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• I like this one on you a lot. I'm so happy you got a bra that works :)

  http://dressingcurves.blogspot.se/2012/03/alterations-moving-strap-position.html Here's an alteration you can do to move the strap position :)

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  Thank you! I might try that alteration, but I'm worried it would change the fit of the bra. As difficult as it was to find ONE, I'd hate to ruin it. :-) I am going to wash and wear it a few times and see if it improves. If not, I might try moving it forward just a smidgeon.

• mtblankus I just thought I'd let you know, I've been playing around with strap positioning on my Jasmine, and you are definitely correct. Moving the strap in as much as I would want to (to the inside of the little tab where the strap is attached) definitely messes up the side support, etc. I guess this is basically what the point of a balconet-style strap attachment is. I've always seen people say that the point is to push the breasts towards the front, but I never really understood until I tried this experiment.

  I haven't detached the original straps, just sewed on a different one in that position, and tried it with the original strap off, and it make the side sort of bulge out and just generally not be the shape it's supposed to be. I'm curious if, like you said, it could be moved just a little bit and it wouldn't have this problem, going to try that next, I think.
  Barring that (or even if that does work ok) I think I will pad/line that area with some smooth fabric, since I think part of the problem is the fabric is so stiff and firm it makes the digging in extra uncomfortable.

• Raspberryleaf, thank you for letting me know about the strap positioning you've tried. Were you about to try moving it just a little? I've also noticed the bottom elastic on the front rolls under, creating a ridge under the underwire, which isn't comfortable AT ALL. I don't think this is because the band is tight (which it is at this point) because that's not where any stretching goes on because of the rigid underwires. I think it's just a flaw in the design, as I've seen someone else mention it.

  Since this is the best fitting bra I've found to date (although it still seems to tip forward in the cups due to "orange in a glass"), I'm not about to abandon it.

  I was wondering, though, if having the band wider so the TOP of the wires were supported by the back band would keep it from tipping forward/down as much. I've got large, heavy, and seemingly LONG breasts. When you have that kind of leverage at the apex of a cup, there's only so much an underwire and 3-hook band can do to keep them lifted. That's my theory, anyway. I've always felt a bra that did not dip down in the back, but had a wider band going straight back from the wings would be more supportive, though I've never found one to try.

• Yes, I want to play with moving it just a little, but I haven't done so yet.
  This is definitely a bra that takes some breaking in, so some of the issues get at least a little better once it's been worn and washed a few times, and I think I've seen someone say this applies to the band rolling as well. (I wear bra liners all the time, so I don't really pay attention to elastic rolling in the front, but I definitely know it can be annoying, just one more reason I <3 my bra liners.)

  As for a wider band supporting the top of the wires providing better stability, this is EXACTLY what I've been thinking about/realizing recently. It took trying my recent EM bras and really looking at what's going on to figure this out (see my adventure I posted recently), but I totally agree. I definitely hate how hard 4-hook and 5-hook bands are to close, but I think I'm gonna force myself to get used to it because I really think they will be able to support and lift my boobs much better. (I will need to be altering bands anyhow (due to needing the bigger cups of a 36/38K, rather than 32/34K, for example), so I can alter them to having more hooks in the process.)

  BTW, your boobs sound a *lot* like mine, shape-wise.

• Yes I think the two of you look rather similar as well :)

• I know that feeling when you *finally* list a fitting bra on bratabase :) I could't be more happy for you mtblankus, and let me just say this looks positively amazing on you <3
  I also want this in white and basic nude!!! There is a new colorway coming out soon but it's also dark :(

• So, here's probably a dumb question, but are the wires actually supposed to TOUCH the sternum? Because even on the Jasmine 36J, they are about an inch away. I thought they touched the first time I wore it, but now that I look closely at the pictures I took, they were still about an inch away. Jiggling, pushing, bending (well, as much as you can bend these super-wires - what are they made of????) doesn't bring them closer.

  I posted a fit request on this bra again yesterday because it seems to fit worse the more I wear it. :-/ I was wondering if I should try a band size or cup size up. Band is quite tight. Maybe just an extender, which was suggested as well. After wearing for a few hours, cups slip down and I end up with empty cup at the bottom and quad boob at the top - even with the stretchy lace. Also, the elastic band rolls under in the front, turning my "miracle bra" into a torture device.

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  I just wanted to post a little update on the strap position thing. What I wound up doing is compromising, and adjusting the angle by taking in the inside part of the "tab" that the straps are attached to, so this basically tilts the straps slightly more inward. (I just took a tuck and sewed it down. Totally reversible if I need to, so it was less scary to try!) This helps some. Not as much as I might like, but I think it's a good compromise between getting the straps out of my armpits a little, but still having the angle necessary to do the side support/balcony effect.

• Great idea, you should do an adventure about it!

• Thanks, raspberryleaf. I've actually been able to handle the straps as they've softened. As an added "bonus," it reminds me to keep my shoulders back. Ha! But, if it starts cutting in again, I'll definitely try the tuck. Seems like it would work fine on this bra without making the top edge too tight because that lace is quite stretchy. Another bra might not fair so well. I'm quite impressed with the Jasmine, as it's been the only decent fit I've had so far. However... we have sort of a love/hate relationship. I want a bra to be perfect and I don't know that I'll ever find one that is. I do have some EW bras on their way (got the ship notice yesterday). Can't WAIT to try them. :-D

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  This bra is too small for you in the cup by probably two sizes, which is why it is slipping down and you get a downward pointing apex. The cup shape may also simply be too shallow for you in the lower panel; it has an angled lower rather than a projected one, so your breasts are forced to either compress or shift upwards where there is more room leaving empty space at the bottom.

  Underwires should sit flat against your ribcage at all points, including at the gore. If they don't, and your band feels snug, then your cups are far too small.

  I realize this is a somewhat stale thread, but it's worth answering these questions for anyone else who comes along to read your review.

• Thank you, uptight for the comment. I don't know if it's actually too small or just the wrong style. But I think you're right about one or the other. It certainly does seem to fight my breast shape at the bottom. Since finding my size in Ewa Michalak bras, no other bras have seen the light of day. I should list it and give it a new chance at life with someone else!

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  uptight

  Can you define this statement further: angled lower rather than a projected one, so your breasts are forced to either compress or shift upwards where there is more room leaving empty space at the bottom.

  I am struggling to understand the visual, but think you might have touched on why some of my bras fit better than others.

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  If you look at a bra in profile/from the side and compare the angle of Yeh bottom of the cup to the chest wall, some bras come up at an acute angle (shallow lower cup) whereas other bras come straight out parallel to the ground at a right angle to the chest wall before curving up (projected lower cup).

  Breasts which are full at the bottom of the breast root will not have the gradual increase in breast tissue that shallow lower panels expect as you get higher above the underbust towards the nipple. Instead, these breasts go drastically from no breast tissue at the underbust, to projecting fullness. The breasts thus take the path of least resistance and shimmy up higher in the bra little bits at a time where there is more space. The weight at a further out point combined with the lower cup being empty causes the cup to wrinkle or buckle near the underwires if it is unmolded, or simply be forced to slide down in structured cups.

• mtblankus : You stated in a prior comment that "even on the Jasmine 36J, [the underwires] are about an inch away". I own this bra and its design causes the gore to tack firmly if the fit is close - painfully firmly. In general, a bra will not tack at the gore (touch your sternum with its underwires) if it is too shallow for your breasts. Because the Jasmine is actually quite a deep bra proportionally, it is not that the cup shape is too shallow for you in terms of shape but rather because the cup size is too small such that the bra is too small all over, including in terms of depth.

• The cup depth is 15.1 inches and my Ewa bras are around 14.0 to 14.2 - a full inch difference, yet they are big enough. I think the problem comes with the width of the wires on the Jasmine. They are much wider and my breasts do not fill the part of the cup under my arm. So, you may be right - the extra inch and then some is not used for breast tissue because it's under my arm, "where no breast has gone before." And hopefully it won't! With all of the ill-fitting bras I've worn in my life, there is still a definite breast crease on the sides in FRONT of my arms. I have yet to find a bra that the wire actually sits at this side crease. They are ALL too far back by a good inch or more. In the Jasmine, it's MUCH more than an inch. We're talking 2 or even 3 inches. So, that wasted cup space may make the cup fit too small. Maybe I'll look for a cheap Jasmine in a larger cup size just to test the theory, but really there are other detractors on this bra, such as the super high gore, that make me just want to toss it aside.

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  I feel like Sculptresse by Panache is the most luxurious, comfortable, and well-designed of the Panache family except for perhaps Sport. Glad it worked for you!

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