Bra fitting help » 34HH or 34J?
Panache » Thea Balconnet Bra (9261) » 34HH 34:12
Issue resolved
I decided the 34J fits better with less fuss, so I will keep that one.
Original problem
I would love some help comparing the fit between this 34HH Thea and the 34J - Panache » Thea Balconnet Bra (9261) that I tried earlier. I was expecting this one to be much too small, making my decision easier, but instead it's very close.
The cups on this one will very slightly quad, but if I smooth the lace edge, it flattens out and seems to stay flat. The bra compresses my boobs into the middle more, giving a little cleavage and preventing the top of the gore from lying completely flat. This seems like the biggest indicator that it's just a wee bit too small.
On the positive side, the side wires feel maybe a little more comfortable and less inclined to poke. And I am always a fan of a less projected profile, which of course the smaller cup provides, if only slightly.
I have to send my Prime Wardrobe order with the 34J back tomorrow, so I have to decide today. What do you all think?
Thanks!
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helpful
This gore wire is sitting on top of both breasts. Phew. I definitely would send this back. Ideally, all breast tissue should be free of wire compression. How is the gore sitting in your 34J? From just the pictures, it looks more comfortable.
Updated on June 28, 2019 Flag this
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helpfulIt is really hard to see in photos with the black fabric but it looks like your breasts are not fully settled in the cups i.e. there is a good half inch or more of empty space at the base. This bra looks to have excellent projection at the base of the cups so this is puzzling. Have you tried it with a band extender to see if that helps? Panache uses super rigid wires so in the bigger cup sizes, sometimes the bands lack stretch as the entire front of the bra is just a solid inflexible nonstretch section up to 14" long basically.
Also this is super random and I apologize if it seems irrelevant/personal but how tall are you? Are you taller or else longer-waisted than average? I am just noticing that your body measurements show a frame width that is a good 4-5" wider than most users here, yet your shoulders don't look unusually wide compared to the rest of you... this made me wonder if you were particularly tall. If you have a taller larger skeletal frame than the typical bra-wearer this will often affect some of the fit issues.
Updated on June 28, 2019 Flag this
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wendybien , I'm actually wearing it with an extender in the photos. The issue of the wires sitting below the IMFs has been basically universal in the bras I've been trying. None of them stay and some won't go to begin with!
Some things that may be factors are
1) I'm super projected, maybe more than any of these bras are designed for. I think all of them have had the wrinkles/folding in the bottom of the cup that can indicate a too-shallow shape. And these have all been bras with reputations for a lot of projection!
2) My IMFs are more of a shallow shape, and it may be impossible for wires to fit along the entire length.
3) I'm coming to realize that I may be rather low-set. My IMFs in their resting state are barely above the last rib in the front of my ribcage. That rib doesn't give much "handhold" for the band, so when my heavy boobs bear down, nothing holds it back from sliding over the edge. I have a mole you can see in my pics that is just below the ribcage in front. Wires that are doing a better job catch hold of the widest part of the last rib and the lowest part of the band is just above that mole. Wires that are doing a poorer job - and most of them eventually - slip down till the band is pressing on the mole, or a few even slide over it. I seem to do a little better with the 34 bands with an extender, even though I should be a 36 on paper. I also find that fastening the lowest hook one row tighter helps to get a better "bite"' sometimes.
4) Squish. Lots and lots of squish. That's another reason why the 34 bands seem to work better. And the squish doesn't just affect the tightness needed for the band to hold, but also the whole framework of my breasts - root and all - can move up and down on my body by at least a couple of inches because of loose skin rolling over fat layers. So when I pull the wires into the IMF, they want to lift the whole frame a bit, but without a firm base, no wires can keep them lifted, and everything goes down to the lowest point.
I'm not sure if any of this is the actual cause, it's just what I could think of that makes sense to me. That all bras seem to come to rest at nearly the same place regardless of band width, cup size, or strap length makes me think it may be an anatomical issue.
"this made me wonder if you were particularly tall."
Lol, no. I'm 5'3" on a good day and short-waisted. I probably messed up my measurements. I'll try to revisit them when I get a chance. Thanks for the heads-up!
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LOL ok so your torso is actually very SMALL and not tall! In that case let me relieve the suspense on the IMF, wire position and band creeping down: you're not proportionally low-set, but you have an itsy bitsy teeny weeny ribcage and a full bust, which means that the base of your breasts, as you have observed, begins down where your ribcage tapers in and the remaining ribs down there aren't rigid enough for the wires to sit securely. So things just sort of slllliiiide down. I am 5'4" and short-waisted as well and even with a much smaller bust I do tend to have a bit of a downward creep with many bands for the same reason.
I suspect also that with your actual ribcage being so small, many of these bras have wires that are much wider and taller than your own breast root, and this does make it much more difficult for them to sit securely as they are effectively trying to wrap around a rather narrow cone or cylinder shape (your ribcage) while fighting gravity as they support a relatively heavy bust. I am not one to immediately recommend Polish bras but in your case I think the brands with the narrowest wires, e.g. Ewa Michalak, would REALLY help a great deal because you will be able to get a fit that is more faithful to your natural proportions. If you are amenable to trying nonwired bras (check out Elomi, Elila, etc.) you will probably also find that you can size down considerably in the cup since those designs are made to be stable without a center tacking gore, and you'll naturally notice too that it is a huge relief not to have wandering wires.
Finally this may seem counterintuitive but have you tried any longlines? They usually have a lot more grip to them due to the greater band surface.
** Finally 2.0: for future reference the frame measurement is only the width between the actual shoulder JOINTS. As in, the exact point where the upper arm bone connects to the shoulder. So in your case you'd expect to find quite a small measurement as your shoulder joints aren't far apart. -
Yes! Thanks for the perfect explanation!
Longlines are an intriguing idea, but for that I'll wait for the fall, as I run too hot. Wireless I'm very dubious about at my size, but I'll see if I can find some pics and reviews from other large ladies.
As to EM bras, is there a way to try them out with free returns? I'm a bit scared. I have a little strip of (I think) breast tissue that trails off from the end of my crease towards my back under the arms. Would the EM wires be too narrow because of that? Which models would you recommend?
Thanks for taking so much time to help me!
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Love4Pollinators , the gore of the 34J fits nicely between the breasts. When I got home I actually tried the 34HH on again with extra careful swooping and scooping, and the gore sat better. Nonetheless, the cups still seem just a little tight, with the one side wanting to quad, even though I can manually smooth it out. The 34J just seems like an easier fit, so I'm keeping that one. Thanks for your help!