Bra fitting help » Too-tight band causing wire distortions. What size should I try next?

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Elomi » Izzy Bandless Bra (8790) » 42FF 42:8

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  The band is indeed too tight, but one of the issues this is masking is that the cups are too deep (too big) for you. If you put on an extender or two to relieve tightness, i think you will see the cups suddenly become loose and baggy. I would size up in the band, and check the measurements on Bratabase to find the corresponding cup size that offers a cup depth of about 13.5.

  Elomi is known for phenomenally wide wires in your size range so I think you do have some chance of finding something that fits decently in this brand. Also, don't overlook the wireless models by Elila, Goddess and similar brands. In this size range they fit very similarly, but without all the additional challenges of matching wire width to boob width. And contrary to popular belief, in the right size they DO offer wonderful uplift.

  Updated on May 29, 2015 Flag this

  
  

  • When I wear this bra with an extender, the cups do indeed go all wrinkly. But the wires also stop distorting and my side boobs pop out the back of the cups, a good two-inch span behind the end of the wires. Then if I continue wearing it a while, the band rides up in the back and the cups work themselves downward because each wire is now too narrow for its boob, eventually leaving a gap of an inch or so between the bottom of each boob and the underwire. That really doesn't seem like too small a cup to me. If I go down a cup size, the wires will be even narrower.

    Everyone says Elomi has super-wide wires. Maybe I just happened on one of their narrower-width-wire models?
    

  • Can you post photos of the fit with the extender on?

    A vast gap between the underwire and the bottom of the boob is in fact a very typical sign of a TOO LARGE underwired cup (you wrote too small, not sure if that is an error).

  • No, I meant that the wide-rooted boob in a too-narrow cup pushes down on the underwire, pushing the bottom of the cup down the chest, sort of a vertical version of the orange-in-a-glass problem. This causes the cloth at the bottom arc of the cup to lie flat against the rib/chest *below* the boob. If I wake early enough, I'll try to take a photo in the morning before we leave for our unusually busy Saturday. Thanks for your feedback on this matter. :)

  • Here's a link to somebody else's photo demonstrating the problem I'm talking about. In fact, I've always had this problem with underwires, long before my boobs got pendulous and even before I got fat.

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tvSakDpf3ak/Ud7viuLX12I/AAAAAAAACMA/w-KLtJst_ig/s1600/Breasts+With+A+Broad+Base+BE+09.jpg

    I think when I wear this bra without the extender, the underwires get flexed (distorted) wider and so encase my whole boob, pulling all the tissue into the cup, but over a couple of hours, it starts to become painful and over time it will permanently twist those wires. But when I wear the extender, the wires retain their intended shape and thus width, which is too narrow and so my boobs then escape and/or force the cup downward and the back strap upward. Does that makes sense?

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    OK it's late so I'm struggling to visualize it properly, but I think there are several issues that you're conflating here.

    - Width: if the wires are too narrow, i.e. you can feel that they are resting on breast tissue, then I agree you cannot wear it.

    - Overall volume: actually the cup CAN be too big in overall volume even if the wires are too narrow. Sizing up will not help. You will end up with baggy wrinkling cups that offer zero support.

    So basically if your current assessment of this particular bra is correct, this means you need to find a wider shallower bra design. Sizing up in this specific bra will be pointless.

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    have you tried the elomi bijou? i agree that unlined elomi plunges like this (they have different names but are basically all the same) may tend too deep for you. bijou is very shallow and might be a great fit in like 42/44 E/F or so. I'd try 42F first.

    take care you are sure you know where your root ends at the side; this can be tricky for us fluffier people. For me i have to lift my arm up to see my root. otherwise it looks like my root extends almost to my back, but actually this is just extra skin and flesh that my boob is trying to drag along with it. When i lift my arm high, look in a mirror, and stretch that side of my body, i can see the actual breast tissue, which is much narrower. for me as with most women, it lines up with the front armpit at the side. The upshot is you def do need a wide wire, but it may not need to be as wide as you think.

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    melifish I have very little fluff on my ribcage (though plenty elsewhere!) but I have the same phenomenon with that fold extending way out to East Bicycle... It's actually just loose skin, and my real breast root ends close to the front of my torso.

  • Thanks, wendybien. So I what I need is both a wider wire and a shallower-cut bra.

    And thank you, melifish, for specifying the Bijou as a possibility for that sort of cup. One of the things that I found refreshing about this bra is the unlined cup, but I also need a molded cup for some shirts.

    Now I have to decide what size to order. I'll wait until the Elomi Caitlyn I ordered arrives, to see if it helps me to hone in on the right size, though it now looks like it probably won't actually fit. :) But since it has a bottom band, it should be less likely to allow the wires to stretch out of shape, which should help in judging the fit. And the higher wings should help enormously.

  • As far as where my breast root ends... Yes, I have struggled with this question. But a couple of pages on venusianglow.com helped me determine I have wide roots. Did you see the link I posted above? Here's the page it came from: http://www.venusianglow.com/2013/07/nsfw-pictures-of-breasts-with-broad.html. Let me know if your understanding or use of wide roots is different.

    While my boobs weren't ever as large as hers, my general shape and the way the breasts attach, and hang, have always been much like "Bust A," the woman who is 5'2" and 185#. I now have an added amount of pendulousness, but I think the root itself is pretty much the same as always (another woman described her own hanging-while-bending-over boob as looking like a tennis ball in a tube sock, but for me it's more like a grapefruit in a knit cap). The shadow line that shows (faintly) when I do the push test lines up about mid-armpit, slightly forward of hers.

    So I guess I need to look for more shallow-cut bras. I see half-cups and plunges touted as good for shallow breasts, but I also see advice against both if one is pendulous. It's all so frustrating. And there's not a store closer than a couple hundred miles that carries decent bras in my size range, so I'm going to have to do all this narrowing down of size and cut by ordering online. I'm trying not to be discouraged.
    

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    Hmm OK well I hate to say anything bad about that site as the blogger obviously worked incredibly hard gathering contributions and putting that whole presentation together, and it does have some super helpful info. However, I just want to caution that photos (in ANY position) are just not as reliable for people who are heavier, more soft-bodied or soft-breasted, older or post-babies. In fact, they can be very misleading. If I showed you similar photos of my naked torso you would also believe I had really quite wide roots,but I don't--I just have loose skin and a smooth layer of chub on my sides that makes it hard to see what is fat and what is boob.

    Photos or visual inspection are fantastic at showing breast width when you are dealing with a very young, firm-boobed, lean woman with firm, taut youthful skin, because typically on her the breast tissue is visibly delineated. For the rest of us, and that most definitely includes me (and I suspect also you), we need to rely on sensation, because to put it crudely, photos aren't much use at distinguishing between actual breast tissue, loose skin and fat. FOr me, at 37 after 2 kids I can easily feel the difference with my hands (breast tissue itself is kind of loose and grainy, while fat is smoother) and in my body as I touch my sides (breast tissue is obvs. more sensitive than plain old fat).

    Also, the leaning-over pose only tells you how wide the very TOP of the breast root is--a part of the breast root that may not even usually find itself encased in the bra. Many women have breast roots whose base is kind of V shaped, meaning that while the tissue spreads out wide at the very top of the breast area, the part of the root that is going to fit into an underwire is fairly narrow. To get good support some of these ladies need to find not WIDE wires, but SHORT wires, which will support the narrowish lower part of their underboob, while leaving the wide tapered-out part of the upper breast root alone. Others just need very flexible wires that will extend straight out pointing diagonally upwards when the bra is worn, because this closely defines the shape of their breast root. (Not saying this is you, it's just an example, but it's something to bear in mind--width is not a simple measurement, you must also consider the shape of your root, it does not always match the U or semi circle of many underwires.)

  • Yes, I'm 48, breastfed one kid, and have had 100-pound fluctuations (lost then regained; boo), so there is plentiful loose skin and of course fat, but much of the tissue below my armpit is breast tissue. It is fibrous (I can feel the striations rub against each other when I roll a pinch between finger and thumb) and is more sensitive than my fat. To be honest, I can't imagine wearing a narrower wire now that I've had on a wire that (mostly) ran right around my breast. i suddenly understand why people enthuse over underwire bras when I never liked them at all.

    I'm curious, though, why you both seem convinced I need narrower wires. What do you see in the photos that leads you to think that?

    Hopefully I'll have two more bras to measure and add this weekend.

  • isobrajoy are you addressing me? I gave you advice higher up to seek wide wires and shallow cups, so obviously not saying you have narrow roots... not sure who you are talking about.

  • Sorry, wendybien. I guess I misinterpreted your last comment. Anyway, your advice was spot on. The Elomi Madison 42FF I just got yesterday and wore all day today is not a perfect fit but it's gorgeous and it was just $20, so I'm going to do a little wire bending to see if I can't make the center gore quit poking into my breastbone. I have to wear an extender with it, and I think it's still just slightly small in the cup, but it seems to be a shallower build. That bra is discontinued but I read it's based on the Elomi Betty, so I'm thinking I'll order a 44FF and a 42G in that in hopes one of them fits. After a (depressing) trip to Dillards today, where the only bras they had that fit me had very high gores and/or too-deep cups, I'm thinking I'm also not likely to perfectly fit the molded cup of the Bijou, so I'm going to skip it for now.

    Next model I try (finally breaking away from Elomi) will probably be a Panache Andorra. It looks like it might be a good fit for my shape. Thanks so much, everyone, for your advice!

  • Oh no, that entire comment was basically just a general dissertation on bras and whatnot. It had no bearing on your actual boobs, I was just womansplaining at the universe about how visual indicators for breast width aren't reliable for certain demographics. Don't worry, you'll get used to my pontificating over time :-D

    So glad you got a good fit in the Madison!

    I'm not sure about the Andorra though. In lower band sizes it is known to be good for narrower boobs than yours. Proceed with caution and look at measurements on here.

  • LOL womansplaining. I like that.

    I didn't realize there were two Andorras. It was the Andorra plunge that looked to me like a good possibility, but I didn't realize the band doesn't go up as high as the full-cup version. Boo. I guess I could try Saskia's suggestion to sister size with an extender.

  • Honestly the majority of the Panache product line in higher cup and band sizes is known for wide wires, so I am not sure that trying one of the few narrower-than-typical designs (such as Andorra or Jasmine) is your best bet. Why not experiment with other Panaches that are wider and come in your size, or try a brand that is know for wide wires, like Parfait, other Elomis, Goddess, Curvy Kate, etc.?

  • Well, I'd read reviews that described the Andorra plunge as good for wide roots and saying how the stretch lace holds in softer breasts, and other reviews complaining it was too shallow, which would be a plus for me. It doesn't matter, though, since it doesn't go to my size.

    I wish there were a simple chart that told which models are shallow vs. deep, narrow vs. wide root, and close-set vs. wide-set. I find charts grading brands from narrow to wide, but they don't always agree, and as you point out, a brand known for wide bras will likely have some narrower models.

    After a dispiriting several hours at Dillards trying on everything close to my size, and EVERY ONE that even sort of fit having very high center gores that were not only uncomfortable but usually correlated with ill-fitting cups, I've determined plunges or other low-center cuts are an absolute necessity for me.

  • Dillards is a bra desert. Don't bother!

    There are quite a lot of seamless and/or molded full cup bras that have soft gores and are shallow all over and particularly at the center (I think the reason gores hurt you is that many cups are too open near the gore, and since you don't have a lot of tissue there to "push back" the gore digs in). If I see one that is in your size range I'll update here :-)

  • Yes, I have had terrible experiences at Dillards. But I went there because I wanted to physically try on a few bras to test my narrowing down of sizes/shapes before ordering more bras online. Luckily, this time the fitter I met was competent and didn't try to talk me into anything. She tried to help me find a low gore in my size and apologized that they didn't have any. I'll probably take my niece in to try on a few bras since she told me she's outgrown all her old VS bras and now all she has that will fit are sports bras. And there's no other place in our town (that I know of) that carries my size or hers (probably 30H or so).

    Thanks, wendybien for all your help.

  • My pleasure :-D

  • isobrajoy I just thought of you today as I was browsing a sales page and saw one of the bras that I know are particularly wide, shallow AND shallow near the gore--the Wacoal Awareness. I have seen this at every Nordstrom I've ever been to, so I think it is quite widely available (and probably available with free returns via Amazon prime):
    http://www.barenecessities.com/wacoal-awareness-seamless-bra-85567_product.htm?pf_id=Wacoal85567&search=

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  I'm seeing a shape mismatch here. If you feel the band is too tight you can always wear a bra band extender like this: http://www.jcpenney.com/fashion-forms-bra-extenders/prod.jump?ppId=1b2a99a&selectedSKUId=12810610034&selectedLotId=1281061&fromBag=true&quantity=1&cm_mmc=ShoppingFeed-_-GooglePLA-_-Bra%20Extenders-_-12810610034&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=bra%20extenders&utm_content=12810610034&cvosrc=cse.google.12810610034&cvo_cid=45810122978&gclid=CjwKEAjwnKCrBRCm1YuPrtWW0QMSJAC-5UYkzKvP-PASkvICBQhgMKFuh3Yyeko5bryLi8KRtnsZXBoC0jvw_wcB&kwid=productads-plaid^76121677298-sku^12810610034-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^45810122978

  I'm seeing tall and broad roots, and possibly shallow breasts. It's hard to find a bra for broad rooted and shallow in cup sizes F-GG because most people in that cup size range are narrow rooted and projected. Ideally you'd need a bra with taller underwires at the sides and broader wires. Curvy Kate makes some good ones for your shape but unfortunately they don't come in 42FF.

  Updated on May 29, 2015 Flag this

  

  Saskia_C

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  • Yes, I have very wide-root breasts that are also wide-set. But my breasts are quite pendulous. When I bend at the waist, they have a pronounced W shape (when I was younger/smaller, it was more a vv shape. LOL). Can you be both shallow and pendulous?

  • isobrajoy I do not know. Cleo makes some broad wired bras in 38GG which is a sister size of 42FF. You might wanna try those bras with the band extender.

  • Thanks for the suggestion that I might be able to find bras in a brand that doesn't go up to 42 by using one or more extenders. I was thinking I was pretty much limited to a couple of brands.

  • Pendulousness means absolutely nothing about how your boobs will fit into a bra. It just means your skin isn't tightly containing whatever tissue you have. But that doesn't mean you will have a projected shape once compressed into a well-fitting bra cup.

  • LOL, my skin is loose enough that I could probably take on whatever shape a bra had. Have you seen those images of watermelons grown in cube shapes? :)

  • lol at cubic melons! But skin looseness isn't everything--the breast tissue still has its own shape and distribution in there under the skin. For example some people have a fuller shape at the center near their cleavage, and bras that are too shallow there will cut in.

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