup quadding or wrinkling or both. I think it has to do with tension on the lace- if the lace is pulled taut there is less quadding. It was the same in this colorway as well as the latte I tried before, which I tried on just for sizing. So I don't think it's just about the colorway.
Normally there would be no way I could wear this size but the lace is quite accommodating to my very full on top tissue. I guess I can do with with stretch cups because I have very little tissue in the bottom of my breasts. Years of them laying flat against my ribcage has really pushed all the tissue to the top. In fact, sometimes I can feel that my breasts are a tiny bit concave on the bottom. So weird.
You can't see it in the pics but there is the tiniest bit of in and top of cup quadding. It's not visible under clothes though.
The bra is very pretty, but the fabric is a bit too scratchy to be comfortable to wear all day. The support is adequate, although the fabric is a little bit flimsy, The straps are set too wide at the bottom for my taste and comfort, but that is probably the way the balcony style is. The center sternum pokes me a little when I lay on my side. Excellent separation and lift, but I would need a softer fabric to wear it all day. The wires are of a narrow u-shape, which I did not think would work when I first saw it. However, the wires fit beautifully with the exception of a little poking occasionally in the armpit.
Now that I have learned how to get a good fit in Curvy Kate, she is my new best friend! I have the Gia in 36J, and I know that to be my Curvy Kate size now. I bought this one when I was trying to figure out what size I was ( no options "on the ground"). This sister size works, although the band is a bit too loose. I have two more of these on the way in 36J, but this one in 38HH is wearable until I stretch it out. I am wearing this sister size on the tightest hook, so it won't last as ...long as my correct size. This bra is really pretty, with the ribbon detail on the front, and comes in beautiful candy colors. The two I have coming are watermelon and lime! A great fit and great colors. One of the things I love about Curvy Kate is that the styles and colors are the kind of bras I longed for in my 20s (38 now) but could never find in my size. I spent years in ill fitting ugly bras because I thought they were my only option. Thanks CK! Read more 91 more words
This is my second Emily and I love it. Great fit, great support, great comfort. I only wish it came in some more fun colors.
The fabric is so soft and flexible. While this probably means it won't give the best lift, it makes for a comfy bra. I get a nice round shape wearing the Emily. The lace nicely hugs the top of my boobs.
The band is the tiniest bit big. I could wear it on the middle hook comfortably. But other than the band and the ok lift, this is one of my faves for an everyday bra.
The CK Emily in 38HH and the CK Angel in 38H both fit well, so I'm not sure exactly which one would be my correct size. I still need to play with the straps a bit, and really get my boobs settled into the cup to be able to decide. But based on comfort and materials, I think I prefer the Emily. It seemed softer and less scratchy. The band seemed stretchier though, so maybe after wearing it for a while it wouldn't fit as well. Both are gorgeous bras. I love the bright colors and contrasting embroidery.
In cup quadding, caused by the strap attached to the bottom of the cup and not the lace, and the lace not being strong enough in comparison to the bottom portion. I can size down in this style due to the stretch lace top. This size fits best out of the others I've tried. Also see a more in-depth review here: 38J - Curvy Kate » Ellace Balcony Bra (CK4401).
its quite comfortable, i would have given it an excellent on the comfort except the detachable straps arent extremely comfortable. good quality. good fit but a bit shallow. overall i really liked it especially as i have such big boobs it holds everything in place more or less. what im saying is i can run up and down the stairs without my boobs hitting me in the face. it has boning in the actually cup but you cant notice it i think its really bendy plastic or something but you can see it a bit if youre wearing a top that is really thin or tights stretchy material. other than that its quite nice and probably going to be my go to bra
I'm going to try to find this bra a cup size up. It seems to be exactly a cup size too small. The band is also too small but I use an extender and it's perfect. It is the most lightweight bra I've ever tried on and would be so nice and cool for the summer. It has a really nice round shape for my fot breasts too. I love it.
I love this so far. The back for me needs to be a 34, which was recommended by my measurements but I guessed I needed a 38, which was wrong. The shape is great for me, no top spillage for the first time ever in a plunge bra. Very soft and comfortable. The cups are a little too wide as there is a bit of gap at the edges and maybe the top could be tighter too. The top of cup does curl out a bit which is annoying but not noticeable under most clothes. I'm going to keep it as it's comfortable and I can't wait for one in a better size with my tiny uncomfortable bras. So I'll go down two back sizes and up one cup size to accommodate I think and try a 34J, if they do that size.
Edited to add that I've since found Much better fitting bras, so the cups are too wide for me at the sides.
Most recent update: After a few weeks, the outward curling cups bothered me.. looked awful under clothes. Still a comfortable bra, although not my best fit, until the wire snapped and stabbed me in the side ;-)
When I first put this on and started wearing it, I thought the cups were a little too big, as there was a lot of space at the tops. Then I tightened the straps up pretty good and it felt like a perfect fit so I wore it around the house. Not even within 5 minutes I started getting quad-boob. Not sure that this bra is right for me, as I tried the J and I felt like the cups were too big.
First off, this bra is gorgeous. Unfortunately, I am not sure this style works well with my breasts.
The straps are set fairly wide apart, and the cups do not give me the lift I would like--the cups seem to simply hold my breasts, instead of supporting and lifting them. I have heavy breasts though, so that may be a tall order.
The cups may also be too shallow for me, as my breasts seem to push the material on the cups down (causing some wrinkling at the bottom of the cups, and pushing the underwire lower) and spill out over the tops of of the cups.
The band ...is fairly tight and tends to flip up at the back, but I know a larger band size would be too loose for me. It does seem to become more comfortable with wear, and would perhaps loosen enough over time that it would no longer flip up like this.
Lastly, the underwire is too short and not wide enough to fully enclose my breasts on the sides. Unclear if this would change if I went up a cup size.
Overall, it's a beautiful bra--the style just doesn't seem to agree with my breast shape. Read more 92 more words
This bra was just the wrong size. Too big in the band and slightly large in the cup. I have already ordered one in my correct size. It seems to be well constructed. The fabric is soft yet firm and supportive. I ordered the blush color and it is a good basic nude, with pretty feminine accents. Not super fancy but a great everyday bra. Will review the proper fitting bra once it arrives.
I was surprised and saddened by how this fit. I can fit in both a 38H or 38HH in all the CK bras I've tried so far. Well, the cups on the Gia were way too big. I'm going to send this back as opposed to exchanging it because I'm not sure what size I would need to get.
It's a lovely bra though. The band was snug, the color and lace trim are pretty. Personally I'm not a fan of the little dangling gem in the center. The bra was comfy, too.
The cups gaped along the top on both sides. The support wasn't great since I didn't fill out the cup completely.
One of the wires poked through the front stitching after only a couple of months, wearing 2-3 times per week. Hand wash, line dried. Seems to be good quality in general. Like the rounded shape that isn't too far out front, for days and clothes that require that "look".
This color is gorgeous!!