Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

An interesting article was posted in the United Kingdom Telegraph recently.  A London consumer watchdog group called Which? sent eleven mystery shopping women with cup sizes of DD or larger to 70 stores in the high street area to see how well they would be fitted in bras by the so-called experts in each store.

The results?  Only 29% of the bras sold to these women were rated as a ‘good fit.’  But even then, none of the eleven women felt the service they were provided at any of the stores warranted a recommendation.

Many of the women from the watchgroup were sold wildly different sizes.  For one of the women,  two different shops had fit her in bras that differed in cup sizes by 7 sizes.  Another went to the same store in two different locations–one sold her a 34C, the other a 34F.

Now, I have written on this before.  Yes, there are hard-working bra fitters out there who do a very good job of getting women into the proper bra size.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to know which are good and which are not.  And, keep in mind, that if they can convince you that you are a different size than what you walked in wearing, they can probably talk you into buying several new bras. The temptation is simply too great to get you into a different size – especially if the fitter is working for a commission or piece of the sale.

I have said this before, so I’ll gladly say this again.  I think we women are smart enough to figure out what size we are with a better understanding of bra sizing and how to translate your fitting symptoms into size changes.

I’ve spent hours researching and writing about bra sizing. Simply go to the HerRoom Bra Fitting Advice section located at the bottom of each page of HerRoom.com.  There are over 40 pages that I hope will answer any questions you may have on how a great-fitting bra should look and feel.

Read earlier posts about proper bra fitting and about understanding cup sizes.

 

 

Find bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

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Posted by Tomima at 12:35pm
Tags: Bra Fitting, bra sizes, Full-figure, plus size bras
4 Comments »

 

I’ve been watching some old movies lately – mostly ones with Doris Day and Rock Hudson.  It is amazing how, no matter how much things change, they really stay the same.  Specifically, the fashions.  Tight sweaters, pencil skirts, fabulous pumps.  Many of the fashions back then could be worn today.  And guess what? In those old movies, I’m not seeing any bra seams.

A quick bra history lesson.  The common t-shirt bra of today was first introduced by Josie Natori less than 20 years ago.  The timeframe for these movies is late 1950′s and early 1960′s– before bra cups were molded as they are today.  Older bras were actually "cut and sew,"  meaning there were seams in the cups to give them shape.  Granted the shape was more cone-like, but even creating a round shape back then required seams in the cups.

So, how did women back then pull off a seamless look in those tight sweaters?  The answer is they wore additional undergarments that most of us have forgotten about. 

Adding a slip, chemise, or undershirt was a natural step for most women before putting on a blouse.  Surely some of us may still have a full slip in the back of the lingerie drawer. This additional layer of fabric eliminated, or at least minimized, the seams in the cups of a woman’s bra.

It is still true today that a seamed-cup bra or cut & sew bra (as some call it) will give a woman the best breast support and will last longer than seamless bras.  They also tend to be much prettier because they can incorporate lace and beautiful trims. But their popularity has waned because of the seams showing through t-shirts and form-fitting clothes.  We seem to have forgotten that simply wearing an additional layer can solve the problem.

Women who are a D cup and larger, don’t shy away from a seamed bra the next time you go shopping.  Instead, find a great underpinning such as a camisole or full slip, and enjoy the feminine feeling it gives you along with the seamless appearance.

 

Find seamed bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

 

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Posted by Tomima at 11:03am
Tags: Full-figure, molded bras, seamed bras
2 Comments »

 

Let me get this off my 36C chest – I’ve always hated the phrase "training bra."  What are we training?  Breasts don’t need to be trained.  It’s not like a bicycle where you eventually remove training wheels and you’re off.  It’s hard enough for a girl to actually put on her first bra, so let’s not make it worse with a dumb name like training bra!  Okay, my rant is over.  Thank you.

It’s pretty much universal as to when a girl needs to get her first bra – middle school.  It was for me, but it was called Junior High.  Up until my first gym class, I had always worn an undershirt.  But then I found myself having to undress in front of my peers, and everyone was looking at each other to see what was being worn.  I ran home and informed my Mom that I needed a bra.

As a mother to two daughters, it pretty much went down the same way.  My oldest is now 13, but has always been fascinated with wearing a bra.  I was able to find some for her when she was around 8 – they didn’t really fit, but she wasn’t really wearing them either; they just made her feel grown up.  Then, during the first week of 5th grade, we had to get serious about finding bras for her to wear every day.  Now, my second daughter is in 5th grade, and as reluctant as she is to grow-up (she once told me she wants to take her childhood slowly) even she has informed me that the peer pressure is on and she needs to be wearing a bra too.

Now I know what you’re thinking; I’m in the business, so it should be simple for me.  I honestly thought the same thing.  But boy, it wasn’t.  My older daughter was my foray into this difficult project.  She measured a 32AA.  So, I went on my site and looked.  About a dozen styles appeared.  I bought all of them and brought them home for her to try on.

Here’s what I learned.  Wacoal makes a really fabulous line of petite bras.  But they do not fit young girls properly.  The underwires fall on the wrong part of their body, and the cups don’t look right.  The Wacoal petite bras really are designed for a petite woman – not a young girl.  Any bra with an underwire is problematic, and frankly unnessesary.  Yes, my daughter liked the look and the idea of wearing a bra with an underwire – very grown up in her mind.  But again, the wires tend to fall in strange places, and without enough breast tissue, tend to move up the chest.

Here’s another mistake moms make – they buy white bras for their daughters.  The girls don’t want white.  They want nude and/or black, or a cute pastel print.  To them, a white bra looks too much like underwear.  They are growing up in a world where seeing a bra strap or parts of the bra showing feels natural.  If it were white, it would look like a mistake.

Remembering that several bra styles on my site come in only a band size, I returned to HerRoom and bought several of these.  Definitely, more success with the soft-cup or wireless bras rather than bras with underwires.

So, after this exercise of trying to match fit with the taste and desires of my daughter, here is the list of bras that worked the best for her:

Elita 3076 Incognito Triangle Bra

Elita 8838 Silk Magic Crossover Bra

Elita 8872 Mini Camisole

CC Girl Plunge bra 2173

Pure Lime Fitness Sports Bra 0097 (expensive, but looks great on her)

 

A recent addition to our site has been some adorable bra and panty sets from CC Girl.  Both of my daughters love them and have snatched them up. They are not that expensive, and it’s the first time the girls have actually had matching bras and panties.  They simply love that.

So, all you mothers (and possibly fathers) with young daughters out there.  I hope you take advantage of this hard-fought knowledge I’ve gained.  Trust me when I tell you it will save you countless hours in research, returns and most of all, arguments.

 

Find more bras at HerRoom in these departments: Bras

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Posted by Tomima at 8:38am
Tags: CC Girl, petite, training bras
No Comments »