Bra fitting help » Cups too big: confused about sizing
Freya » Lyla Balcony (4302) » 30HH 30:12
Issue resolved
I'm going to try a range of sizes down in the cup since it looks like I may have been overestimating my cup size all along. Partly because my first bra that fit was small for its size, maybe? We'll see. Thanks for your help!
Original problem
I sister-sized down from a 32H (the pink--difference in color might affect fit with this) to this 30HH only to find that while the band is now perfect, something really goofy is going on with the cups. There's a lot of wrinkling both in the bottom of the cup and at the top. In the pictures, you can even see the wrinkle at the bottom of the cup through a shirt.
I generally consider myself full on bottom--I only quadboob in seriously too-small cups, and in many models get an orange-in-a-glass style wrinkle at the bottom of the cup. But I'm taken aback by all the extra space at the top as well. I assume the cup's just too plain big.
Questions:
1) Does this look like a problem that can be fixed by sizing down to a 30H? The cup in my 32H Lyla seems to fit relatively well (it is definitely smaller than this one) but I also have to tighten the straps all the way to keep it from sagging like crazy because the band is so loose. So that obviously affects the cup fit But the shape is much less pointy in the 32H compared to 30HH. I guess I'm just confused as to why these sister sizes fit so differently.
2) Do Freyas (the Lyla but also more generally) run large? I know they run loose in the band compared to Panache (at least that's been my experience) but I'm curious about this as part of a more general question about my size. I tend to be right between a 30 and 32. 32H seems to generally be my size in most Panache I've tried.
3) Related to previous question - is sizing relatively consistent across models in Freya, or is this just something I'm going to have to figure out through long trial and error?
I've gotten so close to a good shape with several Freya bras, and they sit at the root of my breast instead of slipping down below it, which I've struggled with in almost all other models. I want to love them but I just can't figure out size. I don't think I can fix this bra on me and I'll probably list it since I can't return it, but I'm mighty perplexed as to why it seems so off between sister sizes.
You must be logged in to leave suggestions
-
New user?
-
Have an account?
Suggestions (2)
-
2
helpful
Follow up to earlier comment: after writing this I realized you were the same person who posted under Bra Adventures about big red marks and feeling like your bra bands are all stretched. I had a bit of a brainwave and would like to amend my response to that post after taking a look at the reviews and photos you have on bratabase. I suspect your current problem is that you've sized up a bit too much in the cups and are wearing sizes where the wires are too wide and the cups too tall. When wires are too wide for you, they get pulled inwards and around the sides of your body and cause a lot more "wear and tear" on your torso than elastic band would. This phenomenon also means that the bra circumference is composed of too much wire and too little band in relation to your own anatomy, so the band itself is also under a lot of tension and gets stretched out prematurely.
I think this is why almost all your reviews note that the bra wrinkles at the top--the reason you fill the bottom but not the top of these bras is that the cups are a size or two too large, not that you're full on bottom. Gravity being a downwards thing, when a bra cup is too big for us, the boob usually plops down to the bottom rather than the top of the cup regardless
You also note that you have separate boobs. This can lead people to unwittingly choose too-large cups (and therefore too-wide wires) in their search for a bra where the gore is wide enough to fit their anatomy.I see from your measurements that you have a 4.5in difference between loose and tight underbust which suggests you have a good amount of flesh on your upper torso. This can create a very deceptive appearance when in a bra with too-wide wires. I have only about 1.5in difference between loose and tight, but it's all chub, so if I wear a cup that's too wide, visually you could easily be led to believe it was encasing the breast properly, because the wire sinks into my side chub and you cannot tell that it's really 2, 3 or 4 inches away from my real breast crease. I have to rely on taking off the bra after wearing it, pushing the breast to the side to see where the crease is and seeing how far the wire marks are.
As to what size you would be more comfortable in: Based on the bras you entered onto bratabase it looks like you went from initial attempts of 32G/34G US (Wacoal bras use US sizing) straight to the H/HH UK range. This is quite a big jump and I would wager your optimal fit is somewhere between the two. In UK sizing your Wacoals were really 32F/34F, so there's a lot of middle ground in between F and H which I'd encourage you to explore. If you find that there is a mismatch between the depth and width that you need in the British brands, the Polish ones might be a good solution.
Updated on April 15, 2014 Flag this
-
32GG/30H sounds reasonable as a new target. Bear in mind also that sizing is variable even within brands and sometimes you'll size down or up!
-
0
helpfulI find Freyas run deep, but not necessarily large per se.
You absolutely have too much room in this. If you look at the measurements you will see you're not dreaming--the cup of the 32H does measure smaller than the cup of the 30HH by almost an inch. It looks like the 30H measures about the same as the 32H cup-wise, at least according to the measurements on here. Weird!!Updated on April 15, 2014 Flag this
Ah. Yes. My trouble is that I went from bras that were so obviously and unpleasantly too small, to those Wacoals, which were also ill-fitting but were the biggest band/smallest cup I could find locally, prior to discovering there were more sizes out there. I did try a 32G (UK) initially and that cup size was too small. The sizes of my Bratabase entries are also slightly distorted by the fact that I initially got a couple of 32HHs for free/under $5 purely to figure out my size. And they are definitely big.
I'm thinking now I might order a range of returnable bras in the same style in the hope of figuring out this whole cup size thing and keep the one that fits. I have a Panache Loretta in 32H that fits pretty well, though I don't love the shape and it's wearing out. I think, based on my previous experience, that a 32G is definitely too small, but I suspect something in the 30H/32GG range might make sense for me, with a 32H in some styles?
Thanks for your advice. Being a novice at this, on a budget, and located 300 miles from anyplace I could go to try on good bras for free, I am definitely feeling slow at figuring it out. But this was super helpful!