Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

(un)covering what's under everything

Why Bras Are Like Shoes

April 24, 2008

Having helped women with bras now for more than nine years, I have discovered that bras and shoes have a lot in common.

Comfort – For everyday wear, bras and shoes must be comfortable. At the end of the day, if you can’t wait to take either of them off, you know they will never be your favorite. Now, you’ll wear a pair of shoes or a bra even if it’s not comfortable as long as it’s fabulous and shows off your outfit to best advantage.

Prefer certain brands – You pretty much know which shoe brands fit you the best and are the most comfortable for your feet. Well, the same holds true for lingerie brands. When you find lingerie brands you like, you should go to them first when looking for a specific style like a strapless or racerback. This is because, like shoe manufacturers, a lingerie manufacturer will use the same molds and patterns year after year. They know they fit a certain customer well and don’t want to lose them by changing the fit.

Don’t know until you wear it for a while – You can try it on in a store and wear it for a little while, but you never know if your bra or shoes are going to be comfortable until you actually wear them for a day. This is why we all have shoes and bras we rarely wear sitting in our closet and drawers.

Sizing is predetermined – but you don’t always buy your same size. When trying on shoes, you go up or down a size based on the fit. The same is true with bras. You try on your size, but you adjust the cup or band size to hone in on your best fit. Also, if the shoe or bra doesn’t come in your exact size, you will consider getting another size simply because you love the item so much.

Design and shape matter – With bras and shoes, their design and the way they look matter. With shoes you know that strap will hit your baby toe and hurt, the arch support isn’t high enough, or the heel is too high. With bras the straps aren’t wide enough, the underwires aren’t short enough, or the center panel is too high.

Price matters – The better the shoe, the higher the price. The better the bra, the higher the price. This is simple economics. The best quality product cost more. You also get a better product if you’re willing to spend more money, and it will last longer. In shoes as well as lingerie, you really do get what you pay for.

Posted by Tomima at 7:26am
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Understanding Underwires

April 16, 2008

Have you ever bought an underwire bra in your size and felt like the underwires didn’t fit right? This posting is to help you understand bra underwires and how they are designed, selected and ultimately sewn into your bras.Let’s begin with some basic geometry. Breasts, for the most part, are shaped like orbs. They have a diameter and a projection. When selecting your cup size (e.g. B, DD, G, etc.) you’re basically choosing a size that addresses your breast projection — how far out from your body your breasts project.

Your breast diameter measurement, on the other hand, is already predetermined by the manufacturer who makes your bra. Your band size (32, 38, 42 etc) has a pre-determined breast diameter built into it in the form of an underwire. That’s right, manufacturers determine your breast diameter whether you like it or not, when they decide on the underwire that will be sewn into your bra. And all lingerie manufacturers pretty much follow the same sizing conventions with regard to diameters. As a side note, augmented breasts tend to have a wider diameter than their natural counterparts. This is why many augmented women tend to wear larger cup sizes than they thought they would wear – it’s to get the correct fit with a wider underwire.

So, now that you know this, you can understand why changing your band size will also change your breast fit. And here’s another industry secret. Manufacturers use the same underwire in different bra sizes. This is done to reduce the number of different underwires they need to work with., but it also makes sense. Remember, your cup size is determining your projection. A woman with a larger band size, but with the same projection should also have the same diameter – in theory. Here’s an example to explain how all of this works. Suppose you are a 36C. The industry has quantified over the years that your projection is the same measurement as a woman who is a 32DD, 34D, 38B and a 40A. So, most of the time, these bra sizes will all have the same underwire sewn into them. This makes sense when you consider what you do with weight fluctuation. If you are in a 36C and the cups fit, but the band is too tight, the correct size change would be to go up a band size to a 38 and down a cup size to a B to maintain the same cup volume. After all, your girth changed; not your breast diameter.

I put this chart together to guide you in all of this. So, the next time you feel you need to change your bra size, stop and think about what needs to change. If it’s just your band, consult with this chart to find the next size you should consider moving to.

Underwire shapes can and do vary among brands and manufacturers. In fact, many feel their underwire grading and shaping choices are the trade secret to their fit. This is why you’ll find slight underwire variations among manufacturers (however they will not tell you or us what they are). This explains why one manufacturer may fit you better than another.

Underwires also have different lengths – their curve will follow the same size circle, but, like a pie chart, the diameter length can vary. For example, demi cup bras, balconette bras, bras labeled "petite" and low-plunge bra styles generally have shorter wires. If you are short in stature, this is good to know, because a shorter wire will have a less chance of poking you under your arm since these wires do not come up as high. Strapless bras tend to have the longest underwires, and for good reason. Without strap support, a strapless bra requires more wire to circle around the breast in order to give proper support and keep the bra up.

Now that you understand underwire sizing, you can understand why underwire swimsuits with just a cup size like a "C" don’t fit all C cup women. And, for you analytical types who are probably wondering, when underwires are graded to create their different sizes, the diameter increase is approximately 3/8" and the underwire length increase is approximately 5/8". Underwires are also engineered to have some spring. Once a bra is fastened, horizontal pressure is exerted on the underwires so that they splay or spread. Then, when a bra is unhooked, the underwires return to their original shape. This springing or splay gives additional support to your breasts by exerting inward pressure on them – like a gentle squeeze. If you are in the wrong size bra such that your breasts are wider than the splayed diameter of the underwire, over time the pressure and weight of your breasts can cause an underwire to break in half. If this happens to your frequently, you are probably in a bra with too small of a band size, or one where the cups are too small.

I appreciate that learning all of this may be a little overwhelming. But, you should also know that manufacturers work very hard to get you the best fit possible and try and make your size selection easy. However, it’s always nice to know the logic behind what they do.

Learn more about underwires and the perfect fit in the HerRoom fitting guide.

Posted by Tomima at 7:30am
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A Conversation with the Goddess and elomi Bra Designer, Liesl George

April 09, 2008

Last week I had the great pleasure to spend a fabulous and informative afternoon with Liels George. Over the last six years, Liesl has been the designer for Goddess bras and now the new elomi bras. Born and raised in South Africa, and currently living in the UK, Liels is simply lovely. As she walked toward me to shake my hand, I was struck by her Cleopatra coloring, and her buxom shape. "How fabulous!" I thought to know that the designer for these full figure bra lines is herself full figured.

I’ve always known that Goddess bras were the first full figure bra line in the United States. And, their success has sustained the test of time. So, I wanted to know what Goddess, and now elomi, have done and continue to do to ensure that their bras are some of the best fitting full figure bras in the world. Liels was more than kind to share her knowledge.

Underwires – Starting with the underwires, Goddess and elomi underwires have a wider sweep or a longer diameter. Most underwire bras come up on the sides in front of the arm. However, a full figure girl has more breast tissue under her arm. This common wire style could rest on sensative breast tissue and cause pain. By opening up the wire further, and going farther under the arm, the Goddess and elomi underwires scoop up all a woman’s breast tissue and pull it into the bra cup. As Liels in her lovely British accent explained, this tends to have a minimizing effect and a better overall breast shape. She also uses very strong underwires. Liesl made the interesting point that when a woman complains of her underwires sticking outward in the middle of her chest, it can also be caused by cheap and flimsy underwires not being able to withstand the weight of larger breasts.

Soft cup Bras – I then asked Liesl about her design of soft cup bras. She had some very interesting insights. A soft cup bra, she feels, is popular because women who have had a bad experience with uncomfortable underwires feel this is their only option. In truth, she said, if the woman was able to get into her correct underwire size, she would probably stay with an underwire. After all, underwires will always give you a more defined silhouette. However, there are a lot of women out there who want soft cup bras, so she will continue to design them. The elomi bra line, though, will only consist of underwire bras for now. An additional point about soft cup bras. With a soft cup bra, it is apparenlty impossible to get the center panel or gore to lay flat against the sternum. Only an underwire can achieve this.

Bra Straps – since Liesl’s arrival, all bras by Goddess and elomi  have been designed with restricted stretch elastic. Liesl explains that a rigid strap gives great support. but, when a woman moves, if the strap doesn’t have some give, it will pull or get out of place and be uncomfortable. On the other end, an elastic strap will give too much movement and thus reduce support. Also, a stretch elastic tends to curl into a "U" shape when stretched. This creates an even narrower strap on the shoulder which digs in. Restrictive stretch straps are wide and comfortable. They don’t curl, and provide just enough stretch to allow for movement without feeling bound. Oh, and as for those padded straps, Liesl has some designs that incorporate them, but she is not a fan. A padded strap reduces the length of strap adjustability. And, this limitation can prevent women from buying an otherwise fantastic product.

Bra Backs – Liesl prefers the leotard back styling. A leotard back design incorporates the strap into the back and gives a rounded or leotard back style to a bra rather than a common camisole back. There are several reasons for this design choice. According to Liesl, this design helps to reduce the  bra back from creeping up your back and the subsequent back fat this may cause. But secondly, and more important,  leotard back styling helps to better distribute the breast weight across and down the back rather than just at the shoulders. This goes a long way towards increasing comfort for full figure bra wearers.

Cup Design – Liesl is credited with coming up with the 4 section cup design seen in both the Goddess and elomi bra lines. As she stated, the best supporting cup will always be a multi-section cup. However, the 4th section Liesl has added is along the side. Rather than putting a support panel inside the cup, she has incorporated the panel into the cup construction itself. This helps to push breast tissue forward and further reduces breast spillage out the sides. She also made a very interesting point about the differences between US women and UK women. Over in the UK, there isn’t a thought about whether bra seams show through their clothing. It’s only in the US that women are obsessed about seamless bras.

Find elomi and Goddess lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

Posted by Tomima at 6:40am
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