Six rules for dressing a bigger bust: Designer for women with DD+ breasts shares her tips - including avoiding large prints, embracing peplums and ALWAYS choosing a longer top
- Alice Fawke is the founder of an eponymous label for women with larger busts
- Her dresses, jackets and tops cater specifically for women with DD+ breasts
- The British designer shared her tips on how to dress if you have a fuller bust
- Suggested avoiding large prints, embracing peplums and choosing long styles
Women the world over can struggle to find clothes that flatter - and the issue becomes even more complicated if you have a larger bust.
That's why designer Alice Fawke, 33, of London, decided to launch an eponymous clothing label that caters specifically to women with DD+ cup breasts.
Speaking to FEMAIL, she said: 'As a size 10, with a size 14 bust, I’ve always struggled to find clothes that fit well. I’m not a "standard fit" nor do I qualify for fuller figure clothes.
'I’d either have to go up dress sizes to fit my boobs, which made the rest of the piece very unflattering, or I’d be faced with too much cleavage, "four boobs" or my bra somehow showing.
'Although appearance isn’t everything, never having clothes that fitted properly affected my confidence (not to mention my posture). After years of seeing what didn’t work, I felt increasingly sure of what would, and decided to launch Alice Fawke to solve this problem for me and for other women with bigger busts.'
The result is a collection of dresses, tops and jackets, priced between £85 - £250. that are all carefully crafted to flatter women's figures.
And the rules behind dressing for a larger bust are relatively simple. Here, Alice shares her six shopping rules to help make life a little bit easier...
1. Frame with V, scoop, square and sweetheart necklines
Create a frame: V necks, scoop necks and square necks don't bulk you up with extra fabric and create an 'elegant frame' for the bust. Pictured, the £85 Nadia top in red as seen online
I'll keep this point brief because you'll have heard it lots before. They don't bulk you up with masses of fabric over your boobs and they create an elegant frame for your bust.
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Focus on getting the size right so you don't look like a heaving damsel out of Pride and Prejudice (unless you want to).
2. Longer tops
Twice as nice: There are two reasons to choose a longer top if you have a larger bust: 1. The top is more likely to fit correctly; 2. It will create better proportions. Pictured, the £100 Tina shirt
Firstly, the volume of your bust will make a top shorter anyway and if it isn't designed to accommodate your chest it may become too short; you'll spend your time pulling it down and feeling exposed around the midriff when you sit down.
Secondly, so much of successfully dressing your bust is about creating good proportions.
A short top will unbalance you by making your torso look truncated and will further enlarge your chest by creating the illusion that it meets your waist (particularly if your waist band is also high).
3. Peplums
It's all about balance: A peplum shape, like this one on the £90 Nana top, helps balance out a larger upper torso. Alice also advises making sure the waist seam is relatively low
These are good at taking you from feeling like a lollipop to a more balanced shape. Try to pick ones where the peplum flare isn't too exaggerated or you might feel like the fold of an accordion.
Also ensure that the waist seam (the point at which the peplum starts) is relatively low. Consider the 'long tops' tip above: if the peplum started short, it will get even shorter and won't flatter you.
4. Tight-ish, unfussy sleeves on the upper arm
Remove inches: A fitted upper arm helps reduce the illusion that you are bigger than you are, which is a common issue for women with larger busts. Pictured, the £180 Thea dress
Even if you don't love your arms, choosing tighter over very billowing sleeves will reduce the illusion (that is frustratingly often created by tops when you have a big bust) that you are bigger than you are. If you want a jazzy arm detail, choose one on the cuff.
Small prints
If you're partial to a print, opt for smaller, ditsy ones because generally speaking they're more flattering. They confound the eye by making it harder to focus on one point; they are also more sympathetic to being stretched than large graphic prints. Picture a fitted t-shirt with a big yellow smiley face on it, then picture it being stretched across the bust. What happens to the face? Now picture a t-shirt with lots of tiny faces like polka dots, and then stretch it. Much less dramatic.
Princess seams
Tailored perfection: Princess seams (as seen right) are tailoring feature that add shape and curve to the bust area of a top (dress or jacket). Pictured, the £250 Amanda Jacket
These are a tailoring feature that add shape and curve to the bust area of a top (dress or jacket). They allow the clothing to closely follow the shape of a woman's body, therefore, even if you have to go up a size to accommodate your bust, you will still achieve a flattering silhouette as the top nips in towards the waist.
