Tomima’s Blog - Lingerie & Underwear Expert

Not all figure types are defined by fruit, but this the apple body shape is the second and final one.  What is an apple figure type?  It’s a woman with round curves who has a tummy bulge and round hips.  In silhouette, she would have a very round shape - as in contrast to a pear shape which would have a noticeably smaller top.  The apple shape tends to be petite in stature, and definitely has full breasts.

The best way to enhance this figure type is with lingerie that smooths and gives control.  Consequently, shapewear and bodysuits are great options. The breasts should be lifted and supported to make her look thinner and more youthful. She needs to have a round, full and lifted look. Anything less will make her look dowdy.

For her tummy and thighs, shapewear is her best friend.  And, how great that shapewear looks and feels so good these days.  It also comes in black which is not only slimming, but looks sexy, so it’s a look she can feel good about being seen in.

In our "What’s She Underwearing" series on HerRoom, we always include a petite plus size model.  I strongly suggest the apple shape figure type check out this section on our site to see the various solutions we put her in.

Find lingerie for your body shapeHerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties
Shapewear

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One of our fabulous Customer Service Representatives, LaBresha, emailed me recently and told me many of our customers ask about the difference between European bra sizes and America bra sizes.  She then suggested I blog on the subject.  Well LeBresha, thank you for your suggestion, and here you go!

Let me begin with a little history.  The bra cup letter sizing as we know it today was first introduced in 1935 by The Warners Company.  Shortly after this measuring system was accepted in the US, the European corset manufacturers followed. 

The numbers used today for our bra band size (e.g. 34, 38 etc.) were devised shortly after WWII.  Back then, women with the measurements of 36-24-36 were determined to be the ideal hourglass silhouette of the day.  But, since the band size represents a woman’s underbust measurement, the true measurement would be something more like a 28 or 32. Now, this is where marketing came in.  The industry decided to have the bra band sizes sound more appealing to women.  So, they took the underbust measurement, added 4-5 inches to it, and came up with the band sizes that we use today. This is why you add the 4 or 5 inches to your underbust measurement when you are calculating your bra band size. 

 So, now let’s talk about cup sizing today. A recent inquiry came to us from a woman stating that she’s a 36F in European bra sizing.  She wanted us to tell her what her US bra size would be.  There is no easy answer to her question, unfortunately.  This is because there is no consistancy in bra sizing between European brands and American brands when it comes to cup sizes larger than a D.  Over the years, various bra manufacturers, in their attempt to be unique, have varied their bra sizing from the traditional naming of cup size.  It used to be that American manufacturers would size their bra cups as follows: AA, A, B, C, D, DD, DDD, DDDD.  European manufacturers sized their cups: AA, A, B, C, D, E, F, G.  But, British manufacturers had their own scheme: AA, A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, FF.  So you can now see why it would be difficult to convert one size to another.

Here is my personal suggestion to women who have breasts larger than a D cup, and want to find their bra size in a different brand.  Know how many cup sizes larger you are than a D, and then you can always find your correct size.  Cup sizing up through a D is universal.  The grading of cup sizing is also universal.  Therefore, if you know you are 3 cup sizes larger than a D, you can simply find the D cup size on any bra manufacturer sizing chart, count up 3 cup sizes from there, and that will be your size.  Here’s is an example: suppose you know you are a DDD cup in the US which is 2 cup sizes larger than a D cup.  Using our cup sequences method, you would be an F cup in the European example, and an E cup in the British example.

But let me make it even easier for you.  At HerRoom, we have this great fitting chart we always keep current that compares all the brands we offer.  Simply find your cup size under the brand you know fits, then go up and down the column to determine your size in other brands.

Now what about band size?  Well, thank goodness this is pretty standard across all brands.  However, some European brands do like to use the centimeter number to identify your underbust measurement - and they don’t add 4 to 5 inches to make it sound better.  So, a 32 band size would be a 70, a 34 band size would be a 75, a 36 would be an 80 and so on.  The good news here is that at HerRoom, we only offer traditional band sizing for all our items, regardless of country of origin.

So there you have it.  It’s really not that difficult to understand and adjust to once you know the system.  And of course, if you have any further sizing questions, my ace Customer Service Representatives like LaBresha are there to give you any assistance you need.

By now, you’ve probably seen their commercial.   A thin model cropped between her waist and knees is walking down a street.  Suddenly the model freezes, her creme pants are off, and exposed is Soma’s new Vanishing Edge Bikini Panty.  Claims about its invisibility under clothing are made as the camera pans from the front to the model’s backside.  Then, her creme pants return and she walks away with a flawless backside with no visible panty lines.  Soma Intimates, for those of you who don’t know, is owned by the Chico’s retail chain and carries exclusive Soma products.

Is this new panty line the ultimate underpant for women?  To read their copy, they seem to think so. Here’s their claim.  Wear their Vanishing Ege panties (which come in 5 styles - bikini, brief, hi-cut brief, hipster and boyshort) and erase panty lines forever.  Here’s how they say they do this.  First, they use a very soft, stretchy and breathable micorofiber.  On the back side of the leg opening starting at the side seam and going all the way to the crotch, the raw leg edge has 1/4" wide strip of silicone on the inside.  Parallel to this silicone are much thinner rows of silicone that are spread out 2 1/2" from the edge.  This would be the same silicone gripper tape that you see in shapewear to keep it in place and along straples bras to keep them up.  This is called their "stay-put technology" and the essence of their marketing claim. 

I went to Soma and bought several styles of the Vanishing Edge panties to test drive.  The first thing the sales representative told me was to "size up."  I normally wear a size 6-8 pant and am a size medium.  In spite of this, the salesperson strongly suggested I purchase the size large.  A later check on the Soma website shows they make the same suggestion of ordering one size larger. 

The first thing I noticed about the Vanishing Edge Collection is that they use a very soft, lightweight, and stretchy microfiber.  I really liked this.  Next I inspected the waistband. Nothing new here. Like most panties, an elastic is sewn to the edge, so this would show under almost any garment.  Along the front leg edge, starting at the side seam and going through your legs and along the side of the cotton lined crotch, there is an elastic serged to the edge.  So, again, this edge would also show under garments.  However, the most important edge for VPL’s is along the backside of the leg edge.  The Vanishing Edge panties do indeed have a raw edge of fabric with fused-on silicone gripper tape for elasticity and to anchor your edge in place.  I think most women would see this and think this new idea might actually work.

The next morning I reached for one of my new Soma panties and pulled them on.  Instantly, I was aware that this is no panty to be pulled on and forgotten.  The silicone sort of grabs your skin while you’re pulling them on.  You therefore need work your panties up your legs, then perform the additional operation of placing the edge of your panty where you want it to stay for the day before continuing on with your morning dressing routine.  That said, once the panties were put in place, I found them comfortable and almost forgettable until I went to the bathroom.  Again, I had to carefully place the panty on my butt cheeks. 

I purchased four of the 5 styles offered in Soma and test drove each one.  All styles fit me in a size large with the exception of the hipster.  In this style, I had to either show bottom cleavage, or cover the bottom of my butt cheeks.  The back was not large enough to do both - and my bottom is in shape.  On a later trip to a Soma store, I compared the hipster to the other styles.  It’s back panel is considerably smaller than other styles.

So, does the Vanishing Edge Collection really erase panty lines forever?  I pulled out my yoga pants to put this to the test.  After all, these types of pants are the ultimate arbitor of panty lines… am I right?  So, here’s what I noticed.  A normal panty line is created by the edge of your panty being thick enough to cause a bump line along your pantyline.  What the Vanishing Edge technology creates is an indentation along your panty line.  That’s right. The silicone gripper tape pushes in your bottom flesh to create a ridge.  Now, it may not be as obvious as a traditional VPL, but it’s still obvious.  I then reached in and readjusted my panty edge in back to come right under my butt cheeks.  This helped, but the ridge was again observable when I bent over.

Now, in their defense, our bottom tissue is soft. Therefore, like back fat in a bra, it would almost be impossible to put anything on your bottom that wouldn’t show.  But I did have panty lines and I was disapointed.  Soma, you’re getting close. But, you’re still not quite there.

As an aside, there are a couple of other companies who have designed panties with edges that almost disappear as well.  They include:

The Commando Invisible Underwear Collection

Affinitas Intimates Grace Hipster S8-605

TC Fine Wonderful Edge Panties A404, A403 and A405

All have laser cut edges, and some have silicone gripper tape as well.

As a final note. the Soma panties need to be washed in warm water and tumble dried on low.  Only non-chlorene bleach is to be occasionally used,  They are made in Nicaragua.

Find more panties at HerRoom in these departments:
Panties