I dyed the Portia/Princess hybrid

Original post can be found here.

I used Rit Dye in the purple color. As the water was boiling, I read the side of the bottle that says not to use it on polyester fabrics. I already had my mind set, so I was going to do it anyway. But I had a feeling that it was going to dye, because I the dyed a white dress with pink Rit Dye, and the back of it that had mesh, didn’t dye. So I crossed my fingers. I probably used more dye than I needed to, but I wanted to make sure that the bra came out dark. I really wanted to dye it brown, but I forgot to go to the dye section when I was there yesterday.

On to the pictures:

In the above picture it looks blackish, but it’s not. It’s very purple.

I believe the polyester warning on the Rit dye bottle was for the stitching, in my dress the stitching stayed the original color. And as you can see the thread is still white, as is the floral design and the lacing. Well it actually got tinted somewhat.

I don’t know if this occurred because I used hot water & dye on the bra, but the lacing is comIng undone form one area on both of the cups. Oddly enough, on both cups it’s on the right side (when looking at it).

Inner part of the cup

Band

The floral design

Underneath the floral design

The fit:

I don’t know if it was the dye, or it was the scorching hot water, but the bra shrunk. From my experience being a denim addict, I know that really hot water (too hot to touch) can shrink jeans.

so yeah, it shrunk, a good amount. Before I needed to alter the bra, now I don’t think there’s enough room to alter it. It shrunk enough that now it fits. The band, however feels really tight. I ordered some new extenders, so I’ll probably wait to wear this until those come in. Enough blabbering.

Right side

Left side

No gapping.

A little space in the upper panel on smaller breast.

Side view

I initially was going to make this a two part post, with the dye being one post, and the actual alteration another post, but I’m not going to alter it now.

What do you think?

Freya Ignite 28e

Color: yellow

About the bra:

This is a bra I got as a swap via braswap. I put the 28dd up for sale, but stated I really preferred an exchange for the same bra in a 28e. I didn’t think someone would have the 28e and need a 28dd, but I got lucky. This bra wasn’t new, but looks like it is.

Every time I’ve seen this bra on a website, I’ve always looked at it as being a yellow bra with black clusters on it.

 But in actuality, there are colors other than black

There are a few shades of pink, a blue, and a pale greenish blue color

There’s a black bow at the top of the gore.

There is also a black bow where the cup meets the straps.

The beautiful top portion

The straps

There is some sort of stitching detail throughout the bra.

I just want to mention, that while this bra is a bright yellow, my pictures make it look brighter than it actually is. The picture of the bow by the straps, is the most accurate in color, since I didn’t have the flash on. The fabric has four way stretch, but it’s not overly stretchy

The review:

I am so happy I was able to swap my too small 28DD, for the 28E. This bra fits perfectly. If my breasts grow, it will be too small. But that’s probably not going to be an issue because my breasts don’t change shape/size.

Side view

There’s not any space (woohoo!)

With a cami on

Freya Arabella 28e

Color: black

About the bra:

This bra is completely sheer. It is also very sexy. I can’t even describe it, I have to just show pictures.

There’s a rather long bow at the gore.

The cute design at the top of the cup

a close up

The cup is completely sheer, there’s no double layer on the bottom part of the cups.

There is a pink small bow where the cups meet the straps

The design on the straps

I really love that the pink on this bra is a very light pink.

The review:

This bra… It fits but it doesn’t. I’m not really sure, lol. When initially swooped and scooped, there was still a little bit of room on my smaller breast, where the upper sheer part was, but not on the entire part. But when I scooped in my ‘underarm fat’, it made the bra fit, but kind of cut the tissue in the middle of my chest.

#1

Bigger breast

Smaller breast

Bigger breast

Smaller breast

When I lean over there’s gapping (I’m only mentioning this because it annoys me).

With a cami on

From the side

#2

Side view

A few things about this bra. The band is tight! I’ve read that freya bands are loose-looser than Cleo’s, but this band is almost uncomfortable. And the gore is slightly irritating me. I think it’s because the band is too tight, and the gore is higher than what I’d like. Also, when I do the second S&S, it makes the sides of the cup higher than normal, so it’s slightly irritating.

When I first got on bratabase and asked for a fit check Arabella was one of the freya bras recommended for me, as well as Siren and Oh la la. I found this on eBay for a low price. So I’m glad I was able to get it.

Curvy Kate “alterations”

I really tried to make this bra fit. I really did. But nothing worked. 😩😩

This post is mostly going to be pictures, and it’s going to be long. You can see the original thread here.

Attempt #1. I just randomly folded fabric over, and pinned it into place. Looked “okay” from the front, but there was still a lot of space at the top.

Attempt #2

Attempt #3. I tried to take out the top portion, by folding it under, hoping that it would take out some of the top openness… But it was still too open at the top.

Attempt #4. I took out considerably less than in attempt 1 & 2. It was way too open at the top.

Attempt #5. I took in the bottom, but it started from the middle, instead of by the gore. Doing so, oddly made the bra very shallow at the bottom. This wasn’t the smartest idea, because it also left a lot of space between the top of the gore, and the top of the cup closest to the gore, and also at the back of the cup.

Attempt #6. This was just a mess. I gathered some fabric, and pinned it in place.

This probably could have turned out better if the fabric of the bra wasn’t as thick as it was. And f the cup wasn’t so big.

I really don’t think there’s a way that I can successfully alter the cups without getting scissors involved and breaking out the sewing machine. I’m not going to do that. 😔

Cleo Jude 28e

Color: black

About the Bra:

This is a molded contour cup tshirt bra. There is lightly lined, enough to cover nipples, but not overly thick like a push up bra. Most of the bra is black, except for the bright pink bow on the front, the ribbon along the cups, the straps, and the closure.

The review:

I decided to keep this bra, since it wasn’t getting any attention on bratabase. A lot of people say this bra doesn’t fit most women, and it seems to be $15 on amazon quit often, so I’d have to lose money in trader to sell it. And even with a lower price, I couldn’t be guaranteed to sell it, since it’s not the best fitting bra.

The first time I wore this, I wore it two days in a row. I don’t even remember why. So this is a review made after the bra was worn.

So like 90% of the rest of the people that have tried this bra on, it doesn’t fit me. I get a ridiculous amount of cleavage after I S&S.

It is very closed on top, so it isn’t a good fit for FOT shapes, or probably shallow shapes either. I am FOB/even, and you can see it’s cutting into my tissue as well. I believe this is why it doesn’t fit that many women. It’s too closed on top.

The gore tacks

It’s too shallow at the bottom, so I have space between my breast and the wire.

The side of the cups come up kind of high. High enough that it bothered me every so often (but not too much)

I will admit, this bra is actually very comfortable on. One of the days I wore it, I literally forgot I was wearing a bra. I walked into my bedroom and thought, ‘I should probably put a bra on’ then I looked in the mirror and remembered I was wearing one. It was that comfortable.  Having said that, I wouldn’t buy another one. These days I prefer to wear soft bras.

Cleo Meg 28e

Click here to see the original post about this bra.

Color: dark blue with red mesh, and blue and white

The bra:

There is only one bow in this bra, and it had a small bird ornament hanging from it

**pics of the bra after it was thoroughly washed**

The review:

There is some wrinkling on the band

As well as throughout the cups

At the top

The bottom

Even though there is some space/wrinkling, I do consider this to be a bra that fits.

The gore tacks

I initially thought the wires were a little wide, so I took pictures after I took the bra off to see.

As you can see the gore does sit on my breast tissue somewhat, but all my bras do.  I think I need a gore where one wire sits on top of the other.

My breasts no longer look like this. I have dark marks from stabby gores. 😓

Pics when I wore the bra to work.

Beautiful. 😍

 

1 month later

Overall there seems to be less wrinkling/more filing out the cup.

There is still some wrinkling on the bottom, but it looks like there’s not as much as before

Another day when I wore this to work. It was undetectable under my shirt.

 

At some point since I joined bratabase/abrathatfits my measurements changed slightly. So the pictures could be before and after.

I’ve worn this bra a handful of times since getting it off poshmark. I don’t recall having any complaints with the wires. The only time the wires bothered me was when I wore a few uncomfortable bras consecutive days for like a week, then when I got to this bra, the gore bothered me after a few hours.

*The first set of pics was taken 09/15/15, the second set 10/15/15

Curvy Kate Eden 28e

Color: Rose print

About the Bra: When I firstt saw this, I said to myself, I NEED to have this. The print on it is so beautiful. Pink is my favorite color. I love roses. So therefore this bra was perfection.

The bra consists of magenta flowers, light pink flowers, and green leaves. The bra has a sheen to it.

W/o flash

W/ flash

There is a green and magenta bow at the gore.

There is a cute little scalloped design at the top of the cups.

W/ flash

W/o flash

There is also a cute little green & magenta bow where the cup meets the straps.

The upper portion of the straps has the floral design

The lower half of the straps is just magenta. This bra isn’t fully adjustable.

 

The wings and the band are magenta.

The review:

I got this from brastop thinking that at worse, this bra would be one cup big, which isn’t an issue, because it would be an easy fix. Boy was I wrong. This bra isn’t 1 cup too big, it’s more like 2, and it’s not an easy fix.

Before I get to the review I just want to say something.

I’ve mentioned being a denimaholic. I have the ability to look at a pair of jeans/pants and KNOW without even trying them on whether or not they will fit me. And 99% of the time I am correct. I actually worked at 2 denim stores, so I was blue to get it down to a T. I also had the ability to look at someone and know what size they would be in a pair of jeans- men and women. After leaving both denim stores, I’ve lost that ability (for other people). But that ability for myself, has stemmed into pretty much all forms of clothing-shirts dresses panties, and now bras. So immediately after taking this bra out of the package, I KNEW it was going to be too big. And not a little big, but very big. Like wearing my orders sister’s bra, big. 😟

When I first put the bra on without swooping and scooping, I knew there was no fixing this.

Swooping and scooping didn’t really change the appearance.

Theres a good amount of space between the top of the cup, and my breast.

A lot of space.

Oddly enough there was more space on my bigger breast.

So much space, in fact, that I could fit my whole fist in the space!

😟

I’d say it looks okay from the side, if my breasts were that big.

But they’re not. I’m pulling the fabric. And it actually looks nice– if only I could alter it to look this way.

Another issue with this bra, aside from the cups running so big, is that the side of the bra cuts into my underarms because it’s so high. It’s not the wire that’s high, it’s just the fabric. If the bra actually fit, and I could wear it, this would irritate my skin.

Before I forget, the band on this is very firm.

Curvy Kate bras are supposed to be really good for FOT women. Obviously I’m not FOT, so I can’t really comment on that. But I do feel as though for this particular bra to fit, a woman would almost have to have really round breasts. Like this:

I found this picture online. It is a woman that has just gotten implants. I’m sure this is what people mean when they say ‘cakes on a plate’.

I really wish this bra fit me because it is so beautiful.

Curvy Kate Portia/Princess 28e

Okay. If you’re confused about the title, it’s because this bra is labeled as ‘Portia’, but it’s actually Princess.

As per the CK website

• Princess: soft raised polka dot & floral embroidery with a ribbon slot. Rounded shape.
• Portia: criss cross detailing, ribbon slot & flirty bows.

Once you start looking at the pictures below, you will see that this is not a Portia, as labeled, but Princess. I don’t know of the cut is different or not.

Color: white

The bra: this was sold to me as a used bra, so it’s not as white as it once was– fine with me because I’m going to dye it.

the gore with the bow.

It has the characteristic fuzzy polka dot pattern, floral embroidery and ribbon slot.

Some discoloration on the polka dots

The straps have the same floral embroidery as the top of the cup.

The review: this is a 28e, and I knew there was a chance this bra would be too big or wouldn’t fit. I have a pink CK Princess bra in a sister size (30dd) and it’s too big.

You can see somewhat from the front that it’s too big.

And from an angle

 

But there is some space at the top on my smaller breast.

There’s a good amount of space so the top of the bra, which is why I’m going to alter it later.

The gore tacks, but it is kind of pressing into my sternum.

But for some reason there’s an area at the bottom of the bra on BOTH cups where the wire doesn’t touch my skin. It is where two seams meet, and around the area where the band connects with the wire. No matter how much scooping I do, it’s there. I got this bra used, so it is possible the previous owner(s) bent the wires.

Another issue I have is that on my smaller side, the cup kind of cuts my underarm. Now I’m one of those people that loves side boob to be completely covered, but this is a little too high for me. (Which is a first)

 

The bra does however, look very nice in the profile.

 

This is going to be a keeper. Mainly because I want to dye it and alter it. Plus I got it very cheaply.

Update: I decided to compare the wires. I’m pretty sure these were bent to give some sort of shape for the previous wearer.

The wires of the bra side by side.

When I push in the wires closest to the band. You can see the gore section doesn’t touch.

When I push the wires closest to the gore together.

I dyed the bra purple.

Curvy Kate Princess/Portia + bra extender

So I finally got my bra extenders in the mail. It took almost a month, which is one of time reasons I hate doing intl orders/shipping. I’m impatient, I want my stuff now.

Anyway, I decided to try it out on my CK Portia/Princess hybrid bra, since that was the one I felt was the tightest.

I don’t know if you can see in the picture, but the extender is actually a little wider than the band, however, the actual hook & eyes are at the same spot, so it closes with no issue. It looks funny, not no one is going to see my bra but me.

I put it on the first/tightest setting. The band feels a lot better. Not as tight as before. The cups however, feel looser. There’s space in the cups now.

**compared to before

The gore was pushing in slightly.

The biggest issue I had was that the sides of the cups were rubbing on my skin and irritating me because they were so high.

Hopefully I won’t have to wear the extender with this bra for long, as I liked the fit without it.

Curvy Kate Dreamcatcher 28E

Color: Yellow

The bra:

There is a blue bow at the top of the gore

There is also a blue bow where the cups and the straps meet

Dreamcatcher design goes all the way around the cups

But does not extend to the band.

The strap is not too thin and not too wide

The fit:

Here you can see the space in the cup

The sides of the cup come up too high, and it rubs

You can also see some wrinkling in the cup

With a thin cami on

The review: I returned this bra the next day after I got it. As you can see in most of the fit pictures, the cups were too big. There was a lot of room in the top of the cups. I did want to try a size down, but it wasn’t available when I bought this.

On my bigger side, my nipple is close to the apex— my nipple is a little more forward than the apex of the bra (on both breasts), but on the bigger breast, my nipple is higher up, and on my smaller breast my nipple is a little lower than the apex.

I bought this bra back last fall, and I would like to try it on again, just to see how it would fit now. (I don’t think my breasts have gotten bigger, but my measurements have changed a little)