Bra fitting help » Why are the push up pads improving the fit?

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Ewa Michalak » S Grace (458) » 70K 32:15

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Suggestions (3)

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  This is a tricky one and I can't say it totally makes sense to me ... If I have to wager a guess, though, I'd say it probably has something to do with the fit issue you mention that you 'can't quite fill the bottom of the cup'. I THINK, but this is pure speculation, that without the pads in place the wires wrap around your body differently, causing the cups to tilt slightly further backwards, and taking some of the cup space with them. With the pads in place the cups this slight backwards tilt might be remedied somewhat which means that you actually have more space where you need it most, towards the centre front. The space now taken up by the pads is space that wasn't properly taken up by your breasts to begin with, so, counter-intuitively, adding the pads does indeed appear to give you MORE space (by improving the way the cups sit on your frame) rather than less. It is impossible to tell from the photos whether this is what is actually happening, but to my engineering brain it doesn't sound totally implausible. I'm totally open to alternative explanations/speculations, though

  Updated on March 9, 2014 Flag this

  
  

  • 1

    Actually, that gets me thinking. I know that the bra is definitely too shallow for me (that's why I get space at the bottom). The pushup pads are doing one of two things (or possibly both). They're providing extra structure to the cups, which lets them push against my breasts more to make them more compact, and or, they're lifting them up so that my breast apex is closer in line to where the deepest part of the bra is.

    I have the unfortunate problem with basically any bra which isn't extremely firm not so much that the band rides up (I'd think I could wear a 65 band in EM quite readily if it wasn't for my breast size), but that my breasts push the cups down. Maybe the extra structure is counteracting this a little and giving a bit more room in the cup in the right place?

    The fit is still wrong by the basic guidelines, but it's aesthetically pleasing, and I'm happy enough with not looking weird under a shirt. ;)

    I'm speculating myself, because my natural bra fit logic would think that putting things in the cup to make the cup smaller wouldn't normally help with a bra which appears to be too small. I've never come across this before.

  • Ereshiy it's like the way a padded bra usually has less volume than a non padded bra?

  • Blur - you know, I'd always wondered about that, but this makes sense. The extra structure helps to compress your breasts more.

    *lightbulb moment* :)

    Now, to figure out how to use the principle to get better support out of my other bras.

  • MilkAndHoney ,you explained it better than I could. :)
    I tried padding one bra with some things a few nights ago and instead of looking bigger,I looked smaller. O.o haha.I also have fairly soft breasts and I think that had to do with it too. Ereshiy ,are your's on the softer or firmer side?

  • SparkleDarkles I'm not super firm, but on the firmer side. My sister who is training in breast screening said that 'I'd be her worst nightmare' and 'I'm not sure if we have a casette big enough for your boobs' (aren't sisters nice? :P), but she also said that my breasts have quite a bit of firm breast tissue in them, especially considering their size.

  • Could the pads simply be flattening out your boobs, compacting them, and pushing more tissue to the side, thereby alleviating the quad problem? And you are right, the bra is aesthetically pleasing. I know it sounds strange given that this site is for people who don't want to "settle" for something that is not perfect, but if it is comfortable, given the problems you have outlined, maybe you should "settle". Because the bra looks terrific.

  • one174 - unfortunately, owing to my tiny frame and large breasts plus shape issues, there's really nothing for it but to 'settle' unless something else comes on the market.

    I'm genuinely suprised how much of a difference the pads have made, and I think that all my future EM purchases will have the correction pads in them. I'm not too fussy about shape if a bra fits okay, but this uplifted purple shape certainly packs a punch. I just need a fabulous dress to wear it under now. (:

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• 3
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  What strikes me is how low the cups slump on your torso when the pads are not in. This makes me think the weight of the breast is basically too much for the unpadded cup as a structure and is crumpling some part of the very bottom of the cup under the breast. This means that, without pads, not only are the breasts sitting lower on the torso due to lack of support, but you've also lost an inch or two of cup coverage since that fabric is sitting crumpled under the breast and each cup is being forced down and "biting'" into the top of the breast more as a result. When you put the pads in, they add to the strength of the structure supporting the breasts, just as you said, and this means that the entire cup is smooth once again instead of being partly crumpled beneath the breast.

  What does this mean for future bra purchases? I'd say look for models that incorporate pads, slings, bands, molded foam elements or any other elements that support the breast from beneath.

  ITA with the strap positioning aggravating the problem, obviously they shouldn't be providing most of the support but their current placement can't be doing any good! They look like they'd fall right off the shoulder without much provocation.

  PS I also have the short boob issue, and for truly comfortable fit I really don't favor balconnet styles in padded cups. I know they're all the rage in the full bust market but it is so hard for me to match the height of the cup with my proportions. I would consider altering down a well proportioned full cup as the empty space at top issue is far less noticeable, and using a pad or other support element for additional lift.

  Updated on March 10, 2014 Flag this

  
  

  • Do you have any suggestions for full cup bras which would come up to a big enough cup volume? (to be deep enough, I'm honestly thinking it would have to be 28M/30LL/32L etc) There are none made in 30 or 28 bands at all, but I'm willing to branch out a bit and alter the band if I was going to get a really good cup fit. I have tried out an Elomi Caitlyn, but I got caught out forgetting that shortening the band would wrap the cups around my frame more, reducing the room at the front, so it was quite a bit too small. The wires were so wide that I didn't feel especially inclined to try a larger cup, because I figured that most of the volume would end up under my armpits.

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    Yes I think that would be the challenge. I don't have a specific model in mind but I would advise looking for brands that are known for a deep and narrow fit and then trying the same "bra hack" as you did with Elomi Caitlyn. (The thing about Elomi is that I believe they target mostly a plus size demographic, so if you have a particularly small frame, there is a distinct risk of wires being overly wide and/or tall.) Some of the full bust bra bloggers have published very comprehensive tables ordering bra brands by the typical narrowness or width of their wires, which would probably be helpful to you.

    I also believe Panache does 1 or 2 full cups, not that they are super narrow but they are usually easy to find listed for sale. The Rumeur seems to go up higher in size, not sure about the construction though.

    There are posters here who are super knowledgeable about the Polish brands as well and you might look into affordable semi-custom options there.

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  Personally I would suggest two cup sizes up and to get the straps moved. The cups are waaaay too small, the only reason you can sort-of wear it despite the quadraboobing is that your arm is pushing the armhole of the cup and therefore also the cup forward, giving some slight more room in the cup. This is also the reason why the pads are not helping, the extra structure won't be enough as your boobs are already fighting to get more room and the extra space they are taking up only makes the situation worse...

  Is there a reason why you are not sizing up in the cups? Something that I'm missing? The reason you cannot fill the top of the cup is that A) the cups are too small, so your boobs are pushing the top of the cup further out than it should be which makes it seem bigger there. B) The straps are too wide apart for your frame. It does not mean in any way that the cups are too big. Personally I think that you would fill out the top of the cups fine in a larger cup size with the straps moved.

  Updated on March 10, 2014 Flag this

  
  

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    I tried sizing up to fit to my projection about 9 months ago, and basically, I just end up with the top of the cup being totally empty. :( I'm feeling like I've come full circle and so I'm just going to have to go back to going up two sizes and having the top of the cup totally empty and having to take it off. http://www.bratabase.com/troubleshoot/dhuou/ This is my fit request from back then (I'd say that I was about 1 cup size smaller then). Even after moving the straps in quite a bit on that bra, I still had to take off the entire top section in order to not get a gap up there.

    I think one of the biggest problems is the fact that there's not a lot of knowledge about my size range, and short of me throwing hundreds of dollars into trying heaps of different sizes which are difficult to resell, as it's not as though I can just try out options which fit me in store (I miss being a 28H), and returns are plain ridiculous when you live in Australia (what's this 'sending back inside the returns window'? ;) ) I've just reached a point where I suck it up for a few months with alterations and try to fix the fit issues I experience one at a time. This journey has been oddly cyclical.

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    Nesoa : I think this the essence of the 'short breast' issue, breasts that require significantly less height than horizontal depth. To fit their depth, the cups would simply become too tall. Although I am in a COMPLETELY different size range, I have the same problem and there's essentially no way out: bras either fit hight-wise, but then they won't have enough depth, or they fit depth-wise, but then they will be way too tall. In Ereshiy 's case, as per her previous experiments, wire width is another concern. Going up in cup size will likely only result in wider wires, not in more depth were it's actually needed.

    Sometimes there simply is no 'good' fit and the lesser of two evils has to make do.

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