I’m super excited to share this lingerie look with you as the super lovely Brastop took note of my Valentine’s wishlist last week and asked if I’d like to give the Curvy Kate Kitty Longline Babydoll from the SS16 collection a go – of course, that was an offer I wasn’t going to refuse! When we’re offered items to review for the blog, sometimes we get to choose what we want, other times we get offered a specific piece (like now) and sometimes it’s a surprise. The amazing thing about being offered something specific this time though was that it was picked off my wishlist, so was something that I knew I already loved the look of!

I’d originally spotted the Kitty Babydoll in Moda previews like this one from Bras & Body Image. I didn’t used to follow the upcoming collections, but having been blogging about lingerie for more than 2 years now, I realised that I’d been slowly creating wishlists in advance of the seasons being launched from seeing Moda posts, so it turns out that I am now following them. And exciting news – Charley and I will (with all being well!) be heading to Moda this year too! So any lingerie bloggers/designers/brands that are planning to be there, let us know so we can say hi!

Anyway – the Kitty Babydoll didn’t actually immediately grab my attention from the Curvy Kate SS16 previews I saw, I was more interested by the sheer styles like the Bardot in Berry and the brand new style, Cabaret. But then when the collection launched just recently, I was scrolling through product images for inspiration for the big V Day and spotted it again, this time it REALLY caught my attention, mostly because of the longline band.

I’ve never actually owned a cup sized babydoll in my size. I bought the Cleo Marcie Babydoll in a 32E when we went to the Panache Factory sale in the hopes that I could just about get away with it, but alas, it was much too small in the cups and I most certainly wasn’t feeling the sexiness a babydoll is supposed to give because I was thinking about the wires being too narrow and the quadboob…yes, I know – sad, isn’t it! I know there have been several others made in my size by other brands, but I’d just never made the leap to buy one as bras were more my priority. Well, woops, it turns out I have just a few too many bras now (I’m thinking I must have 35+…), so I’m steadily turning my attention more towards other lingerie pieces such as my Dottie’s Delights Babydoll and the What Katie Did Torsolette (review of this to come).

Shape & Appearance

The Curvy Kate Kitty Longline Babydoll is super pretty in my eyes. It doesn’t have the full on sex appeal that you might associate with a babydoll, but it has a hint of glamour and sultriness. To be honest, it’s not a Spring/Summer piece in my eyes at all as the black with copper accents is all autumn to me, but nevertheless I’m still much very appreciating the fact that is a SS16 release as it means I can have it now!

The babydoll has padded 3 part cups, with one vertical seam, and one diagonal. The foam padding is fairly stiff which means it holds its shape well and provides plenty of uplift and cleavage potential. With the low gore, this is a plunge bra shape – in fact, my first padded plunge from Curvy Kate! I’ve got to be honest, I was never a fan of Curvy Kate’s padded plunge shapes – they felt a little wide set and just odd looking to me. This one however doesn’t seem like that at all, and I really love the opportunity to try another plunge bra in my size aside from the Deco which is an old fall back for me when I want a plunge.

What sets this babydoll apart from all the others I’ve seen is the longline band – I don’t think I’ve come across another babydoll with that in this size range, and in fact, I started designing one similar recently! I’ve found that when I’ve tried babydolls before, I’ve occasionally been put off by the skirt starting immediately below the underwires. It can give that slightly unflattering empire line look which hearkens back to maternity wear – not always ideal in lingerie! The longline however seems much more flattering to me as it gives the nipped in waist effect.

The findings and fastenings of the babydoll are all in black, then the bow on the gore is a lovely burnt copper and the detailing on the cups is a sparkling, slightly glittering copper. While the overlay on the lower part of the cups is black mesh, the overlay on the top cup is a scalloped lace which protrudes over the top edge of the cup so you get the see through lace effect. The skirt of the babydoll is stretch mesh, and opens up at the back under the band with a pretty keyhole.

It fastens with 3 sets of 4 rows of hooks and eyes at the back and has boning throughout the length of the longline band to keep its structure.

Sizing, fit & comfort

Curvy Kate babydolls start at a 30 band, so while my usual Curvy Kate size is a 28GG, I chose to take this in a 30G, as I do with many brands nowadays. It’s a decision I’ve had to make, whether to choose to be limited in my options of what styles and brands I can wear or to have more options but a fit that isn’t absolutely perfect. And to be honest, a lot of the time, I’m happy to go with having more choice! A 30 band however is usually still a good fit for me, even if I could get away with a 28 for the more “ideal” fit.

Fortunately, the 30G is another which is a good fit for me. I’m lucky in that my breast shape fits plunges quite well despite its size – I have very firm tissue which tends to stay put where it is so doesn’t spill out in the middle of plunge bras.

Curvy Kate padded bras have been noted to be quite shallow in the past (think of the Thrill Me, Tease Me, etc. lines), but the Kitty babydoll has a good amount of projection, especially in the centre of the cup. I feel like the shape will be most suited to those who are even to full on top, like me, but a full on bottom shape with taller roots may get away with it too. A shape that’s very full on top may experience some slight quadding due to the angle of the cup edge, but it’s worth a try anyway.

The wires are quite standard for Curvy Kate, but work well for me not being too wide or too narrow. Generally, I need average width wires, so I’d say that’s what these are.

The straps are fully adjustable, and I find I don’t need to tighten them too much. As I said above, the band is lovely and wide as it’s a longline which means that it’s really comfortable. It is, however, slightly difficult to fasten due to the amount of hooks! Thanks to the boning in the longline, it doesn’t roll up (as I experience in my Freya Daydreamer longline) but stays put and is really comfortable. It’s just the right size for me (and my rib cage flare) when fastened on the loosest hooks, so in all honesty, I’d probably stick to this is a 30 band rather than a 28 (were it available).

The cups seem to run true to size for me. A G cup is my usual on a 30 band, but I do occasionally wear a 30GG – this one fit pretty much spot on for me, so I’d say it was towards the larger side of a 30G if anything.

Overall, a very pretty design, very comfortable and one I’m very pleased with! The only complaint I have about it is that the stretch mesh on the skirt gets very static so rather than flowing as it feels like it should do, it tends to stick to my body and legs quite a bit. I’m now just hoping that Curvy Kate bring the bra version of this out in a longline too! And if the comfort of this longline is anything to go by, I’m thinking I may be raiding a few end of line sales for their old longline styles!

The Curvy Kate Kitty Longline Babydoll is available in sizes 30-40 D-J with matching thong or shorts (not pictured above) in sizes 8 to 20. It is available to buy from Brastop for £42.

I haven’t yet seen any other blogger reviews of the babydoll, but will update the post if I come across any 🙂