What to wear under a dress with a semi sheer bodice?

Do you have a picture you can share? It doesn't have to be your exact dress, but one with a similar neckline, back, silhouette, and level of sheerness would help everyone else know what you need help with.

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I don’t have the dress yet, but these are photos I submitted to model after (the coloring on the Aline and the silhouette of the fit and flare)

I have a sheer bodice in my dress also and my seamstress was able to make a corset out of sheer material. You can’t tell it’s there, that section is still sheer, and it really holds me in! It would be worth talking to your seamstress/dress designer about doing something like that.

View Quoted Comment How was the comfort? Mine will have a nude cups built into the corset and sounds similar to yours in terms of support. I guess going without a bra is more of a mental fear of what could go wrong as opposed to it actually being the case!

View Quoted Comment Mine is very comfortable, it’s tight enough that the dress feels secure and like it’s sucking my stomach in without feeling like I can’t breathe or the dress is going to tear. It was going to be really hard to wear a bra with my dress also and I was worried about going braless, but after the cups were added and it was fitted it felt perfect. My dress originally had very thin spaghetti straps and I had thicker straps created to keep the top more secure, especially since I’m going braless. Is your dress strapless?

View Quoted Comment Yes, it’ll be strapless. I uploaded some reference pictures that I provided the vendor. Are you are able to see it?

My dress had an illusion lace bodice, low cut front, and low back. I'm a 32D/34C and I wore silicone cutlets and they provided some coverage and a tiny bit of lift (not a whole lot of support, but more lift and shape than going completely braless). I did buy boob tape but never had the chance to test it before and was worried about trying it for the first time then. I might try boob tape for our bigger event though, because I'd like a bit more lift and support if possible.

Misses Kisses bra might be another option depending on your bodice, but they are expensive. I haven't tried it.

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Not sure if my previous message went through...so I’m reattaching a sketch for the dress


Did you buy the various bras and the like after all the fittings and alternations or did you shop for it in advanced? How much time would you recommend from when you get the dress to bra shop, especially when I’m trying to slim down, so I’m not sure if my bra size will change in the process.
Noted on the silicon cutlers. As the boob tape - I saw a video on that and it looks like the lift effect works better if there are straps so you can extend the tap higher up.
Misses kisses lol interesting, but looks like it’s custom!

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I bought my dress pre-owned and didn't end up having further alterations done. It fit me pretty well as is, although might have benefitted from being taken in slightly in a few places, but Covid hit just when I would have brought it in to a seamstress so I just ended up skipping additional fittings. The dress came with push up cups added (on top of the existing nude liner cups), which I removed, and since my dress had an open back and straps I had some flexibility with exact bust dimensions. With your dress, exact bust dimensions would be more important because the fitted bodice is what holds the dress up, so I'd think you'd want to have whatever undergarment you are wearing for the wedding be a part of your fitting process.

It's true that the illusion mesh will be less supportive than a thicker fabric, but with three layers of tulle, boning, and modesty cups I honestly think you might be able to go without any undergarments at all (except maybe nipple covers for modesty if you are concerned with a possible nip slip). If you have girls that are decently full but not super heavy, you might not need additional bra/boob support of any kind as long as the bust is tight enough.

The cutlets worked decently well for me, but if I had a dress like yours I might have opted for a NuBra instead. I have a silicone one and pulling the girls together with a front clasp helps lift them (my dress was too low to use a NuBra with). From a support standpoint I think the NuBra is a bit better than just cutlets. For boob tape, there are ways to tape it strapless but I don't think it's the best option. As far as Misses Kisses goes I don't think you order a custom one but you do bend it to fit your shape when you get it. I'm not sure how comfortable that would be though, and it is expensive so probably not something I personally would get unless I had other outfits to use it with and felt like I would get a lot of use out of it.

With that dress, I'd try a silicone NuBra in a color that matches your skin tone and see how you like it. It should support, lift and shape a little bit and be easily invisible under a sweetheart neckline dress. The drawing looks beautiful!

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Thank you for the very thoughtful and detailed response! I'm glad the pre-owned dress worked out well for you! I was browsing some pre-owned options, but they turned out be more costly than going to a mom and pop boutique that offers custom designs. But, that was also where I first encountered people selling their pre-owned Mira Zwillinger gowns, which was what this design was modeled after.

Thanks for the advice on bringing the undergarment with me for the fitting, I might just order a few different ones and take them with me to try on with the gown.