Cuup vs. Skims: Which brand should you buy? [2026]

Cuup is a modern lingerie brand centered on minimalist design, sustainable materials, and achieving a perfect, supportive fit with an inclusive range of bra sizes. In contrast, Skims, founded by Kim Kardashian, offers a much broader collection of trendy shapewear, loungewear, and intimates, focusing on innovative body-contouring fabrics, an extensive XXS-5X size range, and a wide palette of skin tones.

Let's break down everything you need to know to choose the right intimates brand for your wardrobe and style.

Cuup: The Modern Minimalist for a Perfect Fit

Cuup was founded with the mission to redefine the way women shop for bras by focusing on exceptional fit, quiet luxury, and high-quality materials. The brand is for someone who values long-lasting staples over fleeting trends, seeking supportive, comfortable bras and underwear with an elegant, understated aesthetic.

• Product mix: Cuup specializes in beautifully designed underwire bras, bralettes, and matching underwear. Their collections are tightly edited, focusing on core styles that provide excellent support and shape.
• Price point: Prices are in the mid-to-high range, reflecting their premium construction. Expect to pay between $60 to $80 for a bra and around $20 to $30 for a pair of underwear.
• Quality & Materials: The brand is committed to quality, using durable and sustainable materials like organic cotton, recycled nylon, and modal blends. The construction is meticulous, designed for both comfort and longevity.
• Style & Aesthetic: The look is minimalist, elegant, and timeless. Cuup uses a primarily neutral color palette with sleek silhouettes that work seamlessly under any outfit.
• Fit & Sizing: This is where Cuup shines. They offer an inclusive sizing range for bras from 30A to 44H, and their website provides extensive fit guides to help you find your precise size. Products generally run true to size.
• Sustainability: Cuup makes sustainability a key part of its brand identity, using eco-friendly fabrics and promoting responsible manufacturing with transparency.
• Return policy: The return policy allows for returns of unworn and unwashed items within a specific window, making it easy to try a size.

Cuup is designed for those seeking high-quality, supportive essentials with a perfect fit and a minimalist aesthetic backed by sustainable practices.

Shop Cuup: cuup.com

Skims: The Leader in Inclusive & Trendy Shapewear

Skims has become a household name by offering solutions-oriented shapewear, loungewear, and intimates that celebrate every body type. The brand's core mission is to provide comfortable, flattering, and trend-setting pieces in an unparalleled range of sizes and shades, making it a go-to for modern women who want both function and fashion.

• Product mix: The selection at Skims is vast, featuring shapewear, bras, underwear, bodysuits, loungewear collections, and even swimwear. It's a one-stop-shop for almost all undergarments and cozy wear.
• Price point: Skims is positioned in the mid-range with accessible price points. Bras are typically $32 to $68, and shapewear ranges from $24 to $78. They frequently hold sales that can bring prices down further.
• Quality & Materials: The focus is on innovative, high-performance fabrics. Materials are engineered to be smooth, flexible, and lightly compressive, providing a second-skin feel for seamless shaping.
• Style & Aesthetic: Skims is modern, sleek, and often trend-driven. While they offer core neutrals, the brand is also known for releasing collections in bold, seasonal colors with daring cutouts and finishes.
• Fit & Sizing: Another major strength of Skims is its size inclusivity, which runs from XXS to 5X. The flexible materials are designed to adapt to a range of body shapes and curves.
• Sustainability: Skims has incorporated some sustainable practices, such as using recycled materials and reducing packaging, but it is less central to their brand message compared to Cuup.
• Return policy: Skims offers a straightforward return process, typically with free returns on most items, which encourages trying new styles.

Skims excels at providing trendy, functional, and confidence-boosting shapewear and intimates for a very broad audience seeking variety in color, style, and size.

Shop Skims: skims.com

Cuup vs. Skims Comparison

Price Comparison

Both brands operate in the mid-range market, but with different approaches. Cuup is positioned as a premium basics brand, with bras consistently priced between $60 and $80. You are paying for the specialized fit, high-end materials, and durable construction.

Skims offers a wider variety of price points, with some bras starting as low as $32. The brand also runs site-wide sales and promotions more frequently, particularly around holidays, making their products more accessible for budget-conscious shoppers looking for trendy items. While both are comparable, Skims generally offers more ways to save.

Quality & Materials

Cuup places its emphasis squarely on premium, sustainable materials designed for longevity. The feel is often more substantial, with a clear focus on the quality of the stitching and hardware. If you prioritize eco-friendly fabrics and pieces that hold their shape and support wash after wash, a Cuup bra is a solid investment.

Skims prioritizes fabric innovation that delivers a specific function - smoothing, shaping, or providing a seamless finish. Their "second-skin" materials are lightweight, breathable, and incredibly flexible. While a majority of their items are durable, the focus is more on immediate performance and feel rather than long-term, sustainable construction.

Style & Aesthetic

The style difference is one of the most significant distinctions. Cuup is for the minimalist. Their aesthetic is refined, elegant, and timeless. You won't find flashy logos or overly trendy details - just clean lines and beautiful, simple silhouettes in a sophisticated color palette.

Skims is for the fashion-forward shopper. The brand's aesthetic is modern, bold, and confident. From high-shine finishes to statement-making cutouts and a rotating lineup of seasonal colors, Skims ensures your underwear drawer is as current as the rest of your wardrobe.

Fit & Sizing

Both brands champion inclusive sizing, but they specialize in different areas. Cuup’s strength lies in its precise bra sizing, from 30A to 44H. They offer extensive resources to help you find your "true" size, making them a fantastic choice for anyone who has struggled to find a supportive, comfortable underwire bra.

Skims' strength is in its sheer breadth of sizing, from XXS to 5X. This is particularly noticeable in their shapewear, loungewear, and non-underwire bralettes. Their approach caters to a huge variety of body shapes and proportions, ensuring almost everyone can find something that fits.

Product Selection

Cuup has a very focused product line: beautifully made bras, underwear, and a few sleepwear styles. This niche focus allows them to perfect their core offerings.

Skims, on the other hand, is a lifestyle brand with an extensive catalog. Beyond bras and underwear, you'll find shapewear for all occasions, bodysuits, shorts, T-shirts, loungewear sets, and swimwear. If you enjoy shopping for multiple categories from a single brand, Skims has the clear advantage.

Sustainability & Ethics

For the eco-conscious shopper, Cuup is the stronger choice. Sustainability and transparency are core pillars of their brand ethos. They actively communicate their use of recycled and eco-friendly fabrics and their commitment to responsible manufacturing processes.

Skims has taken steps toward becoming more sustainable, such as using recycled materials in certain collections and reducing packaging. However, as a larger, more trend-driven company, sustainability is not their primary differentiator, and their transparency on production is less comprehensive than Cuup's.

Which One Should You Choose?

The right choice depends entirely on what you prioritize in your intimates and underpinnings. Both brands lead their categories for good reason.

Choose Cuup if:

• You prioritize the absolute best fit, especially for underwire bras in hard-to-find sizes.
• You prefer a timeless, minimalist aesthetic with high-quality, durable fabrics.
• Sustainability and brand transparency are important factors in your purchasing decisions.
• You want to invest in a few go-to pieces that will provide superior support and last for years.

Choose Skims if:

• You're primarily looking for high-performance shapewear or comfortable loungewear.
• You love a wide variety of colors, styles, and options to match your skin tone.
• You need an extensive size range from XXS to 5X and enjoy trendy, fashion-forward pieces.
• You are looking for seamless undergarments that feel like a second skin under fitted clothing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cuup or Skims more expensive?

Generally, Cuup's bras are priced higher on average (around $60-$80) than many of Skims' bras (starting at $32). However, Skims offers more frequent sales, which can make their products more affordable over time.

Which brand has better quality?

It depends on your definition of quality. Cuup excels in long-term durability and the use of premium, sustainable materials. Skims excels in innovative, performance-driven fabrics designed for specific shaping and smoothing effects.

Does Cuup or Skims have better sizing?

Cuup has better and more precise bra-specific sizing, offering an expansive matrix up to a 44H band/cup size for optimal support. Skims has a better overall inclusive size range across its entire product line, running from XXS to 5X.

Which brand is better for larger busts?

Cuup is often preferred by those with larger busts seeking supportive, well-constructed underwire bras, thanks to their specialized sizing and focus on fit engineering.

What is Skims most known for?

Skims is most known for its innovative, comfortable shapewear and its massive range of inclusive sizes and skin-tone colors that have disrupted the industry.

What is Cuup most known for?

Cuup is best known for its minimalist, modern aesthetic and its commitment to helping women find their perfect bra size in a range of simple, elegant styles.

Can you buy Cuup and Skims in stores?

Skims operates primarily online but has recently expanded into high-end department stores like Nordstrom. Cuup is also predominantly direct-to-consumer but can be found at some select retail partners.

Which brand is more sustainable?

Cuup has a much stronger and more central focus on sustainability, from its use of recycled and organic materials to transparent manufacturing practices.

Do Cuup bras run true to size?

Yes, Cuup bras are designed to run true to size. The brand highly encourages customers to use their detailed online sizing guides to ensure they are ordering their correct size for the best possible fit.

Which brand is better for everyday underwear?

This comes down to preference. Cuup is better for premium, minimalist styles made from high-quality cottons and modals. Skims is better if you're looking for incredibly smooth, seamless, and nearly invisible options designed to lay flat under clothes.