A side-effect of being in the bra business is that you tend to know the bra size and favorite style of all your female acquaintances.   So, I personally know of two women who don’t know each other, but both happen to share the same bra style, have been wearing it for more than 10 years, and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

Are you jealous?  I know I am.  I have never selected a bra style that’s stayed on the market that long.  Their bra is the Chantelle Tamaris Seamless Molded Underwire 1660.  And here are the reasons they sing its praises.

First, both women feel they have somewhat sloping shoulders.  And the straps on this bra do not fall off their shoulders.  Now, there are a number of reasons why straps can fall off shoulders – your upper breasts are shallow and do not fill up the top of the cup, your band size is too big etc.  The reason these straps stay on your shoulders is because they are located almost directly above the nipple.  This is known in the trade as "center pull" or "cup centered" straps. The cups are also shaped more as a triangle which assists in keeping the straps centered and on your shoulders. 

Their next favorite feature is the leotard back. Lately, you’ve probably been seeing commercials on TV about Bali’s new "Comfort-U Design" back.  Well, it’s not new.  This has been called a leotard back in the industry and has been around for years.  The Tamaris has this back which allows the bra back to look more pared down, and again helps keep the straps on your shoulders.

Both women are in the 34-36, B-C size range, so granted they don’t have any real size issues.  But the other thing they love is the cup design.  Again, this was really one of the first seamless cups to come onto the market.  But, what is different is that these cups are not made of a stretchy fabric that can make your breasts look floppy.  Rather, the sheer/lacy fabric is non-stretch.  This goes a long way in giving you a great uplifted breast shape.  And, the unique horizontal lace along the cups helps to eliminate a woman’s "high beams" if you know what I mean. 

Finally, a few historical side notes.  Chantelle shared with me that this bra has an extremely loyal following (my 2 friends back that up), and it was one of the very first seamless molded bras ever offered. And the lion’s share of sales for this bra are in the USA.

So, here you have a very comfortable bra, with straps that don’t fall off, gives great shape, is pretty, modest, and supportive.  No wonder it’s been a favorite for so many years.  Its size range, though,  is a little limiting – 32B to 38D with a few E cups in range as well.

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I meet regularly with various lingerie manufacturer representatives.  It’s always interesting though, when I meet with manufacturers who are not based in the United States.  For example, Chantelle, Fantasie of England, and Panache are all designed in Europe.  Without a doubt, European women have different taste and preferences when it comes to bras and lingerie.

The first curious comment from these manufacturers is that women from the UK have considerably larger breast sizes.  The average cup size is a D rather than the C in the US.  Now, their band size is not unusual – UK women are in good shape from all their walking.  But, in general, a British woman has larger breasts.

European women buy lots of white and ivory underwear.  The concept of nude underwear has either not caught on, or they dismiss it.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  First, European women are very accustomed to hand-washing their lingerie and then putting it up to dry.  US women have more washers and dryers than European women.  Truly white undergarments are a sign of them being clean.  If they get a little dingy, you bleach them or throw them out.  If you have nude colored underwear, there is no gauge as to whether or not it’s getting dingy.  The color ivory to European women is considered their version of nude.  It can still look clean, but has enough cream to better match their skin tone.

Now, having said this, European women are big purchasers of lingerie in wild colors – purple, red, citrus, chartreuse.  And they don’t care if it shows under their clothing.  American women buy very little lingerie that is colored.  In fact, colored lingerie makes up less than 8% of lingerie sales in the United States.  American women buy mostly nude and black bras and panties.  You will see beautiful colored lingerie in US department stores, but it’s really put in there just to show some contrast and keep the department from looking like a sea of nude.  Chances are if you like a colored piece of lingerie, hold off buying because it will be on sale shortly.

American women are obsessed with seamless, contoured and invisible underwear.  We don’t want anyone to see any sign of lingerie under any of our clothing.  We are on a constant quest for that lingerie item that won’t show.  European women, by contrast, could care less.  Let there be seams showing, let their lace show through, who cares if someone sees a panty line?  European women love buying pretty lacy and expensive lingerie and don’t care if it shows or not.

Viva la Difference!

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