Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

I ran across this little piece of bra history and found it fascinating.  Many of us know that women were the ones working in the factories while the men were sent off to fight in WWII.  This marked the beginning of American women entering the workforce in mass.

 A California company, clearly in an attempt to increase safety in the workplace for women, had female employees wearing a hard, plastic bra while they worked in their factories.  I wish this photo had more detail, but, this was the only image I could find.

A couple of fascinating points.  First, the breast shape.  Unlike women of the day, the shape was rounded rather than conical.  It’s also seamless so could really be considered the first molded bra on the market.  And, this bra really looks to lift and separate.

But, I also wonder, how many sizes this safety bra came in?  Did one size fit all women?  And, you have to wonder how hot and sticky it felt at the end of the day.

I tip my hat to this innovative company for attempting to solve a potential safety concern.  When you think about it, by protecting women’s breasts from injury, they were also protecting future generations as well.

Find molded bras, although not plastic ones, at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

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Posted by Tomima at 7:34am
Tags: bra history, molded bras, seamless bras
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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
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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

Follow HerRoom on Twitter for daily tips.

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