I don’t actually think it’s a matter of poor design exactly - I think it’s more a matter of competing demands and there probably isn’t one design that is both easy for everyone to put on and take off without being a contortionist , works with a wide variety of necklines and allows the band to be adjusted. Because a front closure sports bra that zips up may not work with every neckline and probably doesn’t allow band size adjustments. And I for one don’t love the idea of having to try multiple bras to see which one both works with this neckline and fits today.
Not being a user of brassieres myself, I defer to your judgment. But just logically I think of this as an underexploited market. There must be thousands of women who prioritize “ease of hooking up their bras”–hell, I know personally several women who find it difficult to wash the area between their shoulder blades without using a long-handled shower brush. I expect they and those like them would be glad to have better front-clasping options available to them.
That’s just it -“better” is subjective and if someone is only interested in a front-closure bra that stays closed, and only wears high necklines and never needs the band to be adjustable, they exist. What doesn’t exist is all those things I mentioned previously (and possibly more requirements*) in one bra.
* I am not a Victoria’s Secret kind of gal but I also don’t want something my great-grandmother would have worn
I have shoulder impingement and it is nigh impossible to put on a rear clasp bra even with closing it in front and spinning. I’ve switched to front close bras. I’ve never had one spontaneously pop open.
First rule of nipple existence: you don’t talk about nipple existence.
Also, they are a little stretchy. The back clasp allows a choice of tightness. And I usually use something other than the tightest setting when the bra is new, and then crank it in a little after the bra has been worn a few times.
My sister has been binge watching old Parks and Recreation episodes, and in one, Leslie Knopes (Amy Poehler) says she was wearing a front clasp bra that popped open, startled her and made her shoot Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman).
She didn’t shoot him, but it’s become accepted wisdom that front clasp bras can inopportunely pop open so it was a reasonable, if comedic, excuse. I had one once. It popped open a couple of times. I haven’t bought any others.
Somehow this, and the popping open aspect, do not seem an insurmountable technological barrier. I’m far from a design expert, but if you gave me the incentives, I think I’d figure out ways to design bras with multiple front-clasp settings and with safeguards against popping open.
Would it meet all the other constraints, including comfort and fit? Maybe. There are some front-opening bras. I don’t have any, but i have some elastic bras that just pull on, with no claps at all. I also have back-clasp bras, which work fine.
Agreed!
Other than the occasional drunken offer to remove mine, I’ve never had a single discussion with any man about bras, yet “every woman” seems to indicate that you have had numerous ones. Are you a designer? 
If by “numerous” you mean “four,” then I agree! That’s just the ones that have mentioned them popping open. I have shopped for bras for friends, girlfriends and my wife over the years.
Of those four, two had a front clasp bra spring open on them while they were leaning forward with both arms extended (handing food out a drive-thru window, to be specific.) Both were wearing tops that made it quite evident what had happened as well. The other two were non-specific as to the circumstances.
I was just tweaking you because I’m evil, but I thank you for gracing me with an explanation. LOL
As mentioned above, my late first wife was a front-clasp gal. Married 30+ years, all but inseparable most of the time, and we talked about absolutely everything. None of this prudish “unmentionables” stuff.
I never heard her tell a a story of her bra inadvertently popping open nor did I ever see it happen. Now maybe some gals who are a different shape, or don’t get a good fit have a problem. But for this sample of one person times ~50 years of bra wearing it was a total non-issue.
I’ve always put my bra on backwards - it’s so easy to do the clasp that way, and turning it around is such a trivial act that I’ve never given it a second thought. I can’t really say what other women do - I guess I’ve seen women do it both ways and never found it remarkable in either case.
I always do it backwards too.
There’s some elder care commercial that shows a poor old lady with her arms twisted around behind her, trying to do the clasps of her bra, before the kind nurse lady comes to help her. I’m like, “Duh! Nobody can do it that way!”
Yeas, that’s not an age -related thing. I can’t do it at 59 and I couldn’t do it at 12.
Moderator Note
This is a friendly reminder that we are trying to eliminate “boy’s locker room humor” type posts on the SDMB. While these comments are probably more eye-rolling than outright offensive, women should be able to discuss things like bras without men coming into the thread and making sexualized comments about removing them.
Moving thread from FQ to IMHO since the topic is more opinion and anecdotal than it is factual.
Never have put a bra on backwards. (Hmm, maybe for a brief while when I had a broken finger and digital dexterity was temporarily impaired?)
However, I am apparently a uneek freek in that I have always slid my arms into the straps after fastening the band in back. Just seems more natural that way, keeps the band more correctly positioned even before the final “swoop and scoop” adjustment, and contrary to what you might think, does not stretch out the strap elastic.
Another disadvantage to front-close bras is that they often look lumpier or otherwise less flattering than back-close ones underneath a blouse or sweater. Most of us care more about avoiding visible bra lines in front than in back.
Although, while I’m telling all you random strangers all about my underwear habits, I might as well mention that I’m considering getting a couple front-close styles for the occasional times when I wear sari with a fitted sari blouse.* That’s a situation where it’s nice to have the back of your garment look smooth, and fastener lumps on the front don’t matter because the blouse front is hidden by the sari anyway.
* Am not personally Indian, but when I take business trips to India (or elsewhere for that matter) I Like to Look Nice, and IMHO there is no female-coded daily-wear clothing style anywhere in the history of human garments that looks nicer than a good sari with a properly fitted blouse. Bias drape for the WIN.