Curvy Kate and Cup Size Expansion
Mixed news and feelings abound! Based on my previous reviews, I sent Curvy Kate this email:
Hi, I am just stopping by to say how pleased most of the bra community is with CK's recent design improvements. I was also hoping if it might ever be possible that CK will introduce current cup sizes to lower bands. I.e. I am a 32 back but I must wear CK in a 36K for a good cup fit and I run into other issues with doing that (such as too tall underwires that are painful) as it was meant for a 36 back. I know quite a few people who could wear the cups that CK already provides but need much smaller bands (I even know someone who is a 28M, which would be equivalent to CK's 36K cup and 28 band).
I am hoping to let CK know on their behalf that there is definitely interest in bras up to an L cup (or as big as possible really :) for those with small underbusts and full busts. Even a limited trial run would be terrific. We are also very pleased to see the newest model who is a 32JJ and we hope that CK will continue to improve and expand. Hopefully we can become long time customers of CK. Thank you for your time.
Curvy Kate sent back this:
Hi, Many thanks for your email and for taking the time to make some suggestions and provide us with some really useful feedback. Going into larger cup sizes is a point that is discussed quite frequently. I know the design team have worked on some designs and size grading for KK and L cups. We know there is a degree of demand from consumers but are retailers convinced enough to purchase these sizes on the chance that a customer walks into their store or comes across their website and purchases? As we only sell wholesale and not direct to the consumer and with our core size range between 32-36 DD and GG you can imagine the challenge we face. However, we do still keep talking about it to retailers and consumers alike, so we’re not saying never! Just – not yet. Thanks again for your message and thank you for getting in touch! Kind regards, [redacted] Customer Service Executive - Independent Accounts
First of all. Yay! They actually have been thinking about it and not only thought about it but have done some actual design scaling (which in and of itself proves they know what they’re doing or at least are trying to learn). Second of all, booo. It seems like this is the problem a lot of bra manufacturers are encountering. If they want to break the mold, they’re scared of the financial risk.
It’s not that 30L’s don’t exist, it’s that most women fear going up in cup size and aren’t properly fitted. Bra makers and retailers are aware of this fear and it creeps down to them. However, I feel this is somewhat of a moot point, because a woman who is already wearing 30K but is popping out is certainly not going to avoid trying the lovely KK or L in front of her.
How can we fix this? What can I say? I have no answers at this time.
Recently I have started what looks to be a year long “diet”. I am hoping to lose the weight I put on since having two children. In this, I hope that I will go down a few cup sizes and find it likely that I will go down at least one or two. This may (temporarily?) make my life easier, but it doesn’t mean that every woman just needs to lose weight or that we shouldn’t have those options for women who need it right now. I don’t think, whatever size I am, that I’m going to stop pushing for an expansion of cup sizes because I’ve been there and it’s only going to benefit everyone else too. But I’m at a loss to know how to push further.