Anatomy of a Bra – The Center Panel
November 04, 2010
That little triangle-shaped patch of fabric sitting between the cups of your bra is no afterthought. There’s a lot of engineering taking place between your breasts.
That center panel, also called a gore, helps to determine the shape and placement of your breasts. Traditionally, the top of this panel should be horizontal with the apex of your breasts (read nipples) for the best breast support. This is the primary reason I show the "measured" image on every bra we sell. The graph overlay shows you many things, but it specifically shows you where that center panel is going to land on you.
Over the last couple of years, decollete tops have sent women looking for bras with what is called a ‘plunging’ center design. In this case, the center panel is cut lower. Now, these bras fit fairly well for women in cup sizes up to a D. But, the larger cup sizes must be fit very precisely, or the woman falls out when she leans forward.
Officially, the center panel should rest directly on your sternum. If it does not, this usually means your cup size is too small and you need to size up. However, there are three exceptions to this rule. The first is a minimizer bra. Because their design objective it to reduce breast projection, minimizer bras create a kind of compression of the breasts. The center panel in some is therefore missing altogether, but if it is there, the proper fit does not mean the center panel must touch the sternum. The second exception is soft-cup or wire free bras. Without an underwire, it is almost impossible for the center panel to successfully rest on the sternum. The final exception would be larger breasts. With so much breast tissue, there is sometimes simply not enough room for the center panel to get to the sternum.
Finally, no conversation about the center panel can end without a discussion of front-closure bras. These are bras that have a clasp in the center front. It is extremely difficult to design a good front closure bra. The center panel is now a clasp which reduces the bra’s stability in the center. Not to mention that the bra now has no adjustability, so it must be an extremely accurate fit. Women in between band sizes will find the fit unacceptable. Front-closure bras have some of the highest return rates on the market. So, if you are a lover of them, this is why you don’t see very many – the manufacturers and retailers shy away from them for this very reason.
The next time you are shopping for a bra, give some thought to its center panel. The more that’s there, the better the support.
Find bras in all styles at HerRoom in these departments:
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Posted by Tomima at 12:56pm
Tags: body types, Bra Fitting, cup size, lingerie shopping
2 Comments »

She’s on the cover of the latest W Magazine nude. Then inside, Kim is nude but for silver spray paint all over her body. She has now left nothing to the imagination; Kim is standing full frontal and showing off her actual breasts. But then the article claims they’re the cup size of DD. Well, on that point, I disagree.
But wait, there’s another reason why I love Ecoland. The underwire in their underwire bra is not metal at all. Instead it’s made out of biodegradable plastic. We at HerRoom frequently receive requests for this feature from women who work in prisons and other jobs where they must go through metal detectors set to high tolerances. They must either suffer the humiliation of a pat-down, or find a wire-free bra. Finally, here is an underwire bra that won’t set them off!