Lines and Show-Through Under a Kameez

The short answer: two things show through a kameez: the line and the colour. A seamless, bonded-edge cup fixes the line. A shade close to your skin fixes the colour, and under white or pastel that shade is coffee for most women here, not white. Fix both and nothing shows.

The lined, padded texture of a regular bra pressing through a fitted kameez is the styling problem we are asked about most after size. It is also the easiest to solve, once you separate the two causes.

Cause 1: the line

A stitched cup has seams; a padded cup has an edge where the pad stops; a wired bra has a ridge along the wire. Each one presses through cotton and jersey as a line. A seamless cup is moulded in one piece with bonded, stitch-free edges, so there is no ridge to press. Here is what a seamless bra is. The Seamless Air Bra, our lightest, is the one in the fit check above; the Seamless Contour Bra and Signature Seamless Bra do the same job with more shape and coverage.

Cause 2: the colour

Thin fabric lets light through. A white bra under a white kameez is brighter than the skin around it, so its edges show as an outline. A shade close to your skin reads as shadow and disappears. That is why we say coffee under white, and why maroon, surprisingly, also vanishes. Here is how to pick your shade.

Cause 3, the one people forget: size

A cup that is too small spills, and the spill line shows through anything. A band that rides up drags the whole bra into view at the back. Get the letter right (how to measure at home) and half the show-through goes on its own.

By fabric

• Cotton kameez, thin or fitted: Air, Contour or Signature, in coffee if the fabric is light.
• T-shirt or jersey: a moulded cup, the Contour, for a smooth round line.
• Georgette, chiffon, white: seamless in coffee, nothing with a visible edge. See the white clothes guide.
• Fitted with a visible strap line: the Un-Lined Bra, wireless and non-padded, follows your natural shape with a higher cut.

Questions women ask us

Will the pad show?

Not on a moulded pad with no edge. What shows is a stitched seam or the wrong shade.

Do I need a tank top or camisole underneath?

No. In Dhaka heat, layering a bra, a camisole and a kameez makes no sense. A seamless bra in your skin shade is the layer.

What about the straps at the neckline?

Choose a fuller-coverage style whose straps sit further in, like the Sure Cover Bra, or a higher-cut one like the Un-Lined.

Which shade is "my skin shade"?

Compare against the skin on your chest in daylight, and pick the one that almost disappears. For most women here it is coffee.

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