The Bra Fitter Diaries: The Unicorn Bra (What Your Bra Can’t Do)

I’m going to channel the Mad Hatter for a minute and give you a riddle. Forget ravens and writing desks – when is a bra like a unicorn? Here’s a hint:

Say you’re looking for a strapless bra. You have a checklist of features that make up your ideal: smooth cups, a plunging neckline, an uplifted shape, and a low back, with a relaxed fit in the band.

This sounds amazing, right? The perfect strapless bra! The only problem is that, like a majestic unicorn, this bra does not exist. I swear I’m not being a Negative Nancy here, it’s just that some of these requests contradict one another when it comes to bra construction and function. There are some things a bra can’t do.

Sorry, Unicorn. You’re just a beautiful dream.

Like I said in our bra wardrobe blog, no bra will fulfill your every need. This isn’t a big deal most of the time, since we can wear different bras for different events and activities. But when you have a really specific ideal in mind, it’s useful to know what a bra is realistically capable of. I’ll use our unicorn list above as an example:

First things first: a loose band is just not going to work on any strapless bra. Even on a regular bra, the band needs to be fairly snug to support your boobs properly. When you take away the straps, the band support becomes even more important. A strapless bra is always going to need a snugger band.

A smooth bra with molded cups looks great under clothing – the right one can be practically invisible. There’s a trade-off though, and it’s in the shape. A molded bra isn’t able to shape and lift as well as a seamed bra, especially for fuller-busted folks. Seams give bra cups more depth and help to direct breast tissue up and in.

A plunge bra is great for low necklines, because the cups don’t come up very high and the gore (the centre part of the bra) is pretty short. This is really handy for lots of looks! The issue that can pop up here is support. Most of your bra’s support come from the band, but the straps and gore do about 20% of the work. So if you take away the straps and shrink the gore, you’re not going to get fantastic support or lift.

The Evie strapless by Panache uses seaming and a high gore to give beautiful shape and lift.

Bringing the band down lower, rather than straight across and parallel to the floor, means that you’re getting less support and (without straps) ultimately bringing the cups lower too. Which means that a low back and a super cleavagey, uplifted shape don’t exist in the same bra. If you need both of those features, look for a bustier instead. A bustier can get away with a low back by extending to the waist or hips for extra support.

We always want our clients to leave feeling happy and confident in the bra they’ve chosen. Understanding what to expect from a bra goes a long way towards making this happen. If you’re having a hard time finding a bra that does what you want, talk to your fitter. Together, you can determine which features are most important to you, and your fitter can find you the best option. And if this post got you down, tune in next week when I’ll explain all of the wonderful things a bra CAN do!