Boobs, I mean, Bras, and the eternal frustration

It's a minefield of discomfort out there.

Title Nine catalogue mysteriously appeared in the mail. Tempted.

Bra talk from a knitting designer.

Getting rid of some old bras today.

I made a beeline for M&S this week. Waited an hour for my fitting - the previous lady nearly had the fitter in tears because she tried on EVERYTHING and nothing fit her and the few that did, she didn't like... er anyway I am now a D, apparently, which is the most insane thing ever. Even tried a 30 DD. I really need to chuck out my old A's...

Thanks to Title IX and their awesome LIVE CHAT WITH BRA EXPERT feature, I scored a great (though pricey) sports bra that I am really happy with! Tried to google stalk the same bra at lower price, only to learn OH NOES SHIT IS DISCONTINUED so I loaded up on three more at pricey point. I think I will be happy I did this, because the sports bra search was huge fucking pain in the ass.

Oh and xpost to kinder, the whole "your boobs are a bigger cup size and your rib cage is a smaller band size" thing seems to be evidence of some huge boob conspiracy that I want very much to expose!

Oh, it has to be. I just don't get it. I still contend that there's no way I have D size boobs even though that's what these tags say. That said, a couple of the ones I got a few months back are getting a little loose in the cups because I am slowly losing some weight and it always (rather unfairly might I add) goes from my tits first.

lol "huge boob conspiracy"

I did very careful measurements and by any knowlegable standard (see the "thin and curvy" blog) I truly am three cup sizes bigger and a band size smaller than I had been wearing.

You know when public schools (private too I hope) do the whole learning about menstruation thing? This is exactly the point at which HERE'S HOW BRAS SHOULD FIT should be part of the curriculum!

x-post LOL rrobyn, totally unintended!

If I went down a band size, I don't think I would be able to breathe.

Going down a band size made me so much more comfortable--no more "riding up," and my shoulder straps don't slip off like they used to (and I have fairly square shoulders to begin with).

Yeah I got one a while ago that felt tight when I put it on but 5 secs later I don't feel it, and there's no more shifting around.

still hangin tough with my training bra over here

you have inspired me, ll.

it's really really comfortable! i have three now. no wires, no padding, just the little support i need. it almost feels like a rebellious act considering how many bras make everyone's boobs look like identical hostess dingdongs.

sorry, snoballs
http://bestuff.com/images/images_of_stuff/210x600/hostess-snoballs-25189.jpg?1173378961

hahahaa i hope i never live in a world where dingdong boobs somehow become a trend

http://www.metafilter.com/116513/finding-the-right-bra-size-and-best-fit

If you're spilling you need a bigger cup. If the cup is baggy, you need a smaller one.

I have both :(

I have been reading a lot of bra blogs recently. They are all pretty literate and awesome! Really into boobs these days. Like, Mr. Quincie has been on a "we should get an old porche" kick (note: this is not going to happen why b/c $$$, duh). And I down with that fantasy, but only if it is one of the years where the porches were really, really curvy, with big boob headlights.

quincie, I was going to say that if I had off on one of the days you are in NY, we could go yarn shopping, but maybe we should go bra shopping!

Been bra shopping today, nearly brought me to tears of frustration - plain black tshirt bras almost impossible to find in my (obviously very common) size unless it,s in one of m&s's many many two-packs with a white one >:-(

you are searching for the dream bra and you must therefore embody the dreamer on this quest

it will happen; just believe!

I believe

I bought some new ones today. I went down a band size. But some of the Ds and DDs made me look flat chested! Not cool.

Not bras, underpants (is there an underpants thread?) but:

I wish any underwear company would sell packs of cotton underpants in all black or all beige. Like ten to a pack. None of this "one black pair, and two other pairs with stupid bows and shit on them." Just a pack of black and a pack of beige. That's all I want. (And make a a pack of brown, too, since "beige" is not a neutral color on everybody.) I would be lifetime loyal to that brand.

o
t
m

2nd'ed

Marks and Spencer. Get yourselves to London.

(mail order also available but shipping...)

Yeah, M&S do all-black or all-white five-packs which are fairly cheap (in the UK!) but still reasonable quality. They do have an annoying habit of bringing out multicoloured packs of underpants or socks which I buy one of and then think "I like these, I'll buy more" only to find they've been discontinued. But that is the way of underwear.

I finally got measured (also in M&S - I mentioned my fear of the lingerie dept staff at my town's other department store) and it went p. well considering, but also it turned out the size I'd arrived at by guesswork and lots of trying on was more or less right and they're still not quite comfortable.

Also what is with buying the exact same bra in two colours and finding they aren't the same fit? Like, I bought the white/beige bra set which was suggested when I got measured, but they didn't have a black one in, so I went back a week later and tried the exact same one in black and had to go up a cup size and it still seems smaller. And I have a green Debenham's one which fits great, and I found an identical black one in the same size lurking in the back of my underwear drawer and was all like "oh wow, why haven't I been wearing this?" and an hour later I knew the answer was because the underwire spears my armpit every time I move. Grr.

I bought a strapless bra yesterday and I'm wearing today even though my top isn't strapless and OMG REVELATION: NO STRAPS TO FALL DOWN, EVER.

I might wear one of these every single day of my LYFE.

It's this one.

and it's staying up and not doing any weird fold-under stuff??

Yeah! It makes a little divot/line where the top edge sinks in a little, it's not completely perfect. But it has hidden underwires, and side-stays to keep it lying flat, and a wider band than normal (3 hooks in back) for extra security.

It makes a little divot/line where the top edge sinks in a little

I don't feel this is the problem you think it is......

i actually have a strapless dress on right with a built-in "bra" which i put in scare quotes bc built-in shelf bras only really work for boobs smaller than a small b. it's sort of working for me, but i think only bc the dress is black and therefore somewhat minimizing in that area
xps
hm! that sounds good!

I tried to get a smaller band size like everyone says, and I did end up with a D or something, but I still can't go smaller than 34 if I want to breathe. Also the store still only had two bras within the 3-4 size ranges I checked that weren't the foam cup kind. I bought both of them.

i want one

I'm definitely going to buy more, maybe not this exact model (then again, maybe so!) but more strapless bras in general.

this is prob better for another thread but i hardly ever wear strapless tops/dresses because of the too-sexy factor. which is partly in my imagination but partly not! like i don't think i want to leave the house in this dress even though it is nice and flattering and not formal or anything, but i feel like i'm all legs and boobs and bare skin. i have it on bc the friend who is the designer is having a soiree this evening and i am trying to decide which of her designs to wear. i mean, i don't really want to go out for coffee in this dress. but i know that some people totally would!

rrobyn, yes! I think for me, the strapless bra rides lower, or rather, the boobs aren't elevated as much, so more overall skin is exposed? I dunno - my strapless bra is super comfortable and when it's over 85 degrees out, that reticence just gives way

I so hear you on that. I don't really wear even tank tops that much because I feel really weirdly naked in them. If I do it's usually with a long skirt on the bottom. I realize it's all in my head but something strappy AND short and I just feel like TOO MUCH SKIN. I know people wear this stuff all the time but I don't and it makes me feel strange. I bought a sun dress recently that I love. It's totally not revealing by anyone's standards but my own and yet I still felt a bit weird in it.

i have a strapless super short shorts romper that makes me feel that way, but otherwise i would prefer to have less skin covered/with clothing touching it than more, esp in this heat!
mr calls me the rudest nudist

I don't think I've tried on a strapless bra since I was in a wedding in the late 80s. Wait no when I was thinner I had one of those pointless bandeau bras but that hardly counts.

They just look v uncomfortable with the plastic stayput piping inside and the side stays (die forever, side stays).

i wonder enbb if it is maybe at least partly because we are tall ladies? with broad shoulders + boobs? it's only in the past year that i've really taken to actually standing up straight and keeping my shoulders back and having excellent posture, which makes boobs stick out of course but there's nothing i can do about that, so adding a strapless dress on top of that is next next level

but really i think everyone should operate on his/her own standard of modesty -- wear what makes you feel good