I had almost given up on Curvy Kate bras after trying two sizes of the most recommended style, the Princess Balcony Bra, and being disappointed by the fit (digging wires! overly projected cups!) and quality (inconsistent measurements! cheap looking details!). However, I decided to give Florence a try after reading about it here on Bratabase, and I am so thrilled that I did. So far, Florence is my best fitting unlined balcony bra yet!

Florence fits me exactly how I wanted Lucy and Marcie to fit me. No adjustment needed to get the cups to lay perfectly, no issues between the larger and smaller side, and no gapping top panel to deal with. Visually, Florence looks like a Lucy dupe, but the fit is closer to Marcie. I am so happy to find this style, but not so happy that it is discontinued and only available in a handful of colors.

Like Marcie/Lucy, Florence is a 3 piece cup made from soft, double layer mesh, making it comfortable, lightweight, and supportive. The upper cup is embroidered mesh with no elastic edge, which is awesome as it can stretch to sit flat against very shallow roots, or flex to accommodate more upper volume. The underwires are very similar to Marcie, being wide and shallow, but I feel that the shape is slightly more curved than Marcie. I tend to have issues with brand new Marcies until I make some underwire adjustments, and Marcie also tends to cross spontaneously at the gore. Florence doesn't do that, and I think it's because the ends of the underwires are a bit more perpendicular than Marcie's, which are more open and splayed. The cups are a little on the shallow side, but they can accommodate more fullness on top as none of the tops are super closed off. I think the proportions of this bra are great for both shallow and wide shapes as well as more projected shapes.

The styling is very similar to Lucy, so close that I thought this was a Lucy dupe at first. However, Lucy has small flowers embroidered directly on the cup, and Florence has a solid cup. Both styles have very similar floral embroidery on the upper cup, but Florence has a small floral button at the center gore while Lucy is trimmed with a simple bow. Florence also has two little bows tacked at the straps. Both styles have the same scalloped wide straps, similar wings, and the same leotard back construction. The main structural difference is that Florence has a full band, with elastic running through the cradle and under the cups, while Lucy has no elastic under the cups. This is a very important construction detail, as I couldn't figure out why Lucy didn't feel secure on me and I kept shifting around in the cups. I really need a full band to keep all my tissue in place.

The only criticism I have for Florence is some inconsistency in fit. So far, I've purchased 3 Florences. The Blush one fits me perfectly with no adjustments needed. The first Black one ended up measuring taller in the embroidered portion of the cup, so no matter what, it kept wrinkling at the top. The second Black one measured better, but the fit of the upper cup is not as spot on as the Blush. Given the spec disaster I had with the Curvy Kate Princess Balcony Bra, I feel a little worried about inconsistencies, as I haven't had this level of measurement variation in Cleo. Still, I am happy to have found Florence, and will be hunting down as many as possible before they disappear for good.

See my separate review on Ellace for why this related cut doesn't work for me https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" />

Black colorway

Updated on Sep 20, 2019 Flag this

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