Thread: why are the cups so weird looking? how to fix?!

The neon pink cossie that i ADORE has the weird shaped cups where from the front it looks like it sticking out...don't know how to explain it but i've got another cossie w/the same thing but it doesn't look at all bad since it's got padding and bunch of sparklies on top..i'm worried even if i put padding it won't fix it and i would have to decorate the bra but i'm worried that will kind of clash w/the scarabs it's got on there...

any suggestions??

Hi Zana - I have the same costume in turquoise (and I did the same thing with the straps too and disconnected them from the skirt).

The cups are weird looking because, well, they are just cheap cups. I think Joharah was trying to mimic a sahar or eman "hard cup" but they just look weird. I actually had my seamstress take out those cups and put in a bra - much more comfortable and flattering. It was also very easy to do.

Here's a large-ish after photo -

omg i thought my neon pink was awesome but look at you in ur turqouise! gorgeous!
i'm scared of repairing the bra myself..i love this costume so much and don't wanna mess w/it lol do you think it would be hard for me to try and do it myself? am i just dissecting where the cups are placed and taking them out or am i lining a regular bra completely and just putting it where the weird cups were?

oh and the straps i actually placed at a criss cross over the stomach..i'm planning on adding a scarab in the center w/the white and crystal beads that are used as a background for the other scarabs
do you have pics how the rest of ur cossie looks? i'm debating adding more bling b/c i think it would mess w/the scarab look

A friend bought a similar costume. She asked for my help with the cups. I detached the cover fabric from beneath the cups, carefully inserted a non-underwire soft bra cup over the hard (we call them crusty), cups and reattached the cover fabric. I used a chopstick to insure the upper edges of the soft cups were smooth. It softened the sharp edge, quite easy, very affordable and was accomplished in less than :10.

Originally Posted by txchic

A friend bought a similar costume. She asked for my help with the cups. I detached the cover fabric from beneath the cups, carefully inserted a non-underwire soft bra cup over the hard (we call them crusty), cups and reattached the cover fabric. I used a chopstick to insure the upper edges of the soft cups were smooth. It softened the sharp edge, quite easy, very affordable and was accomplished in less than :10.

ohh so you just put a softer cup OVER the hard cup?

Be glad, very glad, you have no beading on the cups...

Originally Posted by anala

Be glad, very glad, you have no beading on the cups...

lol y, would that mess w/trying to fix it?

oh god...most of the time the bra beading is done right thru the football material those cups are made of. I have done it..but the rebead is enough to send you right over the top. Half of the beads will fall off and need to be resewn.

Be careful if you are not an experienced seamstress. I tried to do this myself once and practically ruined my top - of course it did have beading. Sometimes you have to suck it up and pay a professional! This costume is so pretty! I am a sucker for pink! If you are ever selling let me know.

From what I recall, and like txchic said, the decorated material is just lightly tacked to the hard cups.

My seamstress didn't put in the full bra, just the bra cups, but she completely removed the old cups. It seemed pretty easy to do to me, but I have taken apart costumes before and was just too lazy this time.

Doing like txchic and putting a soft cup over a hard cup would be a quick and easy fix, I think.

I took the straps and criss-crossed them underneath the bra - I needed the extra material up there, my proportions were off otherwise. Crisscrossing the straps attached to the skirt sounds awesome! I'd love to see!

This shows the twist on the bra -

ohh i like that twisty idea! here's some (faraway) pics of the criss cross but i haven't attached the scarab yet.
DNC-Photo : photos : Bellydance - Fall 2008- powered by SmugMug
DNC-Photo : photos : Bellydance - Fall 2008- powered by SmugMug
DNC-Photo : photos : Bellydance - Fall 2008- powered by SmugMug

Originally Posted by zfejzic

ohh so you just put a softer cup OVER the hard cup?

Yes, I carefully slipped the soft cups over the crusty ones. Chop sticks were very helpful in smoothing lumps. Due to the curve I also used a bent portion of wire clothes hanger to smooth one particularly difficult area but the chop sticks were successful everywhere else. I had planned to use swim bra cups from a fabric store but the friend that bought the crusty cup costume had an old bra so we cup away the underwire and recycled the cups.