How there’s now a clever bra for ANY party frock: How to navigate all the tricky dresses that the festive season throws at you

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With shop clothing rails now bulging with the usual seasonal array of gorgeous evening dresses, women are facing the age-old annual dilemma. What on earth do you wear underneath them?

If you’re anything larger than an A-cup, how can you get support up top if your dream dress is strapless, one-shouldered, bandeau style or even backless?

Femail’s fashion expert Emily Monckton has the answer, with the clever bra solutions that will boost your assets, protect your modesty and make you look fabulous - all at the same time...

CRISS CROSS

Dress, £89, coast-stores.com, and heels, £89, dunelondon.com

Bra solution:

Angelina satin multiway, £38, bouxavenue.com

If you are small-chested, criss-cross straps on the back of a dress aren’t a problem - you just ditch the bra. But for those of us with bigger busts, this isn’t an option.

Thankfully, this underwired bra has the answer, with two sets of straps - silky, white satin ones and an extra pair of see-through straps - that can be fitted in a number of ways.

For a dress like this pink one, they can be crossed over at the back, so they are almost invisible under even the thinnest straps.

Thanks to cotton-feel cup lining and breathable mesh sides, the bra is comfy, while the soft satin and delicate lace overlay mean it’s pretty, too.

HALTERNECK

Dress, £29.99, zara.com, and heels, £18.70, very.co.uk

Bra solution:

Multiway bra, £27, ultimo.co.uk

Halternecks can be very flattering, no matter what your chest size - however, they can make you look droopy if worn without the correct support.

There’s a simple solution: take one of the long, adjustable straps on this underwired style, loop it behind your neck and attach each end to the front of the bra cups to create a halterneck bra.

In silky fabric, this well-thought out bra boasts thick, sticky silicone bands around the chest, a supportive back with triple fastenings and cotton-lined cups.

The padding also gives great uplift and cleavage.

PLUNGING NECKLINE

Metallic dress, £80, topshop.com, and glitter heels, £195, lucychoilondon.com

Bra solution:

Wonderbra Ultimate Strapless Bra, £36, figleaves.com

While a low-cut dress may have thicker straps and even sleeves, it can prove tricky to find a bra that doesn’t show in the space between your breasts. You need a specialist style, such as this black one, with a middle section that dips down lower than usual.

It’s completely strapless, so it can also be worn with other tricky dress types, and, as the moulded cups are seam-free, it will leave a smooth silhouette with no lumps or bumps under even the tightest of fabrics.

A thick, yet comfortable, ‘anti-slip’ silicone band all the way round the ribcage area helps keep it in place, and the Wonderbra cups give great up-and-together cleavage for extra wow factor.

OFF THE SHOULDER

One-shoulder dress, £149, coast-stores.com, and courts, £295, lkbennett.com

Bra solution:

Perfect Fit Bra, £28, marksandspencer.com

This ingenious bra can be worn in five ways to suit all kinds of dress shapes. It’s particularly handy for one-shoulder styles, which only allow support on one side.

It’s all down to the two versatile thin straps, which can be taken off and repositioned in a variety of ways. For a dress such as this, you’d leave one strap as normal, but unclip and extend the other diagonally across your top half.

Good for bigger chests, the stretchy band under the breasts and thick back section with four rows of hook-and-eye fastenings makes it secure, while the lace means it looks feminine as well as functional. A great investment.

STRAPLESS

Dress, £225, reiss.com, and heels, £195, lucychoilondon.com

Bra solution:

Strapless bra, £35, ultimo.co.uk

Most of us with larger chests tend to steer clear of bandeau dresses, as most strapless bras you’d wear with them squeeze the breasts from above and below in order to stay up, giving a long, horizontal sausage-shaped chest, or ‘uniboob’.

But this clever style gets round the issue by providing all of the support from underneath, with a wider-than-usual boned 2 in section that hugs your ribcage, providing a ‘shelf’ for your assets to sit on.

There’s sticky silicone under the arms for extra security, but not under the breasts, which makes it comfier than traditional strapless styles.

The removable pillows in the cups add optional oomph, while the simple satin bodice means the bra looks attractive, too.

BACKLESS

 

Pink dress, £119, gorgeouscouture.com, and heels, £225, adaraleigh.co.uk 

Bra solution: Sticky backless bra, £24, bouxavenue.com 

Backs may be the new cleavage but, if your dress is entirely backless, there’s little place for a bra to stay hidden. Yet without one, there’s a real risk of a wardrobe malfunction. Step forward the stickon bra. 

It’s essentially two soft, thick bra cups joined together with underwire, with see-through plastic ‘wings’ at the sides. It comes with reusable, repositionable doublesided sticky patches - you hold the bra in place over your breasts, then stick one side of each patch to the wings and the other side to your body.

Despite appearances, it feels surprisingly secure. However, while it will protect your modesty, it’s not especially supportive, so is probably better suited to smaller busts. 

Stylist: Amy Kester. Hair and make-up: Julie Read using Bumble and Bumble and Guerlain. Fashion assistant: Emily Monckton.