I can't blame Gossard for most of the fit issues I've had with this bra because it was my own fault for ordering the wrong size. Because of that, I hope you won't judge the bra or brand solely based on the fit issues I will discuss.
My most comfortable underbust size is 32" and my overbust is 42" with a best fit of a 32GG, so I was WAAAY off when I picked this size; I couldn't even sister size down to this size, as I'm about 200cc off the correct amount of volume needed for my chest. My fault, completely.
Taking my sizing failure into account, ... I've chosen to give Gossard the benefit of the doubt in regards to how uncomfortable this bra is to wear. That is, I'm assuming that the fit issues I've experienced are because I bought to wrong size and would not exist (or be as bad) if I bought the correct size.
Yep, so this bra is terrible to wear. It offers no support or lift and is awfully uncomfortable. I feel very insecure in this bra. Assuming all those problems could be solved by wearing the correct size, I'll talk about the things fully in Gossard's control first: design and quality.
Design and Quality: I bought this bra about 6 months ago mostly because I liked the look of the design. The red is pretty, the fabric is silky and it has ruffly bits and a cute black bow and detailing. Unfortunately, when you look at it up close, it looks like it was sewn together in the dark. The stitching is wonky and lazy, especially around the underwire where it is an absolute mess. The underwire appears to be severely warped (you can probably see this the best in my side on photo where the band is being pulled back) possibly because of how it was sewn into the bra. The fabric of the band is far too elastic and therefore would not provide firm support even for somebody with a 36" underbust, rather than one of 32". The ruffly bits on the straps and below the band frayed quickly.
In short, even though it wasn't Gossard's fault that I bought the wrong size, their bra is still pretty crap. Now, onto the fit issues:
Straps:
They are far too long and do not adjust short enough. Despite the straps taking most of the weight of my chest because the band is too large, they still manage to slip off my shoulders. I think the reason for this is because they don't do much heavy lifting, as not only does this bra not lift my boobs at all, but it actually squishes them down lower.
Underwire/center gore: With the straps fully adjusted to their shortest, the underwire and center gore of this bra sit more than an inch lower than my underbust. If I wriggle the bra upwards to sit at my actual underbust, the traps become ever longer and therefore more likely to slip off and the bra quickly slides back down at the front and up at the back again anyway. With the underwire sitting so low on my torso, all it does is poke my ribs rather than supporting my bust in any way, shape, or form. The underwires at the center gore sit about an inch out from my body, poking into my breast tissue and giving the part of my bust a horrible misshapen appearance. If I press the center gore flat against my body, it simply digs into the breast tissue more and makes it obvious that the cups are placed too far apart for my close-set boobs.
Cups: The very top of these cups where they attach to the straps sag out from my body because the straps are too long. If this bra lifted my breasts, this area of the cups might be filled with more breast tissue lifted up from my full-on-bottom boobs, but the lifting of that tissue would only increase the 'quad-boob' effect of the too-small cups. Because the underwires of the bra sit more than an inch below my underbust, that inch and a bit of cup space is left completely empty, pressed up against my body and therefore the fabric there wrinkles a bit.
Band: Obviously like 6" too big for my body even on the tightest hook. No support whatsoever, lots of riding up. Enough said.
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Updated on Mar 30, 2014 Flag this
