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Apr 23, 2013 -- I get it, I have teeny tiny breasts that do not need supporting.
Today I received my Chantelle Rive Gauche Demi in 70C. I ordered this size just to check, because the 70D I tried earlier seemed huge on me. It's absolutely lovely, but guess what: IT STILL DOESN'T FIT. For a demi it comes up ridiculously high on my chest and yet the top edge still cuts off my breasts, especially, mysteriously, on my smaller left side. The cups are still too big -- WTF?! This is a 70C, guys, I'm nearly bursting out of a different model, same brand 70D: I know this particular model has been reported to run large and I know my breasts are anything but big, but me, a 70B?! Me thinks not. And another thing: according to the information on the Chantelle website this bra is supposed to work well for 'shallow' breasts ... can I just say again: WTF?! Somebody care to explain to me why this bra fits me so strangely?!
However, WHATEVER. The wires seem to fit, the cup volume isn't TOO far off, and the shape is kind of acceptable -- I'm keeping it anyway, because together with the matching 'shorts' I finally have a set that makes me feel sexy and truth be told, I haven't really felt sexy in a long time (much as becoming a mother was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, I can't say it has made me feel sexy -- not having been able to find bras that work with my 'new and improved' size and shape hasn't exactly helped either).
Anyway, what's with the title of this bra adventure?
Because, apart from the odd sizing, this bra in 70C is pretty much only a flimsy shadow of this same bra in 70D: the wires are thinner and much more flexible, the straps are narrower and much more stretchy. WHY?! Because my breasts have officially 'shrunk' to the point where they don't need supporting?! Oh, I understand that at this bottom end of the cup size spectrum I hardly need a 'heavy lifter', but COME ON: I like sturdy wires and firm straps just as much as any gal -- they're much more comfortable to wear and give better shape and hold. Besides, the band on this bra has not changed, so the difference between C and D cup is apparently not THAT big after all. Again I ask: WHY change the straps and wires?!
Ugh.
Okay, I'm probably exaggerating. It's all obviously not horrible enough to prevent me from keeping this bra, although that's probably against better judgement (did I already mention I'm just really really desperate to finally find a bra that sort of kind of fits with some semblance of comfort and style ... ?). But really, WHY the differences? And what's up with the sizing of this thing?! *sigh*
Filed under Bras ups and downs
19 comments
Seriously compared to your body your boobs doesn't look small so it's absurd you should need that small sizes? Have your boobs shrunk so much since before pregnancy or am I looking on only breast feeding pics on fb? :O
I think in general in high street stores bras are either made for small breasts that they think are self supportive or for larger breasts that they think are on fat people. I really think that's the general idea about boobs and how the brands cater. Also I've never find Chantelle to be a good brand but that I seem to be alone to think :D For me Triumph was better really.
I don't think we will ever find a perfect fit, we will just learn how to settle or sew.
An even crazier suggestion; could you learn breathing with your stomach instead of your chest to maybe handle tighter bands on special occasions? (And "cross hook" them of course). I can now wear tighter bands again sometimes so I wear it when I can as much as I can handle them.
For fun I tried on two of my old pre-preggo bras -- they're so much too small it's laughable: hello HEXABOOB! One of them is a stretchy, completely sheer, purely decorative, 'designer' thingy that always was slightly too big and the other a strapless, horridly padded Maidenform in 32B that I wore only once, but that was, as far as I recall, one of my more decent fits (surprisingly so as I had always thought I was a 32A).
So yes, my breasts are definitely bigger than they were before I got pregnant and even though they did get a bit smaller during the past couple of weeks/months they didn't shrink THAT much. They definitely got more conical, but their measurements didn't really change all that much (the perimeter of my larger right breast has been 19cm for many weeks now).
I don't understand it either, but this is exactly the same problem I had before I got pregnant: I would just go down and down in size in an attempt to find a cup that didn't gap or flap about aimlessly like a bird with a lame wing, but then the wires would invariably become too narrow and the whole thing would just be torture. And now I seem to be having the same problem: all cups seem invariably too big/deep/voluminous/whatever, but I cannot really go down further in size either. I've already sized out of the full-bust brands and I've never had much luck with 'main street' brands.
As to wearing smaller bands: as long as they don't ride up I really don't see why I should go for a smaller band. And considering my current fibro-or-whatever-flare-up -- really, even touching my skin is nigh unbearable -- I don't consider it an option I would voluntarily pursue.
But here's another crazy thing: whatever this bra does to my shape, it does at least something. Without bra my full-bust measurement is 86cm. Wearing this bra my full-bust measurement is a 'whopping' 91cm. Go figure! (Just for reference: my underbust at the moment is 71cm.)
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