Have you had your bra-size meausured recently? With up to 85% of us women squeezed/engulfed in the wrong size, it’s worth checking out your stats. I mean, just imagine my delight when my ‘nothing to write home about’ Cs were transformed into curvalicious DDs which meant I could review for Curvy Kate!..

INDEPENDENT REVIEW: You may know that over the summer I reviewed a Curvy Kate bikini (I took it on holiday to Turkey and put it through a pretty rigorous review process). What you didn’t know was that when the Rio Ruffle was kayaking, fluming and hoisting up an anchor I was busy putting some lingerie to test too.

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t just get sent a random piece of lingerie in the post to try out. Before sending Curvy Kate PR Cheryl insisted that I measure myself and input the details onto the Sophisticated Pair bra calculator. My results confirmed a department store measurement of 32DD.

Passing the test of having big enough bangers to fill out a Curvy Kate (they cater for women with D-K cups) I was sent a beautiful, ‘Lottie Lavender Coral’ balconette bra and short set to try. On receiving the lingerie my first impressions were that it immediately stood out from the ‘seen-better-days’ collection that inhabited my knicker drawer. The colours were very vivid and it looked like the kind of lingerie you’d want people to see drying on your line.

Of course looking great is one thing but that’s not enough. Fortunately when I tried on the bra it fitted like a glove, well a bra really, but you know what I mean. What I hadn’t noticed (I had been distracted by the embroidery, sheer mesh and ribbon bow) was that underneath all the prettiness was a properly functioning bra. It had underwiring, a strengthened cup (which I definitely need), strong stitching, a double clasp and supportive, adjustable straps.

The good thing is that don’t need to ask anyone else’s opinion when you try on a bra that fits. You can immediately tell that your boobs look and feel like they’re in the right place. In my case, post breast-feeding (yonks ago now) this can mean that they’ve sometimes got a long way to travel to find their starting point. In this instance mine had travelled north and were looking decidedly perkier for it. It’s like the kind of thing Gok Wan is always spouting on about – a well fitting bra does wonders not only for your bust but for your middle – it creates one! Wearing Lottie I had more definition between bust and waist and knowing that gave me a confidence boost.

The knickers, which were shorts style, were also very pretty but wearable. They had all the embroidery and bow detailing of the bra. One little design idea which I liked was the split at the thigh. This is great for curvy girls, allowing them to embrace their hourglass shapes in a sexy pair of knickers whilst still feeling comfortable.

For any of you lucky enough to have the curves to fit, I’ve had a snoop around on the Curvy Kate site and can see they’ve got some gorgeous looking lingerie for A/W 2012 and S/S 2013 which is available to buy either online or in store. I’ve also got some great news for you – Curvy Kate have just brought out the World’s first t-shirt bra that goes all the way up to a J cup. Result!