Boobs, I mean, Bras, and the eternal frustration

i really wish i didn't wait till 32 to figure out my actual size start wearing really quality bras

this bra is amazing. but now i'm looking at the chantelle bras on sale on the nordstrom site and thinking "hmmm $51-55 isn't THAT much for a bra..." since i just spent $90. plus i got 2 black bras, and i mean, come on, i REALLY need a white one and a nude one, AT THE VERY LEAST.

the target t-shirt bras? i got one a few months back - super comfy and fairly flattering!

White bras are actually amazingly un-useful! I think bras shd only come in nude and black. And comedy patterns/colors, obv but like where utility is concerned....

I mean because you can see the outline of a white bra through white clothing, because--shockingly!--your skin is less white than the fabric.

That brings you down to only needing 1 nude one, and that's only $50. Nbd.

but i need a white one to wear under a red and white summer dress! because i don't like nude straps showing

Oh well then I can no longer help you justify buying 2 more bras.

are there bras that come in comedy patterns? what would be a comedy pattern for a bra?

like a recursive bra, patterned with bra-adorned boobs, wearing bra-patterned bras? that would be funny

There's this pinkish-red bra I really like (but $$$ - red version of one of the Rigby and Peller ones) but if I get it, damned if I'm also getting the knickers, which are just ridiculously priced. But I'm never going to find cheapo knickers that really match. I wish I could convince myself that black knickers and red bra is ok, but I can't.

seen elsewhere:

<i>I was at Nordstrom Rack today and they are having their bi yearly clearance sales (up to 75% off in some cases). In the lingerie section, I noticed that they actually had a range of sizes!</i>

I don't own any bras in "colors" or patterns, so I kind of meant comedy to be any color tbh! I sometimes look at figtree.com longingly for the prettily beribboned and patterened specimens but I never buy them. Too impractical.

Same. The ones I bought last month were very pretty but in a very basic practical way. Two black and one nude with a little lace/detailing but pretty no nonsense. They were all 30% off and all under $40 a piece. I get fancy lingerie for special occasions but have never been all that into it. If you're doing it right it's just gonna end up on the floor sooner rather than later anyway.

for pale skin, some shades of pink or lavender blend under a thin white tee the same as a beigy-nude bra. i used to have a lavender bra that was better than any beige bra i'd tried.

i love the idea of pretty bras but always end up going with practical.

haha "comedy bras"
it's funny cause it's true

i like nude bras under white and light-coloured t-shirts bc they really do make you seem nude! except with gravity-free boobs

imo brightly-coloured bras with thin straps are really good for wearing under spaghetti-strapped tops - it looks more classy than a regular black/white/nude bra strap, esp in a contrasting colour.

i'm mostly a black bra kinda girl tho, but if there's ever (so rare) a dark purple or dark blue or dark green version, i will go for that in a heartbeat instead. but, yes, rare to find...
and i don't often wear white or really light-coloured t-shirts anyway

comedy bras to me are bras with patterns of colour and texture so that you can therefore only wear them under, i don't know, sweaters?

i think on another ils thread we were briefly talking about the ubiquity of the "fancy t-shirt" and how this is what i and many of us wear rather than blouses (i know you wear blouses though, Laurel!) and other types of tops (what are these tho i do not know. dresses i guess. or something.) anyway, the comedy bra is only a friend to the fancy t-shirt when it matches the fancy t-shirt in colour.

xp! :)

I have a turquoise blue leopard print bra which believe qualifies as a comedy pattern. Also my bra with Eiffel Towers on the straps.

omg!!!

If you're going to have a little sparkly thingy perched somewhere, which so many bras do, it might as well be the Eiffel Tower imo.

If you're doing it right it's just gonna end up on the floor sooner rather than later anyway.

haha, this is why my underwear are all basic solid colored cotton briefs

See rosemary knows what I'm saying.

I think all my underpants are comedy patterns.

http://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicagoan-stepahnie-kuhr-retro-lingerie-maker/Content?oid=5546520

A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford.

"Bras are way more complex to sew than one would think. Every 16th of an inch can make a big difference. It's a feat of engineering, because you're going against gravity, trying to hold up this appendage that's sticking out. A lot of overseas factories have stopped making them, because they're one of the harder and less profitable things to make.

"Bullet bras came about because they didn't have the same fabrics we do now. It was an engineering thing. They couldn't make a rounded boob. It was the best shape they could get out of their fabric, and then it became a fad, so they exaggerated it and made it fashionable. I was talking to an older gentleman in the industry, and he said that when he was growing up he honestly thought that's the shape boobs were.

"Last summer was the last time I was in a Victoria's Secret. I'm too busty for them, but I thought I'd try it, because I loved it when I was an adolescent. I went in there, and I was like, 'I wear a 32DD. What do you have in that?' The lady kind of looked at me funny. She gave me a 36D, because that was all they had, and sent me in the dressing room. I put it on, and I literally laughed out loud. It was trying to add three sizes, which I don't need, and then there was extra tissue spilling out everywhere.

"They get away with a lot of fit problems by making them really low-cut, so they're not fitting in as much tissue. And then they have those molded foam cups, and those you don't have to have a great fit with either, because they sit on their own; you don't really need to know what's going on underneath there. People get used to having this uncomfortable bra feeling, and they don't know any better.

"A lot of women will have one breast bigger than the other. That's an easy fix for custom work. You can add a little bit of padding to one side, or use a special cup to deemphasize it. A lot of the women that I've talked to, especially on the west coast, have had breast augmentation and ended up larger than they originally anticipated. They think they're getting a DD and all of a sudden they're an H cup. Then they become really flustered and don't understand why the bras don't fit.

"The vintage look has become more mainstream because of shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire. That high-waisted panty is a lot more common now. That's how fashion works—they got as low and scanty as they could, and it started to get a little trashy, and people got sick of it. So they went in the opposite direction. Most of the high-waisted panties I make are very sheer, so it's not like your grandma's panties. Or if they are, your grandma's very naughty.

tissue

that's what it's called

semantic saturation/satiation

If, hypothetically, you had a bunch of tried-on-never-worn-but-tags-off bras, would you donate them to Goodwill or someplace or just throw them away?

donate!

Thx! It's become an untenable drawer space situation.

I always thought bullet bras were really cool. I used to go out of my way to buy them! I don't know if I'd wear them now though.....certainly not to the office!

Did someone say bullet bra?

This website is bookmarked on my computer because I keep thinking that one day I will have money to purchase all my wonderful underthings here at one time:
http://www.secretsinlace.com/product/346/Bullet_Bras
But they have bullet bras, although, they seem like they might have some 70's droop or curve to them.
Here's another wishful bookmark that will probably never happen:
http://www.whatkatiedid.us.com/index.php?a_aid=dabmkt&;a_bid=2f4c1d5d&fes_lst_id=

Did someone say bullet bra?

This website is bookmarked on my computer because I keep thinking that one day I will have money to purchase all my wonderful underthings here at one time:
http://www.secretsinlace.com/product/346/Bullet_Bras
But they have bullet bras, although, they seem like they might have some 70's droop or curve to them.
Here's another wishful bookmark that will probably never happen:
http://www.whatkatiedid.us.com/index.php?a_aid=dabmkt&a_bid=2f4c1d5d&fes_lst_id=

I am going braless for laundry day and I thought 'there's my 28-year-old breasts' when I looked in the mirror, god bless 'em. But THEN I thought, the breasts didn't show up until I was 14, does that mean my breasts are 28-14=14 years old?

*tera - damn you - now i know of the leopard print bullet bra's existence - and want one badly.

I love Secrets in Lace! That's where I was going to buy the tap pants from, but never did.

I think if I loaded up my knockers into a bullet bra, I would actually be able to kill somebody with them.

Abbottt-yes, actually, never thought of it quite that way before. My nipples and I are the same age but my breast are younger than I am.

Guess I better celebrate the last time in my life that my breasts are half of my age (unless we're counting the nine months I was in the womb as my age, in which case I'm 29).

attn small chested ppl:

i just got a hanes comfort flex w/ no wires or padding and it's just about perfect
comfortable, inexpensive, actually fits me, as close to natural 70s boob as you're going to get if you also want a little support

recommended!

http://img2.targetimg2.com/wcsstore/TargetSAS//img/p/13/82/13828447.jpg

intentionally chose photo without human to illustrate the utilitarian nature of this fine undergarment

My next boobs/bra frontier: "sports" bra.

(I don't play sports, but could use something extra supportive for outdoorsy stuff like gardening, hiking, biking, etc.)

I have a couple of leads from sporty friends (albeit not ones with DDDs) and will report back on my findings!

quincie, you might want to check out Title Nine. They've got a great selection. The one called something like "our lace bra" is my go-to.

Today, my (newish) bra is doing that squeaky thing in the underwire and it is driving me nuts!
That is all.

Any tips on how to pick out a sports bra?

Sort of. I guess the first question to ask is how much support do you want. Like, are you just looking for something you can move in comfortably, like for yoga, or do you need to keep your boobs immobile for high impact sports? Also, your cup size is key, too.

Do you give a shit about "uniboob"? How do you feel about underwire?

I just want something I can run (literally) around in, don't really care about looking HOTTT while doing it. So "immobilizing" is what I'm looking for, I guess. Cup size DD.