Compression vs. Push-Up Bras for Fashion: An Experiment

A few months ago, the amazing Neelam shared how to replicate the Olsen looks to the tiniest detail (if you are looking for The Row aesthetic, make sure to check her Substack), and one of these tiniest details that she mentioned is how she wears a compression bra to create some of her looks. This idea kept lingering in my mind for a few months. On one hand, I do not feel like compressing my chest just for the fit. On the other hand, when you are trying achieve a certain look, that can matter too.

I also remembered how I chose my Cortana wedding dress based on fashion blogger Honey & Silk - and then wore a smaller bra on the day to compress the chest, because the dress looked better that way. So maybe there’s something to it?

As usual, I decided to experiment. I took two too-small compressive sports bras for my small-bust looks, and then layered two push-up bras for the large-chest looks. Obviously, these bras didn’t fit well, so the form of the experiments wasn’t ideal - but they gave me an idea.

My first stop was maxi T-shirt dresses without a defined waist. I was sure these would look better with a compression bra, and guess what - they did. Not very surprising: a garment that barely acknowledges the body's curves tends to look better on a more straight figure.