What are the differences between padded and push-up bras?

Let me show you. Padding and push-up features in bra cups started in the mid-1940s. Today padding in bras has become much more refined and strategic. A bra with thin cup padding is today called a contour cup bra or a t-shirt bra. Some might call this a molded cup, but this is incorrect. A molded cup simply means the cups have been formed by a mold, not that padding is in the cups. The original padded bra design, that used thick padding throughout the cup to give women a bigger-looking bustline, is no longer made. Push-up bra styles are today's solution if you want your breasts to look bigger.

Push-up bras now have a variety of padding configurations in the cups that take your existing breast tissue and push it up and sometimes inward. This makes your natural breasts look larger because your upper breast tissue is exposed, not covered, as in the old-fashioned padded bra design. Traditional pushup bras have a lens-shaped pad sitting at the bottom of each cup. At Okay Trendy, we carefully measure the thickness of all push-up padding. It generally starts at around a quarter inch thick, then tapers to one inch. This padding lifts your breasts and adds bottom fullness, making your breasts look larger and fuller. A great bra choice for women with semi-deflated breasts wanting to look fuller.

This model is a 34B. On the left, she is in a traditional bra, and on the right, she is in a push-up bra.

This model is a 34D. Again, on the left, she is in a traditional bra, and on the right, a push-up bra. Crescent-shaped padding in the cups is a fairly new padding design. The padding will cover both the bottom and outer side of the cups, thus lifting and pushing your breast tissue toward your center. All push up bra styles at Okay Trendy show you what the inner cup padding looks like. Here again, are the 34B and 34D models in regular push up and push up with crescent shaped pads. You can see that these crescent pads give you the largest breast look and a better cleavage line.

Two important notes about push up bras: you must place your breasts in them properly, and second a push up bra does not guarantee a center cleavage line. Your breast tissue must be manually pulled in and placed on top of the pads in any push up bra to achieve maximum effect.

Ladies with cup sizes C or smaller will probably not achieve touching cleavage. There's just not enough breast tissue available. And, if you have wide set breasts, this, too, could prevent touching cleavage. Removable bump pads called cookies are also available in many push up bra styles. Besides acting as a push up bra, this added bra feature is perfect for women who have different sized breasts. The pad may be removed from the cup of your larger breast to give you an even look. Push up bras generally come in band sizes from 28 to 38 and cup sizes from A to G or D4.