As you know, it is #AllChestsWelcome month here at Sewcialists! I have a topical chest-themed question to ask you all!
Many of us struggle to find something comfortable to wear on their chest for the whole day. In my case (I wear bras), I often come home from work and change from a “normal” underwire into something softer. I don’t find wearing nothing on my chest at all comfortable, so that’s not an option. Both the wired and the unwired aren’t comfortable enough for the whole day, but switching from a bra to a stretchy crop-top type garment sometime through the day seems to work OK. It would be nice to find a magical garment I could wear all day without a change though!
So what about you? Have you found something that’s comfortable to wear all day without changing? Does anyone have a magical underwire bra pattern or design that is as comfortable as going without or non-wired? If you wear a binder, vest or no covering does the same happen?
I am secretly hoping to find the magical answer somewhere in our collective wisdom…so hit me up in the comments re what you have found most comfortable!
Chloe is a Sewcialists Editor who lives and sews in Australia, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. She blogs at chlo-thing.com and can be found on Instagram here.
I imagine this is pretty specific for each person’s body, but I wear bras all day, though never with wires – I even went back into my old bras and snipped out the wires from their casings. Target used to make a $13 padded bralette that I unashamedly loved but they don’t stock that style anymore (and my multiples of those are getting rather worn) so I might be back on the hunt pretty soon, like you!
I have to say, I have never tried a non wired – I tend to go for a wired, then switch to a crop top type. I should try them!
Oh, I am so hoping someone has an answer for having a magical bra that supports and is comfortable. Especially for those of us who have larger cup sizes. I do the same thing; wear a regular bra for work and switch to a stretchy bralette immediately upon getting home. I can’t stand flopping around without any support so going without is not an option for me.
Sounds like we are on the same mission! Fingers crossed some of the suggestions work for us 🙂
I haven’t worn a bra for over a year now. I’m an A-cup, so it is fine comfort and movement wise. I have two old light control sports bras for whenever I decide to start jogging again. It can be a bit of a challenge remembering not to wear sheer-ish tops without something underneath tho – and the less said about the unlined eyelet top the better 🤣
Oh yes! Definitely something to remember 🙂
This is a great question. I’m large-busted & not at all self-supporting (thank you, bizarrely narrow breast root). I like my vast collection of Cloth Habit underwired Harriet bras when I need to be presentable, but at home I free-boob it. I’d love to find a bralette pattern that can accommodate a large chest (I’m an I cup!) with squashing them down or making them look like a couple of cantaloupes stuffed into a tube sock. Please advise, global sewcialist community!
I’m not quite at I cup, but I’ve been very happy with the House Morrighan Poppy Bralette (they also have a racerback version with the same cups). It goes up to an I cup, which by their chart is an 11″ difference between full bust and underbust. Depending on what criteria you use to say you’re an I cup (it seems different for everyone/every brand/different countries), that might work out for you? My best fitting RTW bras are F and G, which aligned nicely with their size chart/cup-sizing for my underbust.
As someone with a large cup size (43″ full bust, 35″ underbust) I’ve been making my own bras for quite some time now trying to get one that is perfect for all day wearing and I must admit I”m pretty happy with my latest version. I started out with a standard wired bra pattern, modified it to fit me nicely, then one day just tried taking the underwires out – I took photos from all angels and the difference between wires and no wires was minimal – certainly not enough to make me wear an underwire ever again. I’ve since evolved the pattern to include more back coverage, added a wide interfaced no stretch shoulder strap, and modified the pattern to allow the use of knit fabrics and the bras that I have at the moment are getting pretty close to perfect. I cant run in them (though I do have another sports bar pattern than I’m working on that’s getting close) but they are great for an everyday bra.
That sounds amazing! I love that you took a rtw pattern then developed it from there 🙂
I have measurements similar to Jenny and I’ve found that the Ingrid pattern from the pinup girls line from Bra Makers Supply is quite comfortable for all day wear and is very supportive.
Looks good! The bit in between the cups is interesting – I will put that on the list 🙂
Go find the old kwik sew patterns- they’re pretty much out of print now but they made some fabulous swim and active patterns back in the day that fit and supported without a lot of fuss.
I have quite a sinuous spine, seen from the side.
My summer bras are distant descendants of http://www.vavoomvintage.net/p/va-voom-bullet-bra-sew-along-and-free.html. Cups more rounded for my own style, but crucially: 1″ added to centre front bottom of the band only; front band made from natural fabrics for breathability. Back band and straps wombled from bought bras. You can’t return or donate bought bras even when your ribs bruise or you get elastic weals after a few hours.
Sports bras in the winter, once i can wear a scarf to conceal the racer back that raced all the way up my back.
I’ve also had good luck in the past with http://cottesimple.com/tutorials/curved-front-seam/ Not a silhouette i could wear to work, but surprisingly comfy for housework, gardening or long walks.
My breasts are relatively small and self supporting, so i often take my underwire bras off as soon as i get home. On home office days I either make sure that the camera doesn’t show my chest or I wear padded bralettes, but honestely, they are not that much more comfortable than underwire bras for me. Whereas the underwire at least stays under my breast tissue, sometimes the elastic band in bralettes creeps up and squishes the lower part of my breast. But the main reason I am not wearing them when I go out, is lower support, e.g. when I bike on a cobblestone road.
I can go all day with underwrites now. I use one size bigger underwrites for comfort. I also use like 3 different bra patterns ever so I know they are fitted for comfort. But cotton jersey Hyacinth brallete is the winner!
Ironically, I find underwires best for all-day wear. I have never managed to actually make a bra that remotely fit, although I think patterns have improved a lot since my last attempt 15 years ago. But these failures have made me a more discerning consumer, so I know now that my chest shape works better with partial bands for instance, and have much better standard of fit. Because I have a bad relationship with tight elastics, underwires allow me to wear a relatively looser band without losing support. But the main problem is that I am growing out of standard sizes, and that ill-fitting underwires poke you. So do I jump into another underwire attempt? I am enclined to try to master bralettes first, hoping to get somewhere before I have to really go to the office
I hate all bras, and I will go bare at home, but also feel a bit of strain if I do it too many days in a row. I finally gave away all my underwires–yes I was wearing the proper size but they hurt and I finally said enough.