bra

Today I spent a long time thinking about why I stopped blogging. Part of it was (I’ll be honest) the hurt of reading questions on forums when I’d spent hours writing up detailed posts answering those very questions. It seemed like it wouldn't matter if I disappeared. Another part of it is my continued ambivalence about my boobs. I've never been the type to enjoy showing off cleavage; I'm all about bras that minimize and tops that smash my boobs. I have to deal with having big boobs, and I refuse to act like it's hard (it's not), but I don't necessarily have to like it. And sometimes I just want to cling to the Tutti Rouge Liliana and live it up in flowy crop tops. (At the end of that post you can read about my concern that this bra would allow me to relapse into my insecurity. I guess maybe it did.) And that doesn't really give me much to blog about. I don't want to spread my ambivalence, but right now I've retreated into it. Part of it is th...

The question of how to wash your bras becomes important when you find the perfect size, the perfect bra, and curate your ideal collection. I am always surprised to learn how many people throw their bras into the washer (which can be okay) and- GASP -the dryer (never okay). Conversely, it seems like people who make an effort to preserve their bras’ longevity often use expensive lingerie washes and complex drying techniques to avoid crushing cups. It came to my attention that many people are not aware that you can use normal detergent and a towel to wash and dry bras quickly with minimal damage. The perfectionists among us will, of course, want to continue with high-quality lingerie washes, which may perform better in the long run. For the lazy among us, here’s my technique. No mesh lingerie bags, special soaps, or salad spinners required. Step One. Gather all the bras that need to be washed. Maybe it’s taken awhile to get around to it and you have a lot. Before starting, you must ...

Sleeping in a bra--especially a wired bra--is a fairly controversial topic because lots of women have a pretty strong opinion one way or another. There are three main camps:  1. Women who cannot imagine sleeping in a bra due to discomfort, or who find it most comfortable to sleep braless (the largest group). 2. Women who sleep in an underwired bra and cannot imagine sleeping without the support of a bra with wires (a minority). 3. Women who prefer to sleep with support, but desire that support to be wireless. Members of this camp are often turned off by both the other methods. There are also some of us who switch between methods depending on mood or circumstance. I am a member of the smaller second camp, and I suspect a decent number of readers are making a face right now and thinking "Sleeping with wires? Wouldn't that be awfully uncomfortable?" I want to talk a little bit about my preference to do this because I think it has a few potential benefits that are not w...

I started this blog about two years ago with a huge pile of Curvy Kate bra reviews. At the time, the brand seemed like the best new hope for full-busted women--a fun brand with a great social media presence, cool contests, great colors, and a cheaper sister brand, Flirtelle. Yet now, even though all of those things are still true, I feel let down by Curvy Kate--particularly their unpadded balconette bras. I don't mean to suggest their unpadded balconettes don't work for anyone. That's far from true. But there are pervasive problems, which tend to intensify in the bigger cup sizes. The specific problem I want to address now is an issue of fabric tension. It is, I believe, largely responsible for the fabled "upside-down seven" shape. What's the upside-down seven shape? It's a phrase that was coined by Bras and Body Image in this post  and quickly entered the lexicon on Bratabase and other forums. It essentially refers to a shape where the upper curve of the ...

One of the most irksome aspects of the HerRoom bra shape quiz kerfuffle was their suggestion that full-on-top breast shapes would be suited to full cup bras. I've constantly asserted since starting my blog that that's not the case. But I never really explained WHY NOT, and I want to provide some visuals so people who are frustrated by this problem can grasp the central issue. By now, you may be familiar with my "bra seam structure graphic". The full-cup bra seam structure shown in the diagram isn't good at shaping boobs. But despite this, lots of people get a nice shape in full-cup bras and really like them. But others (hint: full-on-top ladies) tend to get a really pointy shape, and hate these bras. What's the secret behind this? To start with, let's look at the sort of photos I usually DON'T post to this blog: my own full-on-top boobs looking really sad in a full-cup bra. From the front, the Panache Loretta in a 30H fits well: But from the side, you...