What ever happened to designers creating gowns for women with features that enhance and accentuate? That was definitely not the case for Beyonce’s Givenchy dress at the 2012 Met Gala. Not only was the dress unflattering from behind – sheer, spider web-inspired design – but the base layer or shapewear Beyonce was wearing was all wrong!

Let’s start with the back. We all know Beyonce has naturally beautiful curves but this panty-looking rear does her no favors and actually makes her look wider from behind. What’s the point of wearing a fancy ethereal gown when everyone’s eyes go straight to your skivies?

The illusion was completely lost!  We’ve all seen fashion like this where the illusion is that you’re nude underneath.  Well, not in this case. It looks just awful. You can see the nude tone is a few shades lighter than her skin tone, making her skin look washed out and strange under the flashing lights. This I would expect from a dress off the rack but not a custom made couture gown, and not on uber styled people like Beyonce!

For women of color and those with a darker skin tone,  check out our Body Wrap selection of shapewear.  It tends to have a slightly darker tone of nude.

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We all know Madonna is the queen of pop and has withstood the test of time both as an entertainer and fashion icon but lately she’s been sporting some Victorian-era inspired cleavage that’s unattractive.

Madonna’s smashed and pushed-together cleavage does a disservice to her curves – notice the 2 images on the left. The first one shows a top that is simply too small. Madonna is getting the dreaded "double boob" look and her breasts are literally being smashed against her chest. The middle photo shows touching cleavage that is touching too much. The dress is fitting correctly, but my guess is that she is in a bra with cup sizing that is too small, and padding (or tape) has been put on the outer sides of her breasts to further push her cleavage inward. Her unflattering cleavage in both examples actually makes Madonna look older, while the more natural-looking cleavage on the far right looks more youthful, sexy and attractive.

To avoid this squished cleavage look – be sure to select push up bras that fit properly. Be sure the center panel rests on your sternum, the cups are not overflowing, contain all your breast tissue, and give you a nice center vertical cleavage line that has a little air to it…

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Until recently, men’s shapewear hasn’t been talked about by male celebrities.  But this stylist and TV personality confesses he wears figure-taming shapewear styles. Much like men’s compression activewear, men’s shapewear too delivers smoothing and slimming results.  This category has been a hit on HisRoom in 2011 and looks to continue its popularity into 2012.  Men, you too can look your best with a little undergarment help. Browse HisRoom’s selection of men’s shapewear here.

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Look at these images above. Every one of them shows a model wearing the wrong size bra for her figure. Their breasts are spilling out, bra center panels are not resting against the sternum and the bras are riding too low. All are signs that these women need to be in larger cup sizes.

Can you guess where all these images came from? Drum roll please….. The Victoria’s Secret website. And, these six images are only the tip of the ill-fitting bra iceberg on their site.

Without a doubt, Victoria’s Secret is a powerhouse in the lingerie market. Millions of girls and women turn to them for their bras. So, as a leader in the lingerie industry, shame on them for showing such bad bra fitting examples and not making an effort to get the fit right. Images like these also contribute to women being in the wrong bra size and not even knowing it. After all, their breasts look like the Victoria’s Secret model in these photos. So, by association, they think this look is correct.  If you look closely, Victoria’s Secret is making an effort to show each of these bras as creating touching cleavage. But, no woman should want this for everyday wear. Touching cleavage is uncomfortable, can become chaffed, can increase breast perspiration and frankly is not comfortable. A proper fit in a bra with a center panel prevents this from happening. 

Here are examples of what a proper sized push-up bra should look like:

You can see the center panels are resting on the sternum, the cups are not overflowing, and the bra is not sitting too far down on the chest – the way a bra should fit.

Styles featured above are Little Bra Company Isis, Wacoal Embrace Lace and the QT Lace Push Up bra.

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Melissa McCarthy chose a flowy empire-waist gown for the 2012 Academy Awards but she really missed an opportunity to look her best.  Her breast shape is low and wide, and barely supported. This look just makes her appear heavy and matronly. And her dress choice presents an added challenge because any bra straps would be visible. But there still are options she could have worn.  I would have recommended the Elomi Smoothing Underwire Bustier 1231. This bustier bra would have brought her up, pulled her under-arm tissue forward, and given her a better waist shape – basically would have made her look thinner and more youthful.  And, all of this could have been accomplished without straps.

Octavia Spencer didn’t just win big at the Oscars, taking home the Best Supporting Actress Award, but she also scored our Lingerie Patrol Perfection Award as well. Her gown and lingerie choice were flawless. You can see that her breasts are lifted and beautifully shaped  thanks to a bra with proper support. Now this is how a girl with curves can look when the right choices are made.

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But with a little help from fashion tape, it can be pulled off without a wardrobe malfunction. In fact, it was mentioned during the broadcast that Lopez was already back stage "preparing" for her later appearance.  She was probably flanked by stylists and being taped in place to prevent any possible mishap.

Viola Davis also chose a low cut style but her cleavage wasn’t as flattering. It looks like the Best Actress nominee went bra-less – not the best choice for her. You can see she doesn’t have enough upper breast fullness, and without support – her breasts are spreading under her arms. A simple solution – she should have worn a demi strapless bra to give her a plunging yet rounded and full look without sacrificing support.  

Gwyneth Paltrow wowed in a gorgeous Tom Ford gown but her bra-less look didn’t deliver modesty. Her look would have been flawless with an easy fix – nipple covers, to keep the focus on her overall style instead of her headlights. 

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So, why the lie? In my opinion, women and men don’t recognize anything past a DD. Saying you’re a DD communicates you have a voluptuous figure while still being sexy. Any bigger cup size sounds, well, kind of fat or floppy. This is such a shame, because many women are walking around in bras with cup sizes too small. And, many don’t know that there are at least 10 larger cup sizes to choose from.

Women need to get over this. No matter what your actual cup size is, you need to be in the correct size if you want to optimize your assets. No one will know your size but you. So, if you are in a DD cup size, consider going up a cup size or two. You will probably be amazed at how good you will look, how much thinner you feel, and how more comfortable you will become. Visit HerRoom to view our vast selection of DD size bras and larger.

Most are showing up with a contour cup bra.  This means the cups are molded into a specific shape and then lined with a thin layer of foam for modesty.  Not only are these women in the wrong bra size, but women with heavy breasts and/or breast sizes larger than a D cup are showing up in these contour cup bras and they are gapping along the top edges of the bra.

Why the gap?  It’s because heavy breast weight is causing the cup shape to be strained and thus, gap.  

But there is a solution. There are some contour cup bras that have an elasticized edge along the top of the cup. This elastic better molds to your natural breast shape and thus reduces or eliminates this gapping.  And, if your breasts are uneven in size – and most women are – this elasticized upper cup goes a long way in giving you a custom fit.

My favorite contour bras with this feature are the Simone Perele Caressence 12J316 and the Chantelle Pure Memory Foam 3612.  Both give your breasts a great custom shape due to the memory foam they use, and best of all, do not gap! 

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In almost every one of my appointments, I saw an increase in the number of multi-part cup bras being offered. These are bras where the cups have seams. Historically, U.S. women have been ga-ga over bras that are seamless with a little padding in the cups for modesty. These are called contour cup bras. But the trend seems to be waning and for very good reason.

The issue with contour cups is that they are not very successful for breast sizes larger than a D cup. Heavy breasts tend to warp the shape and women look saggy. Because these cups are also molded and have foam in them, they also tend to gap. By sharp contrast, bra cups with seams keep their shape, are very supportive, and because they can feature lace, are also much more beautiful. Placing your nipple on the seam can create the same modesty effect without having to have foam in the cups.

This obsession with invisible seams under t-shirts and form-fitting clothes is still possible with seamed-cup bras now.  Manufacturers are finding new ways to make the seams flat.  And, laces have been designed to be beautiful, but flat for invisibility under clothes.

So, the next time you go bra shopping, give 3-part cup and seamed cup bras a try.  You will be surprised by how beautiful you can look and feel.

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Berenice Bejo has a starring role in the recent Golden Globe winner and Academy Award-nominated movie "The Artist."  But, what many may not know is that under her flawless gown at the Golden Globes she was wearing a Maidenform strapless bra.

To be more specific, it was the Maidenform Custom Lift Strapless bra style 9455. I think this was a great choice.  This strapless bra has a rather unique feature. Its padding in the bottom of the cups is sized differently for each cup size. So, the amount of padding in an A cup is more than the padding in the B, C, or D cups – the padding decreases as the cup sizes increase.  This unique construction of the strapless bra means it stays up and will not look unnatural on you.

Berenice looked fabulous and so can you! 

Find Maidenform lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

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