If you never experienced a good fitting bra(lette),
you may have a hard time recognizing the good fit.
And that's okay.
Over time, you will recognize your own preferences and that some bra(lettes) are more comfortable than others.
Some may give you more security over the day,
some may not need to adjust all day long and some you will end up adjusting all the time.
To make this experience easier for you,
I decided to tell you how I am expecting the bralette to fit me,
and how the Forme bralette should fit you.
Forme bralette fit
Back band
I want the bralette to fit tight overall but ease the breast area from the overall compression.
I expect the band to fit on the loosest hook setting as tight as the wired bra is.
If the 2 fingers are comfortable for you then you should aim for that. I go more for 3 fingers ease personally.
On the picture bellow you can see the right size on the left, too loose band in the middle and too tight band on the right.
Side seam
The side seam should provide you just the right amount of coverage
Too short side seam may dig in uncomfortably
Too tall side seam - excess fabric may feel uncomfortable in the armpit
The side seam should not gape on the top or the bottom
The side seam should be just on the side going vertically and centered when you look from the side
If the side seam is more towards the front, then the cups need to be bigger.
Center front
The center front should sit close to your chest wall
When the gore on the bralette to stay close to the chest wall, it really adds to bralette support and stability (image on the right).
But we need to keep in mind that it's not a wired bra. The center front will never lay completely flat on your body.
This also adds to the separation of your breast in opposite to the common bralette pattern where the center front sits as far as your breast projection itself and pushes your breast together (image on the left).
Cups
Full cover
Functional bralette should be a full coverage type of bra in my opinion.
If the cups are not tall enough, the bralette tends to roll down over the day.
Cups are not extremely compressive and have enough room for each breast
I don't feel comfortable if my breasts are squishing all day in a compressing bra.
So if you take off the bra and you feel weird for some time, consider if your bra is not too compressive to you.
In the picture below you can see too small cups that cant contain all the breast tissue on the left
and too large cups that becomes wrinkly because of not enough breast tissue
Cup seam
The vertical seam is designed to go directly over the apex.
This may not sound so important, but this really makes a difference.
The bra can give you the best shape and support if at least one seam goes directly over your apex.
Some people may found seam going through apex irritating. Then I recommend moving the seam as little as possible.
Elastics
The bottom band elastic
The bottom band elastic sits just under the breast tissue, where usually the wire sits.
The bottom band elastic is not supposed to lay on your breast tissue!
Inner cup elastic
The elastic along the inner cup edge should not divide the breast tissue.
If the elastic on the inner cup edge is too tensed, you usually need to move the strap point out.
You can see elastics laying on the breast tissue bellow
Front strap elastic placement horizontally
The strap placement is designed to sit slightly to the outer side of the breast, where the most volume and weight is located.
Front strap elastic placement vertically
The strap point is located where the breast tissue ends
Do you know that little gap in the cup?
There should be no free space between the breast and the strap point. The breast should fill out the cup.
While designing the Forme bralette I had all this in mind.
If this description sounds appealing to you, you will like the Forme bralette!
Images source:
https://www.titlenine.com/how-to-choose-the-best-sports-bra.html
https://www.missmary.nz/how-check-if-you-re-wearing-wrong-bra-size