Types of Bras as of 2012-12-06 08:00:00

People have told you you should stick to a certain cut. Or you are reading about cuts everywhere and want to figure out what they mean and how they differ. Or you’re starting to become truly obsessed with bras. :D

So let’s find out about different types of bras and their characteristics.
We sorted them by cup cut, strap material, underwire presence, band type and cup material.

By cup coverage

Plunge

This is probably the best known cut of bras and the one you will find most often in bra stores. It’s also very easily identifiable - it’s the one with the very low center gore. It shouldn't be visible even in tops with very deep V-neck-cuts.

Examples:

Half cup

As said before, the names half cup and balconette are used almost interchangeably by bra manufacturers. In comparison to the balconette, a half cup often has a horizontal seam and doesn't only propel your breast tissue forward, but gives more space to the sides. Therefore, half cups often are three-part-cups. They're also called demi cups.

Examples:

Full cup

The full cup is often believed to be the only alternative for women who have not yet found the big size spectrum that is available in all cuts! It has relatively centered straps and the cups go very far up. It provides a lot of coverage and support.

Examples:

Balconette

There is some confusion between the half cup and balconette cut. We can say that both have their straps far from the center of the cup and close to the armpits. The names half cup and balconettes are almost used interchangeably by bra manufacturers, so don't go by that. What you can go by: A balconette's straps are attached at the very side of the cup, not leaving much space there for your breasts. Thereby it lifts your breasts forward as much as possible, creating a "balcony" of sorts, while still separating them which creates cleavage. A balconette is usually a two-part-cup, as a horizontal seam will add more space in the cups and remove the only-forward tendencies of a balconette bra.

Examples:

Push-Up

A push-up bra is a bra that is designed to make your breasts look bigger: It achieves this by sewn-in pads, usually made out of gel. It can be in any cut.
A lot of women who always or mostly wore push-up bras report similar or better effects on their breast shape by well-fitted bras.

Examples:

The Freya Deco Halfcup

Sports bra

Sports bras are designed to inhibit strong motion to prevent pain and other effects, like jiggling around.
There are two main types of sports bras: Compression and encapsulation bras. Compression bras work by pushing your breast tissue as close as possible to your torso. Encapsulation bras separate your breasts into preformed cups and support them from beneath.

Examples:

The Shock Absorber Max Sports bra, working by compression
The Panache Sport, working by encapsulation

Maternity/Nursing bras

Nursing bras are designed to provide easier access to your breasts for when you want to nurse your child. There are various mechanisms with which a part of the cup (or the whole cup) is removable or "droppable" and easy to reattach to the rest of the bra.

Examples:

Minimizer

Minimizers work by compressing your breast tissue and pushing it to the sides and under your armpits. They’re designed to make your breasts look smaller. Very similarly to push-ups, they may distort your breast tissue when worn for extended periods of time.
To all women who think there are only minimizer bras in their size: Your size is totally normal! You don’t have to wear minimizer bras! There are lots of options for you. :)

Examples:

The Wonderbra Seamless Minimizer

By straps

Strapless

Bras without straps are sensibly called strapless bras. They are designed to be worn beneath tops/dresses which aesthetically work better without straps beneath them.

Examples:

By underwire presence

For sleeping, feeling comfortable or for various health reasons you may prefer a bra without underwires. These are usually called soft cup or wireless bras.

Examples:

The Panache Sophie Support

By band type

Full band

A full band bra has the band encircling your whole torso with the cups set into it. This provides a lot of stability.

Examples:

The Cleo Juna

Bandless

A bandless bra is not really a bra without a band. It only means that there is no band beneath and between the cups. This is found in a lot of plunge bras. This may lead to instability of the bra since a band beneath and between the cups helps to stabilize the cup by non-stretchiness.

Examples:

Partial band

A partial band bra is a cross between the full band bra and the bandless bra: It has a bit of band between the cups, but not underneath them.

Examples:

The Cleo Bonnie

By cup material

Molded bras

Molded bras are preformed by a heating process of their material and they will keep their shape when you take them off. They're seamless, which is why a lot of T-shirt bras are molded bras.

Examples:

Padded bras

Padded bras have a lining in their cups.

Examples:

The Curvy Kate Tease Me

Unpadded bras

Unpadded bras do not have a lining in their cups. They may be see-through.

Examples:

Resources and further reading

We used pictures from Bratabase to illustrate different types of bras. They are not traceable to an account. Please let us know if you found your picture here and would like it removed!