My wife has told me a lot of things shouldn’t have been put in the dryer, but she’s never yelled at me for putting her bras in with the rest of the load. That’s the extent of my knowledge on the subject.
I find not wearing a bra considerably less comfortable than wearing one, especially now that I’ve found reliably comfortable bras. (I, too, highly recommend Cacique bras from Lane Bryant). Therefore, pretty much if I am wearing clothing at all, I wear a bra. I don’t wear clothing to sleep, so I don’t wear a bra then.
But at 40DDD (according to the very professional bra fitter at the nice department store), the girls require a fair bit of support. If I don’t wear a supportive undergarment of some sort, the girls get really, really sore.
I generally wear a bra two or three times before I wash it (depending on season and level of exertion) - I give it a sniff and if there’s any aroma at all, into the hamper it goes. Machine wash, line dry - mostly my bras last for several years.
Since Cacique and especially their balconet bra keeps coming up: has anyone bought them in the past year, and do you think they fit differently?
I was in the habit of buying a new batch for myself every Christmas. This year’s batch has been … less than satisfactory. They’re the first bras I honestly can’t stand, and take off as soon as I can. They poke. They bind. I hate them, and I can’t decide if it’s the bra’s fault or mine. I haven’t gained weight, but I have officially moved from my early-mid thirties to my late-mid thirties.
Depressing story, spoilered
I’ve mentioned before that my mom had a tumor in her breast for many years which she didn’t get diagnosed or treated. And never told me about. At some point I noticed the outline of a bra under her nightie and since she was small-chested and rarely wore bras (she wore full slips which provided extra modesty) I thought, huh, that’s odd. And moved on the next thing. Just one of many clues I never picked up on – the tumor had basically replaced her breast and burst through the skin, so she wore nursing pads under a sports bra to absorb the discharge. For years! 
My father knows what kind of tumor it was and says I could look up pictures but I haven’t been able to. I don’t think I ever will.
This particular model, the Smooth Balconette that comes in the most colors and patterns is the same. Now the seemingly same one in cotton, or called “body essentials,” “back smoother,” or push up or whatever other balconette models they carry, don’t fit the same.
So far the only two I’ve settled on are the above “smooth balconette” and the “smooth boost plunge” with or without lace. That plunge also fits differently in cotton. It’s weird.
So if what you’ve bought is either of those and then you bought something different (or vice versa) then yeah I’m not surprised if they’re different for you.
It just occurred to me this year to try balconette bras (I also am. Caquique wearer). I always have a problem with not being able to fill out the top of the bra. Finally realized I need a bra with no top to the cups!
I’m a 48 or a 50 and they are hard to find 
I just got the balconettes this week and haven’t washed them yet so I haven’t worn them.
I did get a “full coverage” underwire a month or so ago to add to my collections of underwire-free. I can’t figure out how I feel about it yet. Sometimes it feels perfect, other times I can’t stand it.
Caciques do look so much better than bras-in-a-box. I’ve noticed that is what my mom wears and I notice because her back is hanging out all over.
Reported.