Tomima - Lingerie and Underwear Expert

All parts of our body bounce as we walk around and do everyday chores. But, when it comes to doing impact aerobic workout, we really want to contain the bounce of our breasts for comfort and well as to keep them from becoming pendulous and sagging. So, do we need to bind our breasts and prevent any movement, or can we let some breast movement occur?

I put this question to Dr. Joanna Scurr. Dr. Scurr is the lone researcher of breast bounce. Here were some of her comments.

First, we need to understand that breasts are kept in place by the Coopers Ligament - not muscles. Once the ligament becomes stretched, your breast sag, and there is no way to reverse the sagging. A sports bra, or most bras for that matter, support one’s breasts to reduce breast movement. Even testing of breast movement on an everyday bra, says Scurr, showed that it reduced breast movement by 49% compared to not wearing any bra at all.

Dr. Scurr’s research also found that breasts just don’t move up and down, but from side to side and in and out. All this movement, if not supported will contribute to sagging breasts. So, though it would be nice to have a sports bra that provides no breast movement, the truth is, as long as you have a sports bra that reduces your breast bounce enough so that the movement is less than your normal breast hang, you are protected and no further sag damage can occur.

At HerRoom, we offer the Bounce Test videos on all our high impact sports bras. Some clearly don’t provide enough support, but many also show some breast movement. What been learned here is that some movement is fine, but just make sure the movement is less in the 3 directions than your breasts normally move. This way, you won’t be stretching any of the breast’s ligaments or tendons during impact workouts.

That’s right. Eco-friendly fabric made from wood is now available. French lingerie designer, Sophie Young is designing lingerie with Lenpur fabric under the label By Nature. Her collection, called g=9.8 (the scientific equation for earth’s acceleration due to gravity) claims not only to be eco-friendly, but ultra comfortable and soft as silk, with the feel of cashmere and the coolness of linen.

Lenpur is made from white pine trees. Tree trimmings are mixed with enzymes and turned into fibers for weaving. The claim is that these fibers regulate the wearer’s temperature so she is never too hot or too cold. Lenpur is biodegradable and anti-bacterial. It also washes and dries very quickly. Not only is g=9.8 a sexy brand, it is trying to be innovative as well with strong ethics. It has based its entire production in a small village near Angers, France to help strengthen the local economy. The dyes it uses are certified by Oekotex as non-toxic. The pine used is not part of a deforestation project.

Young’s line was introduced recently at a Paris ethical fashion show this spring and in Lyon Mode. There is one British company selling the underwear line, but interest has been brisk, and many others retailers have asked for linesheets.

Finding a bra you love only to discover its size range stops just before your bra size can be frustrating. However, in some circumstances, you may not be totally out of luck.

Say you’re a 40C and the bra you have found stops at 38DD. You MIGHT be able to wear the 38D or 38DD in that bra if the band doesn’t feel too tight. Deviating from your traditional bra size is called the cup size game. Substituting bra sizes really works more successfully on women with band sizes 40 and above and D cups or larger because there is more breast tissue and body circumference to work with - a 2" band increase or a 1" bust line circumference increase is less significant than on a smaller framed person. But, smaller framed women also have way more bra choices.

There are 2 important things you need to know about cup size. The first is that a cup size on one band size is not equal to the same cup size on another band size. In other words, a 32D bra has smaller cup volume and diameter than a 34D bra even though both bra sizes are a D cup. So I bet you’re wondering why the industry assigns the same cup size to both.

Cup size is a measurement of how far your breasts project from your chest wall. Each cup size denotes a 1" increase in your body’s CIRCUMFERENCE measurement at your bust line. Knowing this fact can help you zero in on your correct bra size. For example, you try on a bra and the band feels comfortable, but your breasts are spilling out. Keep going up in cup sizes on the same band size until you find the bra that fits. Alternately, the cups fit great, but the band is too big. When you go down a band size, you now know that you need to go up a cup size to maintain the same underwire diameter and similar cup volume (Example: Go from a 40C to a 38D).

The second important point about cup size pertains to women with cup sizes larger than a D cup. Trying to find cup equivalents among brands can be very difficult. In one brand you are a DDDD, but this same cup size can be a G, F, or FF in other brands. The first thing you should know is that all manufacturers size their cups up by 1" circumference increases. They may call their sizing by different letters, but the increases between sizes are uniform. So, as mentioned above, find out how many cup sizes above a D you are. At HerRoom.com, when you look at the sizes available in a particular bra, HerRoom displays the cup sizes in order from smallest to largest. If you are 4 cup sizes larger than a D cup, you can count 4 sizes from D to find your correct size in that particular brand. Again, it doesn’t matter what the cup size letter is. Just make sure you count the right number of sizes above their D and you will have the right size.

 When a manufacturer grades his patterns to create different sizes for a bra style, he moves the bust points slightly wider with each cup size increase. B cup bust points are 1/2" farther apart than A cups. Bust points get 1/4" farther apart between B, C and D cups, and 1/8" farther apart with larger cup sizes. Now that I’ve shared the cup size game with you, I want to make a final point. It is always best to purchase your true and accurate bra size if you want to maximize your proper fit.