The best bra styles for projected or shallow breasts

Shallow breasts have a wide base but a ‘flatter’ profile. The same volume is spread across a larger surface area.

Projected breasts are the opposite of shallow breasts. They project forwards, sticking out further from the body in profile and have a smaller base. The base of the breast is smaller horizontally but can also be so vertically. The breasts can be spaced closely together or further apart.

Projected breasts have a narrower base and project forwards in profile. The same volume is spread over a smaller surface area.

The best bras for shallow breasts

Shallow breasts are best suited to a bra with rounded cups. Minimiser bras, which have a shallower and wider cup shape than a traditional bra, are ideal.

JOY has fully padded cups and conceals any empty space. Perfect for shallower breasts.

Avoid bras with pointed cups as empty space can often be left in the middle of them. If the cups are padded, you can use any cup shape you like because they won’t wrinkle and the padding will hide any empty space.

If you have a smaller cup size, such as an A or B cup, there’s less chance of the breasts spreading out in the cups since there’s less tissue volume to ‘work with’. The flatter or rounder the cup shape of the bra the better.

If you want an unpadded cup, invest in one with elastic material, they’re more forgiving and flexible.

STAY FRESH minimiser with rounded cups in an elastic unpadded material

If your breasts are spaced very tightly together, avoid bras with a high underwire. Different bra styles have different height underwires, but there’s almost always a standard spacing between the cups/underwires. If the space between your breasts is very tight then underwires can force them apart in an uncomfortable way. If you have this experience, we recommend investing in an underwire that is lower between the breasts, alternatively choose a non-wired style.

If you have shallow breasts, invest in a bra with rounded cups. FLORAL SUN has rounded unpadded cups draped in tulle.

For women with shallow breasts, we recommend amongst others the following styles in our collection: Stay Fresh, Floral Sun, Joy, Meadow Dreams, Winter Dew, Shimmer Frost and Keep Fresh. Avoid unpadded models with pointed cup shapes.

The best bras for projected breasts

If you have projected breasts, you can choose either rounded or pointed cups but should use bras with a shallow cup shape. Some brands generally have shallower cups, so try out different ones until you find a brand you’re happy with. At Miss Mary we have a normal cup depth (as long as it’s not a minimiser) which fits most people.

Both rounded and pointed cups are suitable for those with projected breasts. Pictured is COTTON DOTS with pointed cups in a stiff unpadded material.

If you have large and projected breasts it’s important that you wear the right size cups. Remember that your breasts can change size even if your weight hasn’t changed. That’s why you should try and get into the habit of checking your cup size every year. It’s very common to be wearing a cup size that is too small if you have large breasts.

If the cups are deep enough, the underwire should rest against the sternum as it does with FLORA in the picture.

A common way of knowing if you’re wearing a cup size that’s too small is if the underwire doesn’t rest against the body between the breasts. If your breasts push the underwire away from the body, the cups are too small or too shallow. If the cups aren’t deep enough (or if they are too small) the breasts are flattened causing a so-called ‘uniboob’ effect, especially if you’re wearing a bra without an underwire.

Bras with side support are often also good for projected breasts (provided that it isn’t a minimiser bra) since there’s extra padding at the sides of the cups pushing the bust forwards. Find our bras with side support here.

Someone with projected breasts can wear any bra they like, as long as the cups are not too shallow, just make sure you don’t wear a cup size that’s too small! Pictured is ROSE.

If you have projected breasts but a small cup size and breast base, there can be empty space left at the edge of the cups if there is not a lot of breast tissue to work with. If you invest in a non-wired bra it won’t be as noticeable. Find our non-wired styles here.

A minimiser usually provides a rounded shape but it often appears to flatten the bust. If you have a large cup size and find that it creates gaps between the buttons of your blouse or shirt, a minimiser is the perfect choice; otherwise we recommend using a normal bra which doesn’t have such shallow cups as a minimiser. Find our minimisers here.