Carissa Rose is a clothing company specializing in fitting the full bust. As defined by the founder, Carissa Brown, a full bust is “a narrow rib cage (28-40 back size) with a DD+ cup size, otherwise a misses sized body, but with a bust-line that doesn’t fit button-up shirts.” The company is named after her mother, for sentimental reasons and because her mother gave her the education on designing clothing for well endowed women.

As a second time mom with large breasts prior to giving birth, I could never find a button up shirt that fit correctly. Instead, I constantly struggled with pulling down shirts, showing my bra straps (or side boob gap), and settling for stretch jersey to give me the dreaded uniboob. After having 2 children, my breasts grew to an unmanageable size, and I had to donate all but 2 of my shirts. When all hope was lost, Carissa sent me a sample of her line.

Carissa Rose’s button up style shirt allows me to be put together for business and even make other mom’s jealous at the playground. From the darting to the unique closure system, this shirt was made for busty women like me.

The darts at the bust area are perfectly placed to give women a slimming shape. For me, the seaming on the breast area created an unflattering point reminisce of Madonna. I think the dart problem could be related to the bras I wear and will be fixed simply by changing the dart to a princess seam. Carissa writes about finding a great bra for a full bust in her styling tips (hint: there’s more to lace than just being pretty).

Being short, I did find the sleeve length to be long. I’m nit picky and don’t like sleeves anyways, so hitting the tips of my fingers didn’t make me happy. I see myself turning this into a 3/4 sleeve shirt, as I tend to turn the cuffs up that much anyways.

The fabric is a great stretchy woven material that looks durable and feels smooth on the skin. The fabric is light enough that I can layer the shirt under a blazer, but thick enough that it’s not see through.

Breastfeeding with this shirt is just as easy as finding a private corner. The closure system is hook and eye, which means no more unsightly gap between buttons, or worse, popping buttons when breathing deep. I thought the closure would be hard to manuever, but I’ve mastered the technique one handed with a wriggling baby in the other arm.

The bottom of the shirt flairs out slightly, which has a slimming effect. Leaving this shirt untucked is the only option for me, and having the bottom flair means I can hide the mommy pouch that hasn’t been beaten into submission yet.

This shirt, the company, the story of the mom and mom’s mother behind the company, and the website all get a big smile and thumbs up from this Momma.

About the Momma:

Amanda @ funkEpunkEmonkE.com

Amanda is a homemaker, roller derby vixen, freelance web architect, indie crafter, wife, and mother of two girls. She loves to tailor clothes to oddly proportioned people.