Even in these weary economic times, Carissa Brown's cup runneth over. Literally.

A double-F bra-size cup, Brown, who lives in the White Rock area, recently launched a new Web site business that features a line of tops and shirts to fit the well-endowed woman.

Similar to European stores that cater to this specialized market, Bratique Helene of Dallas offers women whose bra cup size is D and bigger, high-quality shirts that are inexpensive, tailored to fit, and made in Dallas using local vendors, fabric and notions suppliers, sewers and cutters.

More importantly, these ready-made shirts can also be altered in Brown's home for a more perfect fit, and the alteration cost is included in the shirt price.

"I'm the only manufacturer in America making shirts tailored to fit the full bust," said Brown, who named the store after her late mother, Helene, a woman who was a size D at age 13.

"Our sizes are based on inches," said Brown, who at 5 feet, 6 inches, is endowed with a size 34 double F cup on top and is a size 12 on the bottom. "We measure the bust and the waist size. I was always pinning [the shirts], and I struggled feeling and looking good. I just want women to celebrate their curves."

According to Brown, a full busted woman has a narrow rib cage — a 28 to 40 back size — with a DD-plus cup size, on a misses-sized body. Because of their large cup size, full-busted women typically can't fit in shirts that button up.

Brown's "eureka" moment for Bratique Helene was a long-time coming. Growing up in Dallas, she often sketched clothing that her fashion-designing mother would make. Throughout the years, Brown took note of her mother's ongoing struggles to properly fit into her bra. And along the way, she learned the key to properly fitting tops rests in its structure — the flawlessness of the darting and seaming techniques needed to produce shirts for the full bust.

Perfecting these techniques allowed Brown to design tops in wider varieties of fabrics such as denim. Typically, she said, the well-endowed woman has limited fabric options in shirts, with tops made of knit the most available option.

To maintain quality control over the production of her designs, Brown purposely selected Dallas as the manufacturing point.

"Dallas is one of the strongest garment businesses in the nation. You can source everything here," Brown said.

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Carissa Brown with her family — husband, Mark, and children Paris, Payton, Paisley, and Persia

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A sample of Bratique apparel

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And another

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