When the center or bottom part of the bra cup is empty or has wrinkles, most women wrongly assume that the cup size is too big. However, the real reason for this is an incompatible shape: the bra cup is deep and narrow, made for a breast shape with more projection; while the breast broad and has less projection. This problem is usually experienced by women whose breasts are firm and refuse to be poured into an incompatible shape
This has been compared to an orange is a glass: the glass is clearly not too big for the orange (the orange cannot even fit into the glass), but it is the wrong shape. The orange is a breast with a wide root and the glass is the bra cup that is deep and narrow.
Here is another blogger's post explaining the phenomenon. Is "orange in a glass" a problem for you? With which bras does it happen?
This has been compared to an orange is a glass: the glass is clearly not too big for the orange (the orange cannot even fit into the glass), but it is the wrong shape. The orange is a breast with a wide root and the glass is the bra cup that is deep and narrow.
Symptoms of "orange in a glass":
* Empty space or wrinkling at the center of each cup (where the nipples normally are) or* empty space or wrinkling on the sides of the cup (example), or on the bottom (but make sure you are not wearing your bra too low). Sometimes the bra even folds over (example).
* At the same time the breasts are spilling out from the top or the sides, clearly showing that the cup is too small.
Reasons and solutions for "orange in a glass"
* The underwire is too narrow and the cups too deep. Many Freya bras are like that. Try grabbing both ends of one unwerwire and pulling apart (while wearing the bra) -- if now the breasts fit into the cups without any empty space, this means you need wider underwires (in the same bra size).
* The cup is definitely not too big. It might even be too small. The sign of a too big cup is empty space at the top, not side or bottom.
* Your breasts have a broad base (which means you need wider underwires, or possibly shallow with a broad base
* Sometimes "orange in a cup" happens for the opposite reason: the cups are too wide and shallow. This is often the fault of too flexible underwires because the band pulls them wide open, which in turn makes the cups too shallow. This creates too much space on the sides (in the underarm area). In this case you need to choose less flexible underwires.
Here is another blogger's post explaining the phenomenon. Is "orange in a glass" a problem for you? With which bras does it happen?