As the we continue to unpack the results of our reader survey one of the key points that stood out to me was a need to find full bust friendly clothing at more affordable stores. I find H&M clothing to be reasonable quality and their jeans fit me great so it is a fast fashion store that I do shop at. I do my best to purchase items that I will wear for their useful life when I shop at H&M.
When searching brands that are not made specifically for a large chest I tend to search the following words: pleated/pleating, belted and smocked/smocking. These three search terms will often net you clothing items that could potentially fit your full bust.
Last month I checked out the holiday dress options available at H&M by searching for pleated/pleating (And H&M currently is 30% off everything with free shipping for Black Friday).  I found three pleated dresses made of a lightweight silky knit that reminded me of the 70’s dresses that my Aunt had left at my grandparent’s house. I am wearing an XL in all of these dresses and returned all three dresses (I’m 5’7, measure 49.5-39-46 and wear a 36HH bra).
I love the color of this emerald green dress and I am sorry to say that it is sold out. The pleated fabric gives lots of room for my full bust while also still being fitted at the waist. I regret a little bit that I didn’t keep this dress but ultimately I sent it back because it felt too short to me.
Next up is this sleeveless dress in burgundy. I liked this dress as well and loved the length. I’m not into short sleeved dresses in the winter time (NYC buildings are cold) but it fits well.
Both the green and the burgundy dresses were a single layer of fabric. However, this navy dress had an inner lining which caused it to pouf weirdly. It doesn’t lay nicely across my chest and the waist is also a bit a strange. A definite pass on this one.
Do any of you have search terms for finding full bust clothing?