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Wires distort when cups are too deep?
I have been thinking about this a lot. Since I've come closer and closer to the K-cup barrier, I was also considering sister size up in bras to get more options. Sadly I came to the conclusion that sizing up does not work in most cases or just cause other fit issues. Then if the cups are suddenly too deep, the bra starts lacking support. I already had this issues with Bravissimo balconettes that I tried 7-8 months ago, but I couldn't solve the mystery until now.
I will analyze the fit issues of several bras of mine. Side pics of them:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/9377318782/
36J - Cleo » Marcie (6831) :
I tried 3 sizes of it and none fitted me correctly. The fit issues were rather similar in all 3 bras but got worse the more I sized up.
The last one I tried was a 36J (in which I sister sized up to get a cup volume of a 32K) and it didn't worked out: it gave me a good shape, but that's the only positive thing I can say. Overall the bra (band and wires) did almost nothing for my boobs and most weight was on the straps! I felt no support from the center gore, straps are too separated and the wires on the side did also nothing to me (because they are too low):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/9300763522/in/set-72157634666270000
Also there is some slight “gaping” on top!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/9309250354/in/set-72157634666270000
An issue I hadn't seen since ages, since I'm used to have every bra cut in on top!
After a while of thinking I solved the mystery why 36J didn't worked for me: too deep cups! Marcie has tons of cup depth actually and tons of room on top.
If one sizes up too much, the bra will give no support because boobs just hang in there in their "natural" shape. No compression or shaping of boobs happens anymore. Boobs project like crazy. The narrow band cannot hold the weight. So all weight is on the straps and they have razor sharp edges that cut into the flesh.
34JJ - Elomi » Caitlyn Underwire Side Support (8030) :
This bra is quite comfy although there are tons of fit issues.
The wires are super wide and extended to my back and the gore floats. Those wires are super weak and distort like crazy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/9272315722/in/set-72157634614085984
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/9269533315/in/set-72157634614085984
Caitlyn was known to be the one with the most stable wires out of Elomi bras...
It's commonly said that wires distort, when a band is too tight.The 34 band of Caitlyn is not too tight on me. Neither is the 36 band of the Marcie. So can wire distortion only be caused by a too tight band? I don't think so.
Bravissimo Balconettes:
Last winter when I was a 30J in Panache / Cleo, I bought my first Bravissimo bras and was quite impressed by their stable construction. Warned by reviews that they run small and that they tend to have super tight top sections, I sized up 1-3 cups in the bras I tried.
I got a good fit (so I thought then) and wore Alana in 30K and Boudoir Beau 30JJ.
Several problems did show up later (of course only then when I already removes tags and decided to keep the bras – because bras are just evil like that) , pointy shape, bands gave not enough support, wires distorted, top edges still cut in, too much weight on straps, breast tissue escaped on the side.
At that time I got a 30JJ Tango and it fitted me quite well. Tangos wires were compared to a Beau much higher and did not distort:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/9358172996/in/set-72157634777304190
I tried more Bravissimo bras in even bigger cup sizes and got super weird results until I finally gave up on them:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/9355383919/in/set-72157634777304190/
Now I think I finally solved the mystery why they didn't work on me: too much cup depth where I don't needed it!
A 30K Alana had too much cup depth which caused the wires to distort. 32K Fleur wasn't much better and only gave a decent shape when straps were tightened to the max, which gave me immediate neck pain.
I might would wear a 32L or 34KK these days in Bravissimo but I don't think these bras would fit me at all. Bravissimo bras are just not made for my full on top – center heavy boobs.
There are only 2 options with them: get your usual size and quadboob or size up like madness and get above described issues with them.
Did you experience similar issues? Does sizing up in band to get the cup volume you need work for you?
Filed under Bras ups and downs
8 comments
Yup, same for me, and it's a new way of describing "reversed letterphobia" as sizing up in something one is incompatible with instead of sizing up because the band is too tight. And I actually think this reason is more common than being in too tight bands. I've realized I will more or less always be in between sizes and from now on I tend to go with the smaller one.
I want to ping @George on this adventure because I think it fills out the gap between German bra fitting and say http://sizemapp.com (which is now the number one calculator in Bratabase bra fitting) because the differences isn't that big in the end. And what it comes down to is finding out the shape of the bra most compatible with ones boobs? Because if we have a lot of fit issues it isn't that easy to find a good bra.
I think it's so easy to get lost into bra fitting by seeing the same fit issue everywhere when it is so much more diverse and individual.
I also like to ping @t_maia and @denocte since I know you're also active busenfreundinnen :) Oh and @Vee since sizemapp is her calculator.
On me band size plays a very little role in the slanting wires ordeal and on say @Jillsas it seems to play a bigger? :)
Also ping @rawrrawr here when I'm at it.
This suddenly makes sense! While I haven't actually managed to do what you've done and put on cups which are deeper than my breast perimeter, it does explain a lot of fit issues I've been having.
The depth of the cups is distributed in the wrong way for frame/bust shape, so we end up taking bigger and bigger sizes to not have bras cut in at the top, and in this process, the wires get wider and wider, so weird things start to happen. This probably also explains why I've been wanting really tight bands, to counteract the weird forces that the bra experiences.
I just feel like bras haven't really been designed for J+ breasts at all, so while we can have lifting boob covers, the actual forces that the bras and our bodies experience aren't quite right.
I feel like there's a need for incredibly strong wires which don't distort too much, as even in apparently super tough bras like Panache, I still get wrapping around my body which ruins the shape of the cups.
Still, when it comes to the choice of having the 'right' size, and having the bra cut in because angling it up on my shoulders closes off the cups or having the 'wrong' size which is too large and not having quadboob, I'd lean to the 'wrong' size every time. I'm not sure if that's right any more. It seems be taking a massive toll on my frame. I can't wear a bra these days for more than about 30 minutes without breaking skin. Am I better off to put up with the bra cutting in? Will that fix some of the issues I'm experiencing with forces on my body creating pressure sores? I don't really know. Bra fit seems to be unnecessarily stressful for me at present.
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