Review: Curvy Kate Dreamcatcher

This is a standard mesh balconette Curvy Kate style. It's a newer basic along the lines of Portia, but without the intense texture so more everyday clothing friendly. I own it in black, which makes the details difficult to discern; they are easier to see in yellow (a hue that makes me look jaundiced, and so one I forego):

Beauty

The pattern reads like large open polka dots, but they are meant to be tiny dreamcatchers. It's an odd design choice, since they are so tiny they simply look like, well, 3D polka dots. There is very little embellishment and the pattern itself is flat and undetectable under clothing - which is not the case with many CK styles. However, the diagonal seam across the cup is quite pronounced and does show through knit shirts in a rather awkward way. And it suffers from the same unfortunate design choice as all Curvy Kates: the upper cup becomes unfortunately huge as cup size increases.

Comfort

One Word Summary:  Disappointing. 

Fabric.  Thin mesh that is simply not very soft. It is, however, very sheer and light - especially the single-layer top cup - which allows air to flow through beautifully. I could actually feel that air flow as I walked about during my day. That was my main reason for buying it: to wear during the few muggy summer days we have up here. Those who live in hot, humid climates - & are without my issues of sensitive skin, dislike of higher wires, and full-on-top shape - may find this a useful summer bra for its delightful coolness.

Wires.   Narrow as per usual, but taller than Portia, and much taller than Gia's. I found the wires a little stiffer than these styles, and that, combined with the added height, made them uncomfortable for me. Even after bending the outer wires slightly outward away from my body, I had some chafing. The wire casing material is also especially stiff, which did not improve the lack of comfort from the slightly scratchy mesh. 

Fit & Shape

Cup Shape.  Sigh. This style is not among those recently tweaked to give an improved shape.  At all. This is the classic(ally awful) shape of early CK styles: a downward-drooping ski slope shape to the upper boob that someone coined as the 'upside down 7' shape, made worse by that prominent seam mentioned earlier. If even a tiny bit too small, the result is a bizarre squared-off triangle. 


When the size is correct, you get the look I have here, which is the ski slope shape. If I really swoop & scoop, & let more of my boob settle into the upper cup where it longs to be, I will get more of the squared-off triangle.

The, let's face it, rather dreadful shape is a result of the inexplicable choice to increase the upper cup vastly, and then compound that poor design choice with another one: utter lack of stretch in the upper cup. 

This issue has caused many to give up on Curvy Kate entirely. Especially full-on-tops.

Their new style Ellace (with an unpromisingly stingy looking strip of stretch lace along the upper cup), is for some reason very difficult to obtain on this side of the pond.

Tacking.  The gore does tack very well, as do all CK's on me. I have never found CK to run wide/shallow; in my size, the wires are decidedly on the narrow size (similar to Natori), and the cups on the deep side, even in the older styles. So I always get a perfect firm tack with CK.

Band.  The band runs snug. Combined with the fact that the fabric is power-mesh, and has the usual CK/Freya narrow elastic edging that cuts in, well, color me unimpressed.

When Do I Wear It?

Only on a very hot day. 

And then only under a loose woven fabric.

And even then, Dreamcatcher is doing me no favors.
  
(The shape under knits is as geometrically unfortunate as you'd expect.)

Size:  40GG

I also have the style in my usual 38GG, but the cup capacity runs slightly small, even for CK. I'd hoped bumping up a bit would improve the shape. It did, but the improvement is relative. Definitely not enough to make it a success.