The Anatomy of the Bra

The most obvious role of the cups is to contain and support the breasts. To do this, the cups must harness the breast tissue into one place and direct it all where we want it to go — forward and up, defying gravity. It is a truly different experience wearing a sewn cup vs a foam cup, and wearing a sewn cup fitted to your exact dimensions is a particularly luxurious experience. The band refers to the part of the bra that wraps around your body.

It may be news to you that the band, not the straps, is primarily responsible for supporting the cups.

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Unlikely as it sounds, consider this: The wires take the pressure of the breasts in the cups and spread it out over their entire length and their surroundings, primarily into the band. If the band is insufficiently wide for your size e. You may wonder about bras without underwires. Admittedly, it is possible to get some breast support from a bra that does not have underwires, but not nearly as much as wired bras, and the band must be quite wide in order to do so. The other wire exceptions are women who are nursing or who just had surgery to the area. The bridge of the bra is the center front area between the cups.

The bridge provides separation of the breasts, putting the breasts in proper position to ease into the cups. If the bridge does not match the spacing between your breasts, the bra will not sit flat against your body.

Get to Know Bra Anatomy

Frame The frame is the cup holder of the bra. Surprisingly, frames are actually optional! For frameless bras, the cups are joined directly to the band and to the bridge. In a full-frame bra, the band is the back piece. It is made from stretchy material and attached to the side seam of the frame. This is what the band looks like in my Harriet bra:.

The Anatomy Of A Bra

A band and its frame can be narrow as it is in the above photo, or can be lengthened downward to create a longline bra, as in my Watson pattern. The band does a huge job in keeping the cups from sagging downward and if the cups fit properly keeps the wires from creeping up on your breast tissue. The looser a band fits, the less force it has in counteracting the weight of the breasts.

In this style of construction, a separate bridge piece joins the cups and a band piece is sewn directly to the cups.

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In some patterns the band may be two pieces: In other patterns the band is one piece and cut from stretch material, as in my white bra above. This way of doing it is more common in ready-to-wear. There is a third style of bra which is a bit of a unicorn combination between the two styles I have discussed—a full-frame bra but sewn much like the frameless bra, with the wires seam folding into the cup, instead of onto the frame.

The main job of straps is to keep cups from falling down and arrange the top of the cup into position. However, they can provide help with keeping the cups and breasts in place. Straps can be made from all elastic, all fabric, or a bit of both. Fabric straps are, of course, stronger and last longer, but elastic straps are more comfortable, since they move with your body.

Adjustable straps allow a strap to be tightened over time as the elastic wears out and it will! Rings and sliders are the important component that create adjustable straps. In some bras, the rings are also used to attach the strap to an extension in the front or back of the bra. Now at last we come to underwires. Underwires are usually metal and are inserted into a soft casing sewn on top of the cup seams.

Love them or hate them, wires have an enormous impact on lift, support and the shape of a cup itself.

The Anatomy Of A Bra | Zivame

This is simply because they are the strongest material in the bra! Fabric itself can do some work of shaping but underwires counteract the weight of breasts in a way fabric cannot do. When worn, a wire naturally splays or springs away from the arm with the force of the of the band.

The lighter the wire, the more it will spring and the less it will hold its shape, and wires for full busts tend to be stronger to counteract this weight. Of course, wireless bras have their place but they have much less potential to shape breasts or keep them in place.

Wires along with a firm band help keep the bridge flat against the chest, which separates the breasts. To finish off a bra, you need a hook and eye.

You can buy these either by the piece or as a large roll of tape that may be custom cut to size I prefer the former as it is much neater looking. Hook and eye pieces have from one up to 5 rows of hooks, but typically have only 3 columns. A bra should fit well and firmly on the loosest hook column; the tighter hooks allow you to tighten the bra as the elastics and fabric stretch with wear and age. Her videos are still on YouTube. Skip to content The first time you dip your toes into making a bra, the language of bra-making can be overwhelming.