Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

 

Here’s a fun and actual story.  My two daughters and I went to Hawaii the week before Christmas.  One afternoon, I had just finished a shower while my girls were down on the beach.  Suddenly, they both exploded into the room and said "There’s a woman in the hall who doesn’t speak English, but we think she is locked out of her room.  She keeps bowing and saying ‘Arigato’!  A man is suggesting you call the front desk." 

Grabbing a towel, I went out in the hall to survey the situation.  The girls were right; an Asian woman was bowing, and a gentleman was telling me that my daughters had flagged him down for assistance… but this is all I heard.  You see, my brain’s memory cells were in rapid-fire mode searching for a name from my past.

"Excuse me." I said "But, am I standing in the hallway, wearing nothing more than a towel, speaking to Neil Sedaka?" He warmly smiled and confirmed that he was indeed Neil Sedaka.  I then turned to my girls and set out to explain to them who he was.  Very quickly, Neil spoke up and said "Oh, they’re too young to know me."  Well, I assured him that I was going to make it a point of educating them, then got down to the situation at hand and called the front desk for help.

Upon reflection, two things struck me.  First, how great it must be that Neil Sedaka is now able to walk about  safe in the knowledge that the only people who would ever recognize him are over 40, and too old and tired to scream or beg for an autograph – after all, what would we do with it?  He can freely walk around fairly anonymously.   The second thought was what a shame that my girls didn’t know of his work – Calendar Girl; Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen; Laughter in the Rain… just to name a few.  I assure you, they do now.

Finally, let me mention that we ran into Neil a few more times.  He is an absolutely lovely, gentle, and oh-so friendly man – just what you would expect.  And it was hard to say goodbye.  After all… Breaking Up is Hard to Do.

 

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Posted by Tomima at 9:45am
Tags: hawaii, neil sedaka
1 Comment »

 

There’s been quite a bit of advertising about Victoria’s Secret’s "Miraculous" Push-up bra.  Made by the Maidenform Company, the claim is that special padding lifts you up and out, thus adding up to 2 full cup sizes to your breasts.  And it does all of this with amazing comfort while keeping a natural shape.

 

Wow!  That’s quite a promise.  So, I went and bought one and put it to the test.  By way of explanation, a one inch increase in the circumference of your chest along the nipple line qualifies as a cup size increase.  So, to make their claim true, a total of 2 inches to the circumference needs to be achieved.

 

So, here are the results.  We used one of our 34B models. Her measurements are:

Band 34"

Bust 36"

First, we put her in the Spanx 216 Bra-llelujah contour bra.  These photographs show her shape. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then put her in Victoria’s Secret "Miraculous" bra.  Her measurements became:

Band 34"

Bust 38"

So, the claim is correct; her bust circumference increased by 2 inches.  And, I must say,  her cleavage and shape look natural and fabulous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, this bra is made by the Maidenform company.  And, apparently a deal was cut whereby Victoria’s Secret got the exclusive for the first 6 months.  And boy, are they taking advantage.  The Victoria price is $48 for the solid colors and $52 for the prints. 

The Maidenform version arrived late June 2010.  Their design does have some differences – a little more coverage in the cups, a more stabilizing center front, and a different back design to provide more support.  Whereas the Victoria’s Secret bra goes up to DD cup sizing, the Maidenform will only go up to D cups. And, the biggest difference of all will be the pricing. The Maidenform price will be just $34. That’s a 30% price savings!

Personally, I’m very impressed.  The Maidenform Company, in my opinion, is the current leader in innovative bra designs. They have done a super job here creating a look of more natural cleavage. 

On a final note, I do want to point out that we tried to measure the thickness of the padding in this bra.  In some places, the padding is over 1 inch thick.  So, I have a bit of a concern with how to care for it.  You don’t want to stick it in the dryer, yet with all that padding, will it dry fast enough so that there won’t be a problem with mildew from line drying?  The jury is out on this one.

 

Maidenform & Victoria’s Secret have teamed up before on the Total Solution and Perfect One Bras.

 

Find Maidenform lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

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Posted by Tomima at 9:12am
Tags: maidenform, Victoria's Secret
21 Comments »

 

We saw exposed bra straps several years ago on Sex and the City.  We saw bra tops under blazers in the 80′s.  Now, the spring 2010 catwalks were cluttered with underwear worn as outerwear.  Specifically, blouses and tops unbuttoned to the navel and exposing the model’s bra.

I’m in the business, so you probably think I would be a fan of this.  Well, you would be wrong.  Yes, I offer beautiful sexy and lacy bras that seem almost a shame to cover up.  But, from what I’ve seen so far, this ‘visible bra’ look is not being executed properly.  Yes, if you have a sheer blouse, and wear a pretty bra underneath, that looks great.  Yes, if your bra has a great center detail that peeks out above your top, that too looks great. But, what I’m seeing looks simply like the starlets forgot to button their last button.  And in Zoe Saldana’s case, forgot to button ANY buttons. Here are some examples:

 

 

I think to make this trend work, the bra needs to coordinate with the rest of the outfit and have a special feature.  For example, Wacoal’s 859176 would be a terrific choice worn under a black top or dress where the neckline might be a little too low.  That touch of lace would be a great accent.  It’s discontinued now, but I’ve actually worn the OnGossamer 013401 in black to fill in a neckline that was cut too wide.  No other bra stayed concealed, so I decided if I had to show something, let it be pretty.

These Hollywood stylists need to work a little harder on this one.  If it’s a trend for this spring, it shouldn’t look like a mistake.

 

Other celebs have made unfortunate underwear decisions, like Renee Zelwellger at the Golden Globes.

 

 

Find bras,peek-a-boo and otherwise at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

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Posted by Tomima at 1:35pm
Tags: peek-a-boo bras, rihanna, zoe saldana
2 Comments »