Archive for January, 2010
A Girl’s First Bra – When and What?
January 23, 2010
Let me get this off my 36C chest – I’ve always hated the phrase "training bra." What are we training? Breasts don’t need to be trained. It’s not like a bicycle where you eventually remove training wheels and you’re off. It’s hard enough for a girl to actually put on her first bra, so let’s not make it worse with a dumb name like training bra! Okay, my rant is over. Thank you.
It’s pretty much universal as to when a girl needs to get her first bra – middle school. It was for me, but it was called Junior High. Up until my first gym class, I had always worn an undershirt. But then I found myself having to undress in front of my peers, and everyone was looking at each other to see what was being worn. I ran home and informed my Mom that I needed a bra.
As a mother to two daughters, it pretty much went down the same way. My oldest is now 13, but has always been fascinated with wearing a bra. I was able to find some for her when she was around 8 – they didn’t really fit, but she wasn’t really wearing them either; they just made her feel grown up. Then, during the first week of 5th grade, we had to get serious about finding bras for her to wear every day. Now, my second daughter is in 5th grade, and as reluctant as she is to grow-up (she once told me she wants to take her childhood slowly) even she has informed me that the peer pressure is on and she needs to be wearing a bra too.
Now I know what you’re thinking; I’m in the business, so it should be simple for me. I honestly thought the same thing. But boy, it wasn’t. My older daughter was my foray into this difficult project. She measured a 32AA. So, I went on my site and looked. About a dozen styles appeared. I bought all of them and brought them home for her to try on.
Here’s what I learned. Wacoal makes a really fabulous line of petite bras. But they do not fit young girls properly. The underwires fall on the wrong part of their body, and the cups don’t look right. The Wacoal petite bras really are designed for a petite woman – not a young girl. Any bra with an underwire is problematic, and frankly unnessesary. Yes, my daughter liked the look and the idea of wearing a bra with an underwire – very grown up in her mind. But again, the wires tend to fall in strange places, and without enough breast tissue, tend to move up the chest.
Here’s another mistake moms make – they buy white bras for their daughters. The girls don’t want white. They want nude and/or black, or a cute pastel print. To them, a white bra looks too much like underwear. They are growing up in a world where seeing a bra strap or parts of the bra showing feels natural. If it were white, it would look like a mistake.
Remembering that several bra styles on my site come in only a band size, I returned to HerRoom and bought several of these. Definitely, more success with the soft-cup or wireless bras rather than bras with underwires.
So, after this exercise of trying to match fit with the taste and desires of my daughter, here is the list of bras that worked the best for her:
Elita 3076 Incognito Triangle Bra
Elita 8838 Silk Magic Crossover Bra
Pure Lime Fitness Sports Bra 0097 (expensive, but looks great on her)
A recent addition to our site has been some adorable bra and panty sets from CC Girl. Both of my daughters love them and have snatched them up. They are not that expensive, and it’s the first time the girls have actually had matching bras and panties. They simply love that.
So, all you mothers (and possibly fathers) with young daughters out there. I hope you take advantage of this hard-fought knowledge I’ve gained. Trust me when I tell you it will save you countless hours in research, returns and most of all, arguments.
Find more bras at HerRoom in these departments: Bras
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Posted by Tomima at 8:38am
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Neil Sedaka — A non-Lingerie Story
January 14, 2010
Here’s a fun and actual story. My two daughters and I went to Hawaii the week before Christmas. One afternoon, I had just finished a shower while my girls were down on the beach. Suddenly, they both exploded into the room and said "There’s a woman in the hall who doesn’t speak English, but we think she is locked out of her room. She keeps bowing and saying ‘Arigato’! A man is suggesting you call the front desk."
Grabbing a towel, I went out in the hall to survey the situation. The girls were right; an Asian woman was bowing, and a gentleman was telling me that my daughters had flagged him down for assistance… but this is all I heard. You see, my brain’s memory cells were in rapid-fire mode searching for a name from my past.
"Excuse me." I said "But, am I standing in the hallway, wearing nothing more than a towel, speaking to Neil Sedaka?" He warmly smiled and confirmed that he was indeed Neil Sedaka. I then turned to my girls and set out to explain to them who he was. Very quickly, Neil spoke up and said "Oh, they’re too young to know me." Well, I assured him that I was going to make it a point of educating them, then got down to the situation at hand and called the front desk for help.
Upon reflection, two things struck me. First, how great it must be that Neil Sedaka is now able to walk about safe in the knowledge that the only people who would ever recognize him are over 40, and too old and tired to scream or beg for an autograph – after all, what would we do with it? He can freely walk around fairly anonymously. The second thought was what a shame that my girls didn’t know of his work – Calendar Girl; Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen; Laughter in the Rain… just to name a few. I assure you, they do now.
Finally, let me mention that we ran into Neil a few more times. He is an absolutely lovely, gentle, and oh-so friendly man – just what you would expect. And it was hard to say goodbye. After all… Breaking Up is Hard to Do.
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Posted by Tomima at 9:45am
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The Ultimate Push-Up Bra – Does it Really Give a 2 Cup Size Increase?
January 07, 2010
There’s been quite a bit of advertising about Victoria’s Secret’s "Miraculous" Push-up bra. Made by the Maidenform Company, the claim is that special padding lifts you up and out, thus adding up to 2 full cup sizes to your breasts. And it does all of this with amazing comfort while keeping a natural shape.
Wow! That’s quite a promise. So, I went and bought one and put it to the test. By way of explanation, a one inch increase in the circumference of your chest along the nipple line qualifies as a cup size increase. So, to make their claim true, a total of 2 inches to the circumference needs to be achieved.
So, here are the results. We used one of our 34B models. Her measurements are:
Band 34"
Bust 36"
First, we put her in the Spanx 216 Bra-llelujah contour bra. These photographs show her shape.
We then put her in Victoria’s Secret "Miraculous" bra. Her measurements became:
Band 34"
Bust 38"
So, the claim is correct; her bust circumference increased by 2 inches. And, I must say, her cleavage and shape look natural and fabulous.
As I mentioned earlier, this bra is made by the Maidenform company. And, apparently a deal was cut whereby Victoria’s Secret got the exclusive for the first 6 months. And boy, are they taking advantage. The Victoria price is $48 for the solid colors and $52 for the prints.
The Maidenform version arrived late June 2010. Their design does have some differences – a little more coverage in the cups, a more stabilizing center front, and a different back design to provide more support. Whereas the Victoria’s Secret bra goes up to DD cup sizing, the Maidenform will only go up to D cups. And, the biggest difference of all will be the pricing. The Maidenform price will be just $34. That’s a 30% price savings!
Personally, I’m very impressed. The Maidenform Company, in my opinion, is the current leader in innovative bra designs. They have done a super job here creating a look of more natural cleavage.
On a final note, I do want to point out that we tried to measure the thickness of the padding in this bra. In some places, the padding is over 1 inch thick. So, I have a bit of a concern with how to care for it. You don’t want to stick it in the dryer, yet with all that padding, will it dry fast enough so that there won’t be a problem with mildew from line drying? The jury is out on this one.
Maidenform & Victoria’s Secret have teamed up before on the Total Solution and Perfect One Bras.
Find Maidenform lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties
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Posted by Tomima at 9:12am
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