Bra fitting help » Armpit muffin - migrated breast tissue, or just fat?

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Cleo » Maddie Moulded T-shirt Bra (7201) » 30FF 30:8

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Suggestions (3)

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  The straps look tight in these pictures, could you double check that?
  They are pulling up the band in the back, and probably making the cup even smaller and contributing to the armpit issue.
  Rule of thumbs for straps is: As tight as necessary, as loose as possible. Make sure you can comfortably fit 2 finger's breadth between the straps and your shoulders.
  (In case the cup is gapping when you adjust the straps like that, the bra is simply too open on top, and tightening the straps further won't fix that.)

  Next, the band should be parallel to the ground all around. It looks like yours is sitting a little too high up in the back.

  Apart from that - Maddie is a terribly shallow bra, and the band is a straight band, not an U-band, so this increases risk of armpit fat too.

  I've seen you listed the Cleo Kali and Juna in your profile - do you have armpit issues with these two as well?

  And, do you scoop and swoop when putting on the bra? That's a technique to make sure all the breast tissue is inside the cups. There's a blog post with helpful information on that: http://brasandbodyimage.com/2012/09/05/putting-your-bra-on-properly/

  Updated on February 3, 2017 Flag this

  
  

  • bracrastination The straps aren't as tight as they look, but I let them out and you're right - that did help! But there is still especial armpit muffin problems with this bra compared to Juna and Kali.

    Kali has absolutely no armpit muffin issues in a 30FF, which is really confusing because Kali is way too projected for me, so that one is out as a well-fitting bra (it will never fit me). Is there a way I can show you my fit albums by linking in comments?

    Juna is almost perfect as a fit, but when I swoop n scoop in that one my cup size seems to need to go up (So from 30FF to 30G). It also has big armpit muffin problems, but not as bad as this one.

    It sucks because Maddie is the PERFECT cup shape for me because my boobs are insanely shallow. The only problem I have with it is the muffin-ing. If I knew how to link albums I could show you the others and how they compare!

    EDIT: I figured it out! Here's the armpit muffin from Kali in 30FF http://www.bratabase.com/picture/dkbs8/

  • Less armpit issue in Juna and Kali makes sense to me, as they both have an U-back (strap attachments forming an U in the back) and not a straight back.

    Try looking into Cleo Riley, Tilda, Morgan and Lexi. Their cup shapes are loosely based on Maddie, but they feature an U-back band, which would suit you better. (I cannot say which one is the most shallow-friendly, as I've only tried Riley so far.)

    Juna runs small indeed, many people find they need to go up one cup size. You could also try looking for cut-siblings that are more true to size (Cleo Darcy is one of them).

    My next suggestion would be Cleo Marcie, as you said Kali runs too deep and that your boobs are somewhat shallow. Marcie is the most shallow-friendly unpadded Cleo bra, and if Maddie works for you, I'm nearly 100% positive Marcie will do too.

  • Maddie runs small in the cup and loose in the band, I disagree with going up a band size, this is the largest band you should be in in this bra, you might even want to try a 28 with an extender, though it's not always the best idea it works for me (I go down to a 30 from a 32, but my measurements are larger than yours). I would size up in the cup and down in the band. The band is riding up, but obviously you already know that's partly from too tight straps, but it wouldn't happen so easily if the band was snugger.

    Marcie is fuller on top, it's shallow at the bottom but has a lot of projection, it's not a shallow bra. Kali is fuller on bottom, more space at the wire, but it's slightly wider and slightly shallower than Marcie. It IS fairly shallow overall in smaller cups, but once in your size range OP it is more projected.
    

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  Based on your loose and tight band measurements, you may also be more comfortable in a 32 band...especially with bands that are tighter. This stretched band measurement says 29.3 while your comfortable band measurement is 30.8. Many 32 bands will stretch a bit less than 32, same as many 30 bands stretch less than 30", so it might be worth considering to see if it feels better.

  Updated on February 4, 2017 Flag this

  
  

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    some people are perfectly comfortable in a very tight band so it's a bit hard to say if she will feel a difference, but it's true a looser band, IF it does not ride up, might improve the digging.

    There is another factor too cxs which is that sometimes it's not the bra. Can you get someone to take a photo of your back without a bra, with your arms out of the way, and examine it? (not to post it here--just for you to look at it yourself and compare to how things look in a bra.) You may have a little bit of tissue there that is just always there. It's a natural place to have a bit of flesh and for many people they just need to find bras that don't dig into it, rather than focusing on it as a flaw that needs to be fixed by a bra.

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    Totally agree with wendybien ! :)

  • I love your term - armpit muffin - though I also appreciate wendybien 's approach. I was just looking at my own muffin-ing and wondering if it is migrated breast tissue, whether I should be trying some larger bras, or whether I should just accept that it's part of my new, menopausing body (never had in the past, alas). My fit advice though: I was going to suggest a bigger band for the Cleo, OR/and just not wearing super tight shirts when wearing this bra that you otherwise like so much.

  • berexxa a lot of people experience some breast growth after menopause so it's possible you always had a little bit of axillary breast tissue before, and now there's just a bit more of it.

  • wendybien it doesn't hurt at all! The problem is that 32 feels TOO loose (I tried it) but 30 seems to make me look, uh... fat. I'm going to have to use an extender, I think.

    Thank you for suggesting this, but we just did it and I don't have natural armpit muffin! If you look at the very last picture in this bunch, you can see that with my arms angle away from my back, there's no muffin. I think like someone was saying up there, the main issue is that the band is straight rather than curved, and it pushes... something? up into my armpits. Weird!

    berexxa yeah if it comes to having to mark this one out of my rotation I'm just going to wear giant baggy clothes instead! I like it too much! P.S. nothing wrong with some armpit muffin, it's just when it looks a little TOO edible that it gets weird... like, stick a paper cake case on that and you wouldn't be able to tell it from a fairy cake... I'd eat it...

  • This is often unpopular advice... but if you are getting too much digging from a band that is accurately sized, it's often a matter of the quality of the materials. Cleo and other UK companies tend to use a rather basic quality elastic that doesn't have the same tension as the rest of the band so it can be pretty diggy. If you can afford a more high-end bra with better materials you will probably find it does not dig in the same way! (The spending more money aspect is what makes this an unpopular thing to say lol)

  • wendybien Could you recommend some higher quality brands?

  • A nearly tight but moving band can cause the worst back fat, a truly loose band sometimes looks better, a firm band should also be better.

  • cxs Chantelle and Wacoal are two easily accessible brands in the USA but not sure where you live. Curvy Kate I find a little bit better than the other UK brands in this regard as well.

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  Could you plese be kind cxs and post a picture of the bra only side laying flat ? I suspect it's narrowing too abruptly and wedges backwards what should go forwards. Thanks !

  Updated on April 13, 2019 Flag this

  
  

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