Tomima’s Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

It’s only good news that we American women have company with British women.  The truth is that the average woman in both America and the UK is getting bigger.  A recent study revealed that the average UK gal is now a size 14/16 – pretty much the same size as the average American female.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American woman weighs in at 164 pounds and wears a size 14.

The plus-size lingerie manufacturer Eveden (makers of Goddess, Fantasie, Freya and elomi) recently shared that bra band sizes of 44 and 46 see the largest increase in sales year after year.  And cup sizes are also on the rise with a new emphasis being placed on G cup sizes and larger (in the US, that would be a DDDD cup). As for their knickers business, 40% is in sizes 16 and larger – that’s XL and larger in US sizing.

Last year Eveden introduced a new line, elomi, to address the fuller figure market with larger cup and band sizes.  With the launch of elomi, more than 30% of sales were in the G cup or larger size range.  HerRoom.com also carries elomi and we tracked the same results in our sales of elomi bras.

With our female population growing in size, it’s nice to know that lingerie manufacturers are providing pretty and supportive alternatives to meet the new size range.

Find elomi lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

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For me, this was an exciting and fascinating discovery.  A bra from the 1950’s sold at auction last week for more than $5,000.  It was made for Marilyn Monroe and could have been worn under her famous white dress known for flying up over a New York City subway vent in the movie "Seven Year Itch."
 
There are so many intruiging aspects to this bra.  Marilyn was a size 36D, but this bra was designed to give her an even larger bustline.  Let’s start with the double straps.  This was a very clever design because it pulled the breasts up from both sides – like a cradle or hammock – to maximize projection and volume.  Back then, the conical shape breast positioned straight out in front was the preferred look. This bra would definitely achieve that look.
 
There are said to be two cups inside this bra.  The inside cup is an underwire half-cup or shelf bra style.  It would be similar to today’s support panels that help support the breasts from below and position them up higher to show off a woman’s waist.  Then, another cup on the outside was fashioned.  It actually projected one inch from the undercup.  This gave Marilyn the illusion of more breast tissue.  Today we use bump pads to achieve this same affect.  This outer cup has vertical ribbon seaming for additional support as well. It looks a lot like our very popular Shirley of Hollywood chopper bra.  

This bra for Monroe was a combination of cream and nude tones to look invisible under clothing.  So, when you think about it, this bra was way ahead of its time and incorporated technology and themes common in today’s bras – support, volume and invisible coloring.  Truly a fascinating find.  I only wish I had known about it in time to bid on it.

Find Shirley of Hollywood and all bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

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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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