Thread: Using Victoria's Secret Miraculous Bra Cups?

Could you use these bra cups for a costume?
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They are heavily padded with fairly firm foam-type padding, the 32AA I would need looks almost completely filled up inside. Is the padding going to compress and stretch as I sew through it? TIA!

Yes, I suppose you could, but it's an awfully expensive bra to use for costuming. You can find something similar in shape/padding for far less money at Walmart or Target.

I have found that when sewing through a heavily padded bra, you will compress the padding a little. Be careful to pull your thread snug but not tight and be prepared to add more padding when you're finished.

I've never used one of those specifically, but as far as thick padding goes, I've had fairly good results by making a knot every time I've gone through the padding (on the inside of the cup). You have to make sure you knot the thread in exactly the right place, though, so the bit of thread going through the padding is neither too long nor too short, or you will end up with saggy beading or distorted padding.

Less of a hassle if you have a lot of individual beads: attach your interfacing to your cover and then bead the cover before you attach it to the bra, then stitch it in place here and there (around heavy beads/fringe if either is present) so it doesn't move about as you dance. The catch is that you need to be sure that the interfacing and cover fit perfectly before you start beading, since you can't tweak the cloth all that much when you go to attach it.

I have thought about it- but they are too damn expensive for tear apart- I usually get my bra's on clearance or the ones out of the back of the drawer when I realize a. I need a new costume bra and b. that one hasn't been used in the regular rotation for a while.

That means its time to be sacrified to the costume gods. :D

Make sure you buy 1-2 cups sizes up from what you normally wear, if you will be covering/sewing, as the cups shrink when sewn. Even more so with the pre-padded types. Generally I recommend not using pre-padded bras for costuming because each stitch through the cup will make a slight dimple. IME its best to build the bra, then pad as desired. Discount stores have tons of great bras at cut-up-able prices.

I always use vicky's bras for my costumes. Vicky's are my brand of choice. (I find most standard belly dance costume designers don't provide very good support) I always shop during their semi anual (going on now actually) and get bras half off, then I wear them to death, and when the straps die and the bra looses it's elasticity, I recycle it into a belly dance bra. the cups are still good and you have to replace the straps anyway.

For one with that much padding, I'd just sew on the outer section of the bra and avoid going through the padding completely. also,if you use appliques you won't need to sew as much

I wear the miraculous bra and love it but would not recommend it for costuming. I do however use my other overused VS bras for my own costumes. For anyone else and for when I don't have an old bra to use, I just get cheapos from target or walmart... they work pretty well and are sturdy and you don't have to spend a fortune or mess around with padding.