Guide to Chantelle Bra Styles, Sizing and Fit

Below is a mostly-comprehensive list of Chantelle bras, including their style names and style numbers, with notations on whether each is suitable for shallow or projected breasts and wide or narrow roots. The list prioritizes bras currently available, but some discontinued styles are included for reference.

Notes on Fit and Breast Shape

Shallow vs. Projected: Shallow breasts have less forward projection and a wider base, needing wider, less deep cups to avoid gaping or empty space at the top. Projected breasts extend farther out, requiring deeper cups with immediate projection at the wire. Chantelle bras often feature seamed, unlined constructions that provide excellent forward projection and support for fuller, projected shapes, while molded and padded options like plunges or t-shirt bras offer rounding for shallower profiles.

Chantelle categorizes busts as shallow (lacking top volume), average (perky apple shape), or full (melon-like roundness), recommending seamless or minimizer styles for shallow and full-coverage for projected.

Wide vs. Narrow Roots: Wide roots span a broader chest area, needing wider wires for comfort and to prevent digging into breast tissue; narrow roots are more compact, needing narrower wires to ensure the gore tacks fully. Chantelle wires are generally average, suiting average roots best but often too narrow for very wide ones. For narrow roots, plunges like Norah excel with low gores.

How to Use This List

Identify Your Shape: Use Chantelle’s Bust Type Guide (shallow/average/full) on their website or A Bra That Fits resources to confirm if you’re shallow or projected and your root width.

Match Bra Style: For shallow breasts, prioritize molded, seamless, or plunge bras (e.g., Soft Stretch Plunge, C Magnifique Minimizer). For projected breasts, choose unlined, seamed, or full-coverage bras (e.g., Rive Gauche, Revele Moi).

Check Root Width: Ensure wire width aligns with your root—Chantelle’s average wires favor average roots, but plunges work for narrow and full cups for wide.

Additional Notes

Shape-Specific Collections: Chantelle’s Norah line (e.g., 2411, 2412) excels for projected breasts with narrow roots, offering stretch lace and low gores for FOT and close-set tissue with all-day comfort. The C Magnifique series (e.g., 2021, 2025) provides minimizer and full-coverage options for shallow to versatile shapes with wide roots, reducing projection while smoothing. Revele Moi (2141) is a universal pick for its stretchy top cup adapting to various fullness profiles.

Some wearers critique Chantelle plunges (e.g., Parisian Allure 2511) for wrinkling on highly projected FOT breasts or being too narrow on wide-root FOB, causing side spillage. Seamless styles like Orangerie (1821) are praised for shallow, wide shapes but may gap on narrow, projected profiles due to average depth. Bands run snug initially but stretch quickly—opt for snug fit and rotate to maintain elasticity.

Wire Width: Chantelle bras typically have average wires, suiting average roots but challenging very wide ones (e.g., C Magnifique for broader fits) or very narrow (e.g., Rive Gauche plunges).

Discontinued Styles: Favorites like C Sexy Plunge (2431) and Festivite (2631) remain popular for their sexy, versatile fits.

Fit Variability: Cup depth and wire width vary by size (e.g., larger cups deeper). For projected shapes, sister size up in cup (e.g., 32G vs. 34F) if too shallow; for shallow, down a cup to avoid gapping. Chantelle uses EU sizing (straight letters A-J), often true to UK but snugger bands. Always scoop and swoop.