A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the bras I tried while looking for my size in Curvy Kate Gia (full post here). While I didn’t keep any of them, trying them made me more confident about the size I would need. So, when I saw AW13’s Purple/Black colourway on sale at Brastop a couple of months ago, I decided to give her another chance.
As before, I went for the 30K, and I am pleased to say that the Purple/Black colourway was everything I expected and more. Starting with the appearance, the Gia has a gorgeously rich royal purple base, which is given a nice sheen by the smooth laminate material. The sheer upper section features geometric embroidery and small cut-outs, with a black embroidery trim at the top. It has small rectangular bows on the straps and gore, with a small crystal drop to the centre. I love that it feels sophisticated and almost regal, while still being smooth and unfussy enough to make it a great everyday basic.
As I had hoped, the cups were quite narrow and deep, much moreso than most UK brands in this size range. The cup width measured as 7 inches, but due to the sturdy construction, they don’t get seem to get much wider when the band stretches. The gore is average height – it’s just short enough to tack nicely and stay comfortable on my close-set breasts, but tall enough to provide separation and support. Clearly the cups are a great fit for me, so I would say that, unlike many older Curvy Kate cuts, the cups fit true-to-size.
My main issue with this bra is that, though the wings/wires are relatively low, the sides of the cups are quite tall (which I think can be seen best in the side profile below) and the straps are quite wide-set on my narrow frame. While this construction is good to keep breast tissue contained, it does mean that the cups can irritate around my underarm/shoulder, and I can’t quite tighten the straps to where I want them to be without discomfort. I can still get a good shape, but it isn’t as comfortable as it could be. This may be an issue for anyone with a short root or high-set breasts – I am personally considering doing an alteration to make the armpit a bit lower and rounder for comfort.
I found this colourway gave an absolutely amazing shape. With my even fullness, I found I had a beautiful uplifted and lightly rounded shape, with not even a hint of upside-down 7. The laminate material is firm and supportive, and it doesn’t seem to stretch or distort with wear, so this shape stays the same throughout the day. I did find the upper section to fit quite loosely, and I have a little bit of wrinkling along the horizontal seam (towards the straps), though this does not affect the shape or support. This would probably work best for those who have around even fullness – it may be a tricky fit for those who are very FOB or very FOT.
The Gia has fully adjustable straps and three sets of hooks and eyes. The band seemed fairly true-to-size, stretching to about 30.5 inches, and I found it to be reasonably wide and comfortable. Aesthetically, I like that the geometric mesh is appliquéd onto the ends of the band, as I feel it ties the appearance together quite nicely. However, I do sometimes find that my fingers can’t quite grip properly when I go to undo the bra (as the mesh doesn’t provide much grip and is also stitched on quite loosely, resulting in the mesh sliding around rather than undoing the band). It’s only a small issue, and it would be easy enough to remove the mesh if needed, but it may be something to keep in mind if you already have trouble with your grip.
Overall I think the Gia is one of the best unpadded bras Curvy Kate have come out with so far, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they come out with next.
The Curvy Kate Gia is available in sizes 28-40 D-K, 42-44 D-G, and retails for £29. Various colourways are available at Brastop, with some colourways available from £7.95 (limited size range). The current colourways are SS14’s China Blue, and AW14’s Boysenberry should be available any day now. And, as an afternote, this is the last week I’m running my blog survey – if you have a minute, please check it out here!
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The height difference in cups between a 32J and 32JJ is over a cm making the JJ cut unwearable for me which is sad as I quad boob in the J and it is a lovely bra