Top Bikini Picks for Summer

During my very short and sweet holiday, away from cloudy England and on to beautiful higher climates, I got a chance to test out my new bikinis.

The First bikini on my list, is the Freya Zodiac. Unfortunately, since I bought it earlier this year, my size has increased, and it is now to small for me. So, the only picture I have to show you, is one I took after I first bought it. Sadly, on holiday I couldn’t bring myself to wear something that was too small (not in front of others anyway!)

Freya 'Zodiac' Bikini

However, I did go for a quick dip in the pool with it very early one morning, while no one else was around. I can safely say that it water tested very well; it didn’t try to slip off and was comfy to swim in. Not only that, but it has a lovely pattern with bunnies and cats on it, which I love. The bikini briefs also have a flap that you can fold down, or pull up to cover your tummy if you so choose. I found it quite true to size, I tend to wear my bikinis in 32 rather than 30, as I don’t want too much squidgy-ness when in public.

The one down side that I find with most Freya bikinis, and in fact, most bikinis in general, is that there is a very limited size choice for briefs. They come in XS, S, M, L and XL. Knowing how unlikely I am to fit into most bikini briefs, I always opt for XL. I can tell you that these are the equivalent of a size 14-16..which is not very big at all for an XL. I really wish companies would expand their swimwear, not only in the brief department, but over G cups as well! I have many frustrated H, J and K cup friends who really struggle to find decent swimwear. Fantasie is one of the few brands that do – good on them!

This however, this is a small downside for a very lovely bikini. I would definitely recommend it.

My next review is for the Pour Moi Azure bikini. As  beautiful as I find it with its striking cobalt colour, and as much as I want to give it a good review, I just can’t. When I first bought this bikini, I found it huge in the cup. I immediately sent it back for a smaller size because it swamped me. On getting the correct size, it was a better fit…in the cup at least. The problem is, the back does not give any support whatsoever. I ordered a 32, which near enough makes no difference, as it is a tie back bikini, and even the 32 didn’t have that much extra tie -up material. No matter how tight I tied the back (and I had help from someone tie-ing it as tight as possible), I could still, every time, manage to pull the front of the band inches from my chest. I took a good look at the design of this bikini, and saw that the tie back straps and the band were separate pieces of fabric feebly stitched together. Because of this join, the back half cannot pull the front half any tighter.

Pour Moi 'Azure' Cobalt - Unsupportive Band

What a shame to have such a huge design flaw in what would otherwise be a fabulous bikini. I went in the sea with this on, swam for about 5 minutes; on my way out, my other half had to run over and adjust me, because everything had already fallen out underneath!

Pour Moi 'Azure' Cobalt

The top appears fine in the picture, before you start to move around or swim in it. If you plan to stay completely still the entire time, then that is the only time I would recommend this bikini.
I really did like having the option of tie-side briefs though, because that can work for so many different sizes. 

Next, is one I wouldn’t normally go for, but I took a risk anyway. A La Senza bikini. Generally I’m not a fan of La Senza bras, their sizing is usually off, and anything above a DD cup appears to be badly designed, or designed by someone who does not have a larger chest. They also incorrectly measured me; never a good sign.

However, I’m more open in terms of their swimwear, and spied a very pretty bikini, the Marbella, which I was pleased to discover came in a GG. I actually really liked it, and even though it had a similar build to the badly designed Azure bikini, because this time it had a clip-up band and not a tie back, it wasn’t a problem. It’s lightly padded which I liked as it gave me a little added support. It was also very uplifting, but without huge amounts of in-your-face cleavage.

La Senza 'Marbella' Bikini

At the time I couldn’t afford the briefs as well, so I made do with a pair of white tie side briefs that I found on ebay for £2. I quite like mixing and matching bikinis, I’m not really a person who tries to match their underwear either, so for me, anything with a complimentary colour will do.

La Senza 'Marbella' Bikini - Ebay Briefs

Last but definitely not least my favourite bikini of all; Freya’s Pier bikini. For a while it only came in red, green and black, all very lovely colours. However, I opted for the new pink pier! I have trouble resisting something sparkly and new to the lingerie/swimwear scene, so I pre-ordered it as soon as I could. It has not let me down. I love the way it’s made; it gives a little bit of cleavage, whilst being very supportive and comfortable. It has a clip back, which is always my preference, and the cutest ruffles on the edge of the bikini top, and on the sides of the bikini briefs. Again, the only downside is that I need to order XL briefs again, and they didn’t have my preferential tie-sides. I actually wore my Slinky Dip bikini bottoms (mentioned in a previous post) with it, just so I could feel a bit more relaxed in the briefs.

Freya 'Pier' Pink

I spent most of my holiday in this bikini, and I found it very comfortable to swim in. Not only that, but because of the wonderful support, I found that even though it lacks padding, when I untied the neck straps and wore it as a bandeau bikini, it worked perfectly!  The one thing I cannot quite understand though, is why Freya can’t make this in bigger sizes. I’ve been looking at the design of it, and it seems more than feasible. I tell you Freya, the sales you would get if you brought this out in something bigger than a GG!

Freya 'Pier' Pink

This is a thoroughly worthy bikini, and a staple swimwear item for any larger cupped woman. If you don’t already own this bikini, you should go get one now!

One other bikini that I tried on in store, and loved, but couldn’t get in my size, is the Freya Waves bikini. It is really bright blue and beautiful, but in store I couldn’t find anything bigger than a G. I felt that bikini ran small as the 32G was so tight on me in the cup; in the correct size, I have no doubt it will be fabulous.

Freya 'Waves' Bikini

Hopefully this will be useful to anyone searching for a good bikini this summer, and if you are looking for some entertaining summer reading, I very much recommend Caitlin Moran’s ‘How to be a Woman’. Beckie over at Busts for Justice recommended it to me, and it had me laughing out loud for a great deal of my holiday!

Love

Sophia xxx

Are you wearing the correct bra size?

Most ladies are already aware that it is really important to make sure you wear the correct bra size – however, this does not mean everyone necessarily is.
Wearing the wrong size can damage your back and posture, it can change the shape of your breasts, not to mention make you look bigger than you really are (and I don’t just mean around your bust…)

Bravissimo Campaign

80% of women are wearing the incorrect bra size, and it’s not even necessarily their fault.
DD+ sizes just are not talked about in the media. They are largely ignored, and sometimes considered ridiculously ‘big’ sizes because they haven’t been openly discussed; people are not quite aware of how common these sizes really are.
I know a few years ago, I myself wouldn’t have even thought that there was anything beyond an E cup – that was the biggest I had come across. I didn’t have busty friends, or female family members to ask, and there was no one to tell me that the 34DD I was wearing was completely wrong for me in every way.

One day I got so fed up of being in pain, and feeling uncomfortable in my bras, that I agreed to a fitting at La Senza. The woman there was quite hard on me for wearing a bra that was “so clearly the wrong size”, going on to say that my breasts were becoming deformed because of all the ‘sideboob’ squishing out – she wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t nice about it either!
She decided (without a measuring tape) that I was a 34F and that’s what I should wear from then on. So, I did.

Wrong.

I was probably a 32FF at the time. The problem is, that if a professional bra fitter tells you “this is your size” and you don’t know any better, then that’s what you will wear.
Nowadays, I know immediately if my breasts are changing and whether I need to increase/decrease my bra size; I’m currently a 30GG-32G, and so clued up about my sizing, I wonder how on earth I didn’t see it all through my teens and early 20s.

So, I thought I’d give a few tips on how a correctly fitting bra should look, and what to avoid.

First of all, tape measures are unreliable. BUT, if you have no clue where to start, I would recommend using one just to measure your underbust. Say for example you measure 31″ underbust; that gives a pretty good indication that you should try both a 30 band and a 32 band, and see which one fits you the best. It is important to note that both band size and cup size can vary depending on which brand you wear. As for finding the right cup size, try a few around what you already wear, and you may discover that some seem far more comfortable than others.
When you become familiar with your size and shape, you will probably have no real use for a tape measure. You will know instantly by the fit and feel whether a bra is right or wrong for you.

I will be using this gorgeous Curvy Kate bra as my ‘correct’ example of how a bra should fit. It’s new, today, this is the first time I have worn it. I measure 30.5″ underbust, and this is a 32G. Remember, it’s important to try a few of the closest band sizes to your measurements to find the best one.

Curvy Kate ‘Emily’ Flame – 32G

The first thing to remember is that you should always start off using the loosest hook. Bras loosen with wear and age, so you need those other two sets of hooks to be able to tighten it up over time. Otherwise, within a few months your bra will become useless and unsupportive.

Horizontal bra band – doesn’t ride up your back, fully supportive

You should comfortably be able to fit two fingers underneath the band; any looser and it will be too big, any tighter and it will be too small. If you stand side-on, the band should run horizontally around your chest, and not ride up at the back.

Check that two fingers can fit comfortably under your bra band

The band is 80% of the support for your breasts, this means the straps should not be tight on your shoulders. Again, you should be able to fit two fingers under the shoulder straps – they should not be digging in or causing you pain.

Enough space for two fingers to fit under your shoulder straps

The centre gore (which is the join piece in the middle of your bra), should lie flat against your chest, and not pull away from it at any point. If it does pull away, then you need a bigger cup size.

The centre gore should lie flat against your chest

The cups should fully encase your breasts, and there should be NO overspill on top, (creating the four boob effect), or round the sides (giving you the ‘sideboob’ effect). Most women will have one breast slightly larger than the other, like me.
If this is the case, it’s best to make sure the bra fits your biggest breast, not the smallest. If you have a noticeable difference that you’re not comfortable with, there are lots of breast fillet products that can placed inside the cup to even them out.

Your breasts should be fully encased in the cup, with no overspill on top or around the sides

What to avoid:

These are the same sort of examples, but wearing the ‘wrong’ bra, to show you what it shouldn’t look like.

If your back band is riding up all the time – this means you need a smaller band size, and you current one is not supportive enough; your shoulders will be feeling the effects.

Band riding up indicates you need a smaller band size

If the band feels tight instead, and is causing you pain – this means you need to try a bigger band size.

If the centre gore pulls away from your chest, then you will need to go up a cup size so it lies flat.

Centre gore pulling away – bigger cup size needed

The same goes for breast over spill on the top (or underneath) of the bra, and also what I like to call ‘sideboob’, where breast tissue spills out of the sides of your bra – this again means your cup size is too small.

Over spill and ‘sideboob’ indicate a bigger cup size is needed

If instead, you find you have excess material in the cups – this means you need a smaller cup size.

Don’t forget, when you put a bra on, you should ‘arrange’ your breasts inside them so they are properly encased. This is the best way to tell if a bra fits you or not.

The most common mistake is wearing a band size too big, and a cup size too small.
If you have just discovered you are wearing the incorrect band size, and you need to downsize, remember that you must increase your cup size too. For example, if you have been wearing a 34DD that’s too big in the band, you would be a 32E or a 30F. Even then, if your original 34DD was small in the cup, you may still need to go up a few more cup sizes, and vice versa.

If you want to get measured professionally, I would recommend heading into a Bravissimo store – they are the most accurate fitters I have come across.
If you also want to buy a new bra to try some alternative sizes, I recommend having a browse on Brastop, they do some great deals on gorgeous Lingerie.

If you want to check your measurements online, the most accurate bra calculator I have come across is here: Butterfly Collection Bra Size Calculator
It may not be perfectly accurate, it was for me, but of course it depends on the person. Give it a try anyway.

If you have any questions, or concerns that I haven’t addressed here, please feel free to ask me. Between me and my blogging bra friends, we can probably work out what the issue is.

Love

Sophia xxx

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