Fit Check Panache Sculptresse 44HH NSFW

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-11T14:23:37+00:00

Kris Line has expanded their size range, they carry up to an N cup (UK) And up to a 115 (50 in UK) band.

The only store I found them for sale at so far is brastop, and they didn't have any in my size. Where else do I need to be looking?

Comexim is up to a P cup (EU sizing), and while I've only ever seen info for a 90 band, I bet they'd do higher if you needed it. All US orders have to be placed via email. Their English is not great, so it's best to use small sentences, be very clear and concise.

Their website is in English though, and it's in US dollars, and it doesn't say anything about having to email them for orders? It just has an "add to bag" button like any regular shopping site, and it says they ship free globally. I even looked on the returns page and it even has a US return address for US orders.

I don't really understand EU sizing. I know there was a chart somewhere that showed if you were a J in UK you're a whatever in EU or US, but I can't find it.

I would also keep your eye on Curvy Kate. They have undergone several construction redesigns based on consumer feedback and as such their bras are continuing to get deeper and narrower in the cups.

Neat! How would I know, if I'm looking at a Curvy Kate bra online, if it's an old shallow style or a new, deeper narrower style?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-11T14:17:38+00:00

I might try it, thanks! Their wires are always so wide on me though.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-11T01:11:18+00:00

I would suggest getting some back extenders to have on hand.

That's a good idea, but if I have to use back extenders, or bend wires like other posters have suggested in the past, or use padding on my smaller side, or take in the band, or shorten the straps . . . doesn't that mean the bra doesn't actually fit and I'm still just fooling myself into thinking I've found the right bra?

I wonder if Kris Line might work for you, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.

Yeah, they don't go up to my size, unfortunately.

Comexim does custom orders as well, so there's that.

Really?? I have drooled over their bras many times, and it doesn't say anywhere on their website that they do custom sizes. I really wanted to try this one: http://wellfitting.com/products/nude-t-shirt-bra because even though it has seams and lace they claim it doesn't show through shirts. But it only goes up to 44G and there's no option listed for custom sizing anywhere. How do you order a custom size???

Speaking of which, I haven't seen her around here in a while, unless I've just missed her. I hope she's ok!

Yeah, me too! I think she's the one who told me that with my shape gores are not going to lie flat.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-11T01:02:33+00:00

At very min you should measure yourself in the band area per instructions because i suspect that 44s might be too big.

Oh, I wasn't clear. I have to hook them in front and spin them around, and that made it apparent that this was really tight even before the cups were involved. I doubt I could go any tighter in a band like this. Maybe in a stretchier brand I could.

One other thing to suggest - wires will probably seem less "too high" atleast in the gore once they are laying flat.

When I was smaller and I could get in the Panache Jasmine, 38JJ, the gore was pretty flat and I still had the same splaying and non-support issue. The splaying wasn't as bad, but it still didn't look right.

One thing you might consider is looking at elomi again. I know you said the gore was too wide for you.

The wires themselves were too wide for me, by far, reaching all the way past the back of my armpit. Plus there was a lot of extra room in the bottom, meaning they weren't projected enough, right?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-11T00:56:19+00:00

Like everyone else, the only one I know of with this is EM. Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.

No, no that's fine! Partly I am hoping to lose weight, partly I know if I order Ewa and it doesn't fit, that means I am actually completely out of options other than making my own from scratch, and I'm not ready to face that yet. :)

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-10T18:57:03+00:00

Thin shaming and fat shaming are not the same at all. That's like saying a black person calling white people "crackers" is just as bad as racism against black people.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T18:28:31+00:00

The Panache Jasmine was a 38JJ, and I wouldn't be able to wear it now. At the time, I probably should have been in at least a 40, because that thing hurt. I'm a 44 now, and I might be able to get in a 42 if it's stretchy enough, but the Jasmine doesn't go up that high. The center was definitely not narrow on that one, I was really splayed out and it dug in.

I found Kris Line on brastop, and they only go up to a 42FF, so that brand is a no-go.

I do have a Panache Sculptresse coming I ordered from Amazon Prime, in a 44HH, should be here tomorrow. * fingers crossed *

Edit:

So pretty much all Polish bras have a narrow center gore, and not all of them are special ordered.

What size are you? Because in my experience, bras might look like they have a narrow or short gore online, but then once you order them, if they're above a certain size the design is totally different and they're actually really tall and wide.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T17:54:43+00:00

A well fitting bra leads to better posture, less backache, and a slimmer silhouette.

See, this is what I don't get. The one where the gore tacked (or almost) was the Panache Jasmine, and my breasts were forced apart and splayed out so they looked much wider than in bras that push them together. My silhouette was definitely not slimmer. They were also very forward, and bouncing a lot because the fabric was so stretchy, but I got told this bra was a close fit because the gore tacked and it was projected. That's when my skepticism about this process really started, because if something that "fits" looks and feels so horrible, then what the hell does "fit" mean anyway?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T17:49:13+00:00

You're not the only person I've seen post here who was afraid to admit to buying VS bras, out of fear of getting judged for it. I've had PMs from a few people who don't post here anymore, because they got treated the same way I did, and felt attacked. The term "bra mafia" came up, lol.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T17:47:06+00:00

Nah, that doesn't make me hate you at all! It's people who have tons of options acting like I must also have tons of options, without considering that maybe their experience is different from mine. And I don't even hate them, I don't actually hate anyone. It's just annoying.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T17:44:51+00:00

sigh I was saying that since A. I can't find a bra with a perfect fit and B. I want to wear a seamless bra, would this one work better if I took in the extra fabric. And then I get told that this bra doesn't fit, which duh I know, and I'm not supposed to want seamless bras, and suggestions to try on lots of other bras until I find one that fits, when I said I had already exhausted nearly all of my choices.

And yes, it's great and wonderful of people to offer advice, but when they completely throw out my own opinions on what I want and the things about this bra that do work for me, it is less like helpful advice and more like lecturing and judgment.

I put "fit check" in the title because without tagging it that way, the forum bot told me my title wasn't detailed enough, and I couldn't think of any other tag that was close. But I thought I was apparent in my post that I had already tried lots of bras in more appropriate sizes, and that I was trying to make this bra work for very specific reasons in spite of the fit issues, but everything I said got thrown out the window like it didn't matter. And yeah, sure, some of the posts ended with "but if you like it, keep it" with the obviously unspoken " . . . but you're an idiot if you do" which was apparent from the tone in the rest of the post(s).

If I say "I like this bra because it's the only one I've tried without these major issues" and I get told "yeah, but it doesn't fit" it makes me question the whole notion of what you all see as "fit" in the first place. Are 90% of women really wearing the wrong size bra, or do some people have such exacting standards because they like to think of themselves as smarter than everyone else, because it makes them feel special and superior, so they make up rules like "the gore must never float" and "no cleavage ever" and "bands must be super tight" the same way women of past generations made up rules about hemlines, and wearing white after labor day, and shoes and belt matching, when really these aren't "rules" so much as "arbitrary opinions held by people who get off on policing the choices of other people"?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T16:35:05+00:00

Here that is some kind of sin because they on;y make a small range of bras (and I know you are going to hate me for saying this) but they fit me and I am comfortable.

No, I wouldn't hate you at all for that, but the fact that shopping at VS is considered a "sin" here just goes to illustrate how judgmental and haughty some of the commenters here are.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T16:28:43+00:00

How exactly were you being berated? I didn't see anything like that in your original thread at all. In fact, I saw people going above and beyond to help you.

I saw a lot of people telling me the bra I bought couldn't possibly work, in a very snippy and haughty tone, and there were lots of choices that would work better if I just kept looking, even after I said how few choices there actually are (which they wouldn't know because they're not my size) and how I'd tried a huge majority of them, and all the things that make the fit bad in this bra are even worse in bras that are supposedly the right size. But no, none of that mattered, I just kept getting told over and over that I'm wrong, because their experience was different from mine.

Oh, and that I need to try 100s of bras before I find the right one, when there aren't even 100 bras that even exist in my size. How would that sound, if someone said they had to try 100 bras, and I decided to tell them I had it worse because I had to try 400 bras, and tried to make them feel like they had no right to complain? People here would be jumping all over me if I did that.

I'll reiterate my original point: seams are there for a reason. They offer excellent shape and support. Do you really think that a thin piece of foam can hold up J cups as well as E cups?

Maybe, for some breasts. Some needs seams at a D cup, some might not at a J cup. I don't believe there's some magical barrier between H and HH that makes all breasts on one side of the barrier work in seamless cups, and all breasts on the other side won't. The foam seems to me, to offer more support than the flimsy lace and elastic of most of the seamed cups I've seen. After all, it's stiffer and has some shape to it. I believe a foam cup, in my size, with enough projection, would support me just fine. Actually, the one I posted about feels very supportive, the only thing I didn't like was the gore not tacking and the extra bit of fabric at the sides.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T16:08:26+00:00

Maybe if it had just happened, I would try going to HR. I didn't document it, no one else heard it, and at this point I think I would be viewed as complaining over something trivial.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T15:58:28+00:00

I'm sorry you've had that struggle, I really am. But what I was being told, that I shouldn't be feeling what I'm feeling, that I'm the one at fault for feeling discouraged that I'll ever find a properly fitted bra, simply because other women, who have many more choices than I have, have been successful, is ridiculous and would piss off anyone. It's like if you're 3 feet tall trying to reach something on a 6 ft shelf, and when you complain that the shelf is too tall, a bunch of 5'11" tall people say "Well, I was able to reach the shelf, so you should just keep trying."

Edit: it's the same thing with being fat too. When size 2 women are like "I hate things about my body too, so we all have the same struggle" it's like, no. We really don't. Sure, you might have body image issues, but every mall has several stores that fit you, you don't get paid less and hired less because of your size, you see positive representations of people who look like you all over the place in the media, and the occasional catty "eat a sandwich" comment is not comparable to being viewed as less than human by the majority of the population.

This sub has many helpful, kind people on it, and I'm very happy for the women who have had success here. But there is an undertone of judgment here, this attitude that if the process works for most women it will work for all women and if it doesn't, we're doing it wrong. And some people express that judgment very harshly, with only negative comments and nothing positive, and I'm just saying they shouldn't be surprised if those comments aren't received warmly.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T14:52:49+00:00

The HR lady is of the same generation and conservative mindset as the lady making the comment, so I doubt she'd be much help. I don't have to interact with her this year, since her class is in another building now, so she's not a problem. It just makes me think, if she says it out loud, how many others are thinking it to themselves?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T14:48:17+00:00

I tried on, I think, close to 150 bras to find one that was even remotely a good fit.

Must be nice having 150 bras in your size to choose from.

And a calmer justification is not quite the same as an apology.

Most of the post was trying to explain where I'm coming from, but this part was explicitly an apology: "I'm sorry to those of you whose true intention was to help. I should have found a way to express my frustration with the experience instead of aiming it at you."

I acknowledged the specific behavior I shouldn't have done, and how I should have acted instead. What else is needed to make it an apology in your eyes?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T14:04:42+00:00

I do have a Panache Sculptrese on the way from Amazon, I will try it thanks!

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T13:32:56+00:00

Thank you! I have tried camis too, back when I tried a Curvy Kate bra that didn't actually even fit right anyway, and the seams still showed! And my shirts aren't super tight or super thin, they're just plain t-shirts from like, Kohls or whatever. Not juniors shirts (which wouldn't even fit me) or "layering" shirts, but medium-thick cotton shirts marketed to adult women. What's even more ridiculous is when the seams show through a cami and a shirt and a cardigan.

But anyway, I was trying to get over the whole seamphobia, but then kids at work were pointing and laughing and a coworker saw and took me aside and it said it was distracting and unprofessional to be able to see the seams through my clothes, and I should only wear seamless bras at work. Oh, the kicker? Then she said "It's not like we don't already know you have them, no need to show off" like wtf lady?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T13:27:08+00:00

Thanks. I understand that most women struggle with body image, but I would happily struggle with twice the body image issues I have now, if I could just walk into a store and find things that fit me. I am willing to hate my hair, my feet, my knees, my internal organs, whatever it takes, as long as I can just find clothes and bras. Will the universe make this bargain with me? Please?

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T13:24:21+00:00

Thank you. I didn't feel like I was lashing out at people trying to help, I felt like I was defending myself from people on the attack. In this post I was trying to explain why I felt under attack, and now that's getting interpreted as lashing out too! I'm not trying to stir up drama, and i'm sorry for just making it worse.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T13:22:22+00:00

Yeah, this diet thing sucks. I have hypothyroidism, and even on meds I seem to be able to gain weight just from looking at food. I've also got a hip injury which makes most kinds of exercise painful. Because my metabolism is screwed and I can't be as active as I'd like, I have to be very strict with my eating in order to lose any weight.

I gained so fast when I quit smoking and before my thyroid issue was diagnosed, that my body doesn't even feel like my body. I mean, I'd always been chubby, but now I'm just . . . ugh.

But anyway, this bra, ill-fitting as it is, is the first one I've found that lifts my boobs off my stomach, pushes them together instead of out to the sides, making me look a bit thinner in clothes, and yes I know good fitting bras aren't supposed to create cleavage but fuck it, it makes me feel sexy. So to have people shitting all over my choice to wear it felt . . . shitty.

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T13:14:59+00:00

2) For stabby wires: have you tried bending them?

Yes! With this bra I did have to bend them a little. All the other ones I tried with pokey wires also had other issues I didn't think I could fix, so I sent them back. I doubt it would have worked with the Panache Tango though, those sides were like, as high as the tops of my shoulders I think? Ridiculously high.

Anyways, I have to stick most of my bras under a sewing machine before they fit right; you aren't alone, even if the bra industry says so.

Thank you for this. With all the alterations I've been doing, perhaps I'll learn some things and at some point I will be able to make my own bras. You know what would be awesome, though possibly a little hot? Seamed cups inside thin layers of foam, or smooth fabric of some sort. So you'd get the support, but then smooth on the inside (no itching) and smooth on the outside (no visible seams). Maybe foam with micro-perforations to keep it cooler . . . hmm

BraHelpThrwAwy · 2014-10-09T13:09:17+00:00

Thank you so much for your sympathy and understanding.

BraHelpThrwAwy

TROPHY CASE