While I agree with the idea that many women wear bras for social reasons rather than physical necessity, I’m inherently skeptical of any website that claims that bra-wearing is correlated with breast cancer.
Preach it! I have the opposite problem. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get slim again.
My bra size is 34F (or G depending upon the brand). My rib cage is the only place I’m not fat (except for my skin and bones hands and feet what the?..). Sort of like what you say above, what makes bra manufacturers think that all women with big boobs also have a large band size? Grrrr.
I don’t mind so much having to special order, what gets MY goat is why are they so damned expensive? Why is a 36 DD or 36DDD 29 bucks (19.99 on sale) and if I order the SAME DAMNED BRAND online it’s 49 bucks. In town, they’re around 75 to 100 bucks. :mad:
I know, I know. The real problem is the cost. But the “regular” common sizes like 36 C for instance, ARE available for a reasonable price. That said, despite being an hard to find (locally) size, I have occasionally had luck at outlet stores. Bali has some decent bras and they do seem to carry some less common sizes.
Whenever I go to the states I make it a point to visit outlet stores to see if they’ve got any my size and then I stock UP!
Between this thread and the thong underwear one, I was inspired to go out and buy a bunch of new underwear. I’ve lived in Lululemon crop tops for the past month or so, and the first time I wore my old strapless bra it ended up around my waist 15 minutes later. So off to the department store to get completely resized from scratch!
Everyone makes bras in my size, but I can only ever find ugly styles on sale because all the 32Bs get purchased at full price. I found a Pleasure State bra that I loved, only to learn that the 32Bs never even made it onto the floor - they all got preordered!
Oh! If your strap problem is the same as mine, which apparently is that bra manufacturers all think I ought to have wider shoulders, I need to tell you about the best product ever: Happy Straps. I’ve had my set for about six months, and they’re great. In all that time I’ve only had one come undone while wearing it once, and I just hadn’t secured the end well enough. The only thing is, you need to put it on the bra first, rather than try to put it on while you’re wearing it, so your bra sort of goes over your head. That’s a bit strange at first, but the straps stay put, and you can’t feel it, so it’s comfortable too. I highly recommend them to anyone with narrow shoulders who’d kill for straps that stay put.
I once made a scene in Victoria’s Secret because I could only find my size (36DD) in padded versions. FOR A 36DD. Padding is entirely unnecessary for obvious reasons.
A well-made bra for under $20? Not possible. Like other ladies here, I can’t stress enough the value of getting properly fitted and buying bras that may be a bit pricey but will change the way you feel and look when wearing a bra.
Why make a scene?
Not a cursing, clothes-throwing, fussy scene, but more like why in the heck would there only be PADDED bras available in a DD? I don’t have enough going on up there I need it spilling out of the top? Luckily they’ve changed how they make their bigger bras but a few years ago it was a wasteland for those of us with DD’s. To go into a store specializing in bras and lingerie and not find what you need is very frustrating.
Heck, I’m a G/H cup and I love padded bras because they provide a nice smooth shape and more camouflage for the, uh, headlights. So there are larger cupped women who like them.
Oh, stop being so literal. Anyone reading that phrase can quite clearly understand that yes, the speaker does exist in the physical plane. She wouldn’t use the phrase “of size” unless that size was remarkable in some way. Adding an extra adjective is unnecessary unless the listener is a complete dolt. People are allowed to be creative with their phrasing, you know.
My favorite bra is a 36C which makes my boobs look lovely. It’s got great support, it has no underwire, and I got it from Walmart. I think it cost like, $8.99 or something.
I hate underwires, and yes, that’s even in bras that fit. I don’t find them as grotesquely uncomfortable as some, but the metal band is… noticeable. And yes, that’s even in bras that fit properly. Honestly, I prefer just wearing sports bras. It is possible to get good support without metal.
Hm, maybe I’ll try an underwireless one for comparison sake one of these days. For myself I’m not really looking for huge amount of support, but it is nice to have a bit of shaping and to make sure everything stays in place. Also, the nipplage issue.
I don’t know how it was years ago, but I know that I have some VS bras that I got recently, and they’re good. Either it was always the following way, or they learned from clients like Winnie: They have diagrams with what support they offer, and the Ds and bigger (if available) usually have very little padding, just enough to prevent the headlights.
I like them, I have a few. My only complain is that some I thought were “lift and separate” become “push up and make a cleavage”. Nothing comes out, but they come together. :smack:
I do have a specific push-up that I…erm… seldom use. It is awesome though, it’s so thick I feel like I can wear it during winter and the chest won’t get cold… ever…
What Z said. I’m a D-DD and I love padded bras because it creates a nice shape and covers my nipples when it’s cold.
I do have the same strap problem. For years I listened to everyone and kept trying all different kinds of bras, got fitted at Macy’s, VS, and Nordstrom and everyone said to go with a 36B (and then I got bigger and moved to a 38C). But the straps kept falling off my shoulders!
Finally I realized my shoulders are just not normal. I can’t even keep a strappy purse hanging off one shoulder, it slides right off. It’s really annoying. So I just wear racer-back styles now and messenger bags.
For years I thought it was my band/cup size but really, I just have funky sloped shoulders.
I’m 27 and in the D-DD range, and I often go without a bra-- it hasn’t done a thing, and the perkiness is still there. It does, however, range from “youthful” to “gravity defying” depending upon how intense my exercise regimen has been during any given time period. I have a friend that I knew in high school who had long, saggy breasts of a similar cup size at 15; they probably don’t look that much better or worse now. I think that a good bit of it is genetics, but that, for some people, things like building up the muscle tissue underneath the breast helps support them and keep them from sagging as quickly as they would have on their own.
This. I am really picky about bras to the point where thick straps and an overly matronly design will really make me cringe while bra shopping. If I’m going to wear a bra, I want to have it fit properly, but I also want to feel a little sexy-- well, that’s not entirely true: I just don’t want to feel like I’m staring at somebody’s grandmother’s chest when looking at myself in a mirror. Since I have been able to find sexy and comfortable in one bra on many occasions in the past, I would like that trend to continue.
I have that problem with slingback shoes. Can’t wear 'em - they slide right off my heel no matter how tight the straps are.
I swore by the (very expensive) Wacoal Awareness bra when I was a larger size. Now that I’m a 36C, I have some Awareness bras in that size, but have been very pleased with my Maidenform bras from Macy’s. Here’s a whole page on sale for around $20.00 and under (and they’re always on sale). It won’t help the women who need non-average sizes, but if you can wear a size they carry, they are worth checking out for the savings. I find them comparable in quality to my Wacoal’s, and for certain clothing types, they’re even a better fit.
You apparently do have the same problem as me, because I have the issue with my purse and messenger bag sliding off my shoulder too. Sucks.
I said it in another thread and I’m saying it again in this one - having a professional fitting was the best thing I ever did, underwear-wise (well, other than taking it off at appropriate moments). I worked with the fitter for a couple of hours, and tried on what felt like a bazillion styles of bras, and actually got to see, under her trained eye and hand, why certain styles worked in one size but another style needed another size, and why one style looked terrible on me regardless of size while another looked fantastic.
Now that I know my sizes in those bras (the incredibly expensive but longer-lasting Wacoal’s) I can have a better notion of what to look for in other brands.
Yea, it took a long time and was exhausting and frustrating, but the end result was a better working knowledge of what’s best for my body and my needs.
I (old, male) once dated a woman who was raised in the prescence of money (unfortunately, her father blew the money/destroyed the company his father had left him - shirtsleves-to-shirtsleves in 3 generations).
When it came time for her first bra, her mother took her to high-end department store, where a saleswoman escorted her to a fitting room, had her remove her blouse, looked at her boobs, left, and came back with a couple of bras - that actually fit (she ended up at 36C, not a particularly hard-to-fit.)
Don’t saleswomen still offer this service? A band size and cup size don’t BEGIN to describe a fit.
(for truly clueless males - High/low, direction, spacing, and shape - they all count.)