How a Seamed Bra Can Look Seamless Under Clothing

February 03, 2010

 

50s seamed braI’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
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What Bra Style Prevents Nipple Show-through?

October 08, 2008

One of the most common issues fielded by my fabulous customer service department is inquires about nipples showing through a bra and how to prevent this. It’s actually kind of fun reading how women try to pose this inquiry. It can be as subtle as "I’m looking for a bra that provides modesty" to "I need to turn off my headlghts" to "I want a bullet proof bra" to "I’m trying to hide my huge erect nipples!"

I have heard various lingerie experts claim that nipple show-through can be handled many ways. For example, some feel a lined bra will do the trick. Others have said that placing the nipple on a bra seam in the cups will mask the look. And, of course, there are those contour bras where the cups have a thin layer of foam or padding fused inside the bra cups.

Being skeptical of some of these claims, I decided to bring in a model of ours who has constantly erect nipples (For the uneducated, one side-effect of breast augmentation can be permanent nipple erection). I had her try on a standard molded bra, a lined bra, a seamed bra and a contour bra. I then had her put a t-shirt on over each of the bras. Let’s see what worked.

 

Molded Lined

 

Seamed Contour

As expected, the molded bra did nothing to conceal the situation. The lined bra seemed to have little or no impact as well. I found this a little surprising given that so many women and manufacturers swear by this solution. But, if you look at the t-shirt shots, the molded and lined bras look virtually identical.

The seamed bra did a pretty good job of reducing the "headlights." However, you have the two-edged sword of having the seam show through the t-shirt. So, basically, you sacrifice "bullets" for seams.

The contour bra option, also known as the t-shirt bra was the best performer. A thin layer of padding or foam can turn your headlights right off. But, the downside to this style of bra is for women with larger breast size who don’t want to add volume. Even that small amount of foam can make their breasts look larger.

Though I only showed these 4 bra styles, I want to also let you the reader know that there are other solutions to this problem. For example, an earlier blog post of mine discusses the Bali Concealer bras currently on the market. They too are contour, but have a very rigid flower shaped decal on the inside of the cup to keep a woman smooth across her breasts. Other options are to put one of the nipple concealer products directly over your breasts. This will smooth over your nipples and allow you to wear your existing bras. Some of the more popular products include Dimr’s, Smooth’m nipple concealers, No Peek Pads, Sassybax Nips and FashionForms Breast Petals.

For a link to all these options, go to:
Nipple concealers

Posted by Tomima at 1:12pm
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