Bra fitting help » Cup fits but lace over the cup wrinkles, gore hurts to high Heaven

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Cleo » Marcie Balconnet Bra (6831) » 28GG 28:10

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Suggestions (5)

• 2
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  If you don't want to bens the wires, try to put a cotton pad (the flat ones you'd use for removing make up) behind the gore wher it hurts the most. This might not look very pretty, but makes it more comfy.

  Updated on January 14, 2015 Flag this

  

  Staaldrigstill

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• 1
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  Overall, it does appear to be a good fit and it give your breasts a great shape! As for the gore, have you tried bending the wires at the gore out, away from your body, at all? I know that has really helped me with a few bras. An even bigger issue, which is likely related to all the fit issues you list, is that the wires are too wide for you. In the side pics especially, you can see that your breast tissue ends an inch or so before the wire ends. Ideally, your tissue would end in flush with the wire. The too wide wire may cause some of the wrinkling, as the cups are not deep enough to fit all of your tissue. Have you tried narrower wires before? I would suggest something with a more snug band (which I realize gets you into custom bands, likely) and narrow wires with deeper cups. Hope this helps!

  Updated on January 11, 2015 Flag this

  
  

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• 1
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  If you decide to keep this bra, there are a couple of things you can do to reduce the pressure of the wires hitting your breast bone. The first is what you'd already mentioned about bending the wires outwards. One thing I tried on my Marcie was pushing the wires down if there's some space left in the back of the wire channel and then putting in a few stitches to keep the wires from sliding back up. Here's the adventure: http://www.bratabase.com/adventures/entry/4446/

  I'm no expert in judging fullness, but I would guess that you are generally even. I've read reviews on Marcie and from my memory, it's a style that has had the most success from full on top shapes. Have you tried Cleo Lucy? The gore is also a bit lower than Marcie in 28GG.

  Otherwise, apart from the wire being too wide for you, the fit looks ok. Regardless of what pictures show, bra fit is entirely subjective in that all the data in the world will get you in the right ballpark, but if you feel supported and comfortable in that bra, then that feeling is the best indicator.

  Updated on January 12, 2015 Flag this

  
  

  • I think I'm going to list it as an exchange and see if maybe someone has a G that they need to upsize to a GG and we could swap. But to anyone who is familiar with this particular bra, would that still result in relatively the same size as far as wire width?

    It definitely is not an issue of the band being too tight and stretching the wires too wide. I put it on the loosest hook today to try to see if that helped and also unhooked it and just held it somewhat closed and the wires are equally wide. It did help with the gore pain to loosen it though. So if I can get a better cup fit then I am thinking this style might not necessarily be out of the question.

    I'm conflicted though because I've got a Tshirt on, a fitted one, and you can't see any of the issues that are there when I only have the bra on. None of the wrinkling shows, the shape is very round and "uplifted" lol. So it's good under clothes for sure.

    The question about thinner wire shapes...I'm new to all of this so the only ones I have tried in the ballpark of my size are this one and a 30G (US) Parfait Affinitas Kelly. The wires are perfect on that one. Feel like they were made to cup my breasts. But the cup shape is weird because it is slightly conical (not like Madonna, but kind of cone shaped) and give quadding along the outer side of my boobs. Like armpit to nipple there is an indentation in my boob and if I scoop and swoop then I quad boob over the top but not badly. It feels more like a bra that serves a purpose of supporting rather than a pretty undergarment that also supports. Kind of like comparing Granny's girdle panties to one of the really boned and decorative corsets lol.

    I tried to size up from the 30G and size down in the band so I ended up here, but then it occurred to me that maybe I skipped a size due to the whole UK/US sizing confusion. The Parfait bra was sold as a 30G, but it has one of the multi size tags showing the other international sizes in it. I thought that I had read that G in US was equivalent to G in UK. But Bratabase keeps showing my bra as a 30F so I went back and checked my info and a re R enough, it is a 30G/30F (UK). So when I went to lower the band size and go up 1 cup (in addition to the normal step for lowering a band size) did I use the wrong conversion? Maybe I was supposed to order this in a 28G because it is UK sizing? Or is it? ARGH I' m confused. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of it, lol. Is there a handy list that shows which manufacturers go by US sizing and which go by UK or other sizing other than just reading the tag? Because I read this one and I think maybe I still screwed it up. This one shows 28GG US/UK but some chart I looked at today didn't been show a GG in US sizes. Was that one chart wrong or did I really just need to go to a straight up G to get the next size up from the 30G I already had and go down a band size? Blah! Reading my own question it is so confusing. Like I am talking in circles. Why does this have to be so difficult? :D
    

  • I actually just found one of the gore issues. I have tried this bra so few times that I didn't really have all the problems listed fully. I was remembering only the pain on my breast bone. But it is also hurting my actual breast tissue, more so on the bottom of the right breast where the underwire end hits. It feels kind of like a poke, sharp like pain as I'm wearing it now. Well I just put my finger in there to move it away from my skin and I noticed that when I turned, it seemed like I could actually feel the wire itself move, but really what it is is the encasing fabric seam. Like they have the channel seen that the underwire lays in, and the two sides of the cups run parallel when they are in the gore and sit side by side between your breasts. They are separated by their respective seams, then the wires are there, then there is the seam that separates the wire from the inside of the cup/your tissue. It is that seam that is kind of turning right in the bottom of the cup where the gore is and that hard channel is poking my skin. Does that sound like the gore is too short for me? It is right about at the breast bone level, but in the tissue of the breast. I forgot to mention that, but I think I did get a picture of it if you can see the shots from under the gore. If you look closely I think you can see where it is digging into the tissue more on one side than the other. That is actually where I had folded up fabric and tried to keep it from poking. I thought it was the wire itself but it isn't,

  • 1

    Going between US and UK sizing and also between brands can be tricky. Parfait is also a tricky brand because their labeling methods are not always consistent.

    Bratabase uses cup indexes which I’ve found to be the most helpful method when identifying equivalent sizes between brands. Your 30F Parfait Kelly is 30:7 while your 28GG Cleo Marcie is 28:10 (or the equivalent of 30:9). Here’s the blog post that explains it in detail: http://www.bratabase.com/blog/2014/mar/09/introducing-cup-indexes-243/.

    I did a comparison of Parfait Kelly in 30F, Cleo Marcie in 28G and 28GG. Here are the results: http://www.bratabase.com/compare/dhy38/. The cup width on the two Marcies have been measured to be roughly the same as your 30F Kelly, but there will be more cup depth in the Marcies. So if you find that the 30F Kelly lacks a bit of depth, the 28G Marcie might be an improvement. However, judging by the fit of your 28GG, I’d say the cup depth is adequate. You would be losing almost an inch in cup depth if you size down to a 28G. If you feel well supported in the 28GG and the fit issues are not showing underneath clothing, I wouldn’t be too concerned. On the other hand, trying this bra in a different size is never a bad thing as it helps you to isolate the causes of your fit issues and in the grander scheme of things, helps you figure out what styles and sizes work best for you.

    I think the most concerning issue though is the painful gore. The wires on this bra are very strong and the fabric covering will not act as a good cushion against your ribcage and breast bone. Try just pushing the wires down for a few moments to see if that eases the tension of the wire channel seems and wires rubbing your breast bone and innermost center breast tissue. If it still bothers you, this style might have a few issues that can’t be fixed to suit you regardless of sizing up or down.
    

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• 1
  helpful

  What you are describing with the overlay is quite common among Cleo's styles. My opinion is that this may not be the best line for you, as Panache brands tend to run deep in the cup and offer lots of projection (think long breast type). Going down in the cup might help, but it looks like the edge of the cup is sitting very flush against the top of your breast so you might just end up with some pulling into the breast tissue instead of achieving a better fit.

  Updated on January 13, 2015 Flag this

  
  

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• 1
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  It's not a too bad fit overall. I think the Marcie would work on you but needs some fine tuning in the size. I would seriously try to size up at least one band. I have measurements similar to yours and I'm wearing a 32 band in this bra! If you don't feel like a 32, 30 still should be fine. Remember, Marcie runs exceptionally tight (this is true for every colorway except the new raspberry one).

  Personally, I found that going up a band size considerably improved the center gore fit (no digging in any more!), and I didn't lose any support - the band would still stay in place perfectly.

  Apart from that, consider going down a cup size to minimize the wrinkling.

  By the way, both issues (too small band and too large cup size) contribute to the gore digging issue. Before bending the wires etc., I would strongly recommend trying a different size.

  I also think the more projected Cleo George (5131) style sister bras, such as the Lily or Meg, might work pretty well for you.

  Updated on January 18, 2015 Flag this

  
  

  • Thanks for the info on the 32 band with the same measurements! I never would have thought it would be that tight. But it is worth looking into. And I've never heard of the George. I'll have to go check it out.

  • I agree with bracrastination on this - I normally wear a 30F, but I wear a 32E in Marcie. The bands on Marcie are rather tight, and I can't imagine how the actual 30 band would feel on my ribs... Probably very bad!

    How the Marcie looks on you is basically how it looks on me: great shape/uplift. I would recommend the Cleo Lily; I personally have it in a 30F, my standard size. You may also want to try to Jasmine; I have that in a 30E, as the cups offer a lot of projection and it offered too much "room" in my normal size. I would also recommend the Cleo Minnie, which I have in a 30F! I hope that is somewhat helpful, as my chest looks a lot like yours in the Marcie!

    For all of my bras, I usually bend the gore outwards. Otherwise, the pain on my sternum becomes unbearable. I would think this is your issue with the gore and not a manufacturing defect. The pain can especially be aggravated when you're wearing bras that have the same gore height, meaning it digs in the same place every day! : '(

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