Let’s talk about plus size belly dance bra fitting today 🙂
Last year I asked in Sparkly Belly’s Facebook group:
“Calling all plus size dancers…. Do you have any costuming tips?”
Even if you’re not exactly “plus size”, but if your cup size is over D, you probably encounter a lot of challenges with belly dance bra fitting.
As you can see, there were over 90 comments, and this thread became one of the best threads in the group, full of super useful information!
I want to share each one of the comments here, but to make the post concise, in today’s post, I’ll share with you some of the really good bra tips shared by the members!
Let’s get started!
Plus Size Belly Dance Bra Fitting Tips shared by Sparkly Belly community!
TIP #1. Shrinking cups? Reinforce them!
The larger your bra cups are, the weaker they are…. Which can cause the cups to shrink as you cover them with fabric and decorate them 🙁
“I used a fabric stiffener for hardening the bra cups…great results”
Clara
“[R]einforce those cups to the hilt!!!!!”
Deb
“I’ve used buckram inside my bra (makes covering and beading easier and you always line the inside anyway), i use garden wire for the top of the cups”
Alyna
If you’re not a fan of hard bra cups, but struggling with shrinking cups, try adding a piece of foam sheet on the inside of the bra cups like this…
(screenshot from my Dina Bra from Scratch premium course)
…and/or stitching on wire along the edge. These will make your bra sturdier and prevent shrinkage 🙂
(screenshot from my Dina Bra from Scratch premium course)
TIP #2. The “Side Boob” Solution
What to do when you’ve got bumps happening from the sides of the bra cups!?
“Sideboob shields! Adding extra fabric to the sides of cups as well as the top helps the top fit more securely. “
Allison
“I build up the sides of the bra a little higher to make sure to avoid the “side boob” issue.”
Carol
Great ideas! Plus, if you’re not sure how to build shields into the cups, and an easy solution is to add a strap of fabric like this:
Or, add a loose sleeve from your shoulder strap like this:
TIP #3. Make side straps WIDE.
“[I] always make wider side back straps to give me that support. to add a tiny bit of elastic movement i sew two bits of wide elastic together (zig zag stitch) then cover with matching fabric, THEN sew that to the back of the bra to attach the stud fastening to. this give it support, strength and a bit of stretch for movement.”
Alyna
“side straps that are wide enough to balance out cup size so your bra doesn’t look so fragile”
Kelli
And Kelli suggests an even more advanced trick:
“One other thing I forgot about bras! I add a piece of wide elastic to each of the side straps, on the inside and held in place with ribbon belt loops (for lack of a better description). The elastic straps have their own hooks or snaps that hook at the center back. This makes me feel more secure in my bras, because essentially the elastic cinches the bra on, and the outer (decorative) straps “float” over top of the elastic so they don’t have to cinch in so tight (and create back-muffin).”
Kelli
I was blown away by this idea! By creating 2 layers of straps, you can make the straps extra sturdy AND avoid bumps!
Look at how beautiful she looks here!
TIP #4. CRISS-CROSS shoulder straps!
And here’s another great tip shared by Kelli:
“[A]void halters if busty because they can really hurt your neck, unless you use additional straps (see photo for my favorite configuration, strap design setup by Saqra Raybuck)…consider cross straps if not using the design above because straight over the shoulder straps are less supportive”
Kelli
As you can see in the above photo, Kelli has added vertical straps to the halter straps, which removes pressure around the neck area. But you can choose between halterneck and criss cross, go for the 2nd option like these ladies say:
“[C]ross back corset style lacing like you see on some ats style tops really helps with support, even if it’s a cab styled costume.”
Allison
“I am a plus size dancer and when I made my bra/belt set I used cross back straps (cut the regular ones off)”
Deb
Criss-cross style shoulder straps tend to lift and bring your breasts together, making them look extra good! 🙂 (But if you have more than enough volume, play with the angle of the shoulder straps.)
TIP #5. Avoid this type of FRINGE!
I made this mistake when I was a beginner dancer, wanting to hide my belly. I picked a bra with long fringe across the bra cups. The result – my torso looked way shorter!
“[D]on’t try and hide your belly with a wide strip of fringing or similar – it just draws attention to your belly. A gorgeous bra and belt with space between then will draw the eye to those and help you look in proportion.”
Sara
“…if you use fringe on your bra, try having a narrow strip of long fringe just along the bottom of the centre gore. It draws the eye to the centre of your body and makes a curvy hourglass look even more amazing. When I do this I often double or triple layer the fringe so it looks like a single heavy tassel.
…I know a lot of dancers prefer belly coverage. I say avoid the wall of fringe hanging off your bra though. Whether you are hourglass curvy or belly curvy. Hourglass curvy, the fringe will take away that shape and make you lot straight and wider than you are. Belly curvy that wall will sit on your belly or split to either side of it creating an awkward waterfall puddle of fringe on either side of you, also making you look wider than you actually are.”
Jennifer
To sum up,
I think it makes big differences even in the above illustration!
Honestly, there were SO MANY good tips in the thread, but I just wanted to select a few so they are digestible! 😀
If you want to read all comments, the thread is here (Join the group first to see all the good stuff 🙂 ) https://www.facebook.com/groups/sparklybelly/permalink/2279438375632880/
Also, in case you want to have these tips handy, I’ve created a FREE cheatsheet for you to download. Click here to get the cheatsheet!
Which tips did you find helpful? Share them and this post with your dancer friends! They’ll appreciate it!
As Ann-Marie says in the thread, “learning how to sew and make your own costumes really helps as getting a good fit makes you look slimmer” 🙂
I completely agree with Ann-Marie!!!
So next week, let’s talk about making a well-fitting BELT no matter what size! This content will be exclusive to my newsletter subscribers, so sign up below if you haven’t already:
Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling 😉
P.S. Pin this image for your future reference!
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