Here’s Why You’ll Love Polish Bras if You’re Full Busted

Disclosure: This article is sponsored by Miseczki. Links are affiliate ones.

If France is the lingerie capital of the world, then Poland is the full-bust lingerie captial of the world. Seriously, if you wear above a D cup size (especially if you’re well beyond that letter) and you don’t know about Polish bras yet, you’re missing out.

Maybe you have heard great things about them, but have been put off by having to deal with currency conversions, complicated size conversions, a long shipping wait, expensive returns, and/or potential customs fees. Well, if you’re in the US, brand new retailer Miseczki is all about making DD+ Polish bras easily accessible there! They’re so far carrying three of the most popular Polish bra brands – Ewa Michalak, Gorsenia and Gorteks – with fast shipping and free returns for US addresses.

Why do Polish bra bands make so many cup sizes?

It all goes back to communist-era Poland, at which time one major employer in Lodz was a government-run lingerie company that later split up into hundreds of independent businesses. Creating quality bras often requires specialised machinery and components, and with so many lingerie brands all based in the same area, both have remained easy to come by here.

This means that many Polish lingerie brands have their own, local manufacturing facilities, and that’s a key reason they’re able to offer so many sizes. They can produce only the stock they need or potentially even sew things to order, instead of buying lots of the same size to meet large third-party factory minimums. Polish brands frequently go way beyond a D cup; Ewa Michalak is quite possibly the lingerie brand with the largest size range worldwide, and goes up to a NN which in the US sizing system is a V cup!

But an expansive size range isn’t the only thing to love about Polish bras – fans also rave about the shape and support they give. So let’s talk about the typical characteristics of a Polish bra, and break down just what makes them work so well for these larger cup sizes they’ve set out to serve.

What makes Polish bras so excellent for fuller busts?

Seamed bras, not t-shirt bras

In the US especially, there’s this idea that a moulded cup t-shirt bra is the only thing able to hold up the weight of a large bust, because thicker fabric must mean a stronger bra, right? But the truth is, a bra with seams in the right place is going to do a much better job of lifting and shaping heavy breasts than a single, unseamed piece of foam.

Seams strengthen the fabric, and vertical seams help to lift breast tissue upwards. Think of it like putting boning into the bra cup – it’s not as rigid of course, but the seam does reinforce the fabric in a similar way. Horizontal seams on the other hand allow the cup shape to be deeper, which is also beneficial when you’re fuller-busted.

A popular bra style for D+ sizes is the ‘3 part cup’, which has a horizontal seam plus a vertical one up the centre of the lower half. Polish bra brands love this style, but also often go one step further by adding more vertical seams to create 4- or even 5-part cups that are able to support even the heaviest of busts!

Thoughtful use of stiff and stretchy fabrics

While it may not be obvious via online product photos, when it comes to unlined bras, Polish lingerie brands also tend to be very intentional about the fabrics they use for each panel of these multi-part cups. You’ll frequently find stiffer fabrics used in the lower cup to strengthen the area that is under the full weight of your bust, and stretchier fabrics on the upper cup so that they conform nicely to your curves without gaping or digging in. This stretchy top section also makes the bras better equipped to handle size fluctuations or unevenly-sized breasts.

Narrow cups = more projection!

Polish bras are also known for typically having narrow underwires. The wires help to keep your breast tissue encased within the cup, and when they’re narrow, that tissue gets pushed forwards instead of spreading to the sides. In other words, they give you a narrower look from the front and a curvier look from the side, which many fans of these bras appreciate.

Bras developed especially for fuller busts

You might think this last point goes without saying, but actually, sometimes bras made in smaller full bust sizes – think DD or E – were not actually designed with those cup sizes in mind.

‘Scaling up’ refers to taking a sewing pattern made for one size and making it larger in places, to fit a larger size. But making a bra that works well for a C cup also work well for a G cup requires more than just making it bigger! You might need to add extra seams, swap out some of the fabrics for sturdier ones, use wider straps, change the shape of the band… the list goes on. And a brand with a mostly A-D size offering may not go to all of that effort and expense to add just another cup size or two to their range.

If you’re full busted, the great thing about Polish lingerie brands is that many of them are specialists in this niche. This means that not only will their styles be created with heavy duty support in mind right from the get go, but they’ll also be using full-bust fit models to test that the bras look and function as intended before they’re launched for sale.

Shopping tip: take note of Polish bra brands’ style codes

One of the quirks of Polish bra brands is that many of them include an alphabetical style code in the product title. These refer to the general shape/construction of the bra. For example, Ewa Michalak’s BM bras are unpadded balconettes with 3-part cups while their SF bras are also unpadded balconettes but with 4-part cups.

This is really helpful because it means that once you’ve found a fit that works for you, you can buy more bras with that same style code from the same brand and expect that same fit – the fabrics and decorations may change, but things such as the width of the underwires, the height of the gore, and the depth and height of the cups probably won’t.

Have you been convinced to give Polish bras a go? Or if you already did, let me know what you thought of them!