I have been professionally sized for a bra once in my life. I am a skinny torso-ed maybe b cup. That bra never worked for me. It was way too tight and push uppy for my comfort. I have mostly worn sports type bras or went without. I hate them damn things so bad. Torture devices. I am not in public view a whole lot, so I can manage without.
True dat. A T-shirt you can hold up on a hanger and make a fairly accurate estimate. Not so with bras, lol! And yeah, it is amaaaaazing what a good bra can do for your figure and the way you look in clothes. Even cheap, ugly clothes, which is what I think we are supposed to be talking about, oops! 
Thank God for that! Ladies, please accept some advice from someone you consider a dirty old man, but [del] guys have a saying, “Anything more than a mouthful is wasted.” [/del] we really do like you just the way you are. Quit dressing for other women, unless that’s your thing. Being friendly back when we’re friendly in a non-pervy way is worth several cup sizes. 
FTR, I have a RL friend (yes, I have friends in Real Life) who is a bra fitter and remodeler and she thinks most women have no idea how a bra should fit.
I bought a butterfly one from one of the ads: the color was not as vibrant, the material was very thin and I ended up ripping a hole under my left pit. Since I knew it was coming from China I ordered as large as they allowed but I have broad shoulders. I also have monkey arms (my middle son complained about getting them from me when he wrestled: long arms are not as strong as short arms… that whole fulcrum thing) so the tunic fit more like a 3/4 length than down to my wrists.
Things I’d like to add to my syllabus:
LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS!
WEARING LEGGINGS AND UGG BOOTS TOGETHER WILL RESULT IN A FAILING GRADE!
I have a front row seat from which to view the latest and greatest young women’s fashion. The worst era was the “I’m a porn star/stripper” phase, consisting of:
-A very low cut t-shirt, two sizes too small, with PORN STAR or SEXXXY emblazoned across boobs that were really close to escaping out of the collar.
-Low rider jeans exposing “whale tail” thongs and ass crack (bonus given if a cheesy lower back tattoo is also visible).
Yeah, I get it can be about women seizing the power to be who they want and dress as they wish, but I’d say 99.99999% of my 18yo were making a fashion and not a feminist statement.
Ironically, a student who really did work as a stripper* dressed as if she had stepped out of a Brooks Brothers catalog - linen shirt, cashmere blazer, cuffed slacks, loafers, minimal makeup and so on.
*She told me this, in no way did I ask. And she really was that mythical creature working as a stripper to pay for college. She and her gorgeous wardrobe transferred to Princeton, where she won a full scholarship.
Don’t dress the way you are, dress the way you want to be.
I was an instructor at a Technical college for 14 years, and I also had the same honor. Since I taught core sciences for all the wannabe nurses, the majority of my students were young females who looked like they were aspiring to work the kind of pole that doesn’t have an IV bag hanging on it. Glitter sparkle everything, laced up tank tops with no bra, booty shorts with droopy ass cheeks hanging out, leopard print platform spike heels with zippers and straps hanging off everywhere, make up that has been applied with a spatula, $100 nail jobs, and tattoos, tattoos, tattoos everywhere that cannot be covered by normal professional attire should they ever decide they don’t want to be this girl anymore.
Yes, folks, these are the people who want to be nurses. During my watch, most of them bailed, either because they couldn’t pass my A&P class, or because they found out they would have to break up with their nails and fake lashes.
Our classrooms were kept really cold, so I mostly just wondered if dressing that skimpy was worth it to sit there and freeze for 3 hours.
Men’s wear for sweaters and sports tops - much better quality, and they fit fine if you have broader shoulders. There are lots that aren’t super “masculine” and none have cheap fake spangles.
Sadly, they don’t fit well if you’re kind of woman who gets told by bra fitters “your cups are really large for your torso” (sorry!).
I’d like to know when see-through became the norm. If I’m buying a shirt, I don’t want to have to buy a second shirt just so I can wear it under the first shirt!
What do current hospital HR departments do about those tattoos?
Oh, we’re hearin’ each other!
A lot of the clothing for trendy young women is not very body flattering. Yes, love yourself and your shape, but leggings and other skin-tight apparel doesn’t look good on anyone – stick people or fluffy people. Last semester a student wore leggings that were the exact color of her skin; honest to god, I thought she was nekkid from the waist down!
At least the guys started pulling their pants up. But this brings us to super skinny hipster dude jeans. Surely these aren’t comfortable in the crotchal area? Where do the naughty bits go?
I have a 45yo colleague who dresses in the stripper mode. She doesn’t wear a bra and if her shirts were cut any lower or a bit more sheer you’d see nips. She often complains about students not respecting her (hmmm, here’s a clothing tip for you). She was actually spoken to about her clothing after a male student complained that it was inappropriate dress.
I taught with a fellow grad student in the same program. She wore dominatrix stuff to teach and accessorize with a whip and handcuffs hanging from her belt. She also had some difficulties with student respect (maybe she should have whipped 'm into shape ������
Gawd, I’ve become such an old biddy!
Oh, as for those bras that are so tight they bisect women’s backs, I wore a bra once. Future Wife was late coming back from class so I was hanging out in the dorm room of a mutual friend who suggested I put on one of her bras to see how long it took took FW to notice. I’m not a 36, and that sucker was cutting deeply into my back. It was underwired, so I was getting sliced in front, too. I don’t know how those Women of Walmart stand it 'cuz their bras cut even deeper.
I hate underwire. I know some sadistic male came up with that, right after he invented the chastity belt. They are tortuous.
Back inside, where Nature first put 'em.
I have been out of the teaching game for about 5 years, (praise the Lord & pass the chocolate!) but it was indeed tricky. We could not outright discriminate against anyone, but we could advise them that neck and hand tattoos would definitely hold them back once they are seeking employment. We can guarantee them an equal chance at an education, we don’t guarantee anyone is going to hire them. And there were a few I really did feel sorry for who had visible tats they truly regretted. It’s hard to convince a hardened 20 year old from the trailer park/'hood that she might feel differently in a few years about how she wants to present herself.
Don’t even get me started on the ones with a mouth full of gold that wanted to be dental assistants. :rolleyes:
I know! Believe me, I am no prude, but you don’t put all the goods out there on immediate display like that. I can let my freak flag fly with the best of them, but I know when to roll that sucker up and present myself as a serious professional. There’s a time and a place for everything. A woman should have some mystery to her, something left to be explored & discovered, you know? And that is what I tried to subtly convey to some of the young women under my tutelage. Your student what was the actual stripper but dressed like a lady obviously gets this concept, lol!
I am flabbergasted that your coworkers can’t put it together that their wardrobe choices at work directly influence how they are treated.
And it really is all about the clothes, to bring it back to the topic of the thread. There’s something to be said about the old adage “Lady in the parlor, whore in the bedroom”. 
That’s a common flaw and one of the most important tricks in a consultant’s bag. When I’m meeting C-folk, I roll out the power suits. Working out of an office building but not in IT, the clothing my mother likes. Factory or IT department, roll out the Friking catalog (I expect y’all won’t need to click on the link to know what kind of clothing I’m talking about). I work with people from Maintenance, Production and the Lab: looking like “one of us” for them does not include either Brooks Brothers or Desigual.
But a lot of people, and some people who set company dress codes, just Don’t Get It. I’ve had students who came to the lab in what would be perfectly appropriate dress at midnight in a party, I’ve had coworkers who either because they didn’t get it or of company policies came to factories totally overdressed.
The size issue is serious. When a man wants to buy a pair of pants, he goes to the store, picks a pair in his size, tries them on, and if they fit, buys 3 pairs in that size, from any manufacturer.
Women have to try at least one size up and one down from their expected size, in **every style **they are considering, not just every manufacturer. It takes forever. And then they don’t last nearly as long. It’s an insane waste of time, and, yes, making your own, or - if you are really, really good - tailoring your own, is a solution for some, but some people just don’t like to sew.
And the “plus size” department are the smallest in the store, despite older - and statistically more likely to be ‘full figured’ - women having more money to spend on quality calls.
As a DD-cup, which isn’t as impressive as most people seem to think it is, non-underwire bras are hard to find, and I don’t like those things either. However, some women really swear by them.