This bra is a second-generation Inspire, released in 2013. It is supposed to be the same as the original Inspire but with the slider on the straps corrected.

In addition to this bra, I tried the 32H and the 36G. I wrote a description of the bra itself as part of the review for the 36G: http://bra.pe/RCH5/ so I won't go over the same material but will instead just talk about how this bra fits me.

The straps do adjust short enough, but I have them as short as possible already. The wire width is fairly good for me but I do have some wrinkling in the bottom of the cups, most likely due to the bra not having as much immediate projection as I require. The fit in the cups is pretty much the same as what I got from the 32H and the 36G. Here is a comparison with the 32H: http://www.bratabase.com/compare/dhnz7/

The bra gives a much better shape than I would expect from a sports bra. Maybe it is a little bit torpedo, but it's quite lifted. I don't expect to look good while I'm working out, but it's nice to have a slightly less hideous shape from a sports bra. From the side, it actually looks like a normal bra. I've taken pictures wearing a white t-shirt and the 32H bra: http://www.bratabase.com/browse/bravissimo/inspire-sports-au27/32H/

The bra does not go high enough to contain the upper part of my breast. You only see a hint that the top is cutting into breast tissue unless I lift my breasts up with my hands, as I have done in one of the pictures, when the tissue becomes visible. In a filmed bounce test, I found the bra quite good when I was jumping, much better than any other bra I have tried. If all my breast tissue were contained it would be perfect, but instead I have about 4 cm of breast tissue 'quadboob' bouncing above the top of the cup. For any woman with tall breasts this will probably be an issue. The tissue at the top of my breasts is not very thick, so you can only slightly see the top cutting in. In the picture I've included, I am lifting up the bra slightly to demonstrate what breast tissue bounces in the bra. It looks like this at the upward part of my bounce test.

Some of my breast tissue also escapes into the armpit. I think this is due to cut. I have the old version of the Inspire bra in one cup size larger and I do not think a larger size helps contain either the top or the side breast that is escaping. I would go with your usual cup size in this bra. For the band size I would round down rather than up, but not go down a size.

Despite the problems I have with this bra, it is by far the best sports bra I have tried. Here are my other sports bra reviews.

Freya Active: http://bra.pe/RBY8/
Shock Absorber: http://bra.pe/RBPf/ and http://bra.pe/RBPe/
Elomi Energise: http://bra.pe/RCB9/
Panache Sport: http://bra.pe/RBPg/

If I could get the coverage of the Panache (which goes up to my collarbone and gets all the side tissue) with the support of the Inspire, I think I'd be completely satisfied!

Updated on May 20, 2013 Flag this

• Show all comments (13)
• Branarchist - When it's approved, this review includes a picture of a sports bra cutting into my top 'tail'. Is this similar to what you have?

  prettyNpetite - Maybe this sports bra would work for you? We do have different shapes, so maybe not, but like you, I've tried just about everything else.

• Thank you for pinging me! Excellent review, very helpful! I'm getting more and more into the thought of ordering the Bravissimo Inspire and trying it out. Usually I think that it's best to order several sizes at once just to try it on, but since you said that you should rather round down than up in this... Maybe a 28F would be a fairly safe bet? I'm somewhere between a 28F and a 28FF, it seems to vary quite evenly. I would say though... I'm much closer to a 28F than a 28G. I am very hesitant that it'll be high enough for me because my boobs attach *very* high up. They don't even attach under my collarbones, they attach ON IT. They're actually so high up that I catch people's glimpses when I'm leaning back in the chair at school and looking down at my cellphone screen, it looks like a head rest, lol. The very best would be finding a bra that's tall enough to begin with, but I'm opening up to the thought that I'll have to complement a normal supportive sports bra with a smash-down crop top, crop tops aren't very supportive for the majority of the breast tissue as it's relatively heavy, but for the last top bit bouncing around... I'm thinking it could work :) It feels kinda bad though that I'll have to resort to that... There should be sports bras specifically aimed for those who need ultra-high coverage too.

• prettyNpetite - I would round down on the band if you can, and go with your usual cup size.

  I can already say that the straps will be too long for you. They widen over the shoulders, so there is a limited range of adjustment. I've got them as short as possible and they just fit me. My breasts start somewhat low but go up all the way to my collarbone, so I probably need much longer straps than you do despite being close to your height. I expect if your breasts are tall you'll have the same issues with the top bit of tissue bouncing. For me it is better to have 6 cm of thin tissue bouncing than my entire breast bouncing, which is what happens to me in other sports bras. When my pictures are approved, look at the one I took of my collarbone.

  I'm wondering if I could bandage down the top of my breast tissue. It is a shame that sports bras aren't made for those of us with tall breasts. The Panache bra is the only one I know of that goes all the way up on me, but I get too much bounce in it. I already asked Bravissimo to make the Inspire higher several times, but I'm only one person.

  I mostly recommended this because it holds me almost motionless and none of the other standbys did (at least for the tissue that fits in the cup). So in some way it is different from many of the others, and if you're in luck, maybe it will be different in a way that works for you.

• I don't quite get what you mean by "My breasts start somewhat low but go up all the way to my collarbone" ? Kinda contradicting. Hmm... Do you mean that you lack fullness in the upper part of your breast tissue, but that you still would like higher coverage since you do have upper tissue that isn't being contained? Here's a picture for comparison, me in the Panache sports bra in 28F: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AQrkop138bg/UUDinyIPhxI/AAAAAAAAAKM/mKahYJvsyFg/s1600/Bild+2013-03-06+kl.+00.02.jpg

  Here's the blog post if you're further interested in how it fit me: http://prettynpetitej.blogspot.se/2013/03/panache-sports-bra-in-28f.html

  Quite obviously, the breast tissue I have on top is firm. It is by no means soft or saggy. Of course they don't *look* that firm when braless, gravity plays a great deal. Here's two outlines of myself when braless: http://imgur.com/a/dMzhe#0 like you can see, my boobs are very perky, and that in combination with the fact that my boobs attach on my collarbones... Yeah, that explains the severity of my problem with too low necklines in sports bras. Would you say that your top tissue is different from mine or is this the kinda degree of top overflow you get as well?

  Thanks for the heads up about the too long straps. How tall are you btw? I'm 5 feet (152 cm), could be interesting to know when I see you reviewing new bras :)

• I wasn't very clear at all - I was starting at the bottom and working up. So: the bulk of my breast tissue is fairly low, but my breasts continue quite a bit above where they appear to end. I have about 12 cm of obviously projected breast, and then above that another 6 cm or so that looks flat but is actually breast tissue. It's not a problem in regular bras, and I even wear FoB style bras without getting quadboob, but it becomes a problem in sports bras.

  The Panache went higher on me. It just didn't work for other reasons. Looking at you in the Panache, there's no way the Inspire will hold in the top of your breasts. I would only suggest you try it if the other bras are also failing you on bounce.

  I'm 160 cm, but I rarely have the typical issues that shorter people have with bras, probably because they are low set (or at least appear low set, if you discount the top 1/3).

  Branarchist and I have been discussing this in a few of her adventures. I need to do a drawing of my shape to make it easier to discuss. I think I have less upper fullness than you do, though.

• :( ... *sad face* I don't know what to do :( I need a friggin' sports bra! And I need a bra that contains my upper tissue as well because it hurts! :( I've tried the Freya Active in 30D, 30DD and 28DD, obviously the wrong sizes, but they didn't seem catastrophically low cut... I'm guessing the Inspire is cut higher than the Freya. I'm thinking about getting a sports bra that fits the majority of my boobs and then wear a really smushing crop top on top. I'm hoping that'll work... It's hard to find a crop top that fits though, I need a much larger size to accomodate my chest and then it doesn't even come close to hugging my ribs. Do you think it'd be possible to alter one of those crop tops? Take out the elastic in the bottom, cut it shorter and sew it back?

• I'm absolutely not a seamstress, but I was also thinking of making a sort of 'cami' that could attach to the straps of a sports bra, which would be made of tight elastic to press on the breast tissue on top.

• That's a clever idea too actually, if you just want to wear one bra. Could work great and actually look quite well if you get a fabric with the same color.

  I'm still thinking about doing it the way I said it because that way I'd probably eliminate any chances of nipples poking through :) Great alternative though, I'll keep that in mind if I get fed up with wearing two bras at once.

• Pictures have been approved, so you can now see the bit of top breast I'm talking about in the pictures for this bra.

• Yeah I saw that. It seems to me that my boobs are relatively taller than yours. Yikes, I'm starting to wonder if I'm the woman with the most relatively high-set boobs haha

• on Bratabase, that is.

• 2

  I'm going to move this to an adventure - I think people may get bored otherwise, when they come here some time in the future!

• Resumed here: http://www.bratabase.com/profile/2j/adventures/1547/

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