EXPERT GUIDE: This is What You Should Know About Pendulous Breasts (+Best Bras for Them)
What are pendulous breasts and what type of bras are perfect for them? Looking for the best bras for pendulous breasts? This comprehensive guide on pendulous breasts will help you find the right bra for you.
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If you research ‘pendulous breasts’ on Google, you’ll notice that more than half of the search results are of plastic surgery clinics. In some way, this is offensive to women with pendulous breasts. Why are the search results suggesting that there is something wrong with this breast shape?
There are some ridiculous beauty standards imposed on western women. For example, who said we all need perky, round breasts?
Despite what the cosmetic surgery industry and the media may be saying, you are not a lesser human being just because a certain part of your body doesn’t look like what they want.
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With the combination of pregnancy, genetics, weight loss and aging, majority of women experience some level of sagging breasts or ptosis. You can find more information concerning this in our post about dealing with deflated melons.
This article is a guide for women with large, pendulous breasts. We are writing to women that do not intend to go for any form of plastic surgery, but would like to have their melons lifted and supported by good bras.
For most women with fuller and larger breasts, the ‘right’ bra has nothing to do with aesthetics. For us, when searching for bras, we consider our health and the need to avoid unnecessary pains that may result from our heavy girls.
Finding a bra that perfectly suits your needs can be a frustrating and difficult process. In this guide, we’ve narrowed down the best places where you can find the best bras for pendulous breasts.
But before we proceed, what are pendulous breasts?
What are Pendulous Breasts?
Pendulous breasts are the kind of breasts that don’t have self-support anymore.
Breasts with self-support don’t need a bra to appear ‘full’.
Before your self-esteem goes down and you start feeling like an outlier, a study by Herroom.com shows that only 16% of women in a population of 400,000 have self-supporting breasts. Keep in mind that this category also compromises of women with augmented melons.
Ptosis, or sagging, can be classified in different levels depending on how low the breasts tissues are hanging below the inframammary fold (IMF). The IMF is the area where your breasts and chest wall meet.
Check the image below to get a better idea of what we are trying to explain.
The level of sagging depends on the amount of breast tissue that goes below the IMF.
In this article, we’ll be mainly focusing on breasts with a grade 3 ptosis.
There are different variations of boob sagging, even though the focus is on those with pronounced ptosis.
Supportive Bras for Deflated Boobs
If you are mainly looking for support, and consider other factors as secondary, select a bra with the following attributes:
- An underwire for support. A perfect underwire should encapsulate the shape of your breast. The wire’s rigidity will provide additional support.
- A full-coverage cup. Full-coverage cups provide support and control of the whole breast.
- A three or four-part part cup sewn with rigid fabric. Get a bra made using rigid fabric that is sewn together to form a T-shape on the cup. This shape helps to shape and lift the breasts.
- A wide band. About 80-90% of the support provided by a bra comes from the band. A wide, well-fitting band helps to lift and support your breast tissue.
- Narrow-set straps. These straps create a center-pull lift on the breasts more than wide set straps do.
- Reinforced sides. The reinforcement prevents the breasts from spilling out on the sides of the bra cups. The sides also smoothen armpit fat and keep the breast tissues from pointing forward and appearing less wide.
Best Bras for Pendulous Breasts that Offer Support
When you consider the above factors, you will probably end up choosing bras from brands such as the Elomi Raquel bra or the Goddess Keira bra.
#1. Goddess Keira Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
#2. Elomi Raquel Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
Although these two are great bra brands, they are not suitable for everyone because;
- Some women don’t like underwire. Others, cannot wear underwire bras due to medical reasons.
- With a full-coverage bra, your breasts will be covered completely. Depending on the material used, this can make you feel hot. In some occasions, the bra will not be practical especially if you’d like to wear certain necklines.
- At the start, while you’re breaking in the bra, its seams can rub on your nipples, be visible on shirts and even leave you with a pointy look.
When you start eliminating some of these factors, the level of support of the bra will reduce significantly.
For instance, if you change your bra from a full cup to a demi cup, the upper part of your breast will be left without support. If you change your bra from one that has an underwire to a soft cupped one, your breasts will lose some degree of encapsulation, shaping or even support.
What Does This Mean For My Bra Choices?
Despite the challenges above, you are limited to wearing a specific type of bra. These challenges are meant to help you understand how every element works when it comes to supporting for your breasts.
With that said, below are the best types of bras for pendulous breasts.
Best Bras for Pendulous Breasts?
Bras are meant to lift and provide support and shape to the breast. The biggest challenge of searching for a bra is finding one that will be comfortable, supportive, lift your breasts and shape them nicely.
When shopping for a bra, keep in mind that there are those meant for specific types of clothes. For example, there are bras for wearing under a camisole, spaghetti straps, tube tops, and so on. Most women normally look for a bra that will lift their breasts to some degree above the IMF level and also shape them nicely.
There are different types of bras that you can go for. The bras come in various designs and styles, all providing a varying degree of support.
We are going to look at the best bras for pendulous breasts. These bras offer excellent support.
We’ll also touch on some common problems you may experience while wearing different cuts.
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Molded-Cup Bras
The molded cup has a rigid cup that is moulded to shape the breasts in a nice round shape. This shape looks seamless under shirts.
Molded cups are available in various different cuts. The most common ones are plunge bras and T-shirt bras (as well as spacers).
Drawbacks
The most common problem women with pendulous breasts face when wearing a molded cup bra is form. Pendulous breast tissues are very soft and, therefore, it can be difficult for the bra cups to support them.
The breasts will not go where the bra expects them to. This will results to spillage.
For women with some level of gapping, their bra will appear like this:
There are two bras that often work well for pendulous breasts, regardless of their rigid cups. These are the Freya Deco Vibe Plunge Bra and the Fantasie Women’s Smoothing Molded T-shirt Bra.
With either of these bras, your breasts might still gape a little. However, the issue will be less pronounced than it would be with other bras. Compared to other bras with rigid cups, both the Freya Deco Plunge Bra and the Fantasie Molded T-shirt Bra have relatively narrower straps and offer relatively high coverage.
If gapping is a big issue when wearing these two bras, and you still prefer a molded bra, get a push-up bra.
Best Molded Cup Bras for Pendulous Breasts
If you don’t mind enhancing your breast size a little, the padding on the under part will push the breasts upward, making them appear rounder.
#1. Deco Vibe Plunge Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
With its plunge look, the Deco Vibe creates some cleavage and still offers a fair level of cup coverage. If you want a decent side and racerback support, this bra is a winner.
#2. Fantasie Women’s Smoothing Molded T-shirt Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
We love the way the band of the Fantasie bra is reinforced. The band creates great lifting power.
#3. Chantelle C Chic
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
If you’re okay with cut and sew styles, and want a bra that covers the whole breast, go for the Chantelle C Chic.
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Minimizer Bras
This type of bra reduces the appearance of the size of your breasts. The bra achieves this by pushing the breasts in different directions.
Minimizers bras compress the breasts, and in turn pushes them outside or toward each other.
Drawbacks
Most minimizer bras do not provide you with a lot of lift. The idea behind how the bras work is that when the breasts are lying flatter on the chest, they don’t look as large as they would when gathered and lifted up.
Best Minimizer Bras for Pendulous Breasts
The bras also push your breasts outside, making them look wider.
#1. Wacoal Elegance Hidden Minimizer Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
If you’re looking for a bra that will lift your breast well without pushing them out on the sides then the Wacoal Elegance Hidden Wire Minimizer Bra is what you’re looking for.
#2. Wacoal Visual Effects Minimizer Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
If you don’t mind wearing a bra without a seam, the Wacoal Women’s Visual Effects Minimizer Bra will be perfect. You can wear this bra under a T-shirt without worrying about it being visible.
Despite the Wacoal Visual having smooth cups, it offers good lift.
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Demi Bras
Demi bras are designed as balconettes (balcony bras) as well as half cup bras. These bras don’t offer complete coverage. Majority of the bras offer somewhere between 1/2 to ¾ coverage.
Demi bras are designed to show off your breasts by exposing the top half part uncovered.
Drawbacks
Demi bras do not typically provide complete shaping/support to the breast. Depending on the bra, your breasts might end up being pooled up and spilling out at the middle section of the bra, especially if it has a very low cut.
Also, your melons may fill the lower section of the bra cup perfectly. However, the bra may not provide the rounded appearance you want at the top.
Demi bras usually have wide set straps. Therefore, they don’t provide enough center lift.
Best Demi Bras for Pendulous Breasts
While demi bras can work for pendulous breasts, if your tissue is very soft, the breast may look flat on the top section of the bra.
#1. Panache Tango II
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
If you’re looking for a bra that creates great cleavage, offers almost complete coverage and still leaves your melons with a bit of fullness at the top, the Panache Tango II is certainly the best pick for all that.
#2. Freya Women’s Rio
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
One bra that provides perfect breast uplift as well as side support is the Freya Women’s Rio. With this bra, your melons will feel like they are encased properly, despite not being covered up entirely.
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Soft-Cup Bras
If you don’t like bras with an underwire, try soft cup bras. These bras usually have some type of inner panels or lining along the inner edge of the cup. The linings help to create a rounded breast shape.
Drawbacks
Soft cup bras have a weak cup structure because they lack underwires. Depending on the type of cup, this may make you to have a slight uniboob look.
Soft cup bras which are not reinforced well, don’t offer enough lift. Therefore, they are not recommended for women with heavy breasts
Best Soft Cup Bras for Pendulous Breasts
Soft cup bras are available in various different designs. However, the most popular ones are wirefree, such as:
#1. Elomi Caitlyn Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
One of the best soft cup bras is the Elomi Caitlyn. The bra separates the breasts and offers remarkable lift despite not having an underwire.
#2. Playtex Women’s 18-hour Bra
[wps_icon icon=”shopping-cart” background=”#d63b2c” color=”#fff” size=”18″ padding=”10″ radius=”5″] Available on Amazon
If you prefer a smooth and super comfortable bra, get Playtex Women’s 18 Hour Sensational Sleek Wire-Free Bra.
Choose the Best Bras for Pendulous Breasts
Here are other things to consider when looking for bras for pendulous breasts:
Roots
The root is the area where the breasts are attached to the chest. Your root will determine the type of underwire that suits your breasts.
To find the perfect bra, check how well your breasts and the underwire interact. A good underwire should fit comfortably around the breast rather than digging into the root.
Conversely, a bra with a wide underwire may lead to fit issues. The breasts might not fill the cup entirely, leading to poor support, rippling in the cup and space on the sides.
If you experience any of the issues above but still want that particular bra, consider adjusting its size. Reducing the cup size and increasing the band size will leave you with a slightly smaller cup that might fix your problems. You can try the opposite if you want a wider cup.
Alternatively, look for the sister size of that particular bra.
Although the solution may be to make little adjustments, if your melons are very narrow or very wide, consider looking for specific brands that are meant for narrow breasts (like Freya) or wide underwires (like Elomi).
Projection
Breast projection is determined by how the breast protrudes from the chest wall. If you have big, pendulous breasts, they will also project.
The level of projection determines how the breasts fill the bra cups. For instance, if the bra you’re wearing has cups that are very deep for your projection, the breast might not fill the outer section of the cups well. This issue is common when wearing soft cup and molded cup bras.
Depending on the level of mismatch, the cup might pucker and offer inadequate control.
Avoid wearing a bra that is too shallow for your breasts. Shallow bras lead to various issues. If the band fits correctly but you feel as if the breasts are not contained properly in the cups (causing top or side spillage), it might be because the cups are too shallow to fit your breasts.
Which is the Best Bra for You?
Your breasts cannot really fit into all the cups. Don’t get frustrated when you try on a bra that is meant for a wide rooted G-cup with pendulous breasts and find it doesn’t fit.
There are various levels of projections, root heights and widths, and levels of sag, that cannot all be addressed by a single bra. Other factors such as, how tall you are, the shape of your torso or the width of your shoulders also affect bra fit.
Manufacturers don’t use standardized bra sizing. This makes it challenging to find the perfect bra.
Why this Information?
At this point, we may not necessarily have made it easy for you to find the perfect bra. However, if you properly know your type of breasts, you can work out the types of bras that are perfect for you.
If you have a supportive and fitting bra, note its type and different features that offer support.
There are no hard and fast rules for finding the right bra. If one type of bra does not work for you, try out other bras.
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Thanks for this very insightful blog for us women who have pendulous breast. This article is truly a gem and great read. I wish you would have added suggestions for strapless bras, because I’m having an extremely hard time finding one with the right fit. Nevertheless, Thanks so much for this information. You are really helping a lot of women out, appreciate it!!