My quest to find the perfect bra is taking over my private life. So I am now taking it public. I am a DD cup but my problem is that the girls kind of go off to the sides under my arms instead of sticking out in the front. This is kind of awkward to describe so please bear with me. I need a bra that has very strong support on the sides so that when I push everything up where it belongs it will stay there instead of sneaking back to the sides again. So far I have had the best luck with the Gilligan and O’Malley brand from Target. They work okay but I am wondering if there is a certain style of bra that might address my problem and work better. I can’t be the only woman in the world with this problem. Can I? Please say I’m not.
Bali makes a double knit bra that has some kind of plastic doobies in the sides. Bali 4698. It’s very comfortable for me and I am not a DD so I take the plastic things out of the sides, but if you leave them in it’s still quite comfy and does keep the girls a little closer to the center. The ads for this bra say it’s the most popular in dept stores and they say it’s “wireless.” Well, it is but since it has those side things it’s not support-less. Search on Bali 4698 to find lots of sources.
Thank you. I will check it out.
Have you tried a sports bra? they’re somhow “tighter” then regular ones, and work well for me, being somewhat large (me, that is).
I personally can’t stand regular bras anymore, particularly the ones with weird wires and pokey plastic things. Can’t understand why someone would wear that on a regular basis, but there seems to be a market for it.
The sports bras that I have tried seemed to flatten me out which I didn’t like.
I do wear underwires. I actually don’t feel right without one. Probably because I have been wearing them for so long. I actually used to sleep in my bra underwires and all. Now that I have broke the habit I don’t know how I stood it.
Check out Title 9 sports. Look for the bras rated 3 barbells or more.
I’m fond of some of the sports bras Champion sells. They have great support, they’re very comfortable, and many of them are more flattering than any of the non-sports bras I’ve worn!
I have always maintained that I need a bra with the cups under my arms. By the time I round the girls up I kinda have real boobs, they are just very wide set. There isn’t enough duct tape in the world to give me cleavage, I’m just not built that way (however, they are marvelous)
I find that if you look for demi cups and/or wide set straps they tend to do better. Straps that come up right in the center of my shoulder never, ever fit as well, where as ones that tend towards my shoulder do.
I’ve had good luck with bali bras in the past. I could always find one that fit the bill. Now that I’ve had a child and breastfed finding bras is a pain. I previously could wear underwires and they didn’t bother me too much, now I find them completely unwearable.
Sports bras have always annoyed me, I feel like I have UNINECKBOOB when wearing them.
Have you worn only the pullover type of sports bras? Some sports bras have separate cups for each breast. Those are much, much nicer.
I will have to check out sports bras again. I can have fantastic cleavage when I get it all arranged just right I just need some kind of suit of armor or something to keep it all where it belongs.
I’m another curvy one, and I feel your pain in the bra department. My unofficial theory is that, when you’re talking D cup or larger, a bra lasts about a month for every $10 you spend on it. So a $20 Target bra supports well for about 2 months, and then goes to crap. A $60 Nordstrom’s bra works for about 6 months and then goes to crap.
Nordstrom’s is da bomb. I can’t afford anything else they sell, but the gals in the lingerie department know what they’re doing and are actually helpful. I never would have considered buying one of those foam-like molded bras at my size, because who needs more padding?! But I took their advice and it’s the best bra I’ve ever owned. The only bra that contains the nipplage factor, and doesn’t leave me with a boob-roll across the middle with the wires gaping four inches away from my sternum. (And no, it’s not because I need a larger bra - the others fit just fine when I put 'em on, but after 20 minutes, the sisters once again need to be divided and conquered.)
Sports bras are a joke in my size. They don’t even support well enough for sleep. (Yes, I also wear underwires at night. Sorry, but the pectoral ache in the morning without one is just not an option.)
My very favourite thing about my recent (and ongoing) weight loss is the ability to buy smaller, cheaper bras. My days of spending $60 on a bra are long over, hallelujah!
I’m fond of Pink K from K-mart, of all places.
For what it’s worth – we had a thread here a while back along the lines of Ask The Ladies Undergarment Specialist, and I copied her advice. I paste in here on the chance that incorrect fit is your problem. She seemed to feel most women aren’t wearing the correct size. Hope this helps!
Thanks, Ellen. The “and-so-forth” is where we bigger women get into trouble. What comes after D? Usually, but not always, DD. Then DDD, except when it’s E. Then sometimes EE or sometimes F, except that those DDD’ers use E. So DDD, E, EE and F may all be the same size. Then there’s the problem of cup placement: I’m a “divide and conquer” gal who needs a bra that lifts and separates. The OP sounds like a “round 'em up!” gal who needs them gently held out of her armpits. A too shallow cup, no matter what the label size, can give both of us the boob-roll in the middle of our chest, not to mention the dreaded “four boobs” when breast tissue falls over the top edge of the cup and you look like you’ve got two sets of sisters.
Also, to my great consternation, is the general instruction when taking measurements, “wearing a good fitting bra, place the tape measure blah blah blah.” Um…if I had a good fitting bra, I’d just check the label, thanks! 
Okay so I tried this. I have a difference of 8 inches. So I think that I am wearing the right cupsize. Why is finding the right bra so darned difficult? Maybe I need a really strong bustier or corset? But I just don’t think that it would be practical under a t-shirt.
Yes exactlyWhyNot. The four boobs or quadraboobs are the bane of my existence. It seems when I find a bra tight enough on the sides for the support I need there the cups give me the four boobs. Not a good look.
You might try to find a store which has a professional bra fitter. Sometimes department stores might have one, but I actually went to a local store that primarily caters to post-mastectomy patients. They also carry “hard-to-fit” (up to K cup size) and maternity bras. That is when I discovered that my cup size was much much larger than I thought it was, and when I began buying the right size, my bras suddenly started fitting correctly. 
I second Nordstroms. I got so frustrated with constantly tugging, fiddling and readjusting that I went in and prostrated myself before the Nordstrom Underwear Ladies. And lo, they granted me a D cup. I’d been wearing a B, because I’m teeny right? No way I could have a bigger cup size…but when I started trying on the 32Ds, everything suddenly fit where it was supposed to - no ride-up, etc. Not only that, but they’re very knowledgeable about the fits of the different brands, and tailor their recommendations based on your preferences and needs. And the fitting is free so you lose nothing.
Thirding Nordstrom. It’s the only place I get my bras. I’m a 38DD, last I was measured there. I ended up buying two molded bras, after being really skeptical at first. The cups also looked abnormally huge. Anyway, I suspect that the molded cup will help keep things front and center, as they’ve helped with my major problem of having the right boob a bit smaller than the left. Previous bras never fit right – the left side was okay, while there was some fabric sagging on the right. I’ve found that my clothing – especially sweaters, and it is indeed sweater season! – fits and looks better with the molded cups. I now have Tomb Raider Boobs.
I’m a double D. Like the OP, I have an underarm bulge problem. I **love **this bra: http://herroom.stores.yahoo.net/lil001-908.html It’s the Lilyette 908 and it gives the best support I’ve had from any bra, ever.
I’ve tried on expensive bras for big-busted women such as Edith Lantzes, LeMystere and Wacoal, and nothing supports the breasts and holds in the underam bulges like the Lilyette 908.
I recommend the seller in the link I’ve given here. Good, reliable service and reasonable prices.
Sonia Montdore, I found this article a few clicks away from your link. Everyone go read it NOW! There’s stuff in there I didn’t know, and (as a former costume designer) I thought I had this bra thing down. (For instance, I didn’t realize that the boobage I’ve had slipping out the bottom of the cup lately might mean that my band is too BIG, not that the cup is too small. Oh, and double yay, because that means I must have lost an inch or more and not noticed!)
There’s a section on how to measure if you have implants, because implants tend to be wider than natural breasts - maybe this method would be better for our armpit boob ladies!