Archive for November, 2010
Keeping Your Breasts Front and Center – Not East/West
November 23, 2010
Large breasted women (D cup and larger) have written reviews over the years complaining about their breasts pointing east/west rather than front and center in their bras. And they don’t like it for good reason – this causes breast tissue to move under the arms, which gets in the way and is not an attractive silhouette. Well, take heart if you are a fellow sufferer. This condition can be easily corrected by paying attention to the way your bra is made.
I am a big fan of "Bra Wizard" Beverly Johnson. I consider her our ‘Joan of Arc’ in leading the charge for better fitting bras. Beverly runs a bra-making school where she actually teaches a woman to make her own bras, www.bramakerssupply.com , and has written a book explaining in very technical detail how to fix fit problems. Beverly has several comments on how to get your girls back into the ‘headlight’ position.
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The key is to understand nipple placement as breasts get larger. All of us pretty much have the same proportioned skeleton So, regardless of weight and breast size, the location of say a 5′ 4" woman’s nipples is the same as for other women her size. The skeleton does not grow as we add weight or grow bigger breasts. The nipple distance between your two breasts (once you pull them up and put them where you want them) is pretty much a constant – between 7" and 8". So, grab a ruler and measure this distance on you. As I write this wearing my 36C bra, mine are 7 1/2" apart.
Are yours a lot farther apart while wearing a bra? If yes, you are not in the right style of bra to maximize your figure. Getting your breasts together will make you look slimmer and more youthful. So, what do you need to look for?
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You should be able to look at a bra and tell before trying it on where your nipples are going to end up. Breast tissue is very malleable. Therefore, it can be moved into the proper position with a great structured bra. Hands down, the ‘cut-and-sew’ or bras (like the upper photo) with seams in the cups will give you the best look. This is because the more seams a bra-maker uses in the cups, the more control there is over the shape of your breast tissue.You can tell by looking down on the seamed cup bra that your nipples are going to be front and center when you get it on.
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Contour bras also have a pretty good record for putting the nipples in the right location on your chest. The thin layer of foam lining in the cups helps to stabilize the molded cups and keep breasts front and center. Seamless bras (like the lower photo) don’t offer enough structure to help with placement.
Great bras that make you look great come at a price. Spend the money! There is no other piece of apparel that you wear more. You deserve the best.
Find seamed and contour bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
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Posted by Tomima at 11:19am
2 Comments »
Anatomy of a Bra – The Center Panel
November 04, 2010
That little triangle-shaped patch of fabric sitting between the cups of your bra is no afterthought. There’s a lot of engineering taking place between your breasts.
That center panel, also called a gore, helps to determine the shape and placement of your breasts. Traditionally, the top of this panel should be horizontal with the apex of your breasts (read nipples) for the best breast support. This is the primary reason I show the "measured" image on every bra we sell. The graph overlay shows you many things, but it specifically shows you where that center panel is going to land on you.
Over the last couple of years, decollete tops have sent women looking for bras with what is called a ‘plunging’ center design. In this case, the center panel is cut lower. Now, these bras fit fairly well for women in cup sizes up to a D. But, the larger cup sizes must be fit very precisely, or the woman falls out when she leans forward.
Officially, the center panel should rest directly on your sternum. If it does not, this usually means your cup size is too small and you need to size up. However, there are three exceptions to this rule. The first is a minimizer bra. Because their design objective it to reduce breast projection, minimizer bras create a kind of compression of the breasts. The center panel in some is therefore missing altogether, but if it is there, the proper fit does not mean the center panel must touch the sternum. The second exception is soft-cup or wire free bras. Without an underwire, it is almost impossible for the center panel to successfully rest on the sternum. The final exception would be larger breasts. With so much breast tissue, there is sometimes simply not enough room for the center panel to get to the sternum.
Finally, no conversation about the center panel can end without a discussion of front-closure bras. These are bras that have a clasp in the center front. It is extremely difficult to design a good front closure bra. The center panel is now a clasp which reduces the bra’s stability in the center. Not to mention that the bra now has no adjustability, so it must be an extremely accurate fit. Women in between band sizes will find the fit unacceptable. Front-closure bras have some of the highest return rates on the market. So, if you are a lover of them, this is why you don’t see very many – the manufacturers and retailers shy away from them for this very reason.
The next time you are shopping for a bra, give some thought to its center panel. The more that’s there, the better the support.
Find bras in all styles at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Follow HerRoom on Twitter for daily tips.
Posted by Tomima at 12:56pm
2 Comments »
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