# Ladies: How do you hook your bra? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408 "2005-07-21T02:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/21 "2005-07-21T03:41:52Z")
I don’t hook my bra. There is no hook on it. Its a strapless, and it is just one tubelike piece. So all I do is slipit over my head. ta da. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/22 "2005-07-21T03:43:25Z")
I was taught by the scary bra lady at the lingerie store my mother took me to when I was 13 to always slip my arms through, lean over and get into the cups, and reach around to hook it in back. If I don’t do this, the bra just doesn’t seem to fit right all day, and the scary bra lady’s image haunts me. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/23 "2005-07-21T04:00:50Z")
I’m a hook and swing gal. I can manage the reacharound when absolutely necessary, but prefer the other method. ---
**Author:** ![Verminary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/71e660/32.png) [@Verminary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Verminary)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/24 "2005-07-21T04:02:31Z")
I switched to a sports bra so long ago that I have only a dim memory of how I used to hook the regular ones. In fact, I had to blink in confusion and re-read the OP a few times until I recalled that real bras do, in fact, have hooks. And straps with little adjustable doohickeys on them. Hook-and-twist does sound familiar, though. It boggles me that people can actually reach behind them and get hold of the hooks back there. Maybe I have short arms, or I’m stiff-jointed by nature, but I could never manage it. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/25 "2005-07-21T04:03:31Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > … hook and twist seems kind of… “little girlish” to me. Maybe because my mom is a reach-behinder, so that way seems like “the grown up way” to me. Odd. I never thought about it before. Funny, I’ve always thought of hook ‘n’ twist as being old ladyish. Maybe I saw my grandmother employ this method once, in the deep dark past. ---
**Author:** ![Flipstrip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Flipstrip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipstrip)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/26 "2005-07-21T04:18:22Z")
I started out doing the swing around method, but I do the reach behind method now. Except when wearing a front hook, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/27 "2005-07-21T04:29:17Z")
My mom did the hook and twist, so of course I do not. Okay, it really wasn’t about rebellion, it just hurts to hook and twist. Also, you can get the straps and stuff rolled up funny and then you spend precious seconds unrolling. I hated front clasp bras, always one side sproinging out of my grasp. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/28 "2005-07-21T04:50:13Z")
Almost always the reach behind. I have one fancy dress bra that seems to have especially difficult hooks, so I sometimes resort to the hook and twist with that one, but it’s not my preference. Regardless of how I do it, once the bra is on, I manually adjust the girls. Bending over and letting gravity do the work doesn’t seem to be precise enough. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/29 "2005-07-21T05:01:20Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > I was taught by the scary bra lady at the lingerie store my mother took me to when I was 13 to always slip my arms through, lean over and get into the cups, and reach around to hook it in back. If I don’t do this, the bra just doesn’t seem to fit right all day, and the scary bra lady’s image haunts me. I was taught to do it that way too, by a professional bra fitter. Leaning over settles the ‘girls’ into the cups a bit more easily (IMHO) and then you just stand up and hook it all together. Doing it up in the front and twisting it around means then there’s lifting and settling and tugging and all sorts of rubbish involved to get the boobs in the right spot, lest you end up with flat or weirdly sideways boobs. And it’s really impractical for those with the great big DD (or bigger) knockers. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/30 "2005-07-21T05:20:24Z")
Not a chick, so generally all I have to worry about is the unhooking bit, but all I have to say is that this thread has yet again confirmed my opinion that it’s far easier to be a guy. I mean, there might be a bit of adjustment, but there’s never any twisting :eek: or swinging around :eek: :eek: Sport/wonder bras are a PITA as far as I’m concerned, but then, I don’t have underwires poking me in the ribcage, either. My sympathies toward those who need substantial structural support, and my apologies for the vagaries of human evolution. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/31 "2005-07-21T05:27:56Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > there might be a bit of adjustment, but there’s never any twisting :eek: or swinging around :eek: :eek: Y’all don’t have to wrap around your leg a few times? Odd… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/32 "2005-07-21T05:31:11Z")
I never unhook them in the first place! If they get unhooked in the wash, I always hooked them before putting them on, then over the head, adjust the boobs, and on with the shirt. I never even thought of hooking after I put one on until now. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/33 "2005-07-21T05:34:23Z")
I put my arms through and then hook them; I buy only the front-hook ones anymore. I, too, had some instruction from the nice ladies at a bra store. They advised me lean forward so as to get all that breast tissue in and not to wash the bras in the machine. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/34 "2005-07-21T05:48:55Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > Y’all don’t have to wrap around your leg a few times? Odd… 😉 Nah, I just kind of bundle it up. If you wrap it around the leg it chafes when you run. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/35 "2005-07-21T05:56:04Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I never even thought of hooking after I put one on until now. Me neither. This idea of hooking them… it’s so foreign. I’ve got some pretty heavy-duty bras (to hold some pretty heavy-duty boobies)… but I’ve _always_ used the “sweater” method. I don’t think anyone ever taught me how to put one on, though. My mother just brought me bras when I “sprouted” (I didn’t even have a chance to use the training bras… I sprouted almost overnight), threw the box at me and told me to start wearing them. I actually didn’t start until one day my cousin tried to snap my bra-strap, only to find I wasn’t wearing one, and she said “Eww! You don’t wear a bra? That’s _gross_!” I started wearing one regularly after that oh-so-humiliating preteen moment. Never asked anyone how, no one ever told me how. Sweater method then, sweater method now. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/36 "2005-07-21T05:58:19Z")
Hook in front, slide it around, and pull up the shoulder straps. Adjust the boobies and we’re ready to go. ---
**Author:** ![EllaBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a5b964/32.png) [@EllaBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllaBean)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/37 "2005-07-21T05:58:24Z")
these days I wear a camisole or an undershirt (I’m not even AA… I just feel weird without _something_) but when I was big enough to fill cups, I usually hooked it around my abdomen with the hooks in back and then pulled it up and put the straps on. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/38 "2005-07-21T07:23:11Z")
Hooking in the back is the easiest way for me. It took a little getting used to when I was younger, but now it just makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/39 "2005-07-21T07:47:59Z")
I hook in back, but before I put my arms in the straps. I twist round to the front on removal though. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408/40 "2005-07-21T08:02:37Z")
Another back hooker here unless there’s a lack of space - ie camping or overnight trains, or an arm in plaster. I wonder how many of us follow our mothers ? I was at an all girls school and IIRC we pretty much all did the hooks at the back thing - but then you get more coverage that way, some of the (more uptight English) lasses even did the bra up _over_ their towel before pulling the towel down - _no_ exposure at all ! The overthehead sweater method is a wacky new concept for me (sports bras excepted), it seems like an awful lot of effort. PS What about at the end of the day ? A quick unhook seems quicker … even with one arm in plaster. Then of course there is the pattented Flashdance seduction removal technique 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-do-you-hook-your-bra/313408.md?page=3)