What’s normal for a well fitted band?

This is going to be a pretty brief post, but it’s something I’ve noticed being asked fairly often by women who are new to correctly sized bras: I have red marks from my bra, is that normal?

Of course, the answer to this is YES! This is not only normal, but probably will always happen, just like you get red marks on your stomach from elastic waistbands, or on your ankles from socks, or on your hips from panties.

Then I get the question “How red/deep is normal?”

I pretty much feel like your band should be as tight as you can wear without major discomfort. Red marks that disappear within a half hour or so? Normal. A bra that digs in all day so that you can’t stop thinking about it, and red welts that are painful and itchy? Band too small! In order to try to show people what’s normal, I wore my Curvy Kate Tease Me (which has a pretty good band for me, maybe sometimes a little on the loose side since it’s getting a good amount of wear) for a half hour or so. If these pictures were after I’d worn it all night, the red marks would probably be darker and more prominent, so please keep that in mind until I can update it with after-all-day pictures!

For most people, the band in the middle would probably not leave quite so deep a mark. The reason it’s so dark there is because I was sitting the entire time I was wearing it, and I have a fat roll right below my boobs, so bands can tend to dig in there. Notice you can see the outline where my wires sit on me- that’s totally normal. As you can see (besides the dark mark in the middle that  I’ve already explained), the marks are pretty non-consequential. Here’s what they look like from the side:

Once again, the darker red spot is because I was sitting and my stomach is just a weird shape, but the rest of these marks are all almost exactly what it looks like after I take my tights off at the end of the night (except quite a bit higher up on my torso!!)

So that’s my example of what (my) normal bra marks look like! Keep in mind that this is immediately after removing my bra, and in the time it’s taken to write this post (~15 minutes) they’ve almost completely disappeared. Your bra should never leave raised marks, painful or itchy marks, or cut into your skin in any way that’s severely uncomfortable. However, a properly tight band is the foundation for support, and red marks such as these above are to be expected!

*EDIT*

Here are the red marks from an altered Freya Deco. The darker red square shape you see in the side profile picture is from this alteration. I did it myself and it left a section that sticks out more than the rest of the band, which sometimes digs in uncomfortably, but is usually fine, just leaves a darker spot.

Once again, I’ve been sitting for a little bit in this one. My marks are still not uncomfortable in any way.

Here you can see that red square from the alteration that I was talking about. Once again, still not uncomfortable, but probably isn’t normal for most bras.

Kris Line Jasmine Bra

In one of my two orders during my Brastop binge, I couldn’t help but pick up a Kris Line bra. They don’t make my usual size of either 28HH or 28J, but their bras are so pretty… and some of them are molded! My dream! I couldn’t help but try it out in the closest size they  had- a 30H- especially since I’d heard the bands ran tight.

So, without further ado, here’s the set, with a 30H bra and a medium thong:

I don’t think there’s a question about the attractiveness of this set! The color is really just gorgeous, and although I was worried the medium thong would be too small when I took it out of the box, it actually doesn’t dig in at the sides hardly at all. As you can see, it is quite low coverage, but this type of thing hasn’t ever bothered me.

As far as the fit goes, I wish it fit better. The cups are ever so slightly too small, but the band is much too large. It fit okay at first (on the tightest hook), but after just the first wear it’s become so loose that I hesitate to wear it out at all, despite how pretty it is. I’d alter the band down, but I’ve found that really this doesn’t work so well on cups that are even slightly too small, as it generally makes them more shallow and wide, which leads them to cutting in (I haven’t posted about this yet, but it’s what happened to my Freya Deco when I took the band in). Overall I wouldn’t say that this band runs tightly at all, and the cup may run just a touch small, but is a pretty close fit to the other 30H’s I’ve tried.

As far as shape goes, it’s quite a bit pointy, but CRAZY uplifted. For reference, my bust measurement bent over so that all of my tissue hangs forward is usually around 40″, and my standing measurement is around 38″, both in and out of a bra. In this bra, my measurement is more like 39.5″, so it’s almost the same as if my boobs are perfectly parallel to the floor! If only Brastop carried Kris Line in a 28J, I would snatch up as many bras in this brand as I could!

Here’s some more photos of the bra for fit reference:

View from the front- looking pretty good! Obviously very pretty!

Can see the amazing uplift- but unfortunately also the double boob 😦

Looking pretty good from the side. These wires are obviously more narrow than the average UK brand, and although I haven’t tried Ewa Michalak yet, look more like the pictures I’ve seen of her bras.

This is on the tightest hook. Although it doesn’t stretch SO far, it definitely fails the two finger test!

Center gore doesn’t quite lay flat 😦

In clothes the shape is significantly less pointy. I don’t feel self conscious about it at all. Also, oddly, even though this shirt is pretty see through, the purple is probably the least visible bra I currently own? Weird.

Overall, if you fit into the size range, I would definitely invest in some Kris Line bras! I unfortunately can’t justify spending the money on another, despite how pretty they are, since they just don’t carry the size I need at Brastop, and they’re pretty expensive elsewhere, I don’t know if I’ll ever get to own one of these awesome bras in my size 😦

Oh, last note that I forgot to mention- this bra might be made out of the softest material I have ever found on lingerie ever. It is just damn awesome. The. End.

Curvy Kate Showgirl Collection, Part I – Tease Me

During Brastop’s huge sale this past month, I managed to snatch up the Tempt Me in a 28J, the Tease Me in a 28J, and the Thrill Me in a 28HH, so those reviews are all coming shortly! First up, the Tease Me in a 28J, in the Silver/Black colorway.

From the front- definitely “cakes on a platter” look going on here!

From an angle- cleavage even more apparent!

Ok, I have to say it. I have fallen in bra love. I want to buy this bra in every color they ever make ever (especially this one in pink and white!) because it is exactly what I want in a bra. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before on here, but I actually really like having big boobs. I don’t want to make them look smaller, I want them to look the size that they are (or even a little tiiiiiiny bit bigger is ok, like as much as a thinly padded bra might add), and this bra ACCOMPLISHES! And it does it while still being comfortable enough to be worn to work, and after work, for a total of around 15 hours without me feeling scratched or uncomfortable.

Something else that I love about this bra is that it is extremely low cut. If they made this bra in a 28JJ though, I would get it, because while wearing it with tank tops I am occasionally concerned about a nip slip in this 28J, and also I get slight double boob if I don’t occasionally readjust. The benefit to wearing a 28J however is that the spaghetti strap tank tops that I wear almost religiously during the hot summer months aren’t ruined by a collarbone high bra (like the Panache Tango, which I also loved, but for different reasons).

View under a tank top from the front- slightly cleavagey, but not too much!

View from side in tank top- definitely not minimizing! (Please excuse the double boob, which is caused by the shirt, not the bra. Yes I still wear things like this in real life despite the breast conflictions 😛 )

A last note on the fit- it’s widely told that Showgirl bras have a very loose and stretchy band, but I didn’t find this to be the case. I measure between 28.5 and 29 underbust, depending on the time of the month, my weight, etc., and find this band to be as firm if not firmer than some of my other 28s!

I’m trying really hard to think of some complaints with this bra besides it’s limited size range… and… I can’t think of any! If I could get this in a 28JJ for the days when I wanted my cleavage a little less in-your-face, it would probably be my ideal bra. Also if Curvy Kate would make this exact shape into a basic bra in continuity colors with minimum embellishment… that would be more than ok with me! 🙂

Panache Tango II Balconette- a Surprise Favorite

Hello! I’m finally back with another review!

As I mentioned, I received 5 bras this past week, and one of the ones I got was the Tango II Balconette in a 28J. When I was recently sized, I was diagnosed as a 28HH, though some styles I feel I would have felt more comfortable in a J, so when I saw the Tango on ebay for $21, including BOTH the matching thong AND briefs… I had to go for it.

Ok, looks wise… This is not something I would wear for sexy-times. Absolutely not. It takes up a lot of my chest and is definitely the highest cut bra that I own, not to mention that even though it’s a “balconette”, it is cut like a full-cup bra, with the top section connecting to the strap as opposed to the usual bottom section connecting to it. On, this bra gives great lift, although a slightly pointy silhouette. This bothers others more than it bothers me, and under clothes this pointyness is less pronounced.

As far as fit goes, I know that technically it is not perfect, but it gives me great support and that’s the most important part of a bra as far as I’m concerned! The band feels very comfortable, and fits nicely on the tightest hook, but the cups take up too much of the band area, reaching back about an inch past where my breasts end. I toyed with the idea that going down a cup size would help, or going up a band size, but a looser band would definitely need to be fastened on the tightest hook, and a smaller cup would cut into the front of my breasts, where the J cup currently fits very well.

From the front, before performing slight strap adjustment (which does away with the slight wrinkling in the bottom)

Angle, showing pointier shape and the wrinkling in the bottom.

As the first caption mentions, the straps on this were too long for my petite (around 5’3″) frame. They are only half adjustable, but once I shortened them there was no wrinkling in the cups except for on the side where the cups are too wide. I’m writing this review at a moment where I can’t take more pictures, but hopefully I’ll be able to update this review soon with the fixed straps and pictures of the too wide cups from a straight on side shot!

Like I said earlier, I found this bra very comfortable! I work as a waitress, and broke one of the cardinal rules of bra wearing in order to wear this during my 12 hour shift- that’s right, I wore it two days in a row! The only thing I can complain about is that the center gore is too high for my close set breasts. Only one of the wires will lay flat at a time, while the other pushes up and tries to go on top of the other one in order to form a more narrow gore. This is pretty common for me in balconette bras, but unfortunately very few plunges are made in my size range.

Overall, although I considered it a risky buy at the time because of the slightly larger than usual size, and “meh” to negative reviews I’d read about it, this bra was a surprise winner for me!

Busy busy busy

Hello!

 

Sorry it’s been a while since I updated- I’m taking a summer class, and working a 3rd shift job, so I haven’t had a lot of free time lately, but hopefully I’ll be posting regularly soon!

 

Until then, I just wanted a place to vent my excitement! In the past 3 days I’ve received FIVE new bras! That’s right, FIVE! So, once I start posting again, we can add these bras to the list of reviews that are on the way:

1. Panache Tango II Balconette (28J)

2. Curvy Kate Thrill Me (28HH)

3. Curvy Kate Tease Me (28J)

4.  Curvy Kate Tempt Me (28J)

5. Kris Line Jasmine (30H)

 

Surprisingly, even though there’s 3 different sizes here, they all fit well enough for me to keep and review. They aren’t all perfect, mind you, but they are all better than the 30GG’s I had before!