My first Cleo Marcie. I have a couple of fit questions, so I'm posting this as an adventure. But first, the pros and cons.

Pros: a shade of orange I like! It isn't too loose on the side between the band and shoulder strap, like my default Freyas. No foam, yay! Bare Necessities sale ftw!

Cons: lace on the smaller boob is gaping, which is inevitable but drives me crazy.

How I'm shaped: I'm super-petite. My breasts are proportionately short but also have wide roots that extend under my armpits, very splayed east-west, projected, kind of close together (one finger, not two), FOB, kind of empty on top, with broad shoulders and a bony chest. My default bra of the last several months is a Freya Ooh La La in 28DD. So comfy, but it gaps slightly on the sides between band and shoulder strap and I tend to quad over the gore.

Questions:
1. Okay, first, the gore was not lying flat at first. It was laying against one breast or the other, as you can see in the cleavage shot. Then after a few minutes of wear, the gore folded evenly into my cleavage, with one wire on each side of the vertical fold. I guess the good thing is I'm not quadding over the gore in this bra? Should I be looking for low-gore bras? And are there any that meet my other shape needs?

2. As you can see in the angle and side view, there's a ton of mammary tissue on the sides of my breasts, but only up high, above the line of the nipple. Where should I be putting the tape measure in the cup depth/sternum-across-the-nip-to-ribs measurement? At nipple-level, I hit ribs an inch or more before I do if I'm measuring higher up. Any advice? I've noticed I get wildly different Bratabase recommendations depending on where I measure, but basically I just don't know how to match my shape.

Thanks!

Tangerine colorway

Updated on Mar 01, 2017 Flag this

• I think that looks pretty good on you! The marcie lace usually was loose on my smaller side, too, but never showed under clothes, so I didnt worry.

  and i cant answer about recommendations, those never worked for me

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  As far as the measurements go, the breast tissue up high sounds like your tail of spence, aka the part of your breast that attaches to your shoulder muscle. It's normal to not have that inside your bra.

  If, however, you have breast tissue in your actual armpit that's being bisected by the wires, the hard wires of your Marcie will hurt over time. Wear the bra for a couple minutes, then take it off and push your breast (bigger side) against your chest. Does it look like the wire follows the edge of your tissue on the side? You should be able to see a line on the outside of your breasttissue. If it's overlapping your tissue you need a wider wire. Also, that's what you should measure, at the nipple line. If you scroll to the bottom of Renzilla's page here you should be able to see her wire marks around her breast tissue to see what I'm talking about: https://themusingsofrenzilla.wordpress.com/2017/02/28/cleo-juna-34dd-alterations/

• Basically, if it doesn't hurt, don't fix it. There are always exceptions to every rule, but in most healthy people, pain means problem and no pain means no problem. Try a narrower or shorter gore if you like, but it sounds like you have firm tissue. If your tissue can push Cleo wires around, it should be fine .... unless it hurts!

  If you like Marcie, but don't like the gaping lace, try Cleo Hettie Balconnet Bra (9011) which is Marcie with stretch lace.

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  dbmamaz thanks!

  cupandahalf Oh, wow, that is super-helpful! Thank you! (I just spent an age following links and going through the Bratabase cup depth charts in two of my sizes. So much great data!) In my case, the top of the wires are poking into tail of spence-adjacent tissue, but it isn't bad enough to hurt. It would if the wires were any narrower, but I think the Marcie will work for me.

  maddy2596 Thank you! That's kind of where I'm at: the ends of the wires poke at the side tissue somewhat, but not enough to bother me -- at least on a regular, non-PMS day. Thanks also for the advice re Hettie!

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