Bra fitting help » bra cups too close, band too big, cups too big, i think...?
The Little Bra Company » Erin (2990) » 28C 28:3
I believe the cups are too close together and/or too narrow.
I also think the band is too big (see photo of me pulling it away from my body). I don't understand how the band could be too big when I can feel underarm fat and back fat from the bra. Maybe that has to do with the cups being wrong?
I think the straps are too close together and that's what may be causing some of the underarm fat.
I don't know how to proceed in finding a good bra.
My boobs don't fill the top of the cups and if I bend over or slouch my shoulders my nipples come out (embarrassing!)and it's very nerve-racking to even wear a low cut shirt. I have to wear tank tops under anything I wear because you can clearly see the gap at the top of the cups (where my boobs don't fill) if I were to wear it with a t-shirt or dress shirt. This causes confidence issues to resurface..
But! When I swoop the breast tissue into the cups, it gives me a quad-boob effect until I move an arm and all the tissue goes back to it's underarm/back fat place.
The bra rides up because I make the straps super-tight to try and avoid my nips popping out.
Please help me, I can't go all summer with my nipples hanging out everywhere making me feel self-conscious and avoid bending over/moving my arms forward.
What size should I try next?
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Suggestions (4)
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15
helpful
The cup size is actually too small, as far as I can see. In combination with the loose-ish band, this means the wires are probably not securely encircling the breasts and the bra isn't stably sitting on your body (hence the nipple escape issue).
Your breast shape isn't very projected (i.e. you don't "stick out" very far) but there is still a lot of breast tissue here that is not being contained in the cups. These cups look too narrow, too low cut for your somewhat "tall" distribution of breast tissue, and do not provide enough coverage near the gore either. 28C may or may not turn out to be an OK size but you need something more like a balconnette shape, which comes up higher both at the sides and the center gore.
Updated on May 28, 2014 Flag this
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Good point peanuts4 . I should add that the rigidity of firmly padded, contoured cups can be misleading especially to people who are new to the search for a good fit. The shape of the cup is often not identical to your own breast shape, so all it takes to get a "gap" is for the edge of the cup to be more open than the curve of the top of the breast. I'm a terrible fit in contoured cups as a rule, and I get just as many "gaps" in too-small cups as I do in too-big ones, in all sorts of different places.
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Wow! Thank you both! That's some really good advice. Here I am thinking the bra is too big in some places when in reality its too small! That makes me feel good! Haha!
Helpful, but I'm not sure where to go next. Do you have any brand suggestions? -
Well, it depends if you want to try 28 bands or 30s. If you would like to try 28s that is somewhat more limiting, whereas tons of brands do 30 bands nowadays. If I were you I'd just spend some time browsing this site looking at reviews for 28D/DD or 30C/D bras and see which ones have worked well for users who look somewhat similar to you in shape and projection. And don't forget to look at the band length--this band is too big for you at 31" despite too-small cups (normally when the cups are too small this makes the band feel tighter than it really is), so you probably want a band that does not stretch to more than 29.5 or so, regardless of the size that is written on the label!
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Thank you so much!! I will start on my hunt for a bra that fits!! :D
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4
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I think, you need a 28E bra. It's not an underarm fat, its your breast! So the cup is too small and narrow.
It's hard to find 26 bands so try brands with tighter bands. For example, Freya bands are very large and Curvy Kate and Tutty Rouge bands are rather tight. Curvy Kate 28E Entice might fit you.Updated on May 29, 2014 Flag this
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Don't you think she would be OK in a regularly proportioned 28 though? Her tight measurement is 27.6in so I'd think a 28 band that stretches to 28 inches or so would be just fine, sometimes even a bit tight.
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She says in this 28C bra the band rides up which means it's too big. I also wouldn't call Freya bands regular, I tried 30s and they felt like 32s or even 34s by Triumph.
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For sure, Freya runs huge in the band, but I never said otherwise, nor did I recommend Freya... not sure what you are referring to there? The bra she is wearing here is marked 28" but it obviously runs huge (stretches to 31"). IMO that is why it is too large for her--it doesn't mean all 28s will be too big. IMO 28 bands that actually measure 28" or even 29" could be quite a decent fit. Most women with a lean torso don't seem to feel comfortable wearing a band that is tighter than their comfy underbust measurement let alone their tight one.
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With your measurements you're going to be most comfortable in 28 bands and sometimes 30 bands. But you need at least 2 cups bigger.
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3
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It doesn't look like the cups are too close together. It looks like they are too small for you. The worst part is the wire length and cup width. They are really too small for you. The band measurements don't seem too big but if the cups are too small it's hard to tell if the band is too small or too big.
(the straps are too close together and that's what may be causing some of the underarm fat) that's what happens to me when the cups are too small. the straps are more narrow also.
I would try a 28D/DD. Bigger cup size would look and feel a lot better.
I could see you in a 28DD/E Cleo Juna bra. I think it would be a good match. It doesn't require a lot of projection. But, it would contain your sides and all of your breast tissue better than what I'm seeing here.
The band is good if you are a 28 or 30. Your under bust is a little bigger than mine and I find the 28 in Juna very comfortable. It contains all my side tissue. The straps are going to be wider with a bigger cup. I am not bothered by the straps on the Juna. They are more comfortable(less wide) than some of my other bras.http://www.bratabase.com/compare/dhwcx/
Bratabase is good for trying to figure out what styles and sizes of bras that you would like.
Updated on November 23, 2014 Flag this
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Thank you so much! I actually ordered a Cleo Juna bra in 28DD thanks to your comment! I'm glad I did because it's almost a fit. I exchanged it for a 28F, and am awaiting its arrival! Thank you :)
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You're welcome. Juna is a nice bra. I just hate bras that have gores because of my center fullness. All I wear now are plunges
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I agree the underwire isn't wide and high enough to capture your side tissue. I think you made a good move, ordering the Cleo Juna in 28DD. I believe Cleo bands tend to run small, so a 28 band should give you a firm basis for leveraging your breasts into the cups when they're big enough to encompass all your tissue.
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helpfulWelcome to the world of bra's! The Little Bra Company is a decent way to introduce yourself to properly measuring and fitting bras, except TLBC is drafted specifically for petite women, and you seem fairly "average built."
As you can tell by the cup depth and your h.perimeter, these cups are definitely too small for you! I think they may be a decent shape for you in a whole different size, but i would venture away from TLBC if I were you. How do the wires feel? Do they feel like they are sitting on breast tissue (either at the bottom, side, or middle/gore of the bra? Because they look like they are very uncomfortable! If you want to continue to wear the bra while waiting for more to arrive, you should loosen the straps. You can help keep the bra in place using a rixie-clip on the band, or you could manually shorten it with sewing machine/ needle and thread, or you could sew some double faced ribbon on the inside of the band to keep it from stretching. I definitely recommend that you find some lovely ladies on here to follow that have similar shape and measurements are you do! You look as if you have wide roots, and a shallow shape. It's also best to figure out where your roots sit on your body (you can do this by laying on your back and tracing around the breast tissue with your fingers or something your can easily clean off, you can also push your hand against the breast and this will show some curving/rounding over the root of the breast, sorry if my descriptions suck) as this well help you greatly with bra choice!
And, I definitely second everything all these amazing women on here have said! Listen to them for sure.
OH. When searching for bras on the listings here, you can search by measurements! So you can put in cup depth between 6.5-7", cup width over 5", stretched band measurement at like 28-29".
Try to have fun on your bra journey, I know I am despite all the "Am I ever going to find what's right!?" thoughts!Updated on November 25, 2017 Flag this
I agree, those cups actually look much too small for you. You are getting the "line" in your shirts not because the bra is too big and you can't fill it, but the opposite: because there is not enough depth in the cups. I had that problem in the 30D - Cleo » Neve Plunge T-shirt Bra (7196) .