Archive for the 'Intimate Wisdom' Category
Apparel Sizing Has Changed
September 26, 2011
Have you noticed that you find yourself sizing down a lot when you try on clothing? I have. And I tell you, when I fit into a size 2, or once into a size 0, I’m so elated, I almost always buy it. For me, it’s like wearing a badge of honor!
Well, now my bubble has been burst. I learned recently that a size 0 today was a size 8 back in the 1970′s. As a child, I remember one of my babysitters telling me that she once waited on Jackie O for a bathing suit and sold her a size 10. So, for years, I thought as long as I stayed under a size 10, I was just fine. Well, now I’m finding that her size 10 of the 70′s is today’s size 2!
So, what’s going on? According to Ed Gribbin, President of Alvanon Inc – a clothing size and fit consultant to the fashion industry, the industry is playing with the sizing numbers so that more plus-size women can fit in sizes that sound more standard. Today’s size 14 has a bust measurement of 44 inches, a waist of 38 inches and hips of 46 inches. So, though 1/3 of the American population of women are plus-sized, only 15% of clothing sales go to clothing classified as plus-sized. In other words, they have shifted the sizing scale downward, created sizes like 0 and 00 at the bottom of the size scale so that traditionally average sizes like 10, 12 and 14 are actually fitting plus-sized women.
However, getting the right fit in these new sizes is a challenge. As I blogged about before, once a woman gets to a certain size, she starts to hold her weight in a variety of areas. In contrast, the smaller sizes tend to put on weight proportionally in the same areas and this allows the manufacturer to know how to grade a pattern for the different sizes. We’ve all heard about the fruit shape comparisons. The apple shape means you have a large tummy. The pear shape means you have large hips. These two silhouettes do not fit in clothing the same way – the weight distribution is diverse in these larger sizes.
Lane Bryant, a retailer of plus-sized clothing, has been making 3-D scans of many of their customers’ bodies since 2004. They now have more than 65,000 unique body measurements for comparison analysis. What they found is that 15% of women in the plus sized category had more than a 10 inch difference between their waist and hips. 70% of these women had a difference between waist and hips within an 8-10 inch variance, and another 15% only has a 4-6 inch variance between these two measurements. That’s a lot of variation! So, there is no one dress shape or pant style that will fit all plus-sized women.
The lesson in all of this is that plus-sized women need to know not only their size, but their body shape. The latest thinking is that there are 4 shapes – round, curvy, bottom-heavy and straight.
Since I sell underwear, once I learned this, I immediately thought of the challenges plus-sized women have with shapewear. Shapewear is really made with the assumption that you are for the most part pretty straight up and down. So by figuring out her body shape, a full-figure woman can make the right shapewear decisions If she has a fuller bottom, two pieces of shapewear – one for the top and one for the bottom – will give her the best results. If she’s more straight, a one-piece shapewear will probably work.
So, say goodbye to the fruit analogies, and figure out what body shape you have if you are plus-sized. This will go a long way in helping you find the best-fitting and figure-flattering clothing.
Find Shapewear that fits at HerRoom in these departments:
Shapewear
Plus-Size Lingerie
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Posted by Tomima at 9:12am
1 Comment »
Maternity Lingerie – So Much Better Than it Was
September 16, 2011
Before I was in the lingerie business, I had given birth to two girls. I distinctly remember the maternity lingerie I bought. Few if any stores had maternity lingerie. So, I went to Target, found 3 awful looking white bras and these big white granny-panties that came up and over my belly. As I purchased them, I felt resigned to giving up on anything pretty or sexy for the next 6 months.
Boy, is today’s maternity lingerie different. I look at it and it almost, ALMOST makes me want to think about having a baby again. Gone are the institutional-style underwear pieces. Replacing them are beautiful looking bras and panties in a variety of styles, colors and trims. In fact, they have become so pretty that I suggest them to all my friends with pregnant daughters. I can’t imagine a better gift for a mother to give her daughter once she hears of the pregnancy. What an emotional lift to a mother-to-be to see that she can still look pretty during this special time.
Taking this one giant step further, I ran across these great videos by HotMilk Maternity. What I love about them is that rather than a woman dealing with her condition and feeling like she’s sort of all alone, these videos bring the man in their life into the whole experience. I know you’ll love watching both.
Find HOTmilk lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties
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Posted by Tomima at 8:41am
1 Comment »
Breast Separation – It Matters
August 24, 2011
Not all breasts are separated the same. And, I don’t think most women know this. Did you know that some women have touching or "kissing" breasts where there is no space between the breasts? There are other women with rather wide separation – more than 3 finger widths in fact. So, why does this even matter? Because breast separation can have a huge impact on how a bra fits.
I think one of the most overlooked feature of any bra is the center panel or center gore. There are wide design variations. And, how this piece is shaped, sized and attached to the cups effects how a bra will fit.
Let’s say you have touching breasts. You are one of those lucky ladies who always gets a center cleavage line. However, a traditional center panel will probably not touch or "tack" on your sternum. It can’t because there is no room between your breasts for its resting spot. Consequently, your bra will look like it doesn’t fit – the center panel and wires could bend out forward, or your center panel could be resting away from your sternum.
The solution here is to find a bras where the center panel is low, or where the bra does not even have a center panel. Also look for bras where the underwires are short in the center and do not come up very high. Plunge bras and some demi bras have these shorter underwires. A halter bra is also a good style because such a bra tends to be designed to push breasts together anyway.
At the other extreme are wide-set breasts. These are breast where there is more than 3 fingers width of breast separation between breasts. Because of this, touching cleavage is pretty much impossible. And, underwires can be uncomfortable because they are spaced too close to the center and will pinch the breast tissue under the arms.
In the case of wide-set breasts, the center panel again needs to be scrutinized. If your breasts are wide-set, chances are you have never been able to create cleavage, and you have sometimes put on a bra that doesn’t catch your whole breast under the arms. The wider your center panel, the better fit you will achieve. Wire-free bras will be comfortable. Push-up bras where the pads are both at the bottom and side of the cups will give wide-set breasts the best breast fullness. And triangle style bras and bathing suit tops will probably look the best.
My point in this post is to let you know that there is more to fitting a bra than just knowing your size. Based on your breast separation, you will have more success with some styles if you know how far apart your breasts are.
Find bra styles to fit your shape at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
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Posted by Tomima at 12:37pm
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