Non-standard boobs - bra help needed!

[LegoClone]

I've come to the conclusion that my boobs are a non-standard shape as I'm having a rubbish time trying to find a bra that's a decent fit (despite trying on loads of different sizes) and I'm really hoping that someone who knows their bras will be able to help!

I'm a 34 band size and probably either a G or GG cup size. However most of the bras I've being trying on push my boobs out to the sides and into odd pointy shapes. Plus the tops of the cups dig into me, giving me a quad boob look but if I go up a cup size the wires and bottom of the cups don't fit well and I end up with droopy and still oddly pointy boobs!

I have managed to find a Curvy Kate plunge bra that allows my boobs to keep their rounded shape but doesn't offer as much as I'd like in the way of support. Any recommendations on makes/styles of bras that might work for me gratefully received!

M&S for me every time!

Noooooo not M&S. Bravissimo for measurement.

Have you been to Bravissimo?

When you say you are a 34 band, what do you measure under your boobs in actual measurement?

are you sure of your size? Could you measure according to thebetterbracampaign.blogspot.co.uk/p/fitting-advice.html and then give your figures and we can check them for you

Mumraa I never said M&S for measurement I said M&S to buy a bra for oddly shaped boobs which is what I have and have never been disappointed with the bras at M&S.

M&S bras are the worst for me in terms of fit! I'd love to go to a Bravissimo but I'm in the South West and there just isn't one nearby.

Under boobs I'm 35 inches and I'm 46 inches doing the lean over measurement.

OK, so size wise that would suggest a 34H/HH. What sort of shape are your boobs?

-how big is the cap between them in the middle - do you have a big gap, are they so close they touch...
-how wide is each breast - do they go quite far under your arm, or are they quite narrow?
-are they high set or low set on your body?
-are they fuller at the top , bottom, all over?
-have you lost fullness at the top (thanks kids!)
-anything else you can think of?

There isn't much of a gap between my boobs - they don't actually touch but are right next to one another. The central underwire bit on lots of bras I've tried on hasn't sat right on me.

I guess they're wide - I wouldn't say they go far under my arm but certainly do a bit.

I don't think that they are particularly high or low set.

They are not as full on top or as perky as they used to be but haven't been completely wrecked by having kids. They're still fairly full all over - possibly more so on the inner edges (if that makes sense) as pregnancy changed my boob shape and my nipples now point slightly outwards! Plus I no longer pass the pencil test (although that probably goes without saying after children).

I currently have the Curvy Kate Roxie plunge bra in 34 G, GG and H and it's the G cup that seems to fit best despite my measurements! However 34G and 34GG bras in other styles I've tried give me quad boobs and 34H bras are too large!

Apart from the Curvy Kate, what have you tried? The Roxie, what is right and wrong about the various sizes?

Curvy Kate normally have very wide wires which it doesn't sound like would be a god fit for your breast shape - so when you go up in the cup the wires could become too wide without really fitting. I'm wondering if the issue with you getting quad boob in some whilst the next size up is too big is a shape issue and you you need a bra with deeper, narrower cups

Well that explains why my Brastop order of several Curvy Kate styles and sizes is so disappointing then! I also ordered the Curvy Kate daily boost and smoothy balconettes, both in GG and H cups - the GGs give me an odd shape and the Hs are too large (no uplift, space in the cup above the wire).

None of the Roxies fit quite right but with the G cup my boobs are pushed up and have a nice rounded shape. It doesn't feel quite right but looks ok under a t-shirt. The GG cup gapes a bit and doesn't lift my boobs and the H cup had a lot of space left in it!

I've tried on everything I've been able to find in John Lewis, Debenhams and M&S, so not a lot as they don't have much in store in 34G plus sizes. I can't remember the styles but there were a couple of different Fantasie bras and some Freya ones. Plus an independent bra shop fitter insisted that a Pour Moi 34G t-shirt bra fitted me, despite the quad boob effect.

With most of the styles of bra I've tried the top edge of the cups digs into my boobs giving me overspill and the shape of the cup is pushing my boobs outwards into a pointy shape. With the larger cup sizes the shape is better (less pointy!) but they aren't giving me support/lift and there is space in the bottom of the cup just above the wire, which no amount of scooping or adjusting seems to fill.

Any ideas on which makes/styles might be better for me? I'm concerned that Brastop are going to get fed up with me if I keep returning everything!

OK, it sound to me like you might have top fullness, going on and like the bras are the wrong shape. You're basically getting what is called orange in a glass effect - picture putting an orange on a glass, even if its the right volume it won't get down to the bottom, but will stick out the top! I think you probably need narrower wires - if you go up in the Curvy Kate to a size where there is no overspill and then run your hands along the edge of the wire is there a flat section before your breast tissue starts? Freya and Fantasie are also relatively wide wired although not as much as Curvy Kate, and they give me that boobs pointing sideways look too.

Brastop are fine, don't worry about them! Have you tried anything by Cleo? I think something like the Marcie would be a potential for you - it's got much deeper and narrower cups than the other you've tried and the top section is relatively open. It also doesn't push me sideways but gives a quite upfront, rounded shape. The Lily/Millie/minnie from Cleo also might work - Lucy is a very different shape though even though it looks similar.

The other thing that might well work long term is Ewa Michalak, a fabulous polish brand who do really good bras. I'm narrow busted with ridiculously close set boobs and top fullness and my bra wardrobe is mainly Cleos and Ewa. Returning to Poland is a bit of a hassle so I'd suggest narrowing things down further with UK brands first. Comexim is good too.

Right I'm feeling more positive again now! Thank you so much for the suggestions - I'll give them a go.

if you go up in the Curvy Kate to a size where there is no overspill and then run your hands along the edge of the wire is there a flat section before your breast tissue starts Yep - that's what I found with the H cups. Fingers crossed that a Cleo bra works for me!

It'll give us a better idea of where to go from there at least!

Just wanted to let you know that I ordered the Marcie and also Maddie styles and neither were quite right for me but they were both close! After realising that by ordering online it might take me forever to find the right bra I decided that I'd just have to make the time to drive up to Cheltenham to visit Bravissimo and it was well worth it!

I tried on a lot of bras (thanks to the fantastic and very patient fitter) and have confirmed that Panache bras are definitely the best fit for me. Unfortunately I'm a bit between cup sizes in a lot of the styles, with 34GG causing a bit of overspill and 34H having a bit of room to spare in the top of the cup on the outer edges of the bra.

I did find several bras that are a good fit and ended up buying an Idina balconette which allows my boobs to keep their rounded shape!

Thank you so much for your help in diagnosing my bra problems!

Glad you got sorted! The old half way between cups issue is a pest isn't it! Maddie is a particularly wide and shallow Cleo whilst marcie is probably about the deepest. If you got on with idina you might also like the Cleo Minnie /millie/lily if you didn't try them in store, they're similar to marcie but a bit more closed at the top, and I think they run a tiny bit smaller in the cup too. Did you try the Cleo juna at all?

I'm pretty certain the fitter brought me everything by Panache that they had in stock in my size plus some of the Bravissimo bras too, I did rather lose track after a while!

I've just had a quick look on their website and I'm pretty certain I haven't tried the Juna or Minnie/Millie/Lily. I really like the look of the Juna and Millie (which I almost added to my previous order until I realised how expensive it was going to be ordering 3 different bras in each of the 3 sizes I wanted to try!) so will be ordering those once I've returned the Maddie and Marcie selection.

It's good to know what size I need to order now! Although the Maddie had a much tighter band than the other Panache bras I tried on and I needed to go up to a 36 to be comfortable in it - are the Juna and Millie likely to be similar in band sizing to the Marcie?

I've also had a look at the Ewa Michalak website and I'm definitely tempted!

Maddie runs small I think, I tried it on in the same size as Marcie and it was kind of comical! It might be worth trying one of minnie/millie/Lily - have a look at brastop or mycurvesandme for good deals. They might not work, but they are worth a shot. Ditto for Juna. I'd probably try the H if you were in between on the Marcie.

There is a nude/beige version of Marcie coming out in the spring, and a black - pics here

I have an update on some more bras I've tried - any chance of some more advice?

34H Mademoiselle bra by Bravissimo : I got this in the shop when I bought the Idina. I could tell that the fit wasn't quite right (wires are too wide; squishes me a bit flat) but it looks really pretty and I do get a rounded shape in it and it gives me a nice shape under clothes (although not tight t-shirts as all the detailing shows through).

I'm slightly regretting the purchase as after wearing it all day yesterday I ended up sore where it was poking me in the middle as the wires are quite high and cutting into my arms as the straps are quite wide. I think that it was sitting down in the evening that did it as I hadn't noticed any issues with it when on my feet for most of the day.

34H Cleo Juna : It didn't look awful under clothes but something about the cup shape isn't right for me (the vertical seams on the cups don’t seem to be in the right position on my boobs?) and the cups don’t look right for me, looking from above. The width of the wires is ok, although they do come up quite high in the centre and, while it didn't seem a problem while trying it on, the Mademoiselle has made me rather wary of that! Also the straps are rather wide set and cut into my arms a bit.

34H Cleo Minnie : This “fits” volume wise but is very wrong on me for some reason! The wires seem about right width-wise but come up quite high in the middle and push out my central breast tissue in a way that isn't visually pleasing to me! I'm not sure quite what it is about the lower part of the cups but they seem to be squishing the tissue in odd ways. Again I don’t feel the vertical seam on each cup is in the right place for my breast shape.

The top lacy bit of the cup fitted (unlike in the 34H Marcie where there was quite a bit of space) but my nipples wanted to peek out into the top lacy bit of the cup and needed poking back down out of sight! Plus the straps are rather wide set again.

34GG Freya Deco Honey Plunge : Although this isn't a great fit on me - the straps are a bit wide, the cups are a bit small and it squishes me a bit flat - it looks really good under t-shirts! Plus the wires definitely aren't going to poke me in the middle so I'm keeping this one!

So I now have a few new bras, none of which are perfect but at least two of them are comfortable! Plus I now know a bit about my breast shape and the type of bra I need:

My breasts are definitely close set (less than a finger width apart) but I don’t get the whole uniboob thing going on so don’t need bras that “separate”. However I do need to watch out for the wires being too far apart or coming up to high in the centre.

My breasts have narrowish roots and a lot of bras have wires that are too wide for me.

Despite reading quite a few bra fit webpages/blogs I'm still not really sure about whether I'm full on top/full on bottom/not really either.

Any further advice/suggestions of what to try gratefully received (if you've managed to read all of that!)

Hmm. It sounds like you are really "sensitive" to central gores. I used to be and some bras still big me, but I went up to a GG cup about 7 years ago when the range of available bras was much smaller and I kind if had to get used to it! For me though, I find they have to be either quite high (so my boobs can't drift back to the middle!) or low. In between is hell on wheels.

I think you probably have quite high set nipples by the sounds of it. I have a friend like this and even when a bra otherwise fits well and is the right size for her breast volume, her nipples can be poking out the top! It rules out a huge number of bras for her, including most half cups and balconettes. Funnily enough one of the few bras she can wear is the deco, but it's sounding like the deco is borderline too small for you.

I'm wondering about you trying Ewa Michalak. I think the S, SM or PL shapes could work for you. They have narrow wires, (semi) plunging shapes and very narrow central gores. The CHP I think would be too low around the nipple as they have a squarer neckline. You might also get on with Comexim, another polish brand. I take one cup up from my Cleo Minnie size in Ewa generally.

I've had a read and reread of your posts.

Based on the fit of the Idina, and the issues you've had with the Marcie, I'd suggest trying the Panache Envy and the Jasmine. They both give a rounded shape, but the Jasmine has a narrower profile. Depending on your breast shape, they are broadly similar in size to the Idina. Marcie seems to be coming up a cup bigger than all of them!

I have an Envy sitting in my Bravissimo basket at the moment funnily enough! Thanks for helping Married!

Great more things to try! Real life got in the way of my current bra obsession for a couple of days but now I've returned the majority of my latest Brastop order and I'm back on the case!

I'm seriously tempted by Ewa but the sizing is a bit confusing - if I go up a cup size from the fitting, but not flattering for me, Minnie then I should try a 34HH, which the Ewa website lists as equivalent to a 75HH. But from reading their sizing page they seem to be working on the assumption that I've worked out my bra size using the +4 method?!? Their size calculator thinks I should be in an 85G! What band size should I be trying?

Thanks for your advice too married. I think that I may have tried on the Jasmine while in Bravissimo - I need to figure out what I did with the leaflet where my fitter noted down the styles I tried. I know that there were two other Panache bras that fitted me quite well but didn't look as good under clothes as the Idina did - the Andorra was one (it was surprisingly comfortable but was too lacy to work well under t-shirts, which I wear quite a lot) and I have a feeling that the Jasmine was the other. I'll add the Envy to my next order!

I've just sorted through all my old bras and have realised that they all have low gores! Hopefully the issue I was having with the gore on the Mademoiselle is in part due to me just not being used to gores that high.

again for all your help Statistically and married too.

Ignore the Ewa fitting guide :) I wear the same band size in them to most other bras. They fit band wise quite similar to bravissimo own brand, and a bit tighter than Cleo but not massively so. Some people go up one band but I dont generally. 75HH would be where i would suggest you start in most EM bras.

Right- just need to decide on which bras I like the look of most then! And probably find some more things to flog on eBay so that I can afford them.