Bra fitting help » Wrong bras, where to go from here?

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Curvy Kate » Romance Balcony Bra (CK1501) » 32K 32:15

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  Um. So I opened this page, and I literally said "Are you me?" Because your body and breast shape look so, so much like me.

  Looking at our measurements, you're a few inches smaller than me in each measurement (I'm more like 34.5" ribcage, 20"ish (v hard to tell) perimeter, and def more pendulous/saggy at 15" N2N). However, our shapes look very, very similar.

  If you are as much like me as it looks, that would make your breasts close together (meet in the middle), wide on your body (extend under the arm at least some), soft (fill the shape they're given, act like a bag of water), full on bottom (nipples end up high in the cup) and deep at the bottom (breast is close to as deep as it's going to get right away at the bottom underwire).

  True/false?

  So if you are as much of a slightly smaller body twin of me as it seems (!), my best suggestion would be to look at the stuff I've tried over the last 6-8 months or so, cuz I've tried a lot, and maybe you can benefit from my experiments. There were a few things where the cups were a little too small on me, that might work for you.
  (I'll definitely let you know how it goes with the EM 75LL's I ordered!)

  Again, based on myself, you should stick with 32's, and maybe even 30's in bands that run looser/stretchier. Our heavy/large boobs need the tightest bands we can get to counter the weight of the breasts pushing down in front. This is going to be a problem in a lot of brands and models because the cups may not be big enough. Unfortunately, the best I can tell you is, think about learning to do a band-shortening alteration.

  Here are a few things I've tried that might be relevant to you (there's more, too):
  http://www.bratabase.com/browse/panache/jasmine-6951/32K/ (very forgiving cup, probably well worth trying if you haven't yet. Yes I know I keep suggesting it to lots of people, lol!)
  http://www.bratabase.com/browse/bravissimo/fleur-bra-ln103/34K/ (pics are mine)
  http://www.bratabase.com/browse/bravissimo/linear-rose-bra-sb34/34K/ (pics are mine)
  http://www.bratabase.com/browse/bravissimo/linear-rose-bra-sb34/32K/
  http://www.bratabase.com/browse/bravissimo/alana-au01/32KK/
  http://www.bratabase.com/browse/bravissimo/alana-au01/32L/
  (I was missing my camera when I had these Alanas, sorry I don't have any pics, but their are measurements, and a review.)

  Forget about Curvy Kate, they are almost certainly never going to work for you (or me), unfortunately.

  If you liked the idea of Elomi Caitlyn, but the cups shape wasn't quite right, you could try Goddess Keira, IF you're willing/able to take in the band. Also, I will be trying the new Elomi Rita as soon as that comes out (supposed to be January), and I have high hopes for it, so I'll put up a review of that, too.

  I'm sorry I don't have a very coherent specific recommendation for you! Just, um, you should probably stalk me ;D

  Updated on December 6, 2012 Flag this

  
  

  • Yessss, let the stalky-stalk commence!! Hahaha.
    It sure does seem like we are very much alike.
    OK, I'm going to work my way from the top through your comment and try to answer everything.
    Yes, my measurements are a little smaller compared to yours. However, my perimeter measurement may be flawed because I measured that standing up, not bending over. I think that was the correct way, but yes I'm indeed close-set (hanging freely they do east-west, but as soon as they are made to go more front they touch), and wide and soft. Full on bottom is true, I think, in this CK bra my nipples end up either on or just above the seam in the middle of the cup. And yup, deep right at the bottom too. Yes please I hope your 75LLs arrive soon!! I want to see and hear about them!
    I think I need to stick with 32 bands too, they feel MUCH firmer and 34 bands ride up anyway :P. Eep me in 30s? You're probably right though, but it sounds so very small!

    Yay, found my almost-boob twin!! I most certainly will look at the things you tried!
    I did a comparison of my Angel and Lottie bras with the Alana, Jasmine and Fleur bras. http://www.bratabase.com/compare/dhl7t/ I'm not sure if I interpret it right... but it seems like the Alana, Fleur and Jasmine are smaller in cup depth&width than my CK angel 32K?? If that's so, wouldn't they be a worse fit? I love the suggestions, they are super pretty and it sounds like they can work for me, but those measurements give me pause.

    OK, I'm discarding Curvy Kate for future buying, but it's nice to be able to compare my current fit in them to what you suggest :)

    I certainly like the Elomi Caitlyn, and now that I'm wearing it today it feels like there is no empty fabric after all (wtf, how can this cup be super mega wide and feel correct, and the CK ones feel correct in width too??) It is mostly the band that's not right, but with the center gore pinched it is quite a good fit now. Well, if you ignore the floating gore, that is. The cup seems to be pretty good for the rest, no quadboobing (Yay!). I will most certainly go find some band-altering-tutorials and try them out on a couple of non-added old worn out 75(34) bras that are quadboobing too so I want to throw them out. Better to use them for practise!

    I love your recommendations, they are coherent enough for me, and specific enough too for a starting point!

    *goes to stalk you more now*

  • haha, so it sounds like we really are boob twins! Kinda fun :)
    Do try measuring your perimeter leaning over, I'm curious what it will be.

    I should have been more clear about the links I was giving you. I didn't necessarily mean that I was suggesting they would work, but rather that it could give you some info about those bras, and how they were for me, because those were some bras you might wind up considering. So comparing them to bras you already have is exactly the right thing to do!
    (If you really are almost exactly the same shape as me, then Alana probably won't work, because it will be too shallow at the bottom. As for Fleur/LR I don't know what these would have been like if I could have gotten a bigger cup, I suspect they might have worked, but it's hard to know. I think you may be a little more full on top than I am, in which case they actually might cut in a little.

    I'm curious if we are measuring cup depth in the same way. I don't mean to say that you did it wrong, but your measurements put the cup on this Romance 32K a lot deeper than I would expect compared to a 32JJ and to other CK bras (for example, Emily, which is supposed to be similar, says 37.6cm in 32K). Here's Lottie in 34K, which I tried http://www.bratabase.com/browse/curvy-kate/lottie-ck1601/34K/

    This would actually be good news, if your measurement is off, because that would mean some other bras are not as much smaller as you thought :)

    So the Jasmine, in 32K is a little small on me. I think I will try 34K. The wire is definitely too narrow. Unfortunately if you need wire width around 20cm rather than 19cm, it will probably be a little too narrow on you as well. However, the cup is very forgiving because of the stretch lace, so it might be worth a try if you think the wires will be ok. (You may have to wait for the next season's model, the bigger sizes are sold out most places now.)

    One thing that would be good to figure out: how do you feel about full-band vs partial-band? I found it very useful to figure out that partial-band bras (where the band goes up to the cup and ends, then starts again, ex. Panache Harmony) are just not ever going to work for me, because the wires will never get close enough up to the roots of my breasts. I don't know if this will be true for you or not, but it would be useful for you to know.

    Glad I can help you :)

  • Yay for boob twins!
    Will do the measuring later tonight, when I'm undressing for bed or something ;)
    Hmmm strange indeed, your 34K and my 32K Lotties appear near identical, the 32 being a few millimeters smaller in width and depth! I measured all my bras inside-out, over the knee until the fabric was no longer wrinkly but not stretching per se, then from inner side of wire top to the other top. Basically following the seam over the middle of the cup.
    Hmmm when I compare the 32JJ, 32K and 34K... there's a 1mm increase in cup width, nicely consistent. There's a 5mm increase in depth from 32JJ to 32K, then a 2mm depth increase from 32K to 34K. That is a significant difference, though only a few millimeters can differ easily.
    but WOW I just checked the original measures where the average is based off of, and my cup depth differs so very much from CurvyWordy's!! Her 32K measurement is smaller than the 32JJ lottie?? Mine balances that out with a higher depth...

    Well it does make sense, a deeper cup, because my breast perimeter measurement is 44cm... but still, measurement off would be good news for the other bras in terms of possible fitting!

    I don't have an opinion about full band vs partial band, as long as they give proper support and fit me I'll wear them both! I have heard that partial band cups tend to stretch out, shallowing, which would mean they'd be no good. How do you mean not get close up to your roots? why not? It is certainly good to keep in mind when trying them.

  • hmm, I do the measure a little differently, but yours sounds like it makes more sense, actually! I've been just holding the wires so the cup hangs down and pressing the tape measure into the cup, trying to follow the curve (not so easy!). I think your method is better! (The important thing is not to include the wires, but it sounds like you've done that right.)

    I think the cup depth is frustratingly probably one of the hardest things to measure and also one of the most useful data points for us.

    I see you found some of the inconsistencies I was looking at! Strange, huh? I wonder if the one you have was mis-sewn a little bigger or something?

    Yes, you and I, we need deep cups. I used to think that I needed to look for brands with wider wires, because objectively, I do need wide wires. However, what I have come to understand, from all the new measuring going on, is that I actually need brands that run more deep/narrow, just in bigger sizes than I had realized (which will mean the cups will get to the width I need, just by being larger sizes).

    Now, of course, this is a problem, because by and large, these sizes don't exist! Being a touch smaller than me, you may find a few more options (then again, smaller in band, too, so maybe not), but likely you'll be stuck in the same boat as me, trying to find the occasional fluke (I just bought a mis-sewn/mis-labeled Cleo Lizzie from Nesoa, labeled 30J, but 42cm deep! I don't have it yet, so I don't know yet how it will fit, but I have hopes!), learning to alter bands down, etc. Except for EM, of course, which may work for us. It's going to be a few weeks before I have my PL's, but I am sooo excited/anxious to see how they fit!

    The problem I have found with partial bands is that I can't get the band to sit high enough, such that the wires are flush against the base of my boobs. My band needs to sit, at the bottom, below the base of the cups, just based on how my torso is. When I put on a partial band bra, the bra sinks so that the bottom of the band is in the same place, but this now means that the cups are much too low. I think what you mentioned about stretching and shallowing may be part of it too. This all means that I get really bad orange-in-a-glass, with several fingers' width of empty space at the bottom, even while I'm quad-boobing on top. I had this problem with Alana, also, which is not partial-band, but has very little band below the cups, and has the 3-section shape that I have found to be the shallowest at bottom, so it was just way too shallow at the bottom of the cup, so the cups just slid down until there was enough depth. Not good!

  • Yes, cup depth is tricky because it's possible to measure it in so many different ways and it's so important so should be done in the same way by everyone... I guess mine could be a mis-sewn one, but the cup depth on all 5 of my CurvyKates is approximately the same... (all between 39,5-41cm) 5 mis-sewn ones, different colors&models? Not so likely...
    I saw you snatched up he Lizzie, I was half hoping you wouldn't so I could get it ;) I hope it fits!! Yes, EM could be our salvation. I hope so...

    My ribcage is between 81-82cm, depending on how tight I can pull the tape on different days ;) Overbust measurement standing up is 117cm, bending over it surprised me by being not that much longer: 121cm.
    I have difficulties finding where my root ends, if I measure from the part where my boob starts for sure I get 23cm but a bit ago when we started measuring I got 26cm. Those last cms I'm not sure if it's still boob tissue or not... oh well. I'm wide anyway :P and deep too.
    Yup, once we realize that the cups will be wide enough in the correct cup size it gets easier to get to our proper size. I know now that I need 32(70) bands, so when I ignore the EM calculator and just look at the crossing of 70-121 on the size chart it seems I will need 70L in their bras, I think. Woohoo, that's a size that's sometimes listed in their dropdown, possible-to-return-sizes, right?!?

    Ah, now I understand about the partial bands. That sounds terribly inconvenient... why do those bands even exist for us?!? lol.

    I think that after the Fantasie Cally I snatched off ebay yesterday I will wait a bit until early next year and then try out EM. The Cally is a 32JJ but t_maia said it runs large in the cup so it might be a decent fit as my Kara is decent in the cup too, it's only the armpit wires that annoy me through poking.

  • raspberryleaf petalmoon: Oh, I agree you do look similar. However petalmoon has a short torso and raspberryleaf a long? So partial bands could work for you petalmoon while being a disaster for you raspberryleaf?

    I have a long torso and partial bands sits way too low on me.

    @raspberryleaf: Thank you so much for describing your bottom boobs because that really had me ruling out me being full on the bottom I think once and for all.

  • Yes, I think I do have a short torso. Short legs, short torso, but big boobies :P
    You may be right though that they could work for me, especially with the fat-roll I have close under my bust where lots of my bras end up resting upon. Not so much with better fitting bras though :)

  • The partial bands are superb for not having bands rest on a high stomach! Then I really must recommend them. Maybe you should buy raspberryleafs Harmonies that she was trying to sell to me? :D (they would have been too big for me :D)

    How short are you btw? I'm 161.5 cm (5'3" I think it's translated in US)

  • Sounds like I should try them out at least! Any bras in 32/70 KK/L regions that have a partial band that you know of, from the top of your head? :)

    I'm near exactly the same height, 162cm!

  • So we're height twins :D

    Harmony, Confetti, Sienna, Melody are the four I can think of from the top of my head :) Harmony actually was very soft inside and I'd say that goes for Sienna as well. They do have very wide wires though.

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    Yay, more twins! :D
    ooooh, soft sounds awesome. I will have a looksie at them! (the wide wires may ruin them for me though, yuck)

  • petalmoon Figured I'd drop a note here: I got the Lizzie I bought from Nesoa. It's terrible on me, lol. I've re-added it and re-listed it, so if you're still interested, take a look at my pics and measurements and let me know if you want to buy it from me. (I'm afraid it may be wrong for you, too, though.)

  • Yuck! Too bad it was so terrible! I'll check it out...
    but there's an EM bra on its way to me too, so I'm hoping that'll be a great fit and then I'll never ever want to wear terrible fit bras again!

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  Someone suggested you try the CK Emily....BUT the Emily and the Romance are built on almost the exact same cut, so that would be a no go.

  If you want to continue to try Curvy Kate, the Angel has more depth - but as a general rule, CK runs 1-2 cup sizes small, as compared to Panache and Eveden brands.

  Updated on December 8, 2012 Flag this

  

  greenpianokeys

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  • Thanks! Pity to hear they are so similar, I had gotten my hopes up a bit!

    I have 2 Angels beside this Romance in the same size - I did not notice much difference between them. The Princess was smaller, but not much.

    Do you have experience with the Fantasie Cally? It's on its way to me now in 32JJ and it's supposed to run large, so it may be a decent fit. Yay!
    Or Ewa Michalak perhaps? I hear so much good about them, I'm looking forward to trying them. How does CK compare to them?

  • No, I've never tried the Fantasie Cally...

    I actually have my first EM order on its way here; so I cannot report yet! :-)

  • OK, was worth asking ;)
    Woohoo! Hope it'll arrive soon and they'll fit you!! Fingers crossed!

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  How did the Ulla Dessous bra fit you? Did you feel that the basic cut was a good shape for you if it only came in your size or not quite right? Ulla is cut for people who are full on top and need deep cups with narrow wires.

  Could you also please post a fit request of the Fantasie Kara?

  The CK Romance is relatively shallow, since you seem to need deeper cups the CK Emily would potentially be better on you.

  I think you might be full on top, in this case the Alana would simply not work on you. It would cut in bc it doesn't allow a lot of volume in the upper cup. Panache Jasmine would be better I think.

  Another potential issue that I see is tha the cup might get pulled flat by the band. CK bras are notorious for this. Ideal would be if you could try the CK Emily in 32K and 34K in comparision. Failing that, try this bra with an extension to see whether the cup fits better with a looser band.

  Updated on December 7, 2012 Flag this

  
  

  • I have long thought that the Ulla dessous bras were my correct size. They fit me in the cup it seemed, no quadboobing so back then I thought that was my only problem, I was quadboobing out of everything.
    However, now that I've learned more about bra fit I've seen that they are definitely too narrow on me, the wire at/under my arm is absolutely on breast tissue. In some of my Ulla bras it feels like I can scoop most if not all the tissue into the cup, but because the band it too wide it gives way too much and it feels like the tissue just goes back to my armpits during the day. It's not uncomfortable, no poking, but it doesn't give support either! The photos are a bit dark, but it is still a bit visible here in my black and aubergine Ulla Dessous Elise bras: http://www.bratabase.com/browse/ulla-dessous/elise-4325/# (pics are all me)

    I will make a fit request of the Fantasie Kara too, as soon as I've posted this comment.
    *edit: It's posted now: http://www.bratabase.com/troubleshoot/dhp92/ *end edit*

    One thing I failed to mention is that I received this bra together with my other CK bras, one of which the Lottie in 32K. I included a 34JJ too, because I wanted to make sure for myself that yes I do need the 32 band. I immediately put the 34 band on the tightest hook, and it felt much less firm&supporting compared to the 32 ones.
    a 34K might be the solution though, I can learn to alter the band down so it's more firm.
    The Emily is so pretty! I might try that. I think the cup may fit better with a looser band, but loosening the band would also mean losing support there...

  • Thank you very much for the pictures of the Ulla Elise. I think this confirms my suspicion about you have a tendency for full on top. I tried the Elise too and in the right size the the Blende was flapping around like a flag in the wind. Sadly the important details (wires!) aren't visible bc the pictures are too dark, but I can understand if you do not want to have pics that are too clear. Maybe you could add a picture of just the bras? The purple Elise is so pretty. Sadly it doesn't fit me at all. :(

    BTW, are you German?

  • I had my fiance make the pictures last night, they seemed alright when I uploaded them but yes they are a bit dark. I will see if I can lighten up at least the purple Elise side view one, better visible wires in purple compared to black. Pictures of just the bras sounds like a good idea, I might do that too.

    I'm not German, I'm Dutch. Several lingerie specialty shops I've visited in the last years do carry Ulla though ;) And they told me it's better than Freya, I shouldn't even try Freya after having worn Ulla because Ulla gives more support, less stretchy etc because there's a double layer of fabric in the band.

  • I agree that Ulla is better quality than Freya and Fantasie. But just look at suggested retail prices: 140 EUR for Ulla vs 39 Pounds (50 EUR) for Freya/Fantasie. I happen to know that the buying prices for retailers are similarly related. Freya is a lot cheaper and the difference has to come from somewhere. That said, the cuts of Freya and Fantasie are often better and more likely to bring the boobs front and center. It is just that the materials Freya uses in the large sizes aren't up to the task of supporting such large boobs. Freya works best around 32F, which they consider to be their core customer. Fantasie has a similar problem. The only bras by Fantasie that I've seen that really do support large boobs (up to 38JJ/K) are the Fantasie Kara and the Fantasie Mariette.

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