The Bra - need I say more?

[SeaRain]

I hate them. They don't fit. The straps fall off my shoulders. The right girl falls out from underneath. I measure a 38C. No, a 36C. No, a 38B.

I am going to resort to masking tape. Fashion my own bras daily.

What about you?

[belle054]

Believe it or not, I've always heard the best place to buy a bra is Fredricks of Hollywood. Supposedly, they make the best bra on the market....especially for more ample bosums. I've never purchased one there but this is what I've heard and read.

[Coral]

Great topic! For years I could never find a comfortable bra and hated them. A couple years ago a clerk at Victoria's Secret asked what size I needed and laughed when I told her. She then measured me and told me what size I should be wearing. I was floored! Two cup sizes bigger than what I thought I was! Now that I wear the proper size, comfort at last!

[Jillybean]

Yeah, that's probably it for people as much as anything. I think at a glance, anyone would guess I was a B, but the Victoria's Secret people told me long ago that I needed a 36C, so that's what I've been wearing, and they always fit fine.

[BlueHera]

Well, my breasts are small, and less firm after breastfeeding. I usually get cotton bras in the teen section. I hate underwire bras, and most bras are a terrible subjugation of a beautiful part of our bodies. For god's sake, Howard Hughes felt entitled to design bras for women.

Have you ever noticed all the scratchy seams are on the INSIDE? Most bras are made for the viewer, not the wearer. I've gone as far as turning bras inside out.

Anyway, such is my rant on bras.

[BlueHera]

Hee hee. How about bra turning, not burning?

[Dazzling Zoomer Gal Diana]

Hahaha! Good one BH!

Now for "Her Royal bras..."

{...} "Want to know where Queen Elizabeth reportedly buys her bras in London? I didn't see her there myself but the word is that a shop called Rigby and Peller at 2 Hans Road (close to Harrod's) is her Royal Outfitter. Almost any woman is assured of finding her fit in this boutique. Sizing goes from 32AA to 46FF and prices are very posh, indeed."
Leslie, London, England {...} So know we know LoL

This from my fav. online travel site for Women, journerywoman.com

[Witchy Luck]

nope, not me...would be worse not to have one at all...};->

[WS]

I HATE them. This is a very sore issue for me! I had a bra that I loved an all cotton,wireless one by Warner - the Friday bra and then they stopped making it in cotton and I got a bit bigger. I saw Oprah and all that hullabaloo about wearing the wrong size and indeed I need larger cups (according to her expert) and a smaller number 36 DD. I spent two weeks bra shopping because I was told I could find a comfortable bra if I got one that fit. I went to Victoria's Secret and was measured by a corsetiere and they had nothing for me except underwire bras. I let a corsetiere at an expensive downtown store talk me into an underwire by that expensive Oprah recommended brand and - although it felt great in the store, it hurt like hell after wearing it for just a few hours (as did the other two with underwires that I bought at the expensive store.) I am still wearing my much too small cotton Warners that are rapidly becoming too full of holes to wear. Today I'm wearing an Olga that is big and makes me look like Mammy from Gone with the Wind. I like my old ones better - they were too small, but they also kept me pushed up and in. I would even settle for one of those old 60s bullet bras. Remember them? Had pointy cups, but were a quilted solid cotton. I guess I'll be resorting to sewing my own pretty soon! Wide straps and reinforced (with sewing/quilting) cups. It can't be that hard to make a good bra!!!!!!!!!

[WS]

Well maybe fitting will help a smaller breasted woman, but don't envy us - we can't jog without pain and our shoulders hurt from carrying the weight. We (many of us) envy you! (And don't even ask where we hang as we get older!!!!!! (grin!)

[Dazzling Zoomer Gal Diana]

Errr ... 1GL53, no we are not set to private, unfortunately dumb dumb here did not notice that once I set the group - a "moderated membership" feature could no longer apply. HOWEVER . . . my theory is that a chap could pretend to be a gal anyway - so let whomever wishes lurk about! If a man is that keen to read what we gals are on about, I'd say - bless him!

I'm your size - sometimes a C depending on the make.Like you I have zero cleavage naturally, so any help with the right bra is happy making! I come home and switch to a super comfy sports bra, because a girl friend of mine who owns a La Senza store in Toronto (do you have La Senza here in the USA?) admonished me over letting the girls swing free, she says over time the top skin stretches from the weight and thus the girls droop more . . . well I'm not having any more of that than necessary! I too dislike underwire bras, although I can tolerate it. Don't travel with one on, I've had many a pat down before I remembered not to go thru security wearing one. There is a spanx bra that is racerback which I LOVE with a front closure, and use when wearing sleeveless so straps don't show - pricey and you must try it on - but it's divine if it works for you, and lasts ages and ages.
http://www.spanx.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3716919&cp=302... and their "hosiery bras", all without wires and with wide straps are very comfortable, but best I suspect for those of us who are under a 36 B or C .

I never machine wash my bras, I always hand wash them. It does not take long, and the life span is so much longer that way. Also, lie your bras flat in a drawer, inside of folding them into the cup, the bras shape lasts longer that way. Hans makes comfortable and nice everyday bras, as does Jokey for Her, both very reasonably priced.

My late mum, and my GF's who are much more endowed, all swear/swore that price matters when one is larger, and many (like me mum who was a 38 D ) love the Olga minimizer, and other Olga brands, such as the one Chez mentioned. I've been told that as we age, our cup size usually goes up a cup or two, so it's good to have a size check every three or four years, more often if you have gained or lost weight.

[Chez moi]

That is true, Dazz, I used to be a 34B and gradually arrived here over the years. Even when I lost 25# a couple of years ago I lost nothing to speak of there.

Of course my feet have grown two sizes since I was 40, too... mysterious...

[Witchy Luck]

Things I have learned about bras...
1) Not all manufacturers are created equal. The size you wear in one brand is not necessarily the size you wear in another brand. Try on a bunch of them, from different manufacturers, in different styles, various sizes (If you add a letter in cup size you should be able to subtract some nubers in band size--vice a versa works too.) Slipping straps are indicative of a wrong cup size, while 'boob leakage' indicates a wrong band size.
2) Go to a real lingere store and get 'fitted' by an EXPERIENCED saleswoman (not all saleswomen are created equal either). A good one will find you a bra that fits and can probably tell you how your size in that brand translates into other brands. All of this is mildly embarassing, somewhat expensive and totally inconvenient. The payoff, however, should be a bra that FITS! (a pearl beyond price)
3) Some days none of these rules apply. Sometimes the bra in question was designed and manufactured by persons who have never SEEN an actual woman and therefore fit NO ONE! };->
I spent years learning this stuff...I am rather 'busty' and wore poorly fitting, wrong size bras until I was in my 30's.