Kris Line – Brand Introduction & Bra Review

During my visit to Moda last month I encountered a brand I had heard of a long time ago – Kris Line. I had never tried their lingerie before so I was eager to see what they had to offer to the full bust industry. As I have been looking into Polish lingerie more recently I was indeed interested to see how they fit but was unsure about the sizing as it can be a bit baffling to someone with no knowledge of the brand in question.

Anna and I talked to the brand representatives and also met their lovely new head of marketing, Patryk. The whole crew was so kind to introduce us to their new SS15 collection but also to tell us a few things that were on Kris Line’s radar in the near future – including a nightwear line especially designed for the most full-busted. After the show Patryk came to talk to us and seemed to be sincerely interested in the industry and also what their customer really need and like. Later on, I got an email from Patryk and we decided to introduce Kris Line properly on Two Cakes On a Plate. This is what they have to say about the brand…

“Kris Line is one of the leading manufacturers of large cup lingerie in Central and Eastern Europe.Kris Line company was founded in 1992. With 20 years of experience in lingerie design and manufacturing we offer premium quality lingerie on over 30 international markets. We produce only in Poland using exclusively top European materials, laces and embroidery.

We are very proud of our modern management methods and high tech technology in production processes. Despite of having 100% EU production we manage to offer our products at prices very competitive to brands who produce in far east.

Our philosophy of looking for high productivity  leads not only to well priced premium quality products. We support European Common market by defending over 1000 workplaces in our company and at our suppliers’ sites.  Our philosophy also reflects in corporate social responsibility, we actively support local healthcare and sport initiatives.  All this allows us to successfully introduce our products to demanding Western European markets. Now we would like to bring our products to the UK.

Each 6 months our designers work on new designs, forms and construction types. Wide range of our products is divided into following collections: basic, fashion, nightwear, nursing and swimwear. Basic collection consists of two models Fortuna and Brilliant. They are available whole year around. Fashion, nightwear and swimwear is designed twice a year for spring/summer and fall/winter seasons.

We realize that high quality and well fitted bra is a guarantee of beautiful and healthy breasts. This is why bra-fitting is Kris Line’s top priority and trade mark for now and many years to come.”

As their bras are not widely sold online nor offline in Europe, UK and US, Kris Line is currently looking for retailers in these areas to widen their market and influence. So if you are a lingerie retailer and feel like Kris Line would be a suitable brand for your business, don’t hesitate to get in contact with them! Also, if you are an individual customer, you always have a chance to ask your local retailer for new brands. If Kris Line seems like a good choice for you, just let people know and you might just get what you want. The size range is enormous, including sizes up to O-cup with the smallest band sizes and 115 bands up to H cup depending on the style.

As the fit of different brands usually differ a lot, Kris Line was so kind to send me a set to review. Here’s how I liked their lingerie…

The Design: As my first Kris Line set, I picked the gorgeous Marilou Deco in 70H and Small. This style is from Kris Line’s SS14 collection so it is possible that you’ll be able to snatch it up online somewhere either now or later. Older Kris Line styles show up on Zulily and Brastop now and then, so be sure to check them both out to see if you’re in luck.

I chose the Marilou Deco as it was such a lovely unusual colour combination and one can never own too many light-coloured t-shirt bras. The style features almost seamless moulded cups (with one nearly-invisible seam going across the outer part of the cups) and a plunging shape to go well with lower-cut necklines. The shade is a bright lemony yellow with some beautiful grey and yellow embroidery adorning the band and the straps. This style is great under light-coloured shirts and dresses and it is my go-to bra with my ivory Collectif “Phyllis” dress. The colour and the shape allow a lot of outfit options so I would say the Marilou Deco is a great bra for both day- and nighttime. The bra gave me a lovely rounded shape and one of the best cleavages I have ever had in a well-fitting bra and that is always something I appreciate.

The Fit: Kris Line bras fit a bit differently than you might imagine when you compare to British or even other Polish brands. They do include the double letters, just like Ewa Michalak (who btw used to work for Kris Line!) and all the British brands, but they also include the letter “I” in their size chart. This means figuring your bra size with KL can be a tricky task to do. I was provided with the size chart for their brand and finally opted for the same size as with Ewa Michalak padded bras – 70H (32H).

My usual size with British brands is now between 30GG and 30H and sometimes I also go for the bigger band size of 32 (eg. with Lepel and Gossard). On the base of this, I would say that Kris Line tends to run smaller in the cups (partially due to the “I” letter being included) so going up a couple of cup sizes is something I would definitely recommend. I also opted to go up a band size as I usually do with Polish brands. I felt like I might be between 65 and 70 with Kris Line but so far the 70 has worked for me fine. However, if I would happen to lose even a little weight I would probably need to go for a size 65HH.

The cups feel great though I do feel my other boob is very near escaping the cup a bit but that’s what happens when you have a-symmetry. However, there’s no spillage, just a feeling of little restriction with the other boob which is very familiar to me with padded moulded cup bras. The cups push my breasts up and bring them in front of me to create a phenomenal cleavage. The wiring feels great – it’s very similar to other Polish brands but perhaps not as narrow as with EM. This is good news to me as I sometimes feel the EM wires are a tad too narrow for me, especially the unpadded styles. The cups seem medium-to-deep, just the way I like them.

Comfort: Marilou Deco is made of the most soft micro fibre and carefully placed lace to keep you comfortable during the day. As the wires and straps seems to be perfectly placed for me, I have no complaints about the comfort aspect of this set. The bottoms run quite small and seem tiny at a first look but they are made of extremely stretchy materials to accommodate a range of sizes. I opted for my regular size Small and even thought the panties looked Barbie-sized they fitted my butt and hips quite well. If you are between sizes, I would advice to for the bigger size for comfort reasons.

All in all, the Marilou Deco feels like a great option for something pretty and practical for everyday wear. The Deco shape can be found in many Kris Line styles so even though you couldn’t get your hands on Marilou, there are plenty of similar styles you can have access online.

What do you think of Kris Line and Marilou? Have you tried their lingerie previously? I would love to hear about your experiences, both about buying them online and the sizing, as it seems to be a mystery to so many women interested in them! Drop me a comment if you have any useful tips xx

Bra Review: Tutti Rouge “Rosa” in 32G

Hiya everyone! Long time no see. I have been longing to write to you but as life goes, I had a lot of things on my radar and decided to put relationships and my mental health first. Meaning a lot of social time and a holiday trip to UK! This is not all that bad though regarding the blog – I visited Moda Birmingham last week and have a lot of exciting goodies to share with you. This time I browsed around the tradeshow with awesome Anna from Bras and Body Image and it was also great seeing some old friends at brand stands. We walked from stand to another the whole Sunday and also ventured into the small bust brands on the market. So this time, expect a small-to-average size coverage as well!

But today, I will not talk about Moda yet, it’s a matter of next week in fact. Today, I will review the lovely new Tutti Rouge style called “Rosa”, a semi-soft balconette shape with an exclusive TR rose print. Jessica, the lovely founder of the brand, was so kind to send me this set for review purposes, all opinions are my own.

Design: First of all, the print is totally exclusive to the Tutti Rouge brand and can only be seen on this bra style. I loooooove the print and the colours – so pretty and cute, very appropriate for summer. I am not a big fan of white lingerie nor butterflies but this design just works. This is the reason I keep coming back to TR; they offer phenomenal styles with great detailing and a unique touch. 

The shape is a semi-soft balconette, quite a full-coverage one. Semi-softs are a bit tricky when it comes to fit – especially if the upper part is not something super-stretchy. The upper part of the cups is non-stretchy lace and the lower part lovely luxurious-feeling satin. The centre core is quite high and features a little bow with a black pom-pom-like detail. The straps are half-adjustable and placed quite widely with a wider sling on the lower part of the strap, for some side support. The shape the bra is a bit vintage-like – it gives me a bit lower profile than some bras but a lovely uplifted natural look. Not too pointy or rounded.

Fit: The Rosa is a lovely bra and gives me a rather minimized look which is quite preferred sometimes. However it’s not the best fit from all the TR bras I have tried. I asked Jess to send me my regular size 30GG but for some reason, the mail delivered me a 32G (I for one know how easy it is to make a mistake while sending something out..). This size fitted me rather well so I didn’t see the point in exchanging it. However, I must note that the band feels a bit too large for me – very comfy but I’m afraid it might wear out more easily than my 30-back bras. Tutti Rouge bras are known for their tighter bands but this style runs pretty true-to-size in my opinion – both in the band and the cups. 

The cups are on the shallower side which is not ideal and makes the centre core float a bit. This doesn’t bother me though and is not too obvious; we are talking like 1-2 mm here. The cups fit well in the sister size besides being a bit too shallow and folding over at the bottom of the cup. The top part of the cup is great for upper fullness and feels spot-on without any gaping or spillage. Also the wires are quite okay, they feel a rather regular width to me so they don’t poke or rub me in anyway. I would have loved to try a 30GG in this style but I can easily do with the 32 band as it goes.

Comfort: Recently, I have been having some trouble with TR bands coming up too tight so I feel like the Rosa is a more comfy choice, even though the 32 band in this styles feels like regular 32, meaning a tad too loose for me (I measure 31″ under bust at the moment). However, the band size depends solely on the style you are opting for. For reference, I wear 30 in Mae and Nichole (also used to wear 30″ in SS13 Frankie, Betty and Liliana) but 32 in SS14 Betty, Rosa and  AW13 Liliana. Conclusion – you might need some trial-and-error with TR bras to determine the best size for you in each style and season. The best rule is to usually go up a band size as most of the styles run tighter.

The materials are again a great strength when it comes to Tutti Rouge bras. I love the cotton lining inside the cups making it a very comfy choice for someone with a difficult skin. The straps are placed rather far apart from each other so keep that in mind if you are very petite. The satin feels great on my shoulders but makes the straps a bit more slippery.

I also got the Brazilian brief which I absolutely adore as a style. I think the backside makes your butt look delicious but the front is not the most flattering for me – it is cut a bit too low on the hips and a bit too high in the crotch area. I told about this to Jessica herself at Moda and to my relief, they have slightly revised the style of their upcoming Brazilians meaning they will have a tad more coverage on the front. Great news to most of us! Otherwise the panties feel good on and are rather comfortable if you forget about the low-coverage issue.

This style is available through Tutti Rouge Big Cartel shop and costs an affordable £35 for the bra (sizes 28-38 D-HH) and £15 for the Brazilian (sizes XS-XXL). I personally cannot wait for the next print Tallulah Tattoo to get released next spring as it’s another amazing Tutti-exclusive print to drool over! What do you think of Rosa? Let me know in the comments! xx

Review of Curvy Kate “Starlet” in 30GG

Recently I have been looking for a suitable and pretty t-shirt bra that would go well with my full-on-top breasts. I grew out of my Curvy Kate Smoothies and my Deco which is a tragedy as they both fitted me so well and for months I went without proper smooth bras which would be invisible under clothing made of thin fabric. However, the amazing folks of Curvy Kate gave me a chance to review their new Starlet which is a lovely peach-shade t-shirt bra with a similar shape to their previously released style Smoothie. I just had to get my hands on the beauty and when it arrived I instantly put it on and tested it for a few days.

Design: As said before, Starlet is very similar to Smoothie, however some bloggers have even preferred Starlet as a better-fitting option. I was very happy with my Smoothies so expectations were quite high! The style turned out to be lovely but a bit different style-wise compared to Smoothie. Starlet feels like the little sister of Smoothie – a bit more girly and fun. It’s a a fun number for everyday use and I absolutely love the mermaid-kind-of look of it! The colour combos have been great as well – especially the red Christmas edition left me drooling. The summer shade of Tigerlilly is very suitable for the season and so flirty with its pink trimmings and a little star on the center gore! The cups also have a nice almost fish-skin-like pattern which even adds up the mermaid-feel of the set.

The shape of the bra is great under clothing. It is very rounded yet natural and doesn’t show any lines under clothing like some other padded styles do. The cups are quite thin for a padded bra which is definitely a plus for so many ladies out there. Also the Starlet gives me a decent cleavage unlike my old Smoothies. It is a great feature since I am a lover of proper cleavage – this bra would make my boobs look pretty awesome in a low-cut shirt!

Fit: Very similar to my Smoothies which means the fit is very close to  perfect. The cup depth is quite good for me and the size 30GG absolutely right as with my other CK styles as well. When I first received the bra I was 99 % sure the cup size would be too big since the bra looked huge. However when I put it on I was happy to note that it was exactly the right size, even with some extra space at the bottom of the cup. This is what I think is the most significant change CK made since releasing Smoothie and getting critique about the fit. For me, this change was not needed and I would have preferred the original fit but as said, the change in the fit has clearly worked out really well for other women and especially more full-on-bottom breasts. The slight folding of the cup at the bottom part doesn’t bother me that much and it’s nothing too noticeable.

Even though Starlet gives me a pretty awesome cleavage it doesn’t make me spill at all from the cups. Therefore I would say it’s still quite a good choice for full-on-top boobs as well. No spillage, no gaping and the wires sit on a almost perfect spot, maybe a tad wider than I need. However, the wires don’t go further than the edge of my armpit which is great regarding how G+ bras tend to have horribly graded wires. The edges of the cups are also placed really nicely on a medium height which means there is not too much spillage towards the armpit nor does the edge of the cup chaff my skin.

The back band feels firm yet comfortably stretchy which is what I prefer at the moment. I have been thinking a lot about the complaints towards stretchier bands recently and have come to the conclusion that in fact 30 should not only stretch to 29″ or 30″ like some do but preferably have a little give to them for comfort reasons. This is where +0 method sometimes goes wrong: if the bands are created to be exactly 30″ they will still feel uncomfortable on a true-30″ ribcage. This is why Curvy Kate never fails me with its sizing: I know that their 30 bands are quite stretchy and suit my bodytype really well (eg I have very prominent ribs that sometimes affect the fit of a bra).

Comfort: Curvy Kate has always managed to be one of my favourite brands because of how comfy their sets are. I can just throw them on and forget that I am actually wearing underwear. The Starlet is a great everyday bra and again, as said before, it has quite a good wire width despite that it’s a G+ bra. If I remember correctly Smoothie had a few problems with the wire width in bigger cup sizes combined with small backs. I can’t say anything about the GG+ versions but mine was beautifully graded so that the wires weren’t digging into my armpits nor my back which is great. Also the materials were smooth and didn’t cause any irritation. The back band has three hook and eyes which is great for weight distribution and relieves the stress on my shoulders and back. It doesn’t dig in either which both comfort- and looks-wise very important.

If I could make a slight improvement to the bra it would be placing the straps closer to each other since, in my size at least, they felt a bit wide-set and as you can see in the pics above, they were chaffing my armpits a bit. However, the straps haven’t fallen off my shoulders a single time because of the material of the straps, so that hasn’t been a problem to me. It’s only when doing “bigger” movements with my arms is when I notice the strap placement. Also the straps are fully-adjustable which is always a plus for more petite women.

This time I went for the thong as a co-ordinate option since I haven’t recently been too keen on trying high-waisted knickers, just for the sake of my body type. I am also trying to learn to use more thongs since they are quite practical under tight clothing and also cause I do feel sexy in them. However, it is very hard to find a thong that would flatter one’s body type and also feel comfortable during the day. I was thrilled when I tried the Starlet thong on cause it truly is a great everyday option eg under tight jeans. I loved how comfy the thong felt and size 8 was definitely the right size for me; no muffin top and also no feeling of the thong rising to high up my butt during the day. A+ plus for panty that’s usually regarded as an uncomfy sexy-time garment!

Overall the set is lovely and a great option for those who love something a bit different for their t-shirt bra choice! The set is available in sizes 28-30 D-J, 32 D-HH, 34 D-H, 36 D-GG and 38D-G, panties in sizes 8-20. I would also love to hear any other experiences about the set so if you have any, please share them in the comment box!

This set was generously gifted by Curvy Kate for review purposes. All opinions are my own.