Bra fitting help » Band down, cup up, or both?
Freya » Trudie (4961) » 30E 30:6
Issue resolved
I discovered that I require a bra with a wider underwire than this particular style to help with the digging in under my arms, and a bra with a lower centre gore to stop the digging in my sternum. I also should probably stick with a 30 band.
Original problem
Hello!
I am very new to the world of correctly fitting bras and could do with a little help and advice if you have time to give it!
I hope the quality of the photos is good enough, I took them with my phone, so I know they’re not perfect.I’m having a few problems with this bra, and don’t really know where to start with solving them.
I am fairly certain I need to go down a band size, as you can see in the photo the band has a lot of give, but I’m unsure as to whether or not the cups fit me properly and whether I should be going up in the cup as well.The cups seem to fit well from the front, there’s no gaping or quadboobing at all, but under my arms, and towards the edge of the cup, the fabric seems to be straining (the quality of the photos great, I know) and feels tight. I don’t know if it’s supposed to? Also, under my arms where the underwire ends but the underwire casing continues, it does sort of, push out quite a bit. If the underwire continued I don’t think that would happen though, so I don’t know if the fabric straining there and gaping out under my arm is due to the cup size or the style of the bra/underwire, or possibly just due to the shape of my breasts, as everywhere else the cup seems to fit very well.
I’m also having a lot of trouble with the ends of the underwires, they stab under my arms and my sternum. It’s fine for the first few hours, extremely comfortable actually, but after that it gets very painful. It’s a sharp stabbing pain that seems to resonate through my entire breast and quickly becomes unbearable. I have no pain on my ribs from the band, however.
I have recently discovered that although my boobs splay outwards and appear wide set, they do actually have close set roots, so the center gore is resting directly on breast tissue, which I think it’s why it’s so painful in that particular area, but could that be the problem under my arms too? If that is the case, should I go up in the cup, or do Freya bras have particlarily pokey underwires and it has nothing to do with breast tissue being poked, and the pain is just from being poked in general?
My other fear is that if I try a smaller band, which I think I may need to, the underwires will be even worse. Should I maybe try a style with a wider underwire in the same size? Or perhaps a style where the underwire is more padded?I have concluded that I probably need a style of bra with a slightly narrower and lower gore, but that’s all I’ve been able to work out on my own. Any help at all that you could give me would be very much appreciated, and thank you for taking the time to read this!
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Suggestions (2)
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helpful
There are a few things that could be causing the issues you are experiencing.
With Freya bras the underwires are usually shorter than the channel they are in. This is what's causing that little extra flap on the side and beyond that it doesn't mean much.
If it were just the gore that was causing pain I'd tell you to just push the underwire in it's channel till so that that extra fabric would be in the middle. However, you say that the underwires are causing pain on the outer breast as well so pushing the underwires isn't going to solve anything.
Freya's underwires aren't painful to those that fit their shape. Freya's underwires are usually quite narrow in cup width compared to other brands though. It may be that you need wider underwires in general.
I would give other brands with wider underwires a try like Panache or Curvy Kate. Maybe others will come and chime in with particular model recommendations. I don't have much experience with either of those brands since their underwires are much too wide for me and the cups too shallow.
Also, I really wouldn't go down a band size either especially if you do try Panache and/or Curvy Kate. Freya's bands do run a little less firm than those brands. However even if you try another Freya I think you will find the next size down to be too small.
Updated on October 11, 2012 Flag this
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1
helpful
I agree with Deedit.
At a 30E you are in a size where many women have shallow breasts that are spread out all over the ribcage. On breasts like these unpadded Freya bras like the Freya Trudie usually cause some problems that you experience here:
-the underwires are digging painfully into your sides, this indicates that the wires are too narrow
- the cup seems to fit, but there is wrinkling on top of the cup bc the cup is too closed, the rim of the cup collides with your chest area and cuts into breast tissue ("George"-fold on your right breast)IMO a good solution would be to switch to (padded) halfcups (demi-bras). Padded halfcups are open at the top, so the rim of the bra cannot cut in. At the same time they are usually wider and shallower than most unpadded balconette bras. I think this is exactly what you need.
I did a comparision of your Freya Trudie with a Freya Daphne Padded Halfcup for you.
http://www.bratabase.com/compare/dhhqu/
You can see that the increase in the cup width is a bit larger than the increase in the cup depth. Also, what the comparision doesn't tell you is that the volume in the cups is distributed differently.
Since you like the design of Freya bras, I would suggest trying Freya's padded halfcups. They have the added advantage that from all the bras with wider wires, the centergore is relatively low.
Again, I did a comparision:
http://www.bratabase.com/compare/dhhqz/What that comparision doesn't tell you: under the centergore the band on the Freya Daphne sits lower, so the whole centergore sits lower overall. I think you might be able to see that when you compare the pictures.
Updated on October 11, 2012 Flag this
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Thank you ever so much, you’ve been incredibly helpful. Up until about a month ago I was wearing 34Bs, as I have my entire adult life, and I’m shocked at how little I know about my own body! I feel like a fish out of water, the knowledge some of you girls have is just amazing.
I’m glad to hear my love affair with Freya doesn’t have to end, I’ve been eyeing up a few padded half cups for a while, I think it’s probably time to invest in one and see how I get on!
Thank you again for taking the time to respond, I really am grateful.
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I suppose no harm could some from moving the underwires in their channel and seeing if the new underwire placement under my arms (higher up) is be more comfortable, and stops the gaping I seem to have under my arm where the underwire ends as well. I feel that if the underwire ended higher it would be less pokey under my arm, and as the pressure would be off my sternum too it *might* work... but I’m just guessing ! If it’s easy to do and I can’t wear the bra as it is though, why not give it a go.
I had heard that Panache tend to have wider underwires, but until I started measuring my bras for this site, I didn’t really know what that meant or how it would effect me, or even what my breast shape was. It’s a little over whelming knowing where to start with all this information, but I feel like I’m slowly getting there!
Thank you for the band info too, I do feel it’s only a touch loose, so a 30 band that runs firm could be just right! I’m going to have a little look and explore some Pancahe and Curvy Kate options, they may be the next ones to give a try. It’s a shame though because I do love all the styles and pretty colour combinations Freya have D: