Review: What Katie Did Bullet Bra

When Matin and I visited ex-housemate Mohammed last weekend he told me "you've lost loads of weight". I haven't. I've got a new bra.

I didn't want to order one of What Katie Did's vintage repro Harlow bullet bras online, both because of the sizing issue of bras (especially when you get into larger cup sizes), and because I was a little concerned that in larger cup sizes "bullet" might be more like "torpedo". Luckily I got an opportunity to see and try on different sizes in person (as it happened the first size I tried was the right one) when they attended Vintage at Goodwood.

The first thing you notice about this bra is, of course, the shape. In total contrast to push-up, cleavage-enhancing modern bras, the old-time bra designers worked on a principle of "lift and separate". The pointed bullet shape thrusts the mass of the breast forward, rather than spreading it over the chest or allowing it to bulge at the sides. This has the effect, not of giving me the torpedo-boobs I'd feared, but of actually making my breasts appear smaller. Which in turn makes me look slimmer. Which is always a good thing.

The nonelastic bra band stays put exactly where it's meant to, not slipping down - I no longer have any unsightly semicircular underwire marks on my torso at the end of the day (that mark you can see is because I'd been sitting slouched over my computer before taking the pictures). The positioning of the straps is another thing it takes a moment to get used to - they're attached to the centre of the cups, and at the side in the back. The straps of my pretty La Senza bras are very wide-set and tend to slip off my shoulders, but I have no such problems with my Harlow.

What's more, this is probably the most comfortable bra I've ever owned - I'm not even aware of it on. It's peachy colour and smooth lines also make it perfect for wearing under practically anything.

Overall you can probably tell I'm pretty pleased with my bullet bra - so much so that two days after buying my first one I went back to the What Katie Did stall and bought two more, and I've hardly stopped wearing them since!

PS: I have no affiliation with What Katie Did. This is my honest opinion of the bra.