Wire distortion » All bra adventures

Wire distortion

I've been having some trouble figuring out the cup width that I need and what band size works best. Obviously that's dependent on the brand, but what I've found has me a little puzzled. So far the most comfortable and flattering bra that I've found is the Panache Envy Balconnet Bra (7285) in size 32K. I'm in love. It feels sturdy, doesn't hurt my boobs most of the time, the cups are really roomy, the stretch lace is amazing, there's almost enough projection at the wire, and while the wires are very hard and thick, they don't hurt me. The gore is slightly too wide and I'm thinking about learning how to take it in, but other than that, I'm happy, and it's so close to tacking. It's the bra that I keep reaching for, and I have to keep reminding myself not to wear it every day to give it a break between wears.

However, my dilemma is this: I've noticed extra space in the cups on the sides. They don't gape at all, but rather they're kind of flat across my side. It's not a problem, mostly, except that the ends of the wires end up about an inch past my breast tissue on my sides, and I suspect this may be why I sometimes struggle to keep it in my IMF and end up adjusting it. It also kind of forces my breasts to the sides slightly and I end up with a crease below the tail of Spence where my breast starts to try to fold back on itself because it can't squish anymore, so it tries to go to the side. I suspect that that would happen much less with a more closely-fitting wire. I've been measuring my breast root over and over and measuring the cup, but I finally juggled one boob into a cup with the bra off just to see how it really fit the cup, and it fit perfectly, with enough projection and without squishing, and! The wire came to just behind my boob!

I've been thinking that 7.5" was about an inch too wide for me, since that's what the cup measures unworn, but when it's not stretched across my entire chest, 7.5" is EXACTLY the right width. And the wire goes straight up, making a U, instead of curving back like a V. I very carefully measured again with the bra on properly and they're stretching all the way back to 8.5" when worn--an inch too wide, just like I thought, but for a totally different reason. Because of the wire distortion pulling the cup flatter (and thus shallower), I'm losing projection at the wire, which pushes the bra down, and so I sometimes get quadding instead and I get that weird side fold. I honestly wondered if the cup was too big and I'd just sized up for depth, but no, the cup volume is correct and the shape of the cups themselves is good. The wire distortion just changes the shape of the cup so much.

I'm going to get some pliers and try to bend the wires slightly, since when I try this with both cups on but the bra unhooked, the length of both wires combined is just wider than my ribcage, and so without the band holding everything in place against me, the gore actually tries to fold out. I think part of the problem is that the wires twist so they can stay flat but still want to anchor to something, so they turn and wrap around my side, and this pushes the ends of the wires farther apart.

I'm hoping this solves it, but I worry that the band might be part of the problem. I'm wearing the 32K now and it's incredibly comfortable and doesn't dig in at all, but I actually needed it on the last hook even brand new. I'd actually like to try the 30 band, to be honest, since there's still a little movement and I do notice some pulling on my shoulders the more times I wear it, but there's no 30KK to sister size into, and I don't want to lose cup volume. I'm hoping that the band size isn't distorting the wires because I really can't go up in the band, it doesn't feel like it's straining at all, and it's so comfortable (despite the riding up when it's not on the last hook). I tried this in a 34K and the band was comically large. When I wear the 32 on the first hook, I get a lot of movement, can pull the bra pretty far away at the back and front, and get way less support (and even gore tilting). And if it's sitting flat and not digging in anywhere and I don't struggle to hook it, I don't really understand how the band could be small enough to distort the wires. And yet it's happening.

If it weren't for the wire distortion, this would be literally the perfect bra for me. Honestly, I've noticed this with all of my bras. The wires start in a U shape and when I wear the bras, the ends of the wires point back instead of up, and I end up with unfilled cup at the sides. Does wire distortion always mean that the band is too tight? Am I just going to have to compromise between band support and cup shape?

Filed under Bras ups and downs

Shared on Mar 04, 2021 Flag this