Bra fitting help » Wrinkles, wrinkles everywhere—is this too big or does it just not work?
Cleo » Minnie Balconnet Bra (7431) » 30DD 30:5
Issue resolved
This bra is just downright incompatible! Gore is too wide, cups are too tall, volume is right but the distribution of said volume is wrong. It's such a shame, I so wanted this to work! And sizing down to 30D introduced/revealed a whole set of new issues, so it's just not me, it's Minnie.
Original problem
Oh, how I want this bra to work! I love how it looks so, so much. However, there's a lot of weirdness going on that I cannot quite figure out.
First of all, I can't fill the tops, which is pretty evident from the pictures. But why? Is that just because I have the wrong-shaped boobs for this bra? Or could sizing down in the cup help me with this?
I should also mention that I've tried on a lot of 28E unlined bras recently (Cleo Kayla, Freya Fancies, Curvy Kate Ellace, Curvy Kate Princess, Claudette Dessous) after fitting the same size in Cleo Marcie, and I've had trouble filling the tops of all of them. Are my roots just insanely short? Or tall? Should I be trying 28DDs instead? So confused!
Second of all, there's a ton of wrinkling at the sides of the cups, which isn't hugely visible in the side pics because the pattern sort of camouflages it. But the second detail shot captures some of it. Again, is this indicative of a shape incompatibility or are these cups just too big?
Also, I ordered a 30DD instead of a 28E because the 28E wasn't available—could that be contributing to these issues?
This bra is so cute and I really want to make it work somehow. Would tailoring it help at all?
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Suggestions (3)
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helpful
Yes, it is an adorable bra!
First of all, I'd advise against sizing down in the cups. Looking at the front and side pictures, the cups of this bra are is as wide as you need them in order to accomodate all your tissue. Sizing down would probably result in too small cups overall, and the top of the cup cutting into tissue.
Band is fine too - the stretched band measurement is still lower than your loose ribcage measurement, so no reason to size down.I've seen that kind of wrinkling in the lower part of the cup before. I always get that with cups that are deeper than I need (had exactly the same issue with Minnie when I was between 30DD/30E - 30DD was considerably too small, 30E had wrinkles, then I had some growth, and it fit). The wrinkle situation gets worse when one tries to tighten the straps too much.
The wrinkling seems to be worse on your right side - left seems better from the pictures, at least for the lower cup part (?)One solution would be a more shallow bra. Looking at the list of bras you tried, nearly all of them are deep/projected in the smaller cup sizes. I would suggest to try more shallow-friendly bras.
I know that this kind of advice is disputed on Bratabase, so I'll try to explain why I think shallow-friendly bras are worth trying even if one does not meet all the "shallowness" criteria. First of all, they are usually much more forgiving in terms of how much upper fulness they require. Most have low cup depth. This is a great plus. Next, most bras that turn out shallow-friendly have been made with smaller cup sizes in mind - while projected bras are usually scaled to fit larger sizes.
If you are worried about too-wide wires, keep in mind: Too narrow wires are sitting on boob tissue. That's unhealthy, painful, and a red flag in terms of fit. Too wide wires, however, are workable in most cases - they are only an issue if they bother, hurt, or cause further issues. That's my personal experience.For bra suggestions, feel free to browse my very first bras that fit (starting at http://www.bratabase.com/profile/8oz/bras/?fits=True&page=9). I started bra-fitting with a similar shape and the same size, so that may be a starting point.
There's also a list of shallow-friendly bras at http://www.bratabase.com/adventures/entry/2346/ but it's outdated (bras may be available 2nd hand, on ebay, or as sister models).
Updated on March 26, 2017 Flag this
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It is super cute!!
From my perspective, the gore maybe too wide. You can test this theory by rolling the gore to one side or the other until one of the gore wires lays flat on your sternum. One cup may have virtually no wrinkles whereas the other cup will now have even larger wrinkles. 
What happens when you put this bra on backward? How does the band fit?
Because Marcie is well-known for its ability to accommodate tall roots, you, perhaps, could be more even. If this is the case, Cleo Hettie or Curvy Kate Florence may fit better. Both CK Ellace and Princess have space for more upper tissue.
This blog post has been very helpful to me: http://thepetitecollegiate.com/2016/04/21/photo-glossary-bra-fitting-and-breast-shape/
Updated on March 23, 2017 Flag this
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everyone has one side slightly larger than the other. it is best to fit the larger side and then add "cookies" to the smaller side to even things out if necessary.
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Also, do you have a significant wrinkle in the bottom of the cup?
If you really want to keep this bra, you could overlap the gore and/or replace the wires with shorter versions.
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"Because Marcie is well-known for its ability to accommodate tall roots, you, perhaps, could be more even. If this is the case, Cleo Hettie or Curvy Kate Florence may fit better."
I am a someone with even-shaped boobs and both Marcie and Minnie work for me! Hettie is a little too deep and causes slight wrinkling (but is wearable). Just mentioning it for the record - even shape is probably not the issue here, I'm suspecting short roots may be causing the fit issues.
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As an update note, I tried the Minnie in a 30D today, and in the smaller size, it became immediately obvious that the gore was too wide. Rolling it from side to side to align with each imf resulted in the cups smoothing out, exactly as Love4Pollinators predicted. Not sure if the bra fits beyond that, I'll post a follow up in the next few days.
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These gores for us close-set people cause a short list of nearly irreconcilable consequences. Glad you understand the problem ponyponypony....that is half the battle ;-)
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I really think this bra is just a shape mismatch and the correct volume. I had the same fit issues in it as you do, and I think we likely have similar shapes. You appear projected and to need projection in the bottom of the cup, but Minnie has deep overall cups and it looks too deep at the apex and upper section. I think you're on the right track with half cups like Mimi and you may end up even liking Polish half cups but Minnie, as cute as it is, just isn't a good shape match.
Updated on March 26, 2017 Flag this
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I hate to agree, but I think you're right. Polish, here I come! Thank you for your input!
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Interesting point about the gore being too wide! I see it now in the top view picture, that it doesn't sit fully flat—my gores basically all sit like this, so it didn't stand out to me as being odd, but I now realize that those crooked ones aren't quite right for me. The more you know ⭐️
Rolling the gore to fit my left boob eliminated all wrinkles in that cup, but doing the same for the right didn't do all that much to smooth things out. Any idea why? I also tried this on backward, and the band doesn't feel quite as tight.
And thanks for linking that blog post! Very informative, though I'm still not 100% sure of my shape. My perception of the nature of my boobs changes every time I try a new bra on, ha.