Thread: Help Me Fix a Gapping Bra!

I just received a custom order and, even after bringing it to a seamstress who specializes in BD costumes, the bra is still gapping way too much for my liking. And people wonder why I only buy Bellas these days

How do I fix this? The straps are crisscrossed. The bra is VERY padded; in fact, I actually had to remove a considerable amount of padding to make it sit better on my chest. I'm stumped. What other strap configurations can I try?

I really want to fix this instead of selling, because selling a $750 costume on the Swap Meet ain't easy ,r:;

Here's a picture of the costume in case anyone needs it for reference (or wants to buy it from me, LOL). Yes, those are cutouts in the bra.

I have this problem all the time :(

I convert all my bras to halter-style and that helps a bit.

Also, is the padding all over the inside or just underneath? I find putting the padding at the bottom of the cup slightly angled to the outside pushes all available flesh up and in to (hopefully) fill the gap.

Another thing that takes a bit of sewing but helps is sewing some florist wire to the top edge of the cup under the lining. This gives you some ability to conform the top of the cup to your body.

It's a bit of screwing around, but I have successfully made a gaping bra wearable using these methods. Good luck!!!

Wow, this is gorgeous! Hope you can make it fit.

BTW - just saw the pic. OOOOooooohhhhhhhhh!

It's a friggen' gorgeous costume, but I'm panicked because this gapping problem makes it borderline X-rated at this stage of the game ,m::

The padding is kind of on the bottom of the bra, not really concentrated toward the sides. Maybe I can futz with that. And the edges already seem to have some sort of wire in them.

Unfortunately, I asked for a small A-cup and got something closer to a C. The cups are very long and deep. Thinking it might be a cup size issue and this might be better suited on somebody with a little more "goodies" than me.

Hmmm. Keep the suggestions coming. I'm off to go hug my Bellas now ..l;,

Aw :( Sorry its not working out like you expected :(

Satin, can you post a photo of it on (without it being obscene) so we can be more helpful?

Asra's suggestions were all good and I would echo her suggestion of wire around the top edges of the cups if it doesn't already have some.

Sure thing, Shahla! Might take awhile to figure out how to get my photos from my iPhone to Bhuz - but stand by! ,r:;

Try moving the straps in/out? That has helped me in the past - or sew in a piece of elastic connecting the top/middle of the bra to a point at the strap - kind of helps keep the cup tighter to your skin. I've done this to one costume and then hid the elastic piece under some matching fabric and beading.

sometimes what is needed is a dart at the sides of the cups (the band) to get the cups to lay flatter to your chest at the top of the cup. Not enough tension in that area. The rib band may be good...put if your ribcage is narrow - it will gap there. Not a cup problem at all.

You can take out the middle bit between the cups (careful to secure beads on both parts afterwards) and then sew the cups closer together and make it a halter. Instead of just sewing the cups together at the bottom where they meet, you can angle them together and sew up a little higher. I've been able to make a couple D and large C bras fit me this way already.

I saw the cup measurements you posted in the swap meet. There's no way this is anything close to an A cup. I have full C's and it would fit me. Too bad the upper hip is too small for me or I'd consider taking it off your hands.

Let us try to help you first before you sell it. Maybe we can come up with something. You must be so dissapointed. Hopefully we can help you make it work.

are you doing wall-o-padding? and it gaps at the top? how exactly is it gaping. you can send me a pic so you don't have to post publicly. there's a technique to sewing the padding into the bra in specific shapes to prevent gaping. sometimes you need to build a 3/4 wall of padding, make a tacked down padding shelf, then a mini padded area to get the right shape.

Would adding a second strap from the middle of the tops of the cups help? I used this design on a costume I was worried that was going to leave an indecent gap on and it worked for me. I just made the regular straps split off at about the shoulder and connect to the cups in two spots. The straps connected as an x-back.

Wow, thanks for all the advice. I friggin' love Bhuz! This is one of the nicest cossies I've seen, so I really hope I can make it work

Ironically, I've been out buying goodies from my favorite Local Enabler all evening and haven't gotten around to snapping those pix. Hang tight and I'll post some photos!

From what it sounds like, a measurement of 8" diagonally def sounds like a C cup at min. Sorry it's not working out.

I'd say double pad - I have a Pharaonics that Audrena said was a #4 (C) and later found writing in it that stated it was a #5 (D), way too large for me. I had someone sew cups into the liner (felt that they were put in more straight than on sides) and it still didn't help (esp with my weight loss), so I bought another pair of cheaper cups and added it on top of the 1st cups and angled and tada CLEAVAGE!! of course at the moment they are just pinned in, I haven't had the time to put under the liner yet. Good luck.

It's hard to tell without seeing the pic, but I know of a dancer who actually puts in another bra under the costume bra. When she borrowed a costume from a dancer much more endowed than her she padded it with two bras!!! And it worked like a charm. Good luck, the costumes looks gorgeous, hope you make it work!

Originally Posted by sophie

It's hard to tell without seeing the pic, but I know of a dancer who actually puts in another bra under the costume bra.

I've done this, and it worked great. You couldn't tell it was a whole 'nuther bra on under.

I'd be hot about this. That's a lot of money you paid for a big name, reputable designer to screw up your costume that bad. That's a huge (pun not intended) mistake on their part that they ought to fix free of charge for you.

Your gauging interest post said the cups were 8 inches across? Wow, that is so not an A cup, Darbla is right, that is a mistake. And the bases of the cups can't be laying flat on the front of your small ribcage at 8 inches across, are they not wrapping around the sides of it? That would feed into the gapping problem.
From the picture, it looks like the cups are demi cups, meant to hammock just the bottoms of the breasts. I almost wonder if adding on to the top border of the bra, as if you were adding coverage, could help bring it closer to the chest wall. After bringing the cups together and tilting them. If the designer won't do anything to help you :( .

Maybe that Boob hammock that Samira Shuruk does?

I'm not sure why you can't return it. I mean they'd just have to replace the bra. Seems weird to me. Do they Turkish designers have no return policies?

OK, now that I've discovered the PhotoBucket app on my iPhone, here are some more detailed shots. Excuse the, umm, Saturday morning un-glam ,r:;

This is what happens when I lift my arms. Scary:



Hard to get a good head-on shot by myself, but this should give you an overall idea of the proportion on my bod:



The inside of the bra. Note lopsided padding:

Maybe I should see if I can return this. I know Bella's pretty good about returns, but we'll see if Legend can help me with this.

At this point, I'd almost rather sell it than wait for a new bra that may or may not work, or incur the expense of bringing it to a seamstress for extensive surgery. Hopefully there might be a simple fix. I'm kind of at a loss. We'll see what Bhuz says ,r:;

OMG Bella did the same with my blue custom order (the one in my avatar)! I said A-B cup and I got a good C.

I always insert padding underneath the lining, and since there isn't lining on yours I might recommend adding nude fabric on the whole cup area. My cups usually end up completely filled so EVERYTHING gets pushed up. Then I make it a halter so everything gets pushed in. Make sure the straps are tight (that's typical).

After all that, I still have a little gappage. In the past I've added double stick tape to keep my boobs up on their shelf, but I will be adding shelf lining to the top of the cup area instead. Another dancer in my area does this and it keeps her boobs right where she puts them :)

IF this doesn't work or if you don't want to fuss with it further, I would try to return. I know Bella makes smaller cups and I don't get why she does this sometimes...it looks like the cups might be too wide for your frame, in which case nothing will make them look right.

Yeah, I wanted to get some opinions on whether the cups might be too wide for my ribcage. They're definitely seeping into my armpit area, which is really not cool If this is the case, then I'm not even gonna bother trying to fix it.

Funny that you mention it, because my custom made Bella bra is more like a big B-cup than a small A. It fits, but it could definitely fit better. And I've seen B-C cup Bellas on Swap with smaller cup dimensions than what I got. That being said, I wonder if we should give designers the actual cup dimensions that we need instead of a cup size?

Not to be a PITA customer or anything, but when I say I need an A, I mean an actual A. Not a D-cup that can be padded to fit an A.

On a lighter note, one of my more busty friends suggested that we all send plaster casts of our boobs to designers so they get it right. Now THAT's an idea. LOOOOOOL ..l;,,r:;

Hey Satin,
I think the cups look too large in proportion to your body. I think its worth inquiring about a return or selling the costume. It just doesn't look natural on your frame. Sorry this happened! xox

Yeah, that's kind of what I thought and why I'm baffled in the first place! It just doesn't look right and I'm definitely stumped on how to fix it...

I'm gonna e-mail the photos to Serife and see if there's any possibility I can return the costume or get a new bra.

In the mean time, if somebody a little bigger than me wants to take this off my hands, I would be more than happy to pass it along to a new home!

Originally Posted by AngelicaDances

Hey Satin,
I think the cups look too large in proportion to your body. I think its worth inquiring about a return or selling the costume. It just doesn't look natural on your frame. Sorry this happened! xox

I agree. It is not just the cup size. It looks like you borrowed your (larger more mature) teacher's costume for a hafla.

LOOOOOL, yes, that is exactly what I was thinking.....c::

I just wrote Serife. Hopefully we can get this resolved somehow, or I can find it a good home.

On the flip side, it's also good to know that I'm not going crazy. I can get a little paranoid about finding the right fit, as I think everybody damn well should be! ..l;,