Bra help for DD

[teacherwith2kids]

I've had DD in tears (again) on a bra-buying expedition. Bear with me, as I'm not good at bra vocabulary.

DD is 12. Very tall, dancer. Slim, but mid-puberty with definite curves. She spends her dancing life with very slight, often completely undeveloped girls and feels uncomfortable with her curviness as well as conspicuous because of her height.

Posted here about a year ago, needing advice on earlyish bras. In the end, she was fitted at Debenhams,. who found her some nice soft slightly padded bras, unwired, with a cotton feel, in a 30b....possible not quite the size a bra interventionist would have made her (that was more like a 26-28C), but they were comfortable and got her over the 'I need to wear a bra' hurdle.

She needs larger bras. Although she still fits within her bras completely, the part between the cups is increasingly lifted away from her chest, and as she also wears a vest to avoid bra showing under her school shirt, she has a rather shapeless 'monoboob' appearance.

In the course of the expedition and tears, I have established that what she wants are:

• Bras that are pretty (ie not plan moulded T-shirt bras)
• Bras that 'do something' in terms of support and shaping. Everything we tried on, in whatever size, felt like it was just 'covering' her IYSWIM

To address the second, we tried underwired bras BUT had exactly the same problem in that in the central part between the cups, the middle part of the wire was lifted away from her chest.

And she HATES, HATES the process and the development that makes it necessary. We do have a (newish) Bravissimo locally, though she is probably just a little too small still, but she would find going in MORTIFYING in the extreme.

Any guidance???

So you're looking around a 28DD size
The Cleo brand bras are quite pretty - t shirt/moulded bras are notorious for being hard to fit exactly

I would also add that she would only let me do the 'largest point' measurements over her pyjamas (thin T-shirt material) so they might be a little large.

My guess at a starting point would therefore be 28 DD? Those are going to be fun to find!

X-post! Glad my guess was OK.

Thinking perhaps of the John Lewis ones
www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-lucy-non-wired-soft-bra-navy-star-print/p1913866? If I order a few online I can get free delivery to Waitrose to try on at home.

Easy!! She definitely is in bravissimo sizing
Brastop have a lot in that size online? This is just the Cleo brand but you can refine by size
www.brastop.com/cleo-lingerie-bras-swimwear

She may need wires. Underwire will give her the shape she's after. Just need to make sure they fit properly

Those Lucy bras are the ones DD1 has. They're very nice.

I suppose the thing I'm trying to get my head round (and she will hate) is that she is, by any normal - ie not ballet student - body size standard, small in the bust.

However, I MAY be able to sell going to Bravissimo if she doesn't realise that it is for 'larger sizes' and I explain that they are real experts (she believes experts, which is why my efforts to fit her have been so disastrous - she would deviate from the 32B she was measured at to allow me to get some 30Cs, but not much further).

Teacher

Dd is 28D so just a bit smaller than your dd

D cup & Dd cup isn't big like we've Ben conditioned to believe ehen combined with a small back size. In old sizings it woud be 32 A

Yes definitely 28DD is not a big size

DD is also a dancer & wears a Cleo Juna which is really good - beige not white as it's less visible and it's reasonably thick although not Tshirt style

For illustration

Have a look at Ambrose Wilson online - they do sizes that i can't buy on the high street.

there's another website called the bra band project which shows a variety of women in properly fitted bras, arranged by size. Really helps to bust the D+ is huge myth.

Any bra size mentioned in the papers is generally utter bollocks. I've seen Nicole Sherzinger described as a 36C. I reckon the band on a 36 could be wrapped round her and fastened at the front! Similarly, Katie Price is no way no how a 32/34-anything. Probably more like a 26-28, and pre-reduction something like a 28J or more I would say.

OK, so having established that 28 DD is a size to start with, it isn't huge (DD will like the 'it's really only 32A / B' comparison, thank you) and that the JL Lucy ones and possible Chloe Juna are possible styles, any more words of wisdom from you wonderful ladies?

I'm thinking of doing online orders in 28D and DD in a few styles [as I said above, I think the largest round measurements may have been a little large], then Bravissimo if that fails.

If you can, I'd maybe order a couple more styles to give you a range. It sounds like shape is as much of an issue as size. Cleo's unpadded styles (Minnie and Lily and similar) have narrower cups so could be worth trying for a contrast. Freya Deco is moulded, but comes in loads of different fabrics and colours and although it's a t-shirt bra it's not ugly and is a good basic so worth trying. You could also try something from Curvy Kate which does a nice range which is often popular with younger women.

Thanks Statistically! The Cleo models you mention only seem to be in colourways that verge on the lurid ... which DD isn't quite ready for as yet! Might try the Freya one you mention, plus Curvy Kate.

(My internet browser automatic advert thingy has become quite amusing as a result of all this bra-browsing!)

The Cleo Marcie comes in nude and is very similar in cut to the Minnie and Lily.

& Cleo Juna is in plain colours

Daft as it sounds have you tried primark? I find their back bands come up small. My rib cage measures about 27", but even tried on backwards I've found in primark a 32 can fit well in some styles. until the cheap elastic goes but who cares for £3. Alternatively a decent sports bra, you do get them with thinner straps that will go under a leotard.
If she finds a style she likes that fits at the cup and middle, don't discount having a seamstress (or sewing yourself) to move the hook and eyes and back of straps up.

Cleo Marcie doesn't come in 28DD in nude. only in stronger colours...

Any others of that shape in that size?

Would their Lucy be a similar cut?

No, lucy is a totally different cut - it's wider and shallower. No reason not to try it anyway though for variety. Looks like they've change the Marcie range slightly, wish they'd stop doing that!

Nude bras are a bit tricky unfortunately as lots of them do tend towards the dull t shirt bra end of the spectrum.

Have put in two large orders (John Lewis and Figleaves) for a mixture of 28Ds and 28DDs in different styles... will report!

OK. All DD cups genuinely too big, Ds fitted better.

John Lewis Lucy - unwired - generally fitted well. Gore fitted against ribcage at the bottom, lifted up a little in the middle, but that was true to some extent of the non-wired ones in all sizes (is that reasonable? Going up a cup size made absolutely no difference, even when there was masses of spare material elsewhere). Think we're going with that one.

Cleo Juna was the best of the wired options - it sat very flat including the gore in the middle, the wires fitted well, but the balconnet style made DD feel very uncovered, and the two sides were very hard to get even. the very clear line between bra and lace made that very obvious, even under clothes. One for when she's a little older, I think.

Freya one was hilariously the wrong shape! We got a good giggle out of that one.

DD only cried once. Mail order definitely the way to go.