Styling dresses with large arm holes

May 5, 2024 6:43 PM

Somehow I ended up with a few dresses with large arm holes. They are so large I can't wear a normal bra and they show a surprising amount of side boob. How am I supposed to wear them?

I'm not sure why I didn't notice when I was trying them on, but they are otherwise not particularly showy dresses except the arm holes are enormous and basically show the entire side of my boob. Assuming I want to wear these dresses to otherwise somewhat conservative events, how am I supposed to style them? What sort of bra or bra alternative works with this kind of dress? They aren't really dresses that would look right with a shirt under them.

posted by Toddles to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total)

Camisole? Or take to a tailor to have altered. Or wear a bra that you feel ok with showing - colored, lacy or sport depending. or a slip?
posted by leslies at 6:50 PM on May 5

Cardigan or bolero on top?
posted by humbug at 6:56 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Bandeau bra or bralette with wide sides under the arms, assuming your boobs don’t need much support.
posted by greta simone at 7:03 PM on May 5 [7 favorites]

These dresses are designed for you to wear a pretty bralette or bandeau underneath them. It's a style thing, most likely, not an ill fitting dress thing. I might not wear them to a conservative event because there's no real way to solve the issue. You could possibly wear a tight fitting camisole beneath them, depending on the neckline, but it seems unlikely that it would look right.
posted by branca at 7:09 PM on May 5 [10 favorites]

Over a baby tee, like a jumper?
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 7:25 PM on May 5 [4 favorites]

Sports bra / tight tank top with spaghetti straps.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:31 PM on May 5

I'd go tank top with regular straps, not spaghetti. Finding a tank top with small enough arm holes is a bit of a challenge, but others have met it and written about it.
posted by amtho at 7:50 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have worn a fitted tank top in the same color as the dress, and in a color close to my skin tone.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:28 PM on May 5 [3 favorites]

If a bandeau bra doesn't work for you, try a regular bra covered by a tube top.
posted by demi-octopus at 3:27 AM on May 6

I swear the armholes on women's dresses get disproportionately larger with each size increase (J.Crew, I am looking at you!). I get a lot of my dresses tailored under the arm for this reason. It's a relatively easy fix depending on the fabric.
posted by notjustthefish at 8:28 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

If there is really a lot of side-boob showing, I think branca is probably right that the dresses are designed to fit that way. OTOH if it's not too extreme, the dresses might just be too long in the shoulder for you. I'm short (just over 5' 1"/155 cm) and "short-shouldered" according to the tailor who altered my wedding dress. I often find that I have this problem even with otherwise "modestly" cut dresses - really, the whole dang dress is hanging too low, but it's easy to miss that fact in a dress with a high waist or no waist taper. If the dress is fully sleeveless it's an easy fix to have a tailor take move the shoulder seams down a little. If it has cap sleeves, doing this fix will be more complicated and expensive.
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 10:35 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I bought a few of these to wear under dresses and tops with too-low neckline or too-large armholes. They're very comfortable!
posted by maryellenreads at 11:07 AM on May 6

My own body proportions mean this gap happens in almost any sleeveless garment. Since I sew, I fill in that gap with congenial scraps. Or, I take in the shoulder seams by an inch or more. This can be done by hand. Or by a pro.
posted by evenolderthanshelooks at 12:51 PM on May 6

Best answer: I have this problem a lot! I normally wear a tight-fitting camisole in the same color as the dress, and if the dress is on the more formal end, I'll add a very thin bolero in a contrasting color. I've had good luck finding camis and boleros at Anne Taylor Factory and Loft Factory stores.
posted by neushoorn at 8:48 AM on May 7