I have finally found a band that is firm enough to not roll in the back when I sit down. Yay!

However, I'm not sure the cup width is right for me. I'm having a lot of trouble determining my breast root width is. I have pushed on my breast tissue to see if I could find any definition of where my breast tissue ends and my underarm fat begins, but no luck. With the last bra I reviewed, (Elomi Eva Bandless) I noticed that the underwire dug into my underarm fat. I've been wearing it for a few weeks, and it still does that, but is tolerable throughout the day. I'm having the same problem with this bra, but the wires are moved forward more. It doesn't hurt, but you can see it is pushing in on the sides. The wires are also digging into my armpits when I sit. I guess they are too long? I'm not too keen on deconstructing a brand new bra. I may just sew some cushioning in that area, along with the top of the gore, as that is rubbing on my fuller side.

As for the cup volume, it's a great fit, till you get to the top of the cup in the clear mesh area. It seems I'm continuing to have this same shape issue in all the bras I've purchased so far. (Not all I've tried are listed.) The top mesh area is too big, and it's super loose and wrinkly there, making my breast tissue squishy/wiggly because it's unconfined. I plan to tack in the top part of the cup with some creative sewing. That should help confine my upper tissue.

I do like the up front look this bra gives me. I have a feeling Polish bras would be good for me in the projection area, but since the wire length is so short on them, I'm not sure if they will be comfortable for my breast tissue.

Updated on Sep 26, 2016 Flag this

• Show all comments (9)
• 1

  Do you think sizing down to a 38GG would help the wires get smaller and the bra wrinkling, or does that cause orange in a glass at the bottom?

• 1

  I'm not sure. I fill out the depth of the cup very well. it's a very solid fill, till you get to the top of the mesh. I'm afraid if I went down a cup I'd be spilling out of the top and wrinkling at the bottom big time. So i guess that would be an orange in the glass? There really isn't any wrinkling of fabric in the bottom of the cup on this one. The line of the wire is a bit lower than my IMF though. I can try and bend the wires a bit to try and adjust the fit, maybe that would allow the wires to conform to my IMF better; just not sure if that will throw the top of the wires even more into my armpit. I went in buying this bra with unknown sizing. There's really not a lot of info on any sculptresse bras near my size for getting a feel of the land. It's a very pretty bra, but the avalability is scarce, so if I try another sculptresse, I would probably have to pick a more current design.

  I have two more bras on the way. A Freya Paradise plunge balcony 36hh, and a Curvy Kate Portia in a 36hh. From what I've gathered, those bands a pretty stretchy, and both of my Elomi bras are now on the tightest hook, after three weeks of wear. The band's roll badly, so I'm trying a smaller band to see if that will stop that. I will share my take on those bras soon.

  I send all my packages to my parents house for shipping, and my mother is thinking I'm loosing my mind buying bras left and right. She's content wearing a 38 D bra, that really is the wrong size. It makes no sense that I can fit a smaller band even though I'm about 100+ lbs bigger than her, without her wearing the wrong size. But I get nowhere with that arguement, so I let her alone about it.

• Those Eva bands do stretch out way too fast. It's really annoying. They aren't the sturdiest but they are pretty comfy.

  So maybe you are really projected but full on bottom so a shape with less room at top would work better in sculptresse. Chi chi wasn't projected enough for me, but Flirtini was. I had bubbling at the top so maybe that shape would work well for you as it seemed best for projected fob shapes.

  You might really like that Portia too. Although it's a bit wide it has shorter wires and less of a deep u shape.

  Moms are funny ladies. Mine also thinks I'm crazed for ordering from Poland.

• 1

  Hmm, I've done the lean over test 90 degrees, and there is about an inch of tissue that fills over my nipple towards my face. I thought I understood that meant you were full on top. My tissue is very squishy, and will very much act like water filling a container, so I guess my breast tissue just goes to the bottom of the cups till it meets resistacne by the curve of the cup fabric, and then fills upwards. Maybe that makes me functionally FOB depending on the forward projection of the bra?

  In my bra less state, my breasts just lay across my chest onto my upper stomach, kind of flat till you to about 4 ish inches from the end of my breasts where my nipples are, like down pointing arrows, then the tissue firms up. Imagine what I said earlier about water filling a container, well that's what my skin is doing here. I've gone up and down with my weight within the same 40 or so lbs in the last 10 yrs, so my skin is just not as elastic anymore, especially appoaching 40 yrs old. (Good ole Hashimotos thyroid, functional hypothyroidism at work there.)

  The gap at the top of the cups is not a deal breaker, as I can fix that, but the poking wires are the real question on wether it will be wearable. If I can't get that to work, I may just list it as a give away here, because by then, I'll have modified it, and can't legitimately ask for money for a "damaged" product. That's a shame, because it's one of the prettiest bras I've ever owned too.

  Something I've thought about is why don't we have a measurement for how deep the cup is vertically on this site. I know that can't answer all queries, but for example this bra is very projected forward, and has a pretty long distance from bottom to top of cup. The Eva is taller where it connects to the straps, but is not as deep in forward projection, thus making it a shorter length vertically. The cup depth horizontally in the charisse is 33.5, while the Eva is 35cm, making it much wider. I don't fully fill up the Eva, but it's nowhere near the gaping on the Charisse, which is listed as a smaller cup depth by 1.5cm. So in my case, I could benefit from knowing how far out the apex of the vertical distance is from the bottom, and then from the apex to the top of the cup. If I just hold my breasts up with my hands, I know how far I can go forward distance, before the fabric of the cups have to return to the chest, and how much fabric is left to go on the return trip, wether my tissue will fill that space up or not. Thus helping to determine if the cup is going to be too big or not. Just food for thought. :)

• There is a cup height now in the measurements section but it's new and not everyone has added it. It's at the bottom of the enter measurements page under experimental.

• 1

  Ahh, I found it. I will add to that when I get a chance. Thanks for the info.

• 1

  I think Charisse is a bit of an odd duck up top. The mesh is quite firm, not much like the "power mesh" a lot of stretchy cups are lined with. I think it softened after a few washes, but it does still lay a bit oddly across the top of my breasts. I have it in 36H. I am a bit bigger than you; I wear a 34J most of the time now.

  Breasts in this cup range are often functionally FOB, as you say. In my case, I definitely need a ton of depth at the wire and FOB-like projection, but I have a decent amount of center-fullness too, so a tall gore is added to my list of bra requirements. It's not that you can't also be somewhat evenly full if you are functionally FOB, but FOB-like projection will likely be one of your most important fit requirements.

  Panache bras often have very firm bands, though Sculptresse is the stretchiest of their brands, IME. Freya, Elomi, and some Curvy Kate bras have stretchier bands. Freya and Elomi also have softer wires than Panache, which can make them feel less supportive. I think Curvy Kate's wires are somewhere in between Panache and Freya & Elomi. Some people prefer to sister size down in brands with stretchier bands.

  I have a Curvy Kate Portia in 34J and it's a really great bra for me. The only issue is the gore is too low so I get some spillage/quadding, but it's still very comfortable so I wear it around the house. The wires are much shorter than Charisse. Sculptresse Flirtini is similar in shape to Charisse, but the top of the cup is made from stretch lace lined with power/stretchy mesh so it is a more forgiving fit. Check the measurements on here, though, as I think you will have the same problem with the wire length.
  

• 1

  I think Charisse is a bit of an odd duck up top. The mesh is quite firm, not much like the "power mesh" a lot of stretchy cups are lined with. I think it softened after a few washes, but it does still lay a bit oddly across the top of my breasts. I have it in 36H. I am a bit bigger than you; I wear a 34J most of the time now.

  Breasts in this cup range are often functionally FOB, as you say. In my case, I definitely need a ton of depth at the wire and FOB-like projection, but I have a decent amount of center-fullness too, so a tall gore is added to my list of bra requirements. It's not that you can't also be somewhat evenly full if you are functionally FOB, but FOB-like projection will likely be one of your most important fit requirements.

  Panache bras often have very firm bands, though Sculptresse is the stretchiest of their brands, IME. Freya, Elomi, and some Curvy Kate bras have stretchier bands. Freya and Elomi also have softer wires than Panache, which can make them feel less supportive. I think Curvy Kate's wires are somewhere in between Panache and Freya & Elomi. Some people prefer to sister size down in brands with stretchier bands.

  I have a Curvy Kate Portia in 34J and it's a really great bra for me. The only issue is the gore is too low so I get some spillage/quadding, but it's still very comfortable so I wear it around the house. The wires are much shorter than Charisse. Sculptresse Flirtini is similar in shape to Charisse, but the top of the cup is made from stretch lace lined with power/stretchy mesh so it is a more forgiving fit. Check the measurements on here, though, as I think you will have the same problem with the wire length.
  

• 1

  I adjusted the wires a bit wider, to try and lessen some of the underarm poking, and wore it while running errands today. Well the poking wasn't as bad, but still needs some work, but the top of the cups filled in a little better. It's still not perfect on top, but nowhere near as bad.

  @triumphof:
  So you've had more luck with FOB bras than FOT. I believe I am center full as well, since I have more tissue gravitating to my vertical midline. Have you had any luck with bras that are lower in the center gore? I have close set breasts, that can accommodate a high gore, but as I found out today, if the wire area doesn't have much padding at the end points of the wires, I get rubbed raw, particularly on my left side, as it is a tiny bit higher and fuller than my right.

  I didn't have the above issue with any of my previous bras, so I never gave thought to the length of the wire. Now I know better, and will try to purchase accordingly.

  Also, thanks for the info about Panache bands. I barely fit this 38 band. If I purchase any of their other brands, I may have to go up a band size. I wasn't miserable today, but it is certainly a chore to get it on, considering I have never been able to attach the hooks from behind.

  I am certainly learning a lot from this experience, and what things work for practicality, from each bra adventure. I really appreciate all of you that have helped me. Thanks!

---

add a comment

Use @ to mention users, brands, models and more

You need to sign in to comment