
Welcome back to Underwear Thesis! Today’s highly scientific underwear review is all about Cuup, a brand that’s been requested a TON for this series. This brand is known for their great colors, minimalist modern aesthetic, and self-proclaimed innovation (especially for the Flexiwire underwire in their bras). Tons of people swear by Cuup’s bras, but what about their underwear? Let’s find out!
If you’re new to my Underwear Thesis, I encourage you to read these posts before proceeding:

My Search for The Most Comfortable Underwear
This post is an excellent starting point and lists out ALL of the criteria of this project, including:
- Judging criteria
- Commonly used terms
- My size + body type details
- and a lottt more

What to Look for When Shopping for Underwear
Including:
- Fabric and trim
- Seams and stitching
- Gusset
- Size and fit
- Washability

How to Wash Underwear So It Lasts Longer
Including:
- Delicates bag
- Cold water + gentle cycle
- Detergent
- Fabric softener
- And more!

My Totally Unfiltered Review of Cuup Underwear
Please keep in mind that these are my personal opinions of the product. If you love Cuup underwear, that’s great! I applaud you! But if you’re on the fence about whether to buy them or not, this is what I think you need to know in order to be an informed consumer.
Styles Tried and Price
- The Bikini – modal, leopard, size 3/M – $18
- The Tap – mesh, cerise, size 3/M – $24
- The Tap – modal, clay, size 3/M – $18
- The Highwaist – modal, vine, size 3/M – $18
Fabric Quality + Details
Grade: B–
I definitely preferred the underwear made with modal (which is a synthetic) because it was super-soft against the skin. The gusset in each pair is made of a bamboo blend that is supposedly wicking and antibacterial. Also it’s open at one end, which you know I appreciate! The fabric itself is really, really nice.
The mesh is my least favorite of the fabrics simply because there is a rather stiff trim applied to the edges of the waist and leg openings. Cuup calls it an “ultrasonic line bonding.” I found it to be too stiff and not really that comfortable, nor does it help the underwear to stay in place (which is a selling point they list)! The mesh itself is nice and lightweight, but it’s just not my jam for everyday wear.
The stitching on Cuup underwear is really interesting to me: there is a seam up the back of each pair. I suspect this is there to accentuate your butt’s silhouette. To me, it’s totally unnecessary and actually somewhat uncomfortable because there’s a bulky seam in my butt crack. COOL.


Manufacturing Quality
Grade: C-
Given how nice the fabrics are, I had high hopes for the construction of the underwear from Cuup. And was a bit disappointed, especially given the pricepoint for each pair. Not only did the underwear arrive with loose threads, the stitching on the highwaist style became loose after just one washing!
I know I’ve already complained about the butt crack stitching (as I love to refer to it), but I found it especially egregious after a few wearings. The intersection of that seam plus the stitching at the bottom of the waist band especially creates a weak point. This then pulls the fabric and creates a small hole which I imagine will only get worse with more and more wear.
Ethical Practices and Sustainability
Grade: D
I found absolutely no mention of any sustainability practices on their website, so that’s disappointing. Additionally, I have loads of questions about their factories yet no answers. I understand that their whole M.O. is innovative fabrics. However, it is very much possible to create innovative fabrics while also being sustainable and paying a fair living wage to those making the product.

Inclusivity
Grade: C-
When it comes to inclusivity, I’m a bit confused. Their social channels show more of a range of skintones and sizes, but the product pages don’t. I found it incredibly difficult to figure out my size based on the product photos because it all looks to be the same model, yet each product page says “Molly is wearing a 6 (XL)” or something similar… yet the bodies all look the same. Then, when I continued scrolling down the page, there’s a “styling tip” listed which features a rail-thin white woman. None of those images were helpful in seeing how their styles would work on my body type! The ‘find my size’ feature of the site only applies to bras, so you’re left to rely on their standard issue size chart.
The only reason I didn’t give Cuup a D grade is because their size range goes from XS to XXXL, which to me, is the bare minimum a brand should offer.

Washability
Grade: C
As I mentioned before, my very first washing loosed some seams which is shocking especially given that this is an $18 pair of underwear. Even my cheapy Auden undies didn’t do that! The mesh washed infinitely better and still looks brand new after a few washings. Meanwhile, the modal looks wrinkly and almost saggy.


Fit & Comfort
Grade: F
Sigh… I HAD SUCH HIGH HOPES… and then hated the fit of every single pair that I ordered. First of all, The Bikini was a hard no. I tried it on and immediately knew I would never wear them because they were so skimpy. I wanted to return them, but they are not returnable. I ended up washing the bikini panties and wore them for one day, all in the name of science. It was a very long day, full of wedgies.
The Tap was equally disappointing because it is considered their most full-coverage pair of underwear. I probably should have known I wouldn’t love it because the product description also mentioned that it’s a “cheeky” style, meaning that its highly likely my butt would hang out… and it does. Which then equals a quick trip to Wedgie City, my least favorite place.
The fit of The Highwaist was the least horrible, but still not great. The modal made the underwear floppy which I believe is a result of how lightweight the fabric is. The underwear did not stay in place, at all. And by the end of the day, the butt was saggy.
And lastly, my biggest complain about the fit of Cuup underwear is that the crotch is pretty narrow. I didn’t feel like I got the coverage I wanted — and I’m sure you can imagine how uncomfortable it is to get a wedgie in that region as well. Not great.

Overall thoughts
Grade: D
As much as I enjoy how soft the modal is, I don’t think it’s the right material to use for panties. For a bra, yes. But I’m very curious to see how long any of these pairs last with regular wearing. As you can tell from the photos, they are already wonky, wrinkly, and worn looking! And I took these photos after having washed them once.
My advice? Save your money and buy something else from the other brands I recommend… I was NOT impressed with Cuup’s underwear, especially given how many people love their bras. I do love the handfeel of their fabrics and how soft they are. But at the end of the day, there is wayyy better that is also more affordable, more sustainably made, and more inclusive.
Ready for even more Underwear Thesis reviews?? Catch up on my previous reviews:

ARQ Underwear Review
When I first started this project, I posted to Instagram asking for recommendations of underwear you love… and if there was one overwhelming response, it was ARQ! So many people said that ARQ is their holy grail, most favorite underwear of all time… and WELL worth the higher price tag. So, naturally I needed to order a few pairs and work on an ARQ review! After a few months of washing, wearing, and generally being the picky nerd that I am, I’m finally ready to share my review. Let’s dig in!

Patagonia Underwear Review
For this series, I am pretty much exclusively focused on cotton and natural fiber underwear. But I received so many requests to review Patagonia underwear that I knew I had to include it in my Underwear Thesis! As a rock climber and avid hiker, having good athletic underwear is important to me. Plus, I’ve always been a fan of their sustainability efforts. So because of that (and a few more reasons I’ll get into), I made an exception. Let’s dig into the latest installment of Underwear Thesis: my Patagonia underwear review!

THUNDERPANTS UNDERWEAR REVIEW
Wow, it’s the last day of Underwear Thesis… where did the week go?? I hope you’re loving the reviews and learning a ton. As this series evolves, I want to incorporate more small businesses who are entering into the underwear game and today’s review is a great example. Today we’re breaking down the details of my full Thunderpants underwear review — this is my most requested brand to check out, btw!

PACT UNDERWEAR REVIEW
Here’s the thing about reviewing different pairs of underwear: you can only get so creative with the photography! But seriously, I am running out of ways to photograph underwear. Anyways, this week’s Underwear Thesis review is all about Pact, an organic clothing company. I think they are most known for their super soft organic basics. They definitely have a loyal fanbase and I got tons of requests to try them out because I think a lot of people curious! So if you’re in that group, keep reading to get the full scoop of my Pact review.

Parade Underwear Review
Ooooh boy. I have put off publishing this underwear review as long as I could, but it’s time. I need to put on my big girl panties (pun very much intended) and share my unfiltered review of Parade underwear. You might be wondering why I’ve put off this review for so long… and it’s because I was majorly disappointed. I probably should wait until the end of the post to say that, but I just needed to address the elephant in the room! Let’s dig into all of the details about why I did not like Parade’s underwear, shall we?

What do you think of this Cuup underwear review?? Leave a comment and let me know!