Hello dear readers, I am out of the fog of newborn baby land and have a review for you! It has been difficult for me to think about and write nursing bra reviews, as no bra actually works that great for me, and I haven’t wanted to share my angst/negative energy. Every busty woman knows the pain of looking into her lingerie drawer and debating which is the lesser of the evils therein. Hourglassy is here to show you that life doesn’t need to be that way! I have hope that I will find some solutions for my particular size of lactating breasts soon. In the meantime I want to bring hope to those of you who don’t need to worry about my particular H-cup ceiling and itty bitty ribcage combo. There really are some amazing options out there, that I wish worked better for me!

Disclosure: I purchased this bra myself, all opinions are my own.

Sugar Candy Fuller Bust Seamless Nursing Bra

I’ll start with this amazing bra from Cake Lingerie – The Sugar Candy Fuller Bust Seamless Nursing Bra (say that five times fast! lol).

When I saw this photo on the product page I thought, hey! Maybe this could actually hold my boobs up, too!

The Sugar Candy line from Cake Lingerie encompasses 3 different bra styles and one built-in bra tank. Each of the 4 items in the Sugar Candy collection has both a nursing version or a lounge version (for those of you who don’t need the convenience of whipping out a boob multiple times a day 😉 )

Sugar Candy Crush Lounge Bra
Sugar Candy Lux Lounge Bra
Sugar Candy Lounge Tank

I decided to try the Sugar Candy seamless bra even though I am technically outside of the cup size range, because I thought the stretchy fabric might be able to accommodate a slightly larger bust. And it does!

Truthfully, I was planning to send this back after trying it on, because the fit is not perfect. Times became desperate out here in the desert of nursing bras for giant boobs, and I ended up taking off the tags and wearing it before I mailed it back. I’m not mad about it. The Sugar Candy hasn’t been my daily or my “go to” bra, but it has been a nice one to have in the rotation, especially when options in my size are scarce. I’ll first discuss the sizing, show photos of the support, and then give you my personal pros and cons.

Sizing

I ordered based off of the sizing information on the Cake Maternity website.

My postpartum measurements were 30-31″ underbust and 44″ overbust. Cake recommends a 32 band for under bust measurements of 28-30″ – so according to their sizing system I measured a 32L (US) or 32HH (UK). I was skeptical of the larger band size, but went ahead and ordered as recommended because I was not confident that a smaller band size would have the volume in the cups to accommodate my breast tissue postpartum. I tend to err on the size of larger bras while breastfeeding anyway, I learned the hard way with my first baby that tight bras = mastitis! So painful.

The Sugar Candy Bra comes in XS/S/M/L/XL/XXL sizing, designed to fit a range of cup sizes within a given band size. I ordered a Medium – specified to fit UK sizes 32 GG/H and 34 F/FF/G.

With my current measurements of 29″ under bust, 41-42″ over bust, Cake’s charts place me in a 32 G/GG (UK sizing), right between a Small and Medium in the Sugar Candy bra. I don’t feel confident that a Small would accommodate all of my breast tissue, as the Medium already has some side spillage and quad-boob as it is. A Small might fit better after stretching out, though…more for me to think about! Just telling you as an FYI, I am speaking as someone who went with the bigger size when straddling two sizes. Take that for what it’s worth.

Support

When it arrived I was most excited about the construction! Check out the internal support!!! Slings on the side AND across the bottom!

Internal support slings – immediately after purchase

Internal support slings – after months of wear and slightly stretched out

Those slings really do their job! Even now that the bra is “old” and doesn’t retain its shape as nicely, I like the level of support it gives. I am comfortable enough with this level of support to wear it out and about – but that is just my personal preference. There is a fair amount of “bounce” and the shape is not the best you’ll ever get. But you definitely don’t look like you’re going braless! I took these photos last month:

You can really tell that my left side is bigger than my right in this photo…and I think I had just nursed my baby on the right side so that really emphasizes the difference. Haha! I never usually notice in real life.

Now that you know how sizing works and have seen it in action, here are my personal pros and cons:

Pros:

  • Super stretchy fabric. It is so comfy and breathable, and it can accommodate a slightly larger bust without much spillage. I don’t get significant “quad boob” from this bra.
  • Machine washable and dryable, and shipped with a lingerie bag. Especially in the early days of nursing a new baby, nursing bras are often doused in breastmilk/spitup and need to be washed frequently. I loved being able to throw this one in the wash with the daily baby laundry!!
  • The support slings! Best lift I’ve ever gotten from a non-wired bra.
  • Nursing clips are easy to undo and re-clip one-handed.
  • Extra columns of hooks in the back (6 columns total) make it excellent for an expanding ribcage during pregnancy!

Cons:

  • Super stretchy fabric. It stretches out within 1-2 days of wear and needs to be washed again to “bounce back” to its usual size.
  • The band does this weird thing where it rides up and causes the internal elastic to fold over on itself after I’ve worn it for a few hours. This makes the band bulky and less supportive.
  • The band is too big/wide for my taste. It rides up and causes the straps to dig into my shoulders after less than an hour of wear. Some days I choose to deal with it anyway, but I usually end up only wearing this bra for a couple of hours at a time. It is more comfortable under my bust and around my armpits than other bras, so sometimes the shoulder tradeoff is worth it.
  • The straps! They are narrow and they are made of a very stretchy elastic. There is NO support there.
  • The nursing clips are so easily unclipped that they frequently unclip while I am putting the bra on. This is more of a minor annoyance and not a major issue, but I thought it was worth mentioning!
Taken after 30 minutes of wear. On this particular day, I went and changed to a different bra shortly after taking this photo.

I highly recommend trying this bra if you fall within the cup size range. It is a very generous range – up to a UK H cup on all band sizes! However, due to the stretch in the band, I also highly recommend ignoring their band sizing suggestions and would calculate your bra size based on your ribcage measurement alone. They have so many extra columns of hooks that there is little risk you’ll end up with something that won’t even close. With my current measurements of 29″ under bust and 41-42″ over bust, I would order a 30 H/HH (UK sizing), or a size Small in the Sugar Candy bra. However, unless they change the straps to something less flimsy, I don’t think I will be ordering this bra again.