Bra fitting help » Masquerade Rhea sizing help

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Masquerade » Rhea (6121) » 34H 34:11

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  Ok, several issues here.

  First you have to know that this bra (like many padded halfcups) is relatively shallow. Since the centergore doesn't sit flat I would say it is too shallow for you.

  I do not think it is too small, bc you do not have the kind of quadboob that would be normal with a too small halfcup. Also the wires look to be allright or too wide on the sides, which can be indicative of the correct size.

  The second issue is that you have soft breasts. Too soft for halfcups. Your soft breast tissue is the root of the quadboob and the shelf shape. Essentially your boobs tend to "flow" out of the cup. They act like water in a plastic bag.
  
  If you had firmer breasts they would form a rounded ball-like shape on top of the cups. You could try going down in the cup to get this shape, but I think you would just fall out.

  Sorry to say it, but IMO you should just give up on halfcups in general.
  

  Updated on November 16, 2012 Flag this

  
  

  • Ugh, I was afraid of that! Your water in a plastic bag analogy was spot on, unfortunately. :( Well, thank you for your feedback.

    If I should steer clear of halfcups, then what type of bra should I look for to wear with lower cut, scoop neck tops?

  • Buy only tops whose necklines fit the bras you have? Much less hassle that way, bc tops are easier to find than bras. (At least for me.)

    You could give plunge bras a whirl, but if you have issues with halfcups chances are that you'll also have trouble with plunges. Some good plunges to try would be the Bravissimo Satine as well as maybe the Panache Tango II Plunge and Panache Andorra Plunge. If you can wear (very) narrow wires, Ewa Michalak makes some very nice plunges in large sizes, ditto the Polish company Comexim.
    

  • If you still want to try halfcups a deeper half cup such as the Ewa Michalak CH bra might be your best option. Still no quarantee it will work, and it won't give you that super-cleavage either, but, it might fit you better.

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    Nesoa - I also have very soft breasts, I look the same in the Masquerade Rhea, the Bravissimo halfcups and the Elomi Lara/Paloma; regardless of size, width and depth of the cup. It is not going to work, ever. Some people simply have breasts that are too soft for halfcups and plunges.

  • t_maia: Thanks for that explanation about halfcups and firm vs soft breasts! Often the top shaping itself is just attributed to "full on top".

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    Most people who are full on top also have relatively firm breasts. It is sort of related. If you loose weight or get older and your breasts loose density and are no longer as firm, they can sort of "fall into" themselves. Like a deflated souffle. In this case bras that suit people who are less full on top might start to work for these women. It is very individual though. I've seen some women who are full on top with very soft breasts, those usually need fullcups with high centergores and a facing on top of the cups like on the Goddess Alice Underwired or on the Ulla Dessous Sophia or Elise in K/L(/N).

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    I may be one of those people who is full on top and also very soft. I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet, actually.
    My breasts are definitely soft (by which I mean malleable and flow into whatever shape is made by the bra), and pendulous. (They have always been like this, not an age/pregnancy thing.)

    They do not look full on top by themselves out of a bra, because they just hang down and the top area looks rather flat, but pushed up with my hands, my breast tissue comes almost to my collarbones. In a cup that cuts in at all and is at all too small, the upper part of my breast gets sort of blobby on top, quadboob, yes, but little blobby bits with no firmness that nonetheless stick out over the top of the cup.
    And yes, the Goddess Alice Underwired fit very well, except for the fact that it dug into my arms/armpits so badly and I couldn't abide the stiff lace. But the shape was excellent for containing my breasts.

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    raspberryleaf, it sounds like we are very similar. I, too, hold my breasts up with my hands and have tissue to my collarbones. In fact, in my Halloween costume (which we all know generic sizing never fits right around our boobs), I had Christina Hendricks cleavage up to my collarbone because of how tight and smooshed I was at the top. Because of that, I just assumed bras like the Rhea would work fine because I've definitely had that look before. I guess it just has a lot to do with the shape and shallowness of the cups. The top of the Rhea is just too open compared to the bottom for me to have a nice shape because of how soft I am.....I just "flow" to wherever the cup ends! (Thanks to XLhourglass for her excellent explanation of the Rhea shape on her blog!!!)

  • t_maia, you just answered my question I posted in a bra adventure just now. Half cup bras will not suit very soft breasts. I'd asked why there weren't more half cups as opposed to full cups and balconettes. Thanks!

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    BumbleBean: you can have tissue up to the collarbone and look like Christina Hendricks and still be full on bottom. I have tissue up to the collarbone, but it is only a very thin layer. Most bras I cannot fill out the top. I can get the Ch. Hendricks look too, but only in bras that are much too small (40C or so).

    If you want to figure it out, a good test is usually Freya Arabella vs Freya Polyanna, Panache Tango vs Panache Ariza, Elomi Caitlyn vs Elomi Tamarie or Goddess Keira vs Goddess Alice. The first bra of a pair usually works for women who are full on bottom, the second bra of the pair for those who are full on top.

  • I wasn't trying to argue that I'm not full on bottom, I was just saying that I could achieve that type of cleavage with certain clothes/bras.

  • hmm, thanks for that info on comparison bras, t_maia very interesting! if a bit inconclusive in my case, haha, but a good way to try to figure this out!
    (I say inconclusive because: Freya's are useless at my size; Tango better than Ariza; never tried Tamarie since it stops at 36/HH but it looks interesting, but Caitlyn wouldn't sit flush with my breast root; I wear Keira all the time, but get blobby quadboob and would prefer Alice if it was made from same material. So I'm kinda all over the place!)

    I got really curious and took a good look at my breasts, held up with my hands, and yeah, no. I'm not full on top, def not! I think I'm just full on bottom and blobby on top! lol. or maybe somewhere in between. I realized when I scoop properly, my nipples wind up high in the cups, that should have been a clue to full on bottom, right?

    *waves to BumbleBean* Hope you don't mind we're having this whole long convo in your fit request! ;)

  • No, I think it's great since I think I am similar. It helps me learn as well! :)

  • Yes, nipples that end up high are a clue for full on bottom. However, there are women who are neither full on bottom nor full on top. About a 20% of all women fall somewhere in between those extremes and they can usually wear either of those styles. In real life the categorisations about full-on-bottom and or not don't matter, you wear what fits and don't bother to label it. Doing it is just a crutch the brasphere on the net needs bc most of us are ordering online.

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  This looks very much like the look I got from it! It seemed to be gaping, making me thinking it is too big - but then the centergore was so far away - making me think it was too small!
  I concluded, and I've seen many others conclude the same, that this bra just doesn't work for full on bottom breasts. I did a blogpost http://xlhourglass.blogspot.dk/2012/09/my-bra-journey-shape.html about full on bottom breasts, where I mentioned the Rhea as a no-go, and BralessInBrasil did the same: http://www.bralessinbrasil.com/2012/10/bottom-heavy-breasts.html
  So I think it is just not meant to be

  Updated on November 17, 2012 Flag this

  

  XLhourglass

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  • Thank you SO MUCH for the blog links. There is great advice and recommendations in there. I'm still a newbie in my bra fitting journey, so all of this is very helpful. I was almost in tears yesterday when I tried on the Rhea because it seems like EVERY bra I try on doesn't fit right in some way. I've resorted to wearing 2 cheap uni-boob sports bras on top of each other in the last couple of weeks because I have nothing that works. Thank you again.

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    I have soft bottom-heavy breasts, the Rhea looks much the same on me as it does on you. :)

    Bras that work for me and that I know fit a wide range of women are the Panache Tango II Balconette, the Panache Andorra, the Cleo Lucy, the Goddess Keira/Kayla and the Elomi Caitlyn. Some other bras that work well for bottom-heavy breasts (but not on me bc the wires are too narrow for me) are the Freya Arabella/Lyla, Freya Antoinette and most Bravissimo bras.

    Freya Polyanna can be hit and miss. It works well for bottom-heavy breasts, bc it does have a lot of room there. But it also requires some volume on top of the breast, which many bottom-heavy women do not have.

    EDIT: bras that are a no-go with this shape: Panache Ariza, Freya Deco, Curvy Kate Emily, Curvy Kate Romance.

  • Thank you for the suggestions. It's nice hearing from others who have the same issue.

    I just ordered a couple of Panache Andorras, so I'm very much looking forward to how they fit, as many people seem to love them. I have tried the Freya Lyla before, but the cup was way too small....I'll have to try again in a different size.

    I actually own a couple of Freya Decos (that are too small in the cup), but I wear them if my outfit really needs me to be in a plunge. Sure, I kind of spill out of the middle and have to adjust frequently, but it's not too bad just for a night out (definitely couldn't stand it all day.)

    I've tried on an Ariza that was too small in the cups, but I actually didn't think it was horrible. I might give it one more shot in a better size. CK Emily and Romance, though....terrible fit, which is a shame because they're so pretty.

    Thanks again for the recommendations everyone. At least now when I order stuff, maybe the chances of me having to return all items will be smaller! I thought I was doing good research by reading reviews of each bra, but if it wasn't by someone of the same breast type, it really wasn't all that helpful.

    But, it still makes me a bit sad to hear that I should steer clear of plunges or halfcups (basically anything that gives cleavage, I guess). I have been ashamed of my breasts my entire life and have worn nothing but ugly full-cups and sports bras, but now I am becoming more comfortable with myself and would like to actually look sexy and cute for a change.

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    Like you, I have very soft tissue and haven't found a half-cup or plunge that will contain me. I have the Fantasie Lisbeth and Elodie which allow me to wear low necklines. I tend to wear V necks as opposed to scoops, though. And in the Fantasie, I feel I have plenty of cleavage. I used to have cleavage because of too-small cups which overflowed, but the Fantasie bras give me plenty--you can see my reviews with photos.

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    Try Panache Jasmine! It could be a good compromise for you. Great for soft breasts because of the stretch lace upper section, but center gore is lower, I think, than Andorra. At least on me, it is pretty good with lower necklines and definitely creates nice cleavage.
    (I think you are following me, so you may have seen my review? If not, http://bra.pe/RBCd/ )

  • Thank you so much! I'll definitely try the Jasmine. I'm off to look on ebay right now. :)

  • Good luck! I hope it works for you as well as it does for me :)

  • Panache Jasmine should be a cut that is very similar if not identical to the Panache Andorra.

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    The Jasmine I think is similar but not identical the Andorra. With the caveat that I haven't tried the Andorra, because it doesn't go beyond J, from looking at people's pictures on here, I think the cup shape is a little bit different.
    On the Andorra the side support part seems to be an inner sling, and not an actual section of the outer cup, as it is on the Jasmine. (As far as I can tell, the Andorra only has one seam running to the bottom middle of the cup. The Jasmine has two.) This means the Andorra lace goes out to the outside a little more, and the bottom of the cup may not be as deep.
    I have seen several people say that the Jasmine is cut a little lower in the gore and the upper cups than the Andorra, which is part of why I specifically mentioned it here.

  • Erica at A Sophisticated Pair reviewed the Jasmine and compared it to the Andorra by saying, "Furthermore, I feel like the Jasmine has a slightly lower cup and center gore than the Andorra which creates more of an open chest."

    http://sophisticatedpair.com/blog/?p=2689

  • All of you please take a good look comparing Andorra to Jasmine again. In one respect they are not even remotely close to being alike in cut. I want to see if you'll find out how ;)

  • Eliza are you talking about the strap attachment? Cuz the Andorra is cut more full-coverage, straps attached higher and closer, but with 3 section cups, right?
    Where the Jasmine is balconnette, straps attached lower and wider, with 4 section cups. So those are certainly differences! (Like I said, I've never actually tried Andorra, or even seen it in person, so all I have to go on is pictures/reviews.)

  • raspberryleaf: Actually not. But the bottom section of the Jasmine is cut significantly higher on the Jasmine than the Andorra. Jasmine looks in that respect more like Sienna. Andorra looks in that respect more like CK Emily.

    All bras working for me has shallow or low cut bottom sections. Those bras are rare. Very very rare. Almost all bras has higher cut bottom sections because almost all women has more bottom then upper breast tissue. I am the reversed.

  • oh, that is very interesting! Not something I had been able to figure out from pictures. I've been paying a lot of attention to this aspect (height of bottom section) recently, actually, as I think it's a key to fit for me as well, although in the opposite direction. (I would actually prefer the bottom section to be even a little higher than on the Jasmine.)

    Which also points to me definitely being full on bottom, I think (which I had been trying to figure out).
    oh, duh. Here I am saying I need the cups to be full depth right away close to the underwire, and wondering if I am full on bottom or top. Wow, silly question! If I need such depth at the bottom, clearly I am full on bottom. (right?)

  • raspberryleaf: :D Are there any pictures of you in a bra here?

    Actually I was totally confused first time I learned to scope in the Andorra 32H and J because I thought that bra would be a full cup and on me it was this crazy pushup bra. So was the CK Emily.

    I think my boobs are mostly round actually with a slightly more full top than bottom, but it's the shallowness that is most confusing. I understood today however how that could be.

    With shallow but big boobs the apex leaves empty space outside your boobs while at the same time the bra is too small to wrap around your boobs. But since my boobs are heavy and semi soft they can also simply slope down and out into the apex making the boobs disappear. The only one I know that seems to like those shallow bottom sections apart from myself is BrasIHate.

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  Ok, since I've read every suggestion here and since you and I have about the same perimeter, nip to neck and rib cage measurement and since I just stalked you and looked at all the bras you've tried;

  I think you've tried to small cups all together. I'd say you should try sizing up. My suggestion would be a Jasmine 32J, maybe also a 32JJ to compare. Since you're full on bottom avoid CK. But again since wide rooted try Panache to avoid that east and west spread you got in Freya Jolie.

  I also have to ask one thing; are you really low on chest from start, not just sagged from high on chest?

  Updated on November 23, 2012 Flag this

  
  

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    I agree with Eliza. I also think you should try bigger cups. We have almost the same measurements. My ribcage is a bit smaller but perimeter & nip to neck measurements are quite smiliar.
    I knew now that I was wearing (even after learing about proper bra fitting ) cups that were too small.
    A sign of this can also be that you wear the straps on loosest possible to avoid quadraboob or not properly scooping. (I don't want to accuse you on these but I knew I was doing this to keep my old bras fitting when I was clearly sized out of them)
    Panache Jasmine is a good suggestion. It works with diffenrent shapes well because of that stretchy lace on top of the cups.

  • Awesome, it's great to hear feedback from others with very similar measurements! :)

    I agree, I need to try larger cups. There aren't many options to try on bras where I live (Canada), so I'm having to rely on ordering things online and play the waiting/return/exchange game, which takes what seems like forever.

    My next purchase will definitely be the Panache Jasmine. I was planning on getting it in a 32J, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a 32JJ as well to compare. I ordered a Panache Andorra a couple of weeks ago and am still waiting on it to arrive. Now, it's a 34HH, but I found it on ebay pretty cheap. It might be too big in the band, but at least it should help me for sister size reference.

    I just recently learned about scooping when putting on a bra, and that has dramatically changed the sizes that I can wear. I really thought my correct size was 34G at one time (and I got fitted as that size in a store about 6 months ago), but everything just fits wrong now that I know how to properly put on a bra. I somewhat denied it for a while because my fiance likes how things look when bras are too small (ugh, men lol), but now I'm listening to my body, not him. I never had a problem with wearing straps loose, though. Also, I didn't document every single bra that I tried in Bratabase. I added a few when I first started trying small band/large cup bras, but then didn't add anything again until recently. Now I add EVERYTHING I try, even if I return it!

    Eliza, I'm not sure if I am low on the chest or just sagged from high on the chest. I guess I don't know how to tell! I'm 36, so things definitely aren't as perky as they once were....I do know that! ;) I am also just guessing that I am wide rooted. Also, I wanted to add that the Freya Jolie really didn't make me spread east/west, even though it might appear that way from the pictures. When I wore it with a shirt, everything was front and center.

  • You're three years younger than me. My boobs has sagged from high on chest. I know that as they end up there when I lay down on my back :D They also goes to my sides because of my round rib cage, but I'd say you look closer to alisa in body shape with more projected boobs and a flatter rib cage.

    Butterfly Collection is in Canada and they do skype fittings btw. http://www.butterflycollection.ca/ Also they have a calculator that's said to be good. What's your result from that one? :)

    I think you'd be one size up from alisa at least. This is just my guessing work but I think the softer the breast the more the coverage needed.

    Since you have narrow shoulders, in the future you might want to learn to do this alteration: http://dressingcurves.blogspot.se/2012/03/alterations-moving-strap-position.html :)

  • If it's not a problem I would get both sizes of Jasmine to compare. It's not aviable in these sizes on Bravissimo anymore but there are still some on Figleaves. Btw. they have now a 20% off offer ;)

    I would compare Jasmine it size - wise to Panache Andorra. If you can figure out your size in Andorra then I suggest getting the same size in Jasmine.
    I have tried Jasmine in 30J and it was a bit too small for me (only light quadraboob) but I felt not really comfortable in it. I'm now waiting for a 30JJ. Andorra is too small on me in 30J but a 32J fits me well in the cups. (band is a bit too big)

    Also listing all bras that you tried an note how they fit you helps a lot. I have a short list also on my profile here. Also adding every bra even If you'll return it and comparing helps a lot.

  • Oh yes I totally forgot about Butterfly Collection! Their calculator is very accurate.

    From the measurements only I would say you are a size-sister of me but just one band size up. But I could be mistaken.
    

  • Alright, I just laid on my back without a bra to see what happened, and they did end up near my collarbone. They separated a little, but not so much that they were under my arms or anything. So, I guess I'm sagged from high on chest? It wouldn't surprise me! I can't tell you how many years I wore bra sizes 40DD and similar. Before I learned there were small back/large cup bras out there, my go-to bra was a WIRELESS Cacique (Lane Bryant) in 40DD or 40DDD (I think.) I did nothing but adjust my straps and band all.day.long. I just thought that was the plight of the large-breasted woman!

    Thanks for the Butterfly Collection links. I actually just moved to Canada from the US, so I'm still getting adjusted to what is available here. Their calculator said 32J, so I guess that's where I need to start! They don't have much inventory in that size, though (mostly Curvy Kate.)

    Thanks for the alteration tip as well. It looks like I need to learn how to sew haha.

    Alisa, I actually have Figleaves open in another tab with the 20% off code already applied! Great minds think alike. :)

    Yes, I am trying to be diligent about adding remarks about each bra I try so I will remember and be able to compare for future use. Gosh, who knew it would take so much time and work just to buy undergarments. Buying bras seems to take up enough time to consider it a hobby!

  • I'd guess that means high on chest yes. Our boobs simply slopes down over the years, especially if they are above a certain size.

    I never really understood how I could suddenly be low on chest when I had always been told I was high on chest. Sagged was the answer to that one :D

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  you need a smaller band size, and your cup size should be MUCH larger. larger to the point that the middle of the bra sits flat on your chest. the smaller band would adress the uplift problem, as well.

  Updated on November 19, 2012 Flag this

  
  

  • babybrown - the Rhea doesn't come in larger cupsizes than H, which is why BumbleBean went for the 34H in the first place when her usual size is 32HH.

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    Thanks, I do agree that the band should be smaller. I think that would have helped a tiny bit. But yes, as t_maia said, the highest cup the Rhea is made is an H, so I didn't have many more options (at least in this bra, anyway.) since I *think* I should be wearing a J or HH normally. I do appreciate your help, though!

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