Do you have trouble with Ready-to-Wear blouses with buttons that pop and gap? Do empire waists ride halfway up your bust? When you sew, do you have to do a Full Bust Adjustment? In knitting do you use short rows to accommodate your bust? If your bust is larger than a C cup, my guess is yes. The Big Four sewing pattern companies, knitting patterns, and most RTW clothing are based on a B cup. As you can see, you don’t have to be terribly large busted in order to benefit from clothing made with your bust in mind.
Luckily, several companies cater to the larger-busted woman. Colette sewing patterns are based on a C cup. Silhouette sewing patterns offer a variety of cup sizes. Ysolda Teague offers outstanding knitting advice and patterns for accommodating a large bust in her book Little Red in the City. Finally, several RTW companies offer blouses and dresses for the woman with a large difference between the waist and bust. Unfortunately, many of these are quite expensive. Not so with Biu Biu.
I read about Biu Biu on Thin and Curvy’s blog — she has a wealth of information about fitting the bust, even if you are neither thin nor curvy. She provides a review of the company, including photos. Go see! Based on her review, I decided to give Biu Biu a try, and I was not disappointed. Far from it! The quality is fabulous, the fit is wonderful, and the prices are terrific, even accounting for shipping.
I ordered 5 items:
- Vanity Fair long-sleeved white blouse
- City short sleeved blouse in cappuccino and white
- Hanoi knit top in bright green
- Fuego knit top in raspberry (see photo above)
My total bill for 5 shirts, including postage, was $150. I paid about $27 in priority postage. I thought I was ordering parcel post for $16, but apparently not. As it turned out, I am glad it worked out this way because I got my tops in 10 days instead of 2 months. If we divide the postage evenly into 5 items, it adds less than $5.50 to each piece. I think $40 for the long-sleeved blouse seems very reasonable, especially considering similar tops list for $120 on other Not-to-Be-Named websites catering to the same target market. With postage, I paid $22 for a short-sleeved blouse and about $35 for each long-sleeved knit top.
Ok, let’s stop talking price now and get to the point! These tops all fit like a dream. I was nervous about having to ship ill-fitting items back, but I just found my measurements on the chart and crossed my fingers. I was on the cusp on the waist size, but since I have a little paunch, I decided to go to the larger of the two sizes for the waist. My waist is about 30″ (or 76-77cm) and bust is about 38″ (96cm). I chose the 40B for the woven blouses and the 40B/BB for the knit tops. The size was perfect.
Here is the City short-sleeved blouse. Side shots show no button popping! The Vanity Fair is the long-sleeved version with a little more flair at the hip.
I am very happy with the fit. The quality is also outstanding. The knit tops are made of soft cotton, and both have interesting details that make them more visually appealing than plain t-shirts. The Hanoi top does not have any gathering under the empire waist like Fuego does. Fuego is very full and would accommodate a wider belly, but it doesn’t have that pregnant look.
I recommend going to look at the Biu Biu site, even if you make your own clothing, just to see the styles. Biu Biu knows how to dress for a full bust. Their style is made for women like us, so the blouses are very flattering.
Usually t-shirts look like hell on me because they pull across my bust and my stomach, leaving a baggy area inbetween that hides my waist. Not flattering. I often buy a larger blouse than my shoulders really need because I can’t button them. Or I buy the right size, knowing I will always have to wear it unbuttoned with a camisole peeking out. Biu Biu takes all that into account. The shoulders fit, the waist fits, the buttons stay buttoned. Biu Biu offers dresses, blouses, and knit tops. There are a variety of colors, styles, sleeve lengths and collars to be interesting. I look forward to seeing their new offerings this spring!
