Archive for the 'Bra Fitting' Category
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
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Posted by Tomima at 12:56pm
2 Comments »
There’s a Plus-Size Lingerie War Going On
September 09, 2010
Every once in a while, you read an article, and you just can’t get it out of your mind.That happened for me last month with the New York Times article, Plus-Size Wars.
It was a rather lengthy article about the on-going debate over skinny models and body image. But, several data points in the article resonated with me as it relates to the challenge we have at HerRoom helping and satisfying our customers who buy the larger bra and panty sizes.
Here are the current statistics. The average clothing size for women in America is a size 14. The average American woman weighs 164.7 lbs. 64% of American women are overweight, with more than 1/3 being in the obese category. And, here is the real kicker: plus-size clothing only represents 18% of total revenue in women’s clothing – and it’s been fairly constant over the past 20 years. So, more than half of all American women fall into this plus-size category, and are buying less than 20% of all clothing. And this statistic was down to 10% in the years 2008 and 2009.
The article then went into a very interesting explanation of the complicated challenges clothing makers have in trying to clothe the plus-size market. We all know that body proportions change as we gain weight. Manufacturers, over the years, have been able to very predictably guage where those changes are from sizes 2 to 12 and how much of a measurement increase there is between sizes. A pattern maker can take a base pattern and make subtle measurement changes in certain spots on a pattern to come up with the other sizes for a particular garment. This is called pattern grading. This technique is so predictable that many of the grading changes date back to the 16th century. But, here is the big but… after a size 14, there is no predictability or certainty where and how the dimensions change. We women simply get fat differently when we get up into these sizes.
So, here are the plus-size challenges for clothing manufacturers:
1. They can’t grade up patterns to create the larger sizes.
2. They are forced to choose if the plus-size body they are going to design for is trunk, breast, or hip-heavy.
3. It’s difficult to find the right fit model for each size they are trying to make clothing for.
The lion’s share of poor reviews on HerRoom go to bras that come in plus sizes. My team and I work so hard to provide our customers with the best fitting information possible on each bra that we offer for sale. We read customer reviews, talk to the manufacturers and go to retail stores to get as much fit information on our bras as we can. We then post our fit findings on our product pages and I personally include them in my ‘Tomima Tips.’ So, when we see a comment from a plus-size woman that our fitting information didn’t work for her, we all get very frustrated.
But now we have new understanding. Take women that wear a 48F bra, for example. They are not all alike – one can have particularly large arms, another can have a narrow ribcage, another may hold a lot of her weight in her back. It’s really impossible to find a universal bra that will fit everyone.
Let me close this post by saying that my team and I will continue to root out and communicate to you all the bra fitting comments we learn. We are now just going to be smarter about asking better questions to give better fit advice to the plus size bra wearers out there.
Find Plus Size lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Plus-Size Lingerie
Follow HerRoom on Twitter for daily tips.
Posted by Tomima at 11:21am
2 Comments »
Hanesbrands Announces a New Fit Technology
August 13, 2010
I’m the first to raise my hand and say that bra sizing is confusing and convoluted. It’s one of the reasons women find themselves in the wrong size bra. In an effort to sort this all out and reduce the number of bra sizes on the market, Hanesbrands has stepped up and created a new sizing technology that they claim will replace multiple current sizes with one size.
The goal, according to Hanes, is to make it easier for shoppers to buy bras while also providing superior comfort and a better fit. They feel their goal has been met with a new ‘breakthrough’ fit technology.
Their proprietary bra technology called "Smart Sizes" will be rolling out this fall under their Hanes and Barely There brands. It is a series of floating and flexible bra frames that lets the bra mold to the shape of the wearer. And it does this with just 5 bra sizes rather than the traditional 16 cup/band sizes.
“Smart Sizes is a very big concept that revolutionizes how women fit and buy their bras,” according to Sandy Waitz, vice president of intimate apparel design and development for Hanesbrands. “With the flexible fit properties of Smart Sizes, women can find a bra that literally molds to their individual shapes, including unique fit challenges such as between sizes and unevenly sized breasts.”
Okay, here is where my enthusiasm wanes. The five Smart sizes are extra small, small, medium, large and extra large. And these five sizes will replace the traditional size range of 30A through 42C.
Though I wish it weren’t so, I’m afraid this new breakthrough could be a bust. Sure, less sizing means less choices when trying to figure out your size. Retailers will like only having to stock 5 sizes instead of 16. But I need to see and try on this product to really get on board with this new sizing technology.
Hanesbrand claims they don’t need that many sizes because the bra somehow will mold and custom fit to your individual shape. Hearing this, my mind races to a picture of me being ‘shrink-wrapped.’ We all know that when we find our correct bra size, we look terrific. I can’t help but wonder if these blended sizes will still give that crisp supported look, or more of a shelf-bra or bathing suit look where if you’re falling out or the fabric gaps a little, you’re supposed to assume that’s as good as it gets.
Find Hanes and Barely There lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties
Follow HerRoom on Twitter for daily tips.
Posted by Tomima at 12:31pm
3 Comments »
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