No this is not some clever ambiguous title.
I am infact talking about boobs…..because lets face it folks, as far as W-day goes it’s not just what dress that matters it’s how well that dress FITS YOU.
The first thing I noticed when I booked my first appointment with Quello in Kenilworth ( which would eventually become the boutique of the “one”)…was the abundance of “thank you” cards from ecstatic brides.
Many of said brides also sent pictures of themselves in their gowns on their Big Day, all had completely different shapes and heights and there were many style of dress between them.
And do you know what? They all fitted like a glove.
Every single last one.
I don’t know about you but I have heard ( and witnessed) some absolute horror stories where frankly I could have wept for these gorgeous lovely brides….
1) An amazing silky fishtail that was ignored because a huge cleavage spillage ( I’m talking nips and everything here people) was constantly taking centre stage.
2) A huge satin extravaganza where the corset was so tight not only could the poor love not breathe but her 34 D’s were made to look like an odd shaped shelf.
3) And finally a frothy cinderella dream where the corset was so loose there was absolutely zero support and not only did it look well…..too big……but her chicken fillets were also on show for most of the day.
No Really.
They were.
In all the photo’s and everything.
You see it doesn’t matter how darn beautiful your gown is, if it doesn’t flatter your curves and in particular the bust area it’s going to feel uncomfortable all day.
And who wants to feel uncomfortable on what will be one of the biggest days of your life?
Make sure whoever is responsible for your alterations that they fit it to PERFECTION. Don’t take any boll*x about them being too busy or you being able to“slim into it”. This is your big moment ladies, the most hotter than hot you are ever likely to feel so make the most of it and MAKE IT FIT.
I was the biggest Bridezilla nightmare when it came to achieving the perfect cleavage on W-day. I wanted enough to be feminine and sexy but not so much I looked like I may as well have donned a skimpy white bikini and got wed a la Pamela Anderson.
And not once did the girls at Quello moan, or tell me I couldn’t have what I wanted. To the point where they ended up cutting up my beloved La Senza nude bra and sewing it INTO the actual dress so I could achieve the look I was after.
( Erm which was me in my beloved La Senza bra in a dress where you were not supposed to actually wear a bra)
No mean feat.
And as a little extra bit of asset enhancement here are the products that the RMW Team rate:
( oh except Adam obviously 
)
From left:
Clarins Bust Lifting Gel – not sure how it works but it does and it smells DIVINE.
Soap and Glory Glowtion – for an all over shimmer to subtly highlight your décolleté
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish – In a variety of pearly shades to add shading and contour in all the right places.
Unsurprisingly Mr Contra and Mr O’Shea were most interested when we announced we were writing this post…..
Men eh?
Please tell us all of your asset enhancing tricks and any fabulous bra’s that we should be investing in!
Big ‘D’ Love
Charlotte xxx
For all ladies with anything over a D cup, search for your perfect strapless silhouette no more! The Fantasie Smoothing Strapless bra is the first strapless I’ve found in years of searching which KEEPS THEM UP. ALL DAY. IN THE RIGHT POSITION. And you don’t even need to hike it up. It’s a miracle. Cups are a little high, and it’s a little wide around, but what the hell, at least you avoid the dreaded four-boobage.
http://www.figleaves.com/uk/product.asp?product=Fantasie-Smoothing-strapless-bra&product_id=FE-4530&size=&colour=Nude
Great Tip Anna!
xoxo
Hi girls,
I’m a 32E and avoided ANY strapless tops until my fiances mum suggested I go to Rigby and Peller. I used to be a complete green-eyed monster when I saw everyone running round in beautiful strapless evening dresses, summer tops etc, and used to really get me down when I couldn’t wear the same. I just felt completely frumpy and un-glamorous in comparison.
Anyway, they measured me (a lovely experience, you get to wear the most beautiful silk gown!) and found me a couple of bras.
One is shaped and is the one I’m saving and using for my wedding day
Think that might be a Fantasie bra too Anna.
The other is completely non-padded and although looks flimsy does the most amazing job of keeping me look natural whilst holding everything in place- it’s wonderful! I can move around without feeling restricted, I love it. It’s by a brand called “Prima Donna 1865″
It’s best getting them fitted rather than picking your usual size though (my strapless bras are a 30F although I’d never fit in that size usually!)
Sorry for the long post, but finding these bras helped me so much, so whenever anyone mentions bras I have a little rave!
x x x
I have to say – this is a post of great interest to me – going from a 32J to a 32FF in one year!!
I have a few comments, that I hope will prove helpful to others…
1) You DO NOT have to wear a bra with a wedding dress. FACT! In my experience of trying 50 plus dresses, buying and selling one beautiful benjamin roberts dress and then buying my beloved and alfred angelo 2020…. YOU DO NOT NEED TO WEAR A BRA WITH A WEDDING DRESS. In many cases, found that either a bra squashed the boobs down, pushed the girls too high or downright flatted my chest! I was told that the boning in a dress can fight against the cut of the bra or worse the boning in a corset/basque! I know it’s beautiful, but if it doesn’t fit with the dress, then simply – it doesn’t fit!
2) Tit Tape
Yes, really…’tit tape’. I think the more modest call it body tape or something, but for me this is the only solution that works with my dress. Stick it on the boobs, on the front, side, wherever. Not so glamorous, but it works for me – remember 32FF!!! : )P It means that don’t get that unsightly ‘bride wriggling bra up’ moment captured on camera. It also means that you wont be walking round with your bridesmaid ‘fussing’ over your bra showing – I hate being ‘fixed’! lol!
5) Fantasie Smoothing Strapless bra – it’s fantastic. I wear this on a regular basis.
6) Masquerade Hestia Basque – really great hold and fit! I’ll be wearing this when I change into my fabulous evening outfit!!!
phew…I’m done! : )
3) If you do choose to wear a bra – great! All the more support right?! Jusk make sure the back of the bra doesn’t come up higher than the dress. I bought a gorgeous basque, but the cut on the back of my dress is a little lower than we realised…so not ideal!
4) That clarins bust gel stuff – didn’t work for me. Sorry! I used it religiously for 4 months…nothing… they’re still as perfect as they were before! hehehehe
5)
Melvina, I totally agree with you on not having to wear a bra with the wedding dress. I’m a 36E and right up until my wedding morning I just assumed I’d be wearing a bra, and the fact that I had a bit of underarm cleavage (nice) was just something I’d have to live with and hide with clever posing. And then in the hairdressers I had a total brainwave and shed the damn thing and I tell you – the corsetry inside wedding dresses is GENIUS. More than enough to hold it all in place! And my boobs were, for once, not the star of the show.
Sometimes I wish I had these problems!! Even if I had a slight cleavage i’d be happy! Sadly, I was not blessed with this!
However, I have a few methods up my sleeve that I will be trying out and testing nearer the time!!
Sarah do share. My sister is exact opposite of me, she’s looking for ways to look a bit fuller in the bust area, without having the obvious outline of ‘padding’! ; )
I really should proof-read before clicking ‘submit comment’! : )
Wow, hot topic!
For the small (but perfectly formed) ladies reading…
I lost a bit of weight pre-wedding and consequently went from a 32D to a 32C (to be honest more of a B after the last week of worrying)and my dress was corseted, with a low back. Big problem. Fortunately, being realatively straight across the front there was never going to be a cleavage issue, but I hate that side view you get with brides where the dress stands away and you see there is nothing filling it in the chest department.
My 2 solutions:
1. Charlotte was bang on – get the dress FITTED RIGHT! I had 5 fittings for the bodice of my dress alone to get it pulled in correctly.
2. Bride cups (I think this is what they are called!) Any good seamstress will have them and they were sewn into my dress to provide a little extra to fill it out. I’ve seen this done badly before and disliked it, but I think done correctly it still looked natural – I didn’t want my old big boobs on my newly tiny frame, just to avoid resembling an ironing board and I think it worked.
xoxo
Great tip Rebecca on the sew in cups… wonder if they’ll work for my sister’s bridesmaid dress!!! ; )P
Great post! I just went wedding dress shopping for the first time last weekend. I was convinced that I’d have to have a dress with straps (which didn’t bother me) because of my 32GG’s, and also that whatever I tried on woudl make me look toph heavy.
However, the corsetry in the strapless dresses that I did try on were absolutely bloody amazing! Yay for Maggie Sottero!! And I even think that I am going to be able to get away without wearing a hideous strapless bra (seriously, I hate strapless bras SO much they’re monstrous!) Having a small back and a large cup size usually equals a complete nightmare for me, but I am so unbelievbly relieved and happy that it’s not going to be an issue on my wedding day
xxx
Thank you so much for this feature- perfect timing! I am a size 30FF and have started looking for the dress of my dreams 18 months in advance because of paranoia that my boobs will look ridiculous or rude in many dresses.
I was totally wrong, so many dresses have fitted me perfectly and some have even been a bit too big for me in the chest area! I agree with Melvina, there really is no need to wear a bra, I bought a gorgeous one especially for wedding dress shopping only to find that it was on show in every dress.
The JP dress I have found- the one- however will need some serious altering and I will have to buy a dress 1 to 2 dress sizes bigger than me in order for the bust to be accomodated, costing me a fortune to get the rest of the dress taken in. And no one warns you how much some bridal shops charge for the alterations…
Any bright ideas welcome!
FYI charlotte, contra and co- please keep up the good work, rmw is the best wedding site available and I am totally addicted to checking it everyday- you all rock!
X
Hi Melvina,
What I am going to use are the – what I like to call – “Chicken Fillets” You can get them in La Senza for £49 or something but I recently got a pair in TK Maxx for £7.00!! I was delighted at my find but angry at the same time as I’ve bought 2 pairs previously in La Senza!! Anyway… they are fab! You can totally create your own cleavage from them – If you stick them on as far apart as you can and then pull the middle clip together and Tada!!! A cleavage appears!
Ok so sometimes they can slip off if your dancing the night away which is not a good look but…I think I will buy 3 pairs so that I can put a fresh pair on before they get a chance to slip.
So along with my chicken fillets, I am taking a leaf out of Charlotte’s book and sewing cups into the dress – or something along those lines! Oft! I am going to look like a new woman!! haha (hopefully)
Thanks for the tips Rebecca!!
hahahaha thanks sarah! I will run this by my sister! For her bridesmaid dress, I think its more the cups that she’ll be needing. In the evening, however, she’s changing (yes we’re all divas!) into a plunge-neck style dress, with racer back…so she could well be tempted by these fillets!!! ; )PPP But £49!!!! I thought I had mis-read it! I think I’ll be ushering her tkmaxx xx
Lizzie –
I had the same issue as you – I’m a 32D and a size eight, but they had to order me a size 12 for my dress. I had JP Papillon and my best advice would be to shop around. Seriously. The shop I tried Papillon in quoted me almost £500 more than the shop I eventually bought my dress from! And alterations at my eventual place were a lot cheaper too.
I guess it depends which JP dress it is, but with Papillon, because it is cut on the bias I didn’t actually need it adjusted anywhere other than the bust (I was fortunately the right height in my shoes for the dress!), which only cost £75, which was a lot better than I expected.
I hope that helps! Good luck with getting your dress. Jenny Packham is definitely worth it – I felt so amazing in my dress and everyone was just blown away by how different it was.
Oh, and on another note – I can recommend “Supportits” which worked brilliantly – they were comfy, invisible, easy to use and rather uplifting. It just meant a quick dash into the loo when we got to the hotel so I could whip them off though as they weren’t quite sexy enough!! But then how much wedding underwear really is??