You know the feeling; you are sitting in an important meeting and suddenly you feel a bra strap slide down your shoulder. There are a few reasons why this might be happening and depending on the cause, there are concrete steps you can take to prevent strap slip.
Let’s back up and just quickly refresh on the role of the straps in the bra. The most important thing to know is that they are not responsible for support! The role of bra straps is to keep the bra in the correct position on the body. If the straps are slipping off the shoulders, they won’t be able to do their job and the bra will start to sag. We don’t want that!
There are several things that can cause bra straps to fall. Let’s take a look at the main causes and how to fix each one.
AGE
The first and most common cause is that the bra is worn out and stretched out so the elastic no longer expands and contracts. One sign this is the cause is that you have the strap tightened as far it can go, and it still falls off your shoulder. The best solution here is to replace the bra. A bra with “dead” elastics can no longer do its job to support and shape your body. It is time to make a new bra!
ADJUSTMENT
Another reason straps slip is that they are not adjusted properly. I see this happen a lot with new bras fresh off the machine. In the excitement to try on the bra, the strap is not adjusted to the correct length. In this case, you just need to adjust the straps so they fit more snuggly to the body.
SLIDER SIZE
One cause of strap slippage is not very obvious. The straps may be slipping through the sliders and out of where you want them set. This means that the sliders may be too wide for the strap elastic. If you have different rings and sliders sizes in the right color for your bra and a desire to unpick some stitching, you can re-make the straps (it is fiddly but doable). A simpler solution is to be sure when you are making your next bra that the strap elastic is secure when threaded through the slider. The elastic should not move very easily through the slider.
STRAP LOCATION
Strap slippage can also be caused by the strap position on the bra. If straps are placed too far out on your shoulder they are predisposed to slipping. There are a couple of ways to fix this but both adjustments should be made to the pattern before you cut out the bra.
When adjusting the bra strap location, you can move the straps in toward the center of the body on the front, back or on both sides of the bra. Where you decide to make the change depends on the style and the look of the bra.
To move the straps on the front of the bra, start by marking the outer edge of the desired front strap location. Do this by placing the strap on the pattern and marking the outer edge where the strap meets the upper cup.
Then redraw the underarm curve on the upper cup to smoothly transition into the outer edge of the strap in its new location.
To make the change in the back of the bra, redraw the scoop on the back band with the topmost point of the band corresponding to the desired strap location. Moving the back straps is where I start to adjust strap placement if the bra looks beautiful and proportional on the front of the body.
In the above tutorial I used the Boylston bra to illustrate the pattern changes. To find out how to make these changes with the Marlborough bra, see this tutorial. For moving the straps on the Devonshire bra, you can read more here.
Happy bra making!
