Curvy Kate is one of our old favourite D+ lingerie brands. They’re the ones that set me off on my well-fitting bra journey back when I was still wearing a 34D instead of a (now) 28GG, and my first ever properly fitting bra was their Princess in pink. Today, I still wear their bras on high rotation as they make a great wardrobe staple, generally being a good fit, comfortable and more fun in their designs than most D+ bra companies.

I first reviewed Curvy Kate’s Ellace bra when it launched in 2015 and found myself an excellent fit in it thanks to the stretchy upper lace panel. Brastop offered us the opportunity to feature the Ellace in a festive Mulberry shade (and we know, we’re about 3 months too late right now to call it festive!) in our contrasting sizes, we jumped at the chance to see how it would work for each of our sizes.

We received the Curvy Kate Ellace bra in mulberry in a 28GG and 30D and briefs in a size 12 from Brastop to review. The bra is currently on sale for only £17 at Brastop in sizes 28-30 D-K, 32-40 D-JJ, 42-44 D-G.

Big Cup

I won’t go on too long in my part of this review considering that I’ve already reviewed the Curvy Kate Ellace in black before and the fit is pretty much exactly the same in this mulberry version for me! I took this bra in my usual 28GG size.

I do, however, adore this shade. It’s a colour I wear almost daily throughout autumn and winter, and it even makes its way into my summer wardrobe. As someone who has started to delve into matching my outerwear to my underwear (who cares if no one knows?!), this makes for a bra that should get a lot of wear for me.

Sadly I do get the same issue I had in the black version of the Ellace though, which is that the band elastic used appears to actually be strap elastic meaning it has a very “sharp” edge. The band itself is a pretty firm one, I’d say – if you need a tight 28 band or a 26 band, you’d do well with this. When I first put it on, it feels fine, but throughout a day of wear, the edge of the elastic bothers me more and more, leaving me with a slightly sore red mark by the end of the day. It’s unfortunate as I think it’s really more to do with how my body deals with the elastic – if a softer or more flexible elastic was used, I think I’d get on better with it. I don’t think it’s a case of the band being too tight as it feels like it’s comfortable otherwise, it’s just that sharp edge!

Fortunately, the cups are an excellent fit, and I’d say that’s partly due to the shaping and partly due to the stretch elastic lace in the top of the cup. The only other soft cup bra I currently own with this feature is the Ewa Michalak BM Bibi, which is my favourite daily wear bra thanks to this. The laminated lower cup in the Ellace provides plenty of uplift too.

I received the Ellace brazilian knickers in a size 12, one size up from the pair I reviewed in 2015. I find these to be a better fit for me nowadays, but, like most knickers with this “cheeky” fit, I do find they ride up a lot, so I don’t wear them often.

On another quick note, this bra is part of Curvy Kate’s continuity range so is available in a selection of different colours in addition to the black and mulberry we’ve reviewed, including crimson red, hot pink, latte, white and indigo.

Little Cup

Ok, so first things first, I ADORE this new colourway. Mulberry is the perfect description for it: a gorgeous red / burgundy / purple meld that looks utterly delicious on basically any skin tone. For me, it’s totally autumnal and I love to wear this set under a snuggly, off-the-shoulder jumper, showing off the colour of the straps. The lace detailing is also a lovely touch, and pairs perfectly with the design of the briefs. Such a gorgeous, detailed lace: it almost reminds me of a paisley print when you look really closely!

I often find soft cup bras difficult to fit correctly. With breasts that are fuller on the bottom, I tend to find that soft cups can gape towards the top, or wrinkle rather unattractively across the whole cup. I find the Ellace, however, works really well for my shape. The cups are lower than I’ve found in other soft cup designs, and the D cup fit works pretty much perfectly for me in terms of volume.

Sian and I had an interesting back and forth with this set—we both mentioned to one another that we had a ‘niggle’ with it, but promised to keep quiet so as not to influence the other! And I’m glad we did: because it wasn’t even the same issue! I don’t actually find I have any issues with the elastic, but I DO find the band to be a whole lot tighter than my other 30 bands. I’ve recently started actually measuring band lengths to see how true to size they are, as I so often find myself complaining of tightness or looseness in bands that are all technically meant to be the same size. It’s amazing how often they don’t actually measure up, even brands we trust: I recently had to reorder a certain bra 3 different times in increasing band sizes—and upon measuring, there was literally no difference between the 28 and 30 band size!

But other brands aside, I do find the 30 band in the Ellace to be an incredibly tight fit. I’m not sure if it’s me on a bad day, or maybe it is more to do with the elastic that Sian picked up on. But if I were to get the same bra, I think I’d definitely be ordering the 32, and hoping that D cup stayed as perfect a fit as it is in the 30!

A quick mention for the briefs, which are absolutely gorgeous, but OH MY what wedgie makers. Even having sized up for safety, I can’t quite manage a full day in these beauties, so they’re saved for special occasions.

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