enell

[fox]

I'd never really been happy with my Shock Absorber sports bra, and then with the weight fluctuation over the past year or so it had really just been a thing I kept around to change into, not for any real value. I'd been trying to work out how to decide what size new one to get - I know my size, but sports bras in my experience run very different from daily-wear bras, and if 9/10 users recommend going up a band size, fine, but then do I get the same cup size, or the cup size that goes with that new band size, or something different? And hardly anyplace carries sports bras in sizes that will be useful to me, so trying them on isn't really usually an option.

Then flt showed up with an Enell, which I'd heard of but never seen, and she talked me through guessing what size I'd be, and I found the local retailer who stocks the damn thing and tried it on, and today I bought it and came home and changed into it because everything else I own needs to go in the laundry.

Wow. WOW. This is, bar none, the most supportive thing I have ever worn. Any sturdier and it would be made of kevlar. It's a bit of a challenge - it fastens in the front, and I can't actually see to do up the first hook, but I can make it work. It's got about a dozen hooks, because it's more of a vest-like thing than a bra, so the girls are really packed in there and not going anyplace at all. And I knew my right breast was bigger than my left, but that has never been clearer than it is right now.

Every other bra in the world, even the highly-constructed scaffolding I normally wear, is going to feel like a mere shoelace compared to this.

[eta: Oh - and I'm in only the 40th percentile of sizes that are available off the rack. That is, there are three sizes smaller than the one I'm wearing and six bigger. So if you're thinking "yes, but", go ahead and give the size chart a look - you may be surprised.]

Comments

[thalia]

Congrats--finding a good sports bra is an accomplishment.

If you want to try something different, I love this one. It fastens like a regular bra, except with an extra snap, and I prefer that to the front-closure ones.

[fox]

I am skeptical of anything that says cup sizes "C and up" and then only talks about DD. Of course, the Enell chart only talks about DDD, and the thing does fit those of us who have to go further down the alphabet, so maybe the Champion does as well? But in the Champion it looks like I'd just fall out the sides, where the Enell doesn't have sides, really.

[thalia]

Well, I've never been smaller than a D cup, so if you are, I can't speak to that. But when I was 34D I found it completely comfortable, with no bouncing at all when I ran.

[fox]

I assume you mean bigger than a D cup? Because I haven't been smaller than a D cup since junior high, and trying to work that out didn't make sense. :-) If the Enell ever fails me I'll keep the Champion in mind - who knows what will happen with further weight loss.

[thalia]

Ah, I misunderstood what you were saying. I can vouch for the Champion at D and DD sizes, but that's it. But, yeah, if you're happy with the Enell, stick with it. Comfortable sports bras are a challenge to find.