Bra fitting help » How Many Cup Sizes Down? Band Problems?
Curvy Kate » Romance Balcony Bra (CK1501) » 40E 40:6
Issue resolved
Thanks for all of the really helpful advice! I wore this on the tightest hook all day today and found that I had much better support and it actually cut in less. I think that a 38F will probably be my best bet,and I'm going to try out some Panache bras for the wide underwires.
Again, thanks for all of the great advice and I'm more likely than not going to going to be back as I continue losing weight!
Original problem
I'm new to proper bra fitting, and while I'm quite well aware that this bra does not fit, I'm not sure where to go from there. I have a few bras that fit really well and I forgot that I'm wearing them, but I have read that their sizing is very off, for example:
Teal/Purple Curvy Kate Thrill Me in 38E fits perfectly, no double-boob, can fill it out all the way.
Red/Black Curvy Kate Tempt Me in 38F again, fits perfectly.With the Romance, I'm very confused on the fit. As you can see from the pictures, the main problem is that the cups are huge - I know I need to go down, but I'm unsure of how many cupsizes. Even on my larger breast, I can fit my entire fist into the cup and then some on the top. However, the bottom seems to be ok, aside from some odd wrinkles right above the underwire.
And then the band...it looks like it's cutting in...it feels like it's cutting in, but not that badly...So I bought a bra extender to find out if I needed a bigger band size or not, and even adding just 2 more inches made it ride up and completely destroyed any hope of support. Is this just because the elastic is so narrow? Or is there some bra-guru secret that I'm missing that helps rid me of back fat and cutting into my rolls?
Even despite the poor fit, I am head over heels for this bra, it's just so beautiful and feels like me that I really want to send it back and just order a better size rather than give up.
Any advice is quite welcome!
Thanks for reading!
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Suggestions (2)
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3
helpful
Any particular reason you went for a 40 band when the 38E CK TeaseMe fits?
I have been advising women on their bra sizes based upon their measurements over the net for over 2 years now. I can tell you, at the upper and lower end of bandsizes (under 32 and above 38) the method of not adding 4 inches doesn't quite work as well.
I have an underbust of 109 cm measured loosely (about 42 in) and 99 cm as tight as possible (38 in) and I wear a 40 band.
Bratabase gives 101 cm as you underbust, from experience and from the pictures I think you are most likely around 90 cm measured as tight as possible. That puts you in the 38 range, only with very tight bands would a 40 band make sense.
I also think the cup fits ok, it might be a bit too large, but not too big. One cupssize down and a tighter band, so 38E perhaps?
That the band cuts into the flesh on the back is normal, you can see this even with very skinny girls. The only way to minimise this is with a longline bra. Try Freya Piper or Freya Nieve.
BTW, the folds in the cup near the wires indicate to me a potential orange-in-a-glass. Have you compared the wires of this bra to the wires of the TeaseMe yet? I do not mean by measuring, but the wires as they are when worn. Put on the TeaseMe, take care to put it on correctly. Mark where the wires are with a kajal or biro. Wear the bra for a bit. Check where the wires are now. Mark again. Try to feel for breasttissue. Does the wire sit on breast tissue? Now try the CK Romance. Are the wires narrower or wider?
Updated on October 13, 2012 Flag this
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Hi there! I agree with t-maias pointers, only wanted to ad that the bands on the showgirl range run loose, so if you were ok in a 38 your line of thinking was logical. However, from the pull Id say you could comfortably go to a 36f - I think you meed wider wires than this and it seems though there's some tissue to be remigrated.
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Hi, I agree on the wider underwire, I do have quite a bit of breast tissue under my arms that I scoop into the bra. What would you recommend brand wise that generally has wider underwires than CK?
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Panache would be your safest bet, they are known to have wide wires. Are the wires on this CK digging in at the center? They seem to be - if so, you should avoid panache harmony and confetti - they will make this problem worse.
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t_maia, do you mean women with sub 32 measurements should add inches, while women who measure over 38 inches should subtract inches to get a properly fitting band?
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Gervaise: the numbers on the bandsizes are more a sizing system than a real indication for band length in inches. As a result, directly translating your underbust in inches into your bandsize (without adding anything) can lead a bandsize that is wrong for you.
The method I (and other German and Polish fitters) use for determining bandsize is the following: measure underbust in cms, once loosely and once as tight as possible. From the tight measurement you usually go to the next bandsize down. Say, a woman has 79 cm loosely and 74 cm tightly. Traditional (German/Polish) sizing charts would recommend a 80/36 band. I however would suggest a 70/32 band, bc 70 is the next bandsize down from 74cms.
In most cases this means you end up with approx. the same bandsize as measuring yourself in inches.But try this with a woman who measures 63cms tight and 68cms loosely. For this woman I would also suggest a 60 band (28). But 68 cms is 26.7 inches!
If she has small breasts (28D/DD) she might get away with wearing a tight 30 band. Despite her underbust measuring 26 in, she does not need a bra with a 26 band. However, if she has big and heavy breasts, like 28H+ and being a nursing mom, she might be more comfortable in a 26 band.
So it is not as clear cut. Other factors might play a role aside from breastsize. Those might be overall height, weight, "padding" on ribs, squishability and required wire width.
Dealing with squishability means that if you have more 8 cms difference, that you do not go down from the tight measurement, but take the band that is closest to the tight measurement.
My own measurements for example are 99 cms (39 in) tight, 109 cms (43 in) loosely. Traditional (German) sizing charts put me into a 110/48 band. The next bandsize down from my 99 cms would be 95/42. However, since I measure 109 cms loosely and have a 10 cm difference, it makes more sense to go for a 100/44 band, or it might get too tight. But there are two additional complications: First, we are dealing with plus-sizes and second, I need very wide wires. On bras with larger bands there is a lot more material which can stretch, so you can go down even further in bandsize than to the next bandsize. Since I need very wide wires, this is a blessing, bc the smaller the band and the bigger the cup the wider the wires.
In my case that means going to a 90/40 band. That is a 20cms/almost 8 inches difference between the bandsize that is supposed to fit me and the bandsize that actually fits.
I could get away wearing 42 or 44 bands, but in those sizes the wires of the bras would kill me. The wires of my beloved Elomi bras are much narrower in the sister size 44FF, when I tried my favourite bra in that size in the shop I was in serious pain from the wires.
I hope this was not too confusing. (Did I mention this is just for underbust? And that cupsizes are a totally different pot of tea, far more complicated?)
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helpful
Just becuase you can fit a fist into the cup, that doesn't make the cups too big. When you try to put your fist into the cup, you pull the cup downwards, and if you had that much extra breast tissue the bra would be cutting in.
The cups atually look like a quite good fit. They might be slightly narrow for you, if they were slightly wider but the same depth you would probably fill them out completly.
I can't see the measurement of the band stretched but based on how much you can stretch it I wonder if the band might even be too big? I would also pull it down just a tiny bit more in the back.
Anyway, if you think that you could be able to wear a smaller band size, the sister size of a 38F would probably be good, that way the cups would stretch a bit more and seem slightly smaller on you and most likely be perfect. If you think that the band now is the best, and you still feel that the cups are too big even after scooping (you do scoop, right?) a 40DD might be good enough...
About the cutting in... Apart from lowering the band in the back a cm or two, it might just be the style. As you said, the elastic is quite narrow, and to get less cutting in at your size the brands aiming at plus sizes might have better bands for you. Some slight cutting in might be inavoidable when having padding, but if it bothers you try a wider band with wider elastic.
Updated on October 14, 2012 Flag this
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I think I might order a 38F in this style as well as a 38E (according to T-Maia's advice) just incase the band stretching does stretch the cups some more. And yes, I do scoop in as I have quite a bit of migrated tissue!
As for pulling the band any lower...I can't really. The pictures don't show it very well, but the band is actually only 2-3 inches above my natural waist (I'm 5'2 with a very short torso).
As for the plus size brands, I've had my eye on Elomi for a while, but they're hard to find in the States for under $60 and bra stop's selection is a bit too...plain for my taste. I may however order some just to try them. I can put up with the cutting in, I just didn't know if it was normal or not. I've been wearing a 40B from Victoria's Secret most of my life, so having a firm band is still new to me.
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Hi, thanks for the response! I actually order the 40 because I had read that the band on the Romance was quite firm, and didn't stretch as much as the Showgirl range, and at the time of the order I was about 10 pounds heavier and about 2 inches wider at the time that I placed the order. So I wasn't adding inches, I've just ended up losing weigh by the time I got the bra.
I'm glad to see that the cutting in is normal, and that a long line should fix it (yay! an excuse to splurge on a lovely longline!).
As for the orange in a glass thing...I'm not quite sure I understand, but I tried on my Tempt Me and Thrill Me, and I looked closer at them. I had never noticed before, because of the padding, but I have about an inch between where the underwire normally sits, and where the bottom of my boob is (thus the orange in a glass thing).
As for where the wires sit, the wires on the Romance are much wider and actually sit a bit behind the breast tissue on my sides, where as the tempt me and thrill me are closer to where the breast tissue actually ends.
What would I do to solve the orange in a glass thing?
(I think I may keep this bra, as I have a gluten intolerance that can sometimes cause my body to swell really badly and this can work for those times, but I think I might order a 38E as well.)