Creating a clothing line is hard work, but creating a clothing line for women with big busts is especially challenging.*
It’s been over four years since I gave you my last “state of the big bust clothing market”, and as I clicked through broken links on our Best Clothing for Big Busts page, I realized we’re long overdue for an update. Some companies have disappeared.** Others seem to have hit a wall because there’s little evidence of life except a website.
And then there are the brands that keep designing for our fuller busts. Here’s an update on each, including one very special company that has returned from the dead. I’ll introduce some exciting new full bust clothing companies to you in my next post.
Bolero
If you follow Patricia McCaw on Instagram, you know the absolute joy she derives from dressing women with D cups and higher. One big change she’s made recently is to sell directly to customers via her website and pop up shops. This way she gets all the pleasure of customer interaction with none of the pain of production deadlines and retailer margin demands. In the very near future, she’s going to relaunch as Bolero Boutique and promises to offer her dresses in exciting new fabrics.
Miriam Baker
June is the five-year anniversary of this high-end clothing brand. In the past, Miriam’s designs have veered toward higher necklines and modest cuts because, like many of us growing up, her teachers often ordered her to “go to the office, you’re not complying with the dress code!” This spring marks a dramatic departure with the Amber dress, boasting “our lowest neckline ever, inspired by feedback from my friend Davina, who upon viewing a previous collection exclaimed, ‘But Miriam, what if I want to show off my boobies?’ This piece lets you show off some cleavage, and the doubled fabric offers a little bit of support along with wide straps that won’t reveal your plunge bra.” Want a little less plunge? I’m loving the sweetheart neckline of the Molly dress.
Urkye
We are totally on board with founder Urszula Jerzak’s mission to “show customers that good quality, perfect fit and responsible production is important and is available for all women, no matter how big their bust is.” An architect who loves to sew, she divides her time between constructing and designing buildings and clothes. Her main goal is to continue sewing more styles every year. She wants to add new jackets to the collection, and she told me, “Maybe, finally, we’ll be able to offer our customers winter coats!”
Bravissimo
This big bust clothing pioneer is finally venturing from their corner of the world to ours. We cannot wait for its new Soho location to open, making it easier and more affordable to write reviews for you.
DD Shop/DD Atelier
DD Shop announced last November that it would be offering clothing again, and the full-bust forums buzzed with hope. Members wondered: Is founder Olga Promptova back? Is DD Shop the same as DD Atelier? Will they ship to the United States?
Right now it’s still the original DD Shop that Olga began in 2007 and shuttered in 2017, and YES, THEY WILL SHIP INTERNATIONALLY, INCLUDING TO THE UNITED STATES, although shipping won’t be cheap (see below). Olga has moved on, but you’re going to love the story behind new owner Alena Suvorova. Here are two excerpts from our recent email exchange:
I used to be a DDshop customer myself, my size used to be 75G and now I fit into 85H. Every woman with a problem like this can understand the feeling, when she is fit and has a great figure yet only can wear clothes that fit at least somehow. And you can’t really change people’s perception of you that you don’t have a fashion taste, when in reality just nothing ever fits. So because of this I wasn’t able to accept the fact that DDshop has been closed and now I’m in the process of doing everything possible for its revival.
And we are planning on reviving DDAtelier with international shipping, yet we are having a bit of trouble finding reliable and affordable shipping options. If there’s any chance that you know any transport and logistics companies that are providing international shipping, including shipping to USA, we would be very grateful to hear about them.
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*Here’s why:
- We’re very particular.
We know what good fit feels and looks like, and that’s what we expect. We’re also not going to get excited about styles that are purely utilitarian. A lot of full-bust startups are passionate about solving a problem, but creative vision also matters.
- Curves are complicated. And they’re hard to scale (unless it’s a “relaxed fit” garment or yet another knit wrap dress).
- The digital landscape is super crowded. To get anyone’s attention, a new fashion company must be a fully formed brand even though they’re still figuring everything out by trial and error.
- Trial and error is inevitable . . . and expensive. There’s a LOT of it involved in creating and marketing full-bust clothing. Running out of money before you figure it out is a serious danger.
- Price. The retail price that many women are looking for is only possible from a big corporation. Big companies can easily afford all the samples it takes to get a design right, have access to amazing fabrics at a lower cost, and aren’t limited to small production runs. (However, even ASOS doesn’t look like it’s up to the fuller-bust clothing challenge, and Marks & Spencer is out of the “no-peep” shirt business . . . see below.) It’s a risk for a startup to carry a lot of inventory. Doing so will lower production costs, but it can sink a company that gets the mix wrong or is a victim of bad quality control.
- Distribution. Online only? Boutiques? Pop ups? Each has its own special challenges. But when the right customer finds the right garment, it’s all worth it.
**Some we expected. Others are a big surprise. Here’s the list:
BiuBiu
Bitter Lollipop
More Front Room (The website has been advertising for a lead designer for over a year now.)
Rebeka Vlassis
Greight
Crown Coats
Marks & Spencer no-peep shirts
ASOS—they’re still on the list and responsible for most of the commissions that Hourglassy receives through affiliate links. However, they no longer have tall and petite versions of their fuller-bust button front shirts; there are only three fuller-bust dress styles on their site; and most of the fuller-bust tops are knits.
New full bust brands? I admit I’m curious, although I will try not to get my hopes up too much. I have the misfortune to have three strikes against me–I’m full busted (38I) AND plus size (about a size 16 in waist and hips) AND tall (5’9″). It is constant source of frustration to check out a full bust brand and find that even the companies that exist specifically to cater to my body shape do not have a size quite large enough for me, or that even if they do, everything is still too short.
I have bought quite a few tops from Urkye since they added size 46 to their range, but even that is really a bit small. I should be a size 48ooo, but they do not offer such a size. I can fit into the 46 oo/ooo in their knit tops because of the stretch. I checked out the DD Shop site, and I hope they will follow through with adding sizes 90 and 95 as they indicate they plan to do. I never bought from them before because their largest size was still too small. According to the chart, I would take a 95H. Now that Bravissimo offers free returns within the US, I may try them out. Once again, I find myself at the very upper end of the size range. It appears I would take a 14 Super Curvy.
My best luck by far for dresses has been with eShakti. Although they are not a full bust brand per se, they are a custom sized brand, so I can get dresses made to fit my actual measurements and height. I have several dozen items in my closet from eShakti (mostly dresses, which are their primary focus), and again and again I am amazed at how well they do at getting a perfect fit. I don’t have to choose among fitting my shape, my size, or my height–I can have all three at once!
What a great eShakti testimonial. Do you find they’re consistent across your orders? I’m glad this is a solution for you because I’m very aware of the need for clothing for tall & busty women and plus & busty women from working with C&K customers. You’re the second person who has told me DDShop is expanding its size range–how have I missed that? And it’s a good thing, too, because I was already at their max when I was a little smaller than I am now.
If you click on “How to choose a size?” at the bottom of the screen, it will take you to a page with a size chart showing sizes up to 95. 90 and 95 are marked with an asterisk, and there is a footnote indicating that these are a planned expansion of the size range, but not yet available.
I find eShakti to be very consistent in sizing. I was sold from the time I received my very first purchase. It is a sleeveless, Empire waist maxi dress with a wide fitted waistband. So many ways it could have been all wrong, but when I tried it on, it was almost perfect. The bust was not too tight, the waistband fitted nicely, the underbust seam was under the bust (not bisecting my bust), the armholes didn’t gape, the waist seam was at my waist (not up around my rib cage). If I am being picky, I could say that it could have been another inch or so longer, but at least t comes down to my ankle bones, rather than being lower calf, as most “maxi” dresses are on me. On a scale of 0 to 100, I would give it a 97.
For woven fabrics, it is vital to measure accurately and honestly, and if a measurement is something-and-a-half inches, round up, not down, particularly if it is a close-fitting style. I find my bust and waist measurements tend to fluctuate a bit, within a range of an inch or so, so I go with the larger measurement, or else it may not fit me when I am a bit bloated. For knits, it is not an issue.
Out of 40+ items I have ordered from eShakti, only two seemed to have been cut wrong. One shirt was too tight across the bust, and a dress that was supposed to be a “high scoop” neckline was so low it showed my bra. Several other items simply didn’t look good on me when I got them–the style was not flattering, or the color was not good for me (one of the prime hazards of ordering online. Colors are never exactly right on the screen. Blues are particularly hard to judge.) Overall, though, the fit has been spot on at least 90% of the time. If something just doesn’t work, returns are super easy.
One caveat–I find necklines to be somewhat lower than they appear on the models in the pictures. I think they may have a program that measures up from the point of the bust rather than down from the collarbone to determine the depth of the neckline. I tend to choose either the “high V”, “high scoop” or “high square” necklines. The regular V neckline just covers all of my bra, and is therefore OK, but the regular scoop neckline tends to show my bra.
Thank you for these amazing details. I feel like we’ve gotten the benefit of an eShakti review from you in our comments!