A Critical Look at Katherine Hamilton's New Designs

I saw this discussion on Reddit's ABTF forum, New Katherine Hamilton Designs Available for Pre-Order so I clicked on the link to the KH page. 

Stepping onto soap box:  Who is this bra designed for? https://katherinehamilton.com/angela-boysenberry-plunge-bra/ Mark my words: this design isn't going to work for the vast majority of her target audience (small-to-medium band/medium bust size), and I can tell just by the way it looks! 

We have been down this path before, in my opinion KH chooses the easiest people to design bras for (small-to-medium sized bands, with medium size bust). The truly large cup sizes, such as J, K, L, etc. are where the real challenge is! 26HH is really like 28H, since her own website says to "size down" in the band. (unless I misunderstand her) which is the same volume as 30GG...okay, it's getting to be "bigger" but not the biggest challenge.  Her bras are also wildly inaccurate for sizing, reportedly 2 or 3 cup sizes too small sometimes, and for a "luxury brand," that's just not acceptable. At those prices, they should fit *true to size.*

1. Cup shape: it looks very shallow. So, it's not for people with projected breasts. In other words, the most common shape in the size range KH offers. (disclaimer: I understand that people in DD+ cups can occasionally typed with "shallow breasts," but it is uncommon.) This is available 26DD - 32HH, 34D-34H, 36D-36G. Although KH sizes are wildly inaccurate, so who knows what the actual size range is. 

2. The gore. Ugh!!! Again, this would only be for people with shallow, wide-set breasts. The gore looks very stabby. I'm calling it now: this is going to be a terrible fit. Mark my words!

3. The design aesthetic. This design has been done so many times, I was just pursuing Ebay, and I found this retailer selling the Freya Icon for GBP 13.99

Okay, it's not in silk, but it's the exact same design. Here you can see the price. Again, not in silk, but the KH Angela is more than 9x the price of the Freya Icon, sooooooo....you do want to be able to spoil your grandkids one day, don't you? Lol...

I actually kind of want a Freya Icon, now that I look at it. It looks kind of cool for summer! 

Moving on, the Simon Rose Balcony Bra. $118 cad, no included taxes/shipping. 

Edit: 6/29/21 I just saw this on the Insta, has this bra been done how many times??? 

This is Hot Milk's version of the same bra, which is a nursing bra. 

Is this not the same thing as the Hot Milk Temptation Bra?

Okay, I'm curious to see the fit on this thing. It doesn't look super projected at all. The first thing it reminded me of is the Panache Envy Balconette Bra, which is known to be good for "projected and even" types (although tbh, I am "projected and FOB" and the cups did fit well for me, the gore on the Envy, not so much). You can see - in pink - how closely the Panache Envy imitates the Simone Rose bra from KH, or is it just me? 

Here is a photo of the Panache Envy in pink from Bratabase, you can see how the KH bra is basically a dead rip off! 

I think it's overpriced at $96.04 usd. Isn't just essentially the Panache Envy? 

Okay, I just found the above listing from Belle-Lingerie's Ebay store for 30.60 British pounds. Less than half price! Btw. Belle-Lingerie and Other Eden (and other Ebay stores with good ratings) are amazing resources for us Canadians, as we don't have some of the good deals that Americans get on amazon, etc for UK brands. I would say the Panache Envy is a pretty solid bra. $53 cad, it is what it is! It's not my brand, or anything...

In summary, let's avoid the pink tax! I'm not convinced that the brand Katherine Hamilton lives up to the hype. 

1) Just because something is expensive does not mean that is is good quality. Especially a new brand like KH. In my opinion, she is 10/10 in the marketing department, 2/10 in all other categories including fit and aesthetics. Quality? Well, how can I judge, I've never owned one. That being said, I've never seen these bras fit anyone IRL, so that's why I would mark her down in the quality department. Sure, she has some airbrushed photos on her marketing pages, but I'm not convinced that her new Simone Rose Balcony Bra is any better quality than the Panache Envy, but we shall see. 

Although I would say with the Simone Rose Balcony Bra, it is the step in the right direction at least, but at the same time, it's a complete rip off of the Panache Envy, especially when you see it in pink. 

2) You might be able to find the same, if not better if you know where to shop: meaning, if you know what are the quality brands, and if you shop around. 

Lastly, I just was pursuing her instagram. I have a lot to criticize on her Insta actually, but we'll start here, https://www.instagram.com/p/CNcCW5SnmLk/  If you go to the link, this is a fit issue I've noticed with Katherine Hamilton. The boobs are *down* It's not flattering. Outside of an airbrushed photoshoot, I've not seen them fit. 

So, the gore doesn't tack and the boobs are *down*. People will say "Just go up a cup size," however that will not solve the issue, because it does not fit well the next size up either, lol. Then you just have gaping! See this picture below from Wen and notice the gaping at the top of the cup. (I've seen the gaping in other pictures as well, but I will not post them as they weren't on blogs). 

In my opinion, you can see gaping at the top of all of these pics https://comicsgirlsneedbras.com/2018/10/02/katherine-hamilton-abbie-review-30g-uk10/ although the gore does look better on Wen, I will give her that. Hard to tell b/c of the shadows though...

So, in summary, Kady's a businesswoman, she's not a designer, and it shows in her designs! Her marketing is excellent, but it doesn't make up for a sub-par product. Not unlike Lara Intimates, she goes after the underserved 26-band market, and charges extortionate prices. 

Okay, here's another picture. At first glace, I thought, "Oh, this looks good on her..."

On second glace, WTH is with that gore? You can see it's going right into breast tissue PAINFULLY I'm sure. This bra is unwearable on this woman - unless she wants permanent scarring! 

This reminds me of this conversation yesterday, on redditer writes, "If KH bras hurt my breastbones extremely badly does that mean I have a wide root?" Another redditer responds, "...I can't wear my KH bra for more than half an hour because the high gore stabs me so badly." Convo here

The gore hurts you "extremely badly?" "I can't wear my KH bra for more than half an hour..."? Not exactly luxury, is it? Sounds like a rip off...
If you can only wear KH bra for half an hour (so, it would probably be a situation like the above instagram picture), there's a lot cheaper bras that you could buy. 

I'm just out, ladies, I'm out...It's not luxury, it's not pretty, it doesn't fit...why do you purchase these? Better are constructed elsewhere.