Thread: Mystery of the Concave bra cup?

I'm used to costumes that I make for myself - and the bras fit perfectly.

But... I now own a few second hand, "professionally constructed" slightly used bedlah and they have the rigid hard cup as the base under the fabric & sequins and trim. They can easily be forced back out into the correct rounded shape but ... they seem to default to cup with inverted or depressed areas after a few minutes. This seems to happen especially in the lower part of the cup, but sometimes in both the top and bottom of the cup. Any idea what is going on here?

I tried heating the cup (with a hairdryer) and binding it around an appropriate shape to hopefully reform it but - after I remove it from the styrofoam balls it eventually goes back to it's depressed state. It's not gravity as I've tried storing the bra with the cups either direction.

This isn't a matter of stuffing or filling the bra - as that seems to make no difference. And one of these is already an exact fit. I -need- that space. This is happening in all 3 of my hard cup bras. The 4th... was such a bad fit that I stripped it and remade it onto my own bra form - Having taken apart two of them I know what the innards look like.

So.... is this just something particular to this bra constuction style? poor storage? age of costume?

I'd appreciate any suggestions or ideas for a solution.

I think you were on the right track with the blowdryer...
I had a similar issue with some crinkling cups (from improper storage) and was able to fix it by using a hot iron (regular clothes iron) and working from the inside of the bra cup to do some re-shaping... being aware of the beading/sequins on the otherside. You've gotta finesse it a little bit
Hope that helps!!

I've had success steaming the cups. Use either a clothes steamer or a kettle then shape the cup as you wish. Kind of like shaping a baseball mitt

One reason is that the concave effect sometimes happens is when someone has stretched the upper fabric too taut across the hard bras. The bra can take the pressure for a while, but will eventually collapse.
So, note to those refurbishing or making their own bras - don't stretch the fabric too tight!!

thanks for the tips. I will try reshaping with heat & steam & see if it improves.

Wet, suspend so the cups can be filled, place appropriate sized fruit in each cup, allow to dry.

{{{HUGS}}}

I sewed boning in deformed cups, it's a bit of work , you have to sew it thru the whole cup. But it keeps the cups in form. You also can reshape them this way.