I recently found a weird super-low plunge on Zulily from the brand “The Natural.” I’d never heard of the brand, but the bra looked pretty interesting:
Now that is a low gore! I was mildly impressed with the size range too. The “plus” version has bands from 30–44 (impressive!) and cups D–G (US), so the equivalent of a UK FF (not so impressive). I usually wear 30FF with strapless bras, so for $20 I figured it’d be worth a try. As usual, before buying I scoured the internet for reviews. Everything said it ran super tight in the band, and one review on Bratabase noted that it required two extenders when the buyer got it in her usual size. Yikes! It seems this is one bra with which you should use the plus-4 method. Bearing that in mind, I decided to order a 34 band. Reviews indicated that the cups ran more or less true to size so I went with 34DDD (UK 34E), which sister sizes to 32F to 30FF.
When it arrived, I immediately measured the band, and found that it stretches from 24.5” to 31” if I pull it really hard. It’s pretty much perfect for my 29” ribcage.
The bra came with a pair of matching fabric straps and one long clear strap to use as a halter (though the fabric straps are long enough for halter use on me too). It has three rows of hooks and eyes.
The construction is pretty innovative, with very strong underwire in the little U at the gore, but no wire under each cup. Instead, there’s a heavy seam. On each side, there is another heavy seam, with internal boning inside it reaching about halfway up. The cups are molded but not too stiff, and the band on front is soft foam. The rest of the band is your usual microfiber fabric lined with power mesh.
As for fit and usefulness, I’m actually rather impressed. I thought for sure it would be a disaster, but it actually gives surprisingly decent support when worn with normal straps.
The band is only slightly lower than a regular strapless bra. I’ll stick with my Le Mystere Soiree Bustier for low-backed garments.
The cups aren’t quite perfect, of course. With my full-on-bottom boobs, there is a little gaping at the inner base, where the breast is pushing it away from my body.
It basically goes away if I push the top of the wire U back against my skin. I wonder if there’s a way to alter the bra so it stays this way more? Maybe cut up that clear halter strap and attach a piece to both sides of the U so it can’t spread apart at all.
Unfortunately, using the straps as a racerback or halter exacerbates this gaping issue because now the top of the cups are being pulled further inward.
Luckily, the few dresses I have that require a super plunge gore actually all have sleeves or wide straps, so it’s not much of an issue. I also wonder what would happen if I bought a cup size down. I know technically it would be too small, but it’s possible that would ameliorate the excess cup being pushed away, right?
Anyhow, here’s the bra under a Tatyana (formerly Bettie Page Clothing) dress:
And from the side. With this dress, fully lined and made of thick jersey fabric, you really can’t see the bit of bra being pushed away at the base of the cup:
And a really plunging dress I have:
The issue with this dress (and a couple others I own) is that a regular plunge bra is technically covered, but the stupid gore bow is always visible and sometimes even twists around and sticks out. Plus someone taller than me can see the bra if they look down at me or if I slouch. It’s so annoying! This super plunge is the perfect solution (and my cleavage still looks good!).
However, it must be noted that with this loose and thin jersey fabric, you can see the edge of the inner cup:
I’ve gotta find a way to fix that!
I think this bra could work really well for someone less full-on-bottom than me, and the price I paid was definitely right (it ordinarily retails for $56). This model is the “plus” version (style number 2307). The “regular” one has a pair of thin straps around the back instead of a solid band. It’s a little hard to find the full range of sizes in the plus version. Several websites only list band sizes from 38–44, but Amazon and Brayola have the full range.
