Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

(un)covering what's under everything

Maidenform’s Total Solution Bra & Victoria’s Secret Perfect One Bra – Is There a Difference?

August 03, 2009

 

If you haven’t yet taken a look at the "Total Solution" line of bras from Maidenform, it would be worth your while to do so.  They are the newest cutting-edge technology in bra support without seams.

Maidenform calls this patent-pending feature "Smartzone" cup technology.  But, even with all the tags they have attached to these bras, the customer probably doesn’t appreciate all they have to offer.  So, I’m going to take a shot at explaining it.

If you look at the inside of the cup on any of the Total Solution bras, you will see that the cup has three color sections.  The thin foam inner lining of the cup is all one piece, but to the naked eye, the foam looks like nothing more than foam that Maidenform simply put a print on. 

What you are really looking at, however, is three different foam types (each with its own color) with different qualities — fused together to form one complete cup lining.

Okay, I know that is hard to follow.  So, look at this image that Maidenform provides:

Their illustration shows three sections with the words Firm, Evens Out Bust, Shape.  These word describe what each section does, but in sort of a marketing way.  After listening to Maidenform executives explain all of this to me in NYC last market, I can tell you there is a lot going on.

Let’s start with the "Firm" foam–it’s very rigid.  I pulled and tugged on it and it wouldn’t stretch.  So, having this kind of foam in the bottom of the cup gives you great support and lift to your breasts.  The "Evens Out Bust" foam has some stretch.  Having this type of foam across the mid-section of your breast helps to shape your breasts while eliminating nipple show-through.  Finally, the "shape" foam is quite stretchy in all directions.  Having this foam across the tops of your breasts means that it stretches as much or as little as you need to make this bra give you a custom fit without gaping.  So, as you can see, there really is a lot going on with this bra.

So what does all of this have to do with the Victoria’s Secret Perfect One bra?  Well,  Maidenform and Victoria’s Secret cut a deal, and the result is that the Victoria’s Secret bra uses the same technology in their Perfect One bra.  The Total Solutions bras and Perfect One bras are basically the same.  However, their cut is slightly different – the Victoria’s Secret bras have less breast coverage.

Now that I’ve explained all of this, I am going to muddy the waters a bit.  Maidenform Company also makes the Lilyette brand of bras.  Lilyette bras are known for being a great solution for women with full- figure cup sizes.  Well, Maidenform took this same Smartzone technology and then added a nipple cover panel inside the "perfects" foam section to help reduce nipple showthrough. They named all of this "Absolute Solution" and sell this modification to the Smartzone technology under their Lilyette brand.  So, for full figure women, you can now get this same technology with the added benefit of more nipple coverage.  Women of most bra sizes now have access to this great new breakthrough!

 

Find Maidenform lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

 

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Posted by Tomima at 12:12pm
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Tagless Labels in Underwear

July 06, 2009

I’ve been watching a trend in the underwear business.  Particularly In the last year, there has been a real uptick in tagless bras, panties and other lingerie.  That pesky tag is being replaced by heat transfer labels that are fused right inside the garment.

There are actually a couple reasons for this trend.  First, tag-less labels are fast and easy to apply in the factory.  A simple machine can fuse the garment with minimal manual labor.  Second, most people prefer a tag-less garment because it’s more comfortable to wear and eliminates the possibility of the label sticking out above your clothing.

It’s the third reason for this trend that really caught my eye.  Heat transfer labeling greatly reduces the risk of counterfeiting.  Certain clothing labels are now creating very intricate and unique fused labeling into their garments to deflect other manufacturers from knocking off their goods.

Though I like the concept of a fused label, it still has a way to go in my opinion.  I purchased a couple of white tagless t-shirts the other day and was disappointed to find that the heat transfer label could be seen through my t-shirt…. not a good look.

 

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Posted by Tomima at 6:21am
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Two New Ridiculous Bras

June 24, 2009

 

Came across both of these this week.

 

The first bra is called ‘The Husband-Hunting Bra’ by Triumph.  This bra has a countdown clock that a woman sets to her personal deadline date and time for when she expects to be married.   Once engaged, she inserts her engagement ring into a slot in the bra, the clock stops counting down and begins to play the wedding march song. The bra is playing to Japan’s singles market as the country’s marriage rate continues to fall. Think it will help?

 

 

The second bra is called the Horny Bra.  A Slovenian company has found material that inflates when one’s body temperature climbs.  So, when you put this bra on, it allegedly senses if your body temperature is climbing due to arousal from seeing some cute guy, and the bra ‘inflates’ cup size and  turns into a more serious push-up bra.  When you cool down, the bra does as well, taking your bust  back to where it started.  Warning: Women experiencing hot flashes should probably steer clear of this one.

 

 

 

 

Find interesting lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Sexy Lingerie

 

 

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Posted by Tomima at 9:56am
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