Archive for February, 2010

My Dream Red Carpet Outfit

February 22nd, 2010 by Carissa Rose

This is a recipe for success.  Let me count the ways:


  1. The open neck:  show off your decollete with a wide V neckline.  This brings all eyes up to the neck and face.  Remember your make-up we spoke of here.

  2. Nipped in waist:  imperative to show the difference between where your bustline protrudes, and where your waistline dents.
  3. Vertical seaming:  we need all the help we can get to look long and lean.  The up and down nature of the seams cause the on-looker’s eye to think you go up and down too (as opposed to out and round).
  4. Peplum over the hips to balance the full bust:  clearly she is thin, and probably long legged.  If you are short waisted, you are long legged by default.  If you have a hipline wider than your shoulders, a peplum may not be the look for you.  This is similar to our Carissa Shirt, but she has a bell-shaped hem to balance the bust, not a peplum.

  5. The long sleeves:  long sleeves are more formal than short, more formal than 3/4 length, etc.  When you are going for a power look, go with long sleeves.  In fact the longer they are, the more fashion forward.

  6. And the lace accents:  these are just bonus.  Its fun to dress a full bust body, one can borrow from menswear, given her trousers, and from ultra feminine fabrics as well, like lace.  When we first produced Farrah she had lace along the empire seam.  Of course lingerie looks are great on D+cups.

Most importantly, it fits her to a T.  This blouse is knife cut to follow her prominent bust and small waist.  I would wear this if going to a red carpet event.  Surely her bra is lined and therefore opaque (no nipple showing).  The lace bra is more cohesive with her blouse, whereas a solid black bra would be too dramatically oppositional.  Just think of Madonna.

What about you?  Would you wear this?  If not, what would you change?

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Posted in clothing for big busted women, full busted women, shirts for big busted women | 5 Comments »

Carissa Rose White Shirts on TV

February 16th, 2010 by Carissa Rose

We were recently invited to appear again on Good Morning Texas, a live morning program serving the DFW metroplex.

Before you watch it, I have to give a disclaimer.  I’m not really that chubby.  At least not in my mind.  After thinking about it for a while I realized that I only see myself standing in front of a mirror.  I never, thankfully, look at myself seated on a bar stool.  It is quite the challenge to look fantastic seated on a bar stool on live TV.  I hope when Oprah invites us to be on her show we sit on the couch, not bar stools.

So if you want to look good during an interview, at happy hour, or while on TV, please learn from my experience and do the sit test in front of a mirror.

Carissa Rose the Great White Shirt on GMT

Thankfully the models look fantastic, and so will you in your Carissa Rose white shirts, which are by far our best sellers.  In this video our Carissa Shirt is featured in Lemon Drop, our new cream for spring. And the last shirt in the video is Irina and she’s new for us.  She’s available to order now with an April 1 delivery date.

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Posted in big breast clothing, clothing for big busted women, shirts for big busted women | 3 Comments »

Making your shirts work for You

February 8th, 2010 by Carissa Rose

We encourage all of our clients to visit the tailor.  Yes, we design clothes for a specific body type, but everyone’s wardrobe benefits from having a great tailor who knows one’s body well.

Below I’ve outlined the most common alterations for the full bust woman.  Notice no buttons or gaping/pulling across the chest is given.  The prerequisite is that there must be enough room in the garment to cover your biggest part, which thankfully in our case is the bust.   And we don’t believe in buttons anyway.

  1. Neckline. Raising the neckline on a non-collared shirt is simple.  The neck seam may be taken up, and gradually graded out so that at the shoulder nothing is taken up, thereby not affecting the armhole of the garment.  A collared shirt is complicated because the collar will have to be partially removed to adjust the neckline and then re-attached.  I wouldn’t pay the money to adjust the neckline on a collared shirt.
  2. Shoulder. Bring in that shoulder seam so that it is just at your shoulder bone.  This also is a simple customization that has a big impact on you looking your best in your clothes.
  3. Waist. Of course, if you buy a shirt with a great neckline for your length, fits your ample bosom, and the shoulders are in the right spot, chances are the waist is too big.  Taking in a garment at the side seams is frequently done, but I encourage you to think darts.  If you can grab fabric between your bustline and waistline, have the tailor insert a vertical waist dart from below the center bust (on each side) to the hip.  An underarm dart is fantastic too, but on a sleeved shirt it is costly.  I will always pay the money for darts.  They are our best friends.

What about you?  Do you have any customization ideas to help tops fit the well-endowed woman better?

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Posted in clothing for big busted women, shirts for big busted women | 1 Comment »

Is there life outside of 34 and 36 inch back bands?

February 1st, 2010 by Carissa Rose

I hope you answer resoundingly YES.

Decades ago, when bras were in mainstream use but the sizing depth hadn’t developed, the back band would increase to accommodate cup size.  Jayne Mansfield is noted as small as 34D and as big as 40DDD.  We know she probably never had a rib cage even close to 40 inches around.

We receive calls and visit with clients that still hold on to this sizing system – nothing beyond a D cup and instead they erroneously purchase a bra with a wider and wider back band to make room for  the volume of the breast.

In the myriad of women we have fit in bras (we don’t sell bras but we used to have a personal bra shopping service), none of them were fit in a bra over 38 inches in the band.  Although they would come in wearing a 40+ band.  Most women we fit are size 32-34, with G cup being the most common.  And they wear our W size range, well-endowed, the smaller bust proportion.

30HH is the smallest back/largest cup combination I personally have fit.  I myself have always been a 34.  Thirty pounds lighter and now.  When I’m lifting weights and my back muscles become more prominent, sometimes I am 36 back band.  Rib cage measurement isn’t necessarily ‘in-line’ size wise with your body.  Our 30HH client has a medium frame, her shoulders and hips are size 8-10.

What about you?  What is the back band size of your bra?  Other than having your epiphany (hopefully you’ve had one) that you felt better and had greater uplift in a more snug back band, does that band size fluctuate?

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Posted in bra sizes, how to measure bra size | 15 Comments »