Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

Underwires working their way out of a bra is not an uncommon occurrance.  My Customer Service team receives emails and phone calls about this very issue quite frequently.  Though this phenomenon is usually blamed on the manufacturer, you will be surprised to learn that in most cases, it is the owner of the bra who is to blame.

The number one reason underwires come out is because you’re wearing a bra with too large a band size.  That’s right. A bra should fit snuggly around a woman’s torso and not move even when the wearer is moving.  When a band size is too large, it will shift and move around a woman’s body.  The metal of the underwire is now moving and rubbing against the casing covering the underwire.  Eventually, the underwire will wear its way through the casing and pop out.  In this scenario, it is not uncommon for a woman in a too-large band size to see her underwire poke out after about an hour of wear in severe cases, and about a month or two in more mild cases.

Another cause for a popped underwire is improper laundering.  A bra should always be laundered in a laundry bag with its hooks and eyes attached, and never put in a dryer.  The underwire can catch in the holes of the washing machine drum or get twisted around other clothing.  This type of strain can not only change the shape of your underwires, but can push the underwire to one end and force it out of its casing.  The dryer is always a no-no with bras.  Many times the casing used inside a bra to protect you from your underwires is made in a different fabric than the rest of the bra.  If put in the dryer, this fabric, usually made with cotton, will shrink.  The channel holding your underwire has now shrunk, so your underwire has nowhere to go but out.

Of course, bras are not meant to last a lifetime.  So, older bras with a fair amount of wear might eventually see a wire poke out.  When this happens, it’s a sign that you need a new bra.  Bras with larger cup sizes have more strain on them and will wear out sooner than say a B or C cup size.  This is why it’s always recommended to have 4 bras rotating through the week.  Allowing a bra at least 24 hours between wearings gives the fabric time to bounce back to its original shape, helping it last longer.

Now, there are some errors that can be made by the manufacturer as well.  For one, the channel fabric covering the underwire inside the bra can be sewn too tight.  The underwire then won’t have enough play and can force itself out one end or the other.  Or the underwire selected could be the wrong size. The seamstress might pick up an underwire that is too long for the channel.  Again, the wire will force itself out.  Of course in this scenario, the wearer would probably notice the wire fitting strangely anyway.

Finally, I want to point out that you really do get what you pay for with bras.  The cheaper bras simply do not use the best materials. They will pick a thin fabric for the wire channel that does not hold up but is less expensive.  Obviously, the wire will eventually wear through.  There are also different qualities of underwires.  The good ones have polished rounded edges with covered tips.  Less expensive underwires tend to have sharp edges and ends without a cover.  Their edges act as a saw cutting through the fabric of your bra.

So, there you have it.  Make sure you have the correct band size, launder your bras correctly and wear quality bras from well-known lingerie manufacturers.  All of this should help keep your underwires where they belong.

 

 

Find underwire bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

 

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Posted by Tomima at 7:37am
Tags: bra underwires, underwires
1 Comment »

A new lingerie term has popped up recently. The term "spacer foam" is being used when describing some new t-shirt or contour bras. Currently several bras on the market use this spacer foam as the fabric in their seamless bras. So, what is it?  

We all know what corrugated cardboard is. It has a top and bottom layer with a wavy layer between the two to give the cardboard a thickness. Well, spacer foam is very similar. Actually knit on a machine, spacer foam has a top and bottom layer with filaments in between that can be adjusted to create a thickness to the knit. So, basically, little air pockets are created and this spacer foam has a very cushiony feel to the hand.

 

This is actually quite revolutionary in the industry. More and more, the contour or t-shirt bra has become every woman’s staple in her lingerie drawer because she likes the modesty and shape it provides. Traditionally, a contour bra uses two pieces of fabric which are then glued to a thin foam to create the cups. The problem has always been with the lighter colored fabrics, especially white. Once the glue hits the air, it turns yellow. This is why it was almost impossible to find a white t-shirt bra. The creation of spacer foam or spacer fabric eliminates the layering and gluing of three pieces of fabric. Therefore, a white bra with modesty padding is now a possibility. Additionally, the thickness and density of spacer foam can be regulated at the knitting machine. Thus new padded bras can now be created that don’t require additional padding.

 

 Another advantage to spacer foam is that it allows air to pass through. This makes bras with spacer foam much more comfortable to wear. Contour bras traditionally do not breath, and thus became hot,  with moisture getting trapped inside the cups.

 

Currently spacer foam or spacer fabric is very expensive due to the fact that far more yarn goes into the making of it than traditional knits, and more time is required on the knitting machines. There is also an added expense in molding this fabric into a cup shape using a special finishing process. However the benefits of being lighter weight, breathable, and able to be made in light fabrics seems to justify the added expense. One final note; there is a cheaper version of spacer foam on the market. However, because it is not the real thing, it does not perform the same or keep its shape as long. So, spacer foam is an exciting new innovation to the lingerie industry. I predict you will see spacer foam replacing most or all contour or t-shirt bras in the near future.

 

 

 

Find bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

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Posted by Tomima at 9:50am
Tags: contour bras, padded bras, spacer foam, t-shirt bras
1 Comment »

 

I was in a boutique on Rodeo Drive years ago, and trying on a pair of pumps.  The sales person remarked on how fabulous my toe cleavage looked.  What? I thought.  Toe cleavage?  Well, now I’m in the bra business, and breast cleavage is a constant topic.  Women and men have differing options on what is attractive breast cleavage.

Let’s first define cleavage.  In general, cleavage refers to a separation or division of form.  In science, it’s the process where a cell divides into two cells after mitosis.  In geology, it’s the partial opening caused after a split or rupture.  And, in politics, it’s when there is a split within the political system along ideological or ethnic lines.  But, when it comes to a woman’s body, our culture defines cleavage as the exposed area between a woman’s breasts.

 Bra manufacturers work very hard to give women separation between their breasts. They mostly design bras with a center panel that lays against a woman’s sternum.  But, there are also a lot of women walking around with D cup size breasts and larger wearing low necklines that expose breasts touching one another.  And it is this look that men tend to favor.  So, how is this look achieved?

 By way of example, Felicia, one of our buyers’ assistants, agreed to take one for the team and posed with a couple of different bra sizes to show you what I’m talking about.  Before being fitted in our office, Felicia was walking around wearing a size 44D.  Now, most women would think this bra fit her correctly.  But, as you can see from the front and top down view, her breasts are touching one another.

After a proper fitting, Felicia was found to be a 40G. In these two photographs, you can see her breasts are separated, and the center of  the bra rests on her sternum.  Felicia agreed that the new size was more comfortable and flattering to wear, but commented that her husband preferred the look of her breasts in the size 44D.  By-the-way, Felicia is wearing the Le Mystere 9155 in both of these photos.

So, here’s the rub. Do women really want separation? Or do they want that line of cleavage that men like to look at?  I think the answer is both.  I then sent Felicia through our catalog to try and find a bra in her correct size that would give the same look to her breasts as her 44D.  The closest she could find was this Panache 3606.  In this photo she is wearing a size 38G with a bra extender on the back because this bra did not come in a 40 band size. The reviews by customers about this bra are mixed – some love it, and many 32 band size women don’t.  I can sympathize with Panache.  In order to get a low plunge in front, they must have larger cups to give support – otherwise women will complain about falling out.  But now, women are complaining that they don’t like the shape of the bra!

Here’s my suggestion for a solution.  For women wanting that cleavage line (and are a D cup or larger), first look at the plunge bras available in your size.  There are several on the market that do a great job such as the Panache bra,  the Prima Donna Menton Plunge 016-1564,and the Felina Jennifer Deep Plunge Bra 29885.  Also, if you have implants and thus don’t need the support of a bra, you could wear a NuBra and attach the clasp to pull your breasts in.  Finally, if you really want that look, go up a band size and down 1 cup size in your bra and see if you get the desired look.  In Felicia’s example, she went up two band sizes and down 3 cup sizes to get her look.  Again, this is not a bra size you would want to wear all day, but if you want this look for a special outfit or evening, it’s something to consider until a bra manufacturer actually makes a bra that gives women this cleavage look.

Before signing off, I need to comment to the C cup and smaller women that this cleavage look is almost impossible to obtain for you.  I for one am a C cup, and my breasts have never touched regardless of the push up and cleavage enhancing bras I have tried on.  I just don’t have enough breast tissue. The closest I’ve come is with a NuBra. But take heart; as any full figured woman will tell you, we get to wear a lot more variety of clothing styles and look good in it.  So, it really is a trade off.

 

 

 

 

Find plunge bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

 

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Posted by Tomima at 9:18am
Tags: Bra Fitting, cleavage
3 Comments »