Ladies with large breasts. Do bras exist that provide amazing support but don’t look awful?

[Readysetcake]

I’m finding myself wearing my sports bras more as I like the support. My ordinary bras need replacing so I know that is part of the problem. So, as I’m in the market to replace my bras I’d like to find one that minimises jiggling but doesn’t look like a sport bra or matronly.

Any ideas?

My bra is a Mark's bra, I have three, they fit tight, one is worse I have to take it off early evening as I can't bear it any longer, but when I worked in lingerie for around 16 years, my favourite bra playtex wonder bra style 7272 I wore 34D I still have 3 left as they are discontinued, I will admit they are a bit small in the cup as my boobs have got a bit bigger maybe a cup size from when I worked at the shop, I left in 2009, my under bust was smaller , it used to be 29/ 30 it's now 30/31

I’m 30 inches round the ribs (snug but not tight measurement in boob or bust) and boob or bust puts me at a 28HH. I have lost weight recently so none of my bras quite fit. That said, I’m wearing 34H at present on loose or middle fitting, and it feels a little loose but nothing major. I might be able to tolerate 32 back, but can’t imagine what 28 would even feel like. Generally when I’ve been fitted in bravissimo I’ve negotiated with the fitter to go up a band size and down a cup size from what she first starts with because I can’t cope with a band that feels horribly tight all day.

Am I wrong?

Am I wrong?

It's your bra, so no one can say you're wrong.

But what I would say is that if you get a bigger cup size then you're 'compensating' for the tighter band size. Essentially you're taking the inches from round the back where it's just, well, back! And instead you're putting those inches in the cups where all the boob is. I think the mistake people make (not necessarily you, but in general) is they think 'well, I'm wearing a 32DD, I couldn't possibly be a 28GG, that's four sizes bigger, and a GG is massive, I don't have massive boobs. I'll try a 28DD, or an E'. Then it's so tight they can't breathe and their suspicion is confirmed. But actually they've tried on a bra that is far smaller than what they're already wearing, so it makes sense that it won't fit. Whereas if they had tried the bigger cup all those inches would now be in the cups and it wouldn't feel anywhere near as tight.

I don't care what other people wear, it's their underwear. And if it's comfortable that's the important thing. But having said that, I must admit that I get frustrated when people say they are really uncomfortable in their bra but won't even try a smaller band because they just know it will be too tight. But they'd often be pleasantly surprised that that's not the case at all as long as the cup size is right.

Tile floors I am with you on this, no way can I wear a 30 bra, I have a 32 bra I can do it up, but I can't breave, and that's before I put my breasts in, as I put my bras on back to front to do it up, and then turn it round.

@TileFloors I hear you. I've been fitted at bravissimo a few times. They've have always put me in bras which were incredibly tight in the band, have looked great and felt fin for a couple of hours. But have been impossible to wear all day. Last time I bought bras from there in the size they'd fitted me, I had to give up on them, it was a total waste of a lot of money. I had deep red weals in my under bust and grazes in my armpits where the wire had rubbed. All from bras that had felt and looked fine in the fitting. I completely get that the band has to be very firm but in my experience bravissimo just take it a bit too far. At the end of the day you have to be comfortable. I dont get fitted there now although I will buy from there.

Personally I've found m&s bras to be all over the shop sizing wise - sometimes they are small in the band.

The issue with long wires/tall cups can be really challenging when you are big boobed with a small band. For me the key was finding brands which are quite narrow in the cup - they have the same volume but are narrow and deep whereas some are wider and shallower. Think of a wide coffee cup vs a tall juice glass.
I don't get on terribly well with most bravissimo own brand as they tend to be too wide for me, and freya often are too. Some cleo work well, and ewa michalak are excellent.

I've seen a few people mentioning red marks. I think a bit of a red mark is normal as you're wearing something firm tound your body, like you do with the top of socks. But welts, blisters etc are not right. Bravissimo are mostly very good fitters and their method is right but - partly because they don't use a tape measure - they rely a lot on knowledgeable well trained fitters so you can get a poor fit occasionally.

@isabellerossignol I’ve never heard it explained like that. It makes so much more sense to me now! Thank you.
I tried my bra on backwards and could pull the band quite far. It is an oldish bra but sounds like it’s too big. I’m going to by some different styles in a 32F and see how I go.

So intrigued by the Molke bras, they don’t look supportive at all but do look wonderfully comfortable. Will have to try when they make them again.

Molke is surprisingly supportive, I happily wear mine when out and about, it's not just a lounging bra.

I don’t wear any clothes that leave marks on me. Maybe I’m unusually sensitive but I can’t bear to be made uncomfortable by my clothes.

I don’t think the explanation about cup size can be right in my case. If boob or bust says 28HH, that should be 30H/32GG/34G, surely. I’ve currently got on a 34H and it feels pretty comfortable and supportive, and just a little big in the cups. So it isn’t that I need a bigger cup size.

Sainsbury’s do some quite good larger cup sizes (34F ) - not as good as they were, but pretty and very cheap. I find M& S hopeless now.

It's not a matter of it being right or wrong, it's just an explanation of how the calculations work. If the bra you're wearing is comfortable then that's what matters. All I was saying is that so many people dismiss it as 'I couldn't possibly be...' without really understanding the sizing. But it doesn't mean anyone should be demanding that you wear a different size. But if you were saying 'my 34H is really uncomfortable' then surely you'd have nothing to lose by trying something else?

I'm dreading going back to real life and wearing a 'proper' bra. During lockdown I've been wearing a sports bra for exercise or a cheap supermarket crop top style bra (stretchy material, no underwire) which gives no shape, very little uplift but is very comfortable. No way could I wear this for being out and about. I've worn an underwired bra once in the last 2 months and it was awful. I wear the 'correct' size 34 G and have well made (and bloody expensive) bras.

Molke bras look awful - sorry - but I'm prepared to give them a go if they provide uplift and support (no nude though which is a shame, white shows under white!).

I just can't understand why so.many amazing things have been invented with so many great technologies but a brilliantly comfortable, structurally fantastic, aesethically pleasing bra has not arrived.

Yes... Molke look ugly. Like they are made out of the same material that my granny had a cross over pinny made from. I'd try one if there was a nude version.

I just can't understand why so.many amazing things have been invented with so many great technologies but a brilliantly comfortable, structurally fantastic, aesethically pleasing bra has not arrived.

I know!! Wouldn’t you think?? The other thing that puzzles me is M+S. They have been told so many times by so many people that their sizing is wrong. They are so stubborn about it! Surely it’s a no-brainer to listen.

I think the reason M&S, and other high street shops, are resistant to change is purely profit margin related. Bravissimo sell roughly 66 different versions of many of their bras (28D to 38K) with adjustments to the design for more support in bigger sizes. If M&S can instead convince everyone that they fit into maybe half that many sizes, with bigger bras just a scaled up version of smaller ones, then they reduce their costs.

I spent my teenage years in despair because my boobs were wrong (ie I didn't fit into high street sizes). I used to come home from bra shopping and cry for days, I was inconsolable. The lady who ran the lingerie shop where l lived once told my mum that she cried regularly after fitting me because she knew that all she could offer in my size was a Doreen (Google that if you're brave) and she knew that no teenager wants to be seen in the school changing room in one of those. As an adult the penny dropped that my body was actually fairly unremarkable, it was the fact that shops were selling ill fitting bras that was the problem.

I spent my youth thinking that if you were moderately busty, it was inevitable that your boobs jiggled with every step and you needed to regularly stuff them back into your bra. What do you know, not actually a problem if you're not in a bra several sizes too small..but still biggest that the shop had, because they stopped at DD.

Beija are fabulous and such gorgeous styles

www.beija.com

sorry beija.london

Bravissimo saved my h cup boobs from going to pot. They have amazing support and ive even bought a swimsuit with a built in bra from them too. Utter gamechanger. Id been hellbent on a reduction but now ive got a supportive bra its not as pressing a want

I got measured at m and s when i was 32wks pregnant and the lady told me i was a 32d... ive not been a d cup since i was 12 and i was a 34g before i fell pregnant 🙈 the measuring tape must of been broken

@lemonsandlimes123 love be some of those beija bras but it's not a hat I can't get pretty bras for big boobs (bravissimo/fantasy etc) it's just that the current design of most bras - underwire, snug band - needed to achieving lift, support and shape results in some level of 'ooof glad to get that off' by the end of the day.

fucking fat fingers 😂

Right... after reading this thread I have just forked out close to £50 on a Miss Mary of Sweden minimiser bra. I'll let you know...

I am a 34f and I find Empreinte the best. They are expensive, but i guess you're paying for the advanced engineering!
Fantasie, Bravissimo etc never give me the right support or look frumpy. Every time i try something cheaper i end coming back to Empreinte. They are really supportive and pretty. Although they are expensive they seem to last for years, so probably cheaper in the long run.
Definitely worth a try. I buy mine from Amplebosom or Fig Leaves. I have also bought from Desous Desous

I've always worn Freya or fantasie but was finding the straps were digging in and needed thicker ones. I've gone for Elomi this time and it's taken the weight out of my boobs and I feel very well supported.