Bralette

Without a wire, the cup opening has no fixed perimeter, so shape has to come from fabric tension and seam placement. Support has to come from the underband, which is the only component capable of anchoring anything. That means the band on a good bralette is doing more work than the band on a wired bra, not less, and it needs to be built accordingly.

• A wide underband, ideally three centimetres or more, in a firm elastic rather than a soft picot edge.
• A hook and eye fastening with at least two columns, so the band can be adjusted as the elastic ages.
• Adjustable straps. Fixed length straps mean the garment can only ever fit one torso length.
• Seams in the cup that direct tissue, usually a horizontal or diagonal seam under the bust, rather than a single flat panel.
• A side panel or sling of firmer fabric at the outer edge, which is what stops tissue migrating under the arm.

Judge a bralette by turning it over and looking at the band. The lace on the front tells you nothing about whether it works.

Compression is not the same as support. A bralette that works by pressing tissue towards the chest wall will feel secure standing still and will move noticeably when the wearer does. At larger cup volumes that difference becomes the whole story, which is why a bralette is often excellent for a day at a desk and inadequate for a day on foot.

Shape is the other limit. A wire free cup produces a softer, lower, more natural silhouette. That is a feature, not a fault, but it means a bralette will not deliver the round, lifted line a structured wired cup gives, and no amount of size adjustment will make it do so.

Many are sold in small, medium and large, which is a real problem because it collapses two independent measurements into one. A body with a small ribcage and a large bust and a body with a large ribcage and a small bust may be sold the same letter, and only one of them will be happy.

1. Where a band and cup size is offered, use it and treat it as a normal bra.
2. Where only letter sizes exist, look for a published size chart with actual measurements and use the underbust figure as the deciding number.
3. If the band feels comfortable immediately on the loosest hook, it is probably too loose. It should be firm.
4. Check the cup by raising both arms. If tissue escapes at the bottom or the side, the garment is compressing rather than containing.

Tender or changing tissue

Nothing rigid touches the breast, which is the main advantage during the days before a period or through any period of change. See fit through change.

Long journeys and travel

No wire to press during hours of sitting, and it packs flat. See packing.

Recovering from irritation

A soft, seam free bralette in modal gives skin under the bust a chance to settle.

Layering under loose clothing

Where shape is not the point, a bralette is simply more comfortable than a structured bra for the same job.

Bralettes are usually high in elastane relative to their weight, and the band elastic is doing all the work, so they degrade in exactly the way elastane and stretch describes. Hand wash in cool water, dry flat, and expect the band to be the first thing to go. A bralette whose band no longer grips is finished, even if the lace still looks new.

One practical note: because many bralettes pull on over the head, they get stretched at the band every time they are put on and taken off. Fastening at the back rather than pulling over the shoulders is worth the extra two seconds over a couple of years.