Cleavage Concerns: Push Up on its way out?

Victoria;s Secret Bralette 2016

We’re pretty big fans of the sometimes elusive cleavage at BCLC. While I (Sian) find that most padded or molded bras give me an adequate amount of pushed up and together cleavage, the majority of soft or unlined cups don’t give me this, but one of Charley’s big missions with the blog has been to find a bra that gives her both good fit and cleavage for a smaller bust.
While we both enjoy a good cleavage, we’re also fans of a more natural look for day to day wear too. And we’ve been given some inside information from one of the man counterparts behind this blog (they usually end up playing the role of unwilling photographer, so it’s nice to see they’re taking an interest in the more “news-y” side too!): Ben on Boobs is bringing you:

The Future of Boobies

(He insisted I call it that!)

He spotted the recent headlines on cleavage being on the way out, brought to the forefront by a new collection of Victoria’s Secret bralettes. Rather than the usual super push up bras with all the padding that we normally see in their advertising campaigns, recent images released are showing their models wearing lightweight, unpadded and non-wired bralette styles.
The headlines are proclaiming that they’re alienating their D+ customers due to this move, but I’ve got a little bit of a bone to pick with that one, and I’m sure you all know where I’m going with it!

  • First up: D+ customers have always been excluded by Victoria’s Secret – there are the few styles available in DD and DDD, but the vast majority of their styles stick to the A-D range.
  • Second: a D cup isn’t what customers think it is! Our post “So you think you know what a D cup looks like?” goes into much more detail on this, but bear in mind that Charley (our Little Cup) usually wears a D cup and she’s the perfect size for bralettes and enjoys wearing this style. In fact, I sometimes wear bralettes, unpadded and non wired, as a 28GG. They’re obviously not ideal for me, but I find them comfortable.

But the reason we’re writing about this is a big yay! We love ALL styles of bras, bralettes, bustiers, bra tops – whatever you want to call them. And to be honest, it’s great to see a natural shape taking precedence in advertising again. I’m sure you all know the whole circular trend thing – looks like the more natural look from decades gone by is coming back again, and we love it. Plus it looks like the bralettes that the Victoria’s Secret models are wearing are actually a better fit for many of them than the bra sized “real” bras – go figure.

So summing up – we like cleavage, we also like the natural look. We think bralettes are really comfy and look super pretty. Not everyone can wear them, but not everyone can wear Victoria’s Secret’s usual bras anyway, especially if they’re sized in the way that we tend to size. It’s great to think that smaller indie brands that tend to be the main designers of bralettes styles – Karolina Laskoswka is writing a brilliant series on this, I really recommend reading the current posts here and here – will be brought more into the forefront with the trend. And let’s hope people take the initiative to branch out to more independent designers to try and find something more unique than buying the same old at high street stores!
But it’s not just VS who are in on this trend – it’s been ramping up more and more lately and VS are a little late to the bandwagon actually. In fact, I bought a couple of cheap bralettes at H&M the other week to take the risk and see if they could work – I’m actually really impressed with how well they’ve fared for my size! We’ve also seen the Freya Fancies soft cup bralette range appearing for a more full busted take on it, which I am still yet to try actually.

So here are a few favourite bralette styles from a few indie and lesser known designers, to give you a bit of choice if the Victoria’s Secret campaign has caught your eye and you’d like to try something different – after all, there are so many gorgeous bralettes out there!

Miód Bobbinet Tulle & Bee Charm Bralet Karolina Laskowska
Miód Bobbinet Tulle & Bee Charm Bralet by Karolina Laskowska
Amathia Green Lace Bralette by Esty Lingerie
Amathia Green Lace Bralette by Esty Lingerie
Isosceles Cholie Bra
Isosceles Cholie Bra
Tatiana's Threads Baby Blue Lace Bralette
Tatiana’s Threads Baby Blue Lace Bralette
The Malibu Crop by Urban Bird Clothing
The Malibu Crop by Urban Bird Clothing
Limited Edition Folk Print Set Cream Intimates
Limited Edition Folk Print Set Cream Intimates
Cyd Longline Bra Poppy by Lonely Label
Cyd Longline Bra Poppy by Lonely Label

Are you a fan of bralettes? What recommendations do you have for them?

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5 Comments

  1. May 6, 2016 / 12:17 pm

    Hi!

    I really enjoyed reading this article, it’s great to see the bralet trend doesn’t seem to be going anytime soon. Such a comfy option, and I definitely agree that some bralets offer more support than people give them credit for. I often get custom orders from ladies with larger busts who report back and inform me that the bralets fit and support them perfectly!:)

    Thank you for mentioning my brand too, so glad you like my designs!

    All the best,
    Molly
    (Urban Bird Clothing)

    • admin
      May 6, 2016 / 12:19 pm

      Hi Molly!
      So glad you liked the post 🙂 That’s fantastic that you can also offer custom orders for larger busted ladies too – it’s definitely true that bralettes can offer light support even for larger busts as well. Despite this being all about “cleavage”, I do actually find that some bralettes give me more cleavage than a wired bra would weirdly, so they definitely have some natural push up action going on their too 😀
      Thanks for stopping by to comment!

  2. May 9, 2016 / 5:53 pm

    Thanks for the info! I’m so glad there are many options out there, though I could never wear a bralet (36HH here). Just like fashion in general, we’re no longer being “dictated to” on what to wear but rather wear what works for you. I love it!

    Julia
    http://www.whenthegirlsrule.com

  3. Ren
    July 2, 2016 / 11:09 pm

    Thanks for putting this list together! I am a larger busted lady (32FF) and I love the Freya Fancies bralette. It’s perfect for lounging around the house or taking naps in. Although not technically a bralette, I love the Natori Glance wire-free bra as a comfier alternative to underwire that has enough shape and support that I can actually wear it out!

    • admin
      July 6, 2016 / 11:18 am

      I soooo badly want to try a Freya Fancies bralette – for some reason it keeps getting pushed down my list (too many pretties!) and I haven’t yet bought it but will have too soon – they do have more coming out in the range soon too so I might wait till then 🙂
      Ooh, I haven’t tried the Natori Glance but it looks lovely and comfortable – thanks for the recommendation!

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