Cups are smaller than my other 30DD in Crimson (I was banking on it being smaller since it's darker and dark dye usually means smaller) but damn are the wings stretchy!! Even worse than my other! It's WAY too big right off the bat, you can see wrinkling cup fabric under my arms since the underwires didn't spring. Being big to being with, and having super duper stretchy wings (what is with the one layer of weak mesh??), and stiff wires, it takes a LOT to get the wires to spring.

Cups are great accept that the lace is looser than the lower cup portions, but then the top ... elastic is tight, so it creates an in-cup quad effect when first scoop and swooped, but then the top cup edge slides down within a couple seconds of movement, causing it to create a bubble.

I love the style even though the wires are a bit too wide even not being sprung, but I definitely knew sizing down in cup would be disastrous as I've already tried that, and by some fluke it was $14.89 on Amazon Prime (now it's $72???) so I took a chance. Ideally I'd want to try this in a 28E, but it's $54.95 which is a HUGE price difference. I need to just bunker down and sew some freaking black powermesh onto the wings, and it will all be good!! Also might remove the narrow elastic along the top of the lace. What's the point of stretch lace if you're going to have tight elastic along the top edge??

If they could create a slightly narrower-wired version of this bra, with actual powermesh as the wings, and didn't tighten the top edge of the cup, it would be the perfect bra for me. If anyone knows of one matching this description, let me know. https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />

Update after a full day of wearing: the wires are too wide, so my boobs settle into the armpits, and the cups end up puffy and empty in the upper part of the cup throughout the day. https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" /> It's obvious under tight or thin or clingy shirts, and I continually feel the need to readjust. This bra might have to be a large project: add powermesh to wings, adjust armpit elastic, put in narrower wires, and maybe have to take out some center cup depth. We'll see.
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Black/Champaign colorway

Updated on Jul 19, 2018 Flag this

My shape is low set, soft, slightly pendulous, and narrow and short rooted.

I got the blue colourway, and it's a really gorgeous colour. There is some pretty lace that is nicely laid out on the cups and on the sides of the band, and there is a lighter blue strip on the lower band that compliments the navy nicely. The band feels pretty 'true to size' for me, not too stretchy, and the straps adjust long enough on my tall frame. There is stretch lace along the upper cup edge, and on the inside of the lace, there is a thin elastic lining along the upper edge of ... the lace cup. This lace elastic bit cuts in a bit on my larger side. I could probably get away with it, especially since it fits my smaller side, but I'm a bit self-conscious of how it looks.... It makes it looks like I'm getting in cup quadding and bubbling on top. I'm on the fence as to weather or not I'm keeping this bra. I sized down in this bra since some of my unlined 30Fs have slight gaping. I have a feeling I'm in between a 30E and 30F though.


The bra is very comfortable overall, and I could probably wear it all day without any discomfort. It's lightweight and would be nice for summer. The material is soft and non-irritating. The shape it provides is not as round a cleo marcie but still nice (somewhat more natural looking on me anyway).

I do get some side boob/fat rolls that I'm not too fond of. I'm not sure if it's because the wings are too short for me, or if it's because I need a bit bigger size. It could also just be the way my body is these days since I'm a bit out of shape, lol....

Overall this is a lovely bra that would be ideal if the size was right.

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Blue colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Feb 09, 2018 Flag this

First putting on this bra it felt tight. A bit more sturdy perhaps than my previous bras. I wore this bra around the house for about an hour and found that the tightness loosened a bit and it felt still firm but I'm unsure if it would be comfortable long-term. Then I came to a new problem - the straps. They are too rough on the edges and left marks on my near my under arm crease where my arm meets my chest.

34:9 34G

Straps too far apart and rubbing.

Curvy Kate

Ellace Balcony Bra (CK4401)

6 suggestions

Updated on Jan 29, 2018 Flag this

My shape: Pendulous, projected, somewhat narrow, somewhat short rooted, soft tissue.

Band and cups fit true to size. This bra works fairly well for my shape, except I get in cup quadding where the stretch lace meets the other part of the cup. I imagine this is exacerbated by my very soft tissue. I'm also just not a fan of stretch lace in general, since it allows for more jiggling/movement with my soft tissue.

White colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Apr 30, 2017 Flag this

Why do some bras have wires that don't fill wire channels? A pet peeve of mine! A few other fit issues as well. More on the blog!

I purchased this bra from Brastop at a very reasonable price while on sale mainl

http://www.fabulouslyfullfigure.com/ellace-balcony-bra-curvy-kate/

Crimson Red colorway

Updated on Mar 16, 2017 Flag this

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.
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Crimson colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Feb 16, 2017 Flag this

For reference, I consider myself extremely short rooted, projected, narrow, and even fullness (although my roots are so short I'm functionally FOB). My tissue is somewhat soft due to breastfeeding.

I had SUCH high hopes for Ellace! All the reviews sounded like it would be awesome for my shape. Alas, it was not meant to be.

First, the good-
- The thick sturdy elastic around the bottom of the band is amazing! It was great for comfort, and the contrasting color was a nice touch too.
-Nice rounded shape
-Very comfortable in general
-I tried this bra in 2 cup sizes, and saw no huge difference (I had to keep ... checking which was which!), so the stretch lace allows some wiggle room for the perfect fit or if your breast size fluctuates

Now, the not so good-
-Band was waaaaay too big! This was brand new and I put it straight on the tightest hooks. I would definitely need a 32 in this one.
-The stretch lace seems to be much more elastic than the cup mesh. For me, this was a recipe for in-cup quadding on my larger side unless I positioned my boob very carefully.
-I'm not sure why they put an extra piece of elastic along the top of the cup. It seems like this might cause issues for ladies that are full on top.
-In both sizes I tried on, there was a significant amount of wrinkling in the stretch lace on my smaller side. Putting the band on the tightest hooks helped with this somewhat.
-there was very minor wrinkling at the bottom of the cups. I could overlook it if this were the only issue.
- The wires were too wide for me. This was not helped when I had to put the band on the tightest hooks, but I also had wrinkling at the top of the band on both sides of the underwire in the underarm area... Just a strange fit.
- The cups were a little too tall, which probably contributed to the wrinkling at the top of the cup on my smaller side. It also meant that the wide-set straps were all the way in my armpits, making for a very uncomfortable bra.
-the gore tacked, but it kept twisting. Not the worst issue, but annoying.

I think for this bra to work for me, I would need to try a 32 band, but no clue about cup since both the 34G and 34GG seem to fit exactly the same. I'd also need a longer torso.
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Black/champagne colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Sep 21, 2016 Flag this

My favorite Curvy Kate I think!

Tried a bunch of C'Kates when I was a bit smaller / a couple years ago - but despite their cute designs, fit-wise I've somehow never found them to work too well for me in general.

(mostly I'd struggle with inadequate projection, too wide-set straps and / or cups that cut into my upper fullness)

Ellace, however, is a different story.
I reach for this bra quite often and it's held up so well over time! I've had it for about 2+ years (somehow forgot to review it) and after each handwash it feels almost good as new.

I like the added elastic on the ... underband, I like the stretchy lace, and I'm a big fan of this teal colorway!

I'm bordering on 32GG but this 32G contains me pretty well. It seems true that Curvy Kate has started to make firmer bands (read: more true to size) as they used to be quite stretchy and I'd lean towards 30, but this 32 band feels great.

The underband elastic does seem to help in that regard!
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Updated on Jun 20, 2021 Flag this

I really like this bra. I had it in crimson when I was a 28G and it was one of my favorites. The beige is not my favorite color but its a good match for my skin and it has nice pink tones that save it from being too boring. Comfort-wise, I find it very soft, and lightweight in the cup, but the three hooks and the wide elastic under the cup make it feel very sturdy. Gives a good shape. I'm quite projected and although I know Curvy Kate generally runs shallow, I don't get any wrinkling in the bottom of the cup and the underwire stays ... put.

There is a small amount of in-cup quadding as I have very soft tissue and the stretch lace at the top is less firm than the mesh fabric of the cup. Overall that's a pretty minor issue for me, though! A bigger issue is that the straps are pretty wide for my frame and the top side of the cup cuts into my tail of spence a little and might be uncomfortable after several hours.

Overall, while its not perfect for my shape, I will be keeping it, though I may not wear it for any especially long days.
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Latte colorway

Updated on Apr 24, 2021 Flag this

First time trying Curvy Kate bras. Ellace was recommended to me to help figure out exactly what I need in regards to shape and size. 34FF in the black doorway is what I have.

The band is comfortable, soft and snug without being strangling tight. There are 3 hooks on this size which I like.

The fabric is soft and also lightweight. The top lace isn't scratchy either and is very thin. There is an elastic strip along the top of the lace top. Here is where this bra is good and bad for me. The bottom of the cups fit nicely and the wires are perfect. The ... straps are a little wide but do not slip or bother me in the tail of Spence...at least not up to this point. The problem...the top lace on the left larger side where the cup, strap and lace panel meet had about a 1/4 inch gap but fits well elsewhere. The smaller side is more obvious but nothing seems to show with a shirt on.

This is by far the best and closest bra for me in the ABTF journey. I just found it on sale for a third of what this one cost me so I am ordering it in a 34F to see how that feels and fits. I will also tack this lace (since its so little less than half inch total) the gore to make a more snug fit in the 34FF.
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Updated on Mar 19, 2021 Flag this