Monday, July 29, 2013

Aaand I'll just leave this here...

Edwards and Millers!

It's a luxury brand so I'm not sure in what price range they'll be or if I'll be able to afford them, but that being said, before discovering my real bra size and the world of well-fitting bras I would have never paid more than $20 for a bra. Once I did discover all this though I found myself paying $75 for my first bra and not regretting it one bit!

Its incredible how learning about proper fit changed my perception of what a good bra should cost and what I was willing to pay. I was already starting to lean towards the mentality of "pay for quality" in other areas of purchasing so it made sense that I made the switch to that mentality in regards to bras too.

Would I rather have 6 bras that will stretch out and/or fall apart after a year or 2-3 bras that will last longer and look nicer? I'd rather the latter, which is what I currently have. My walmart bras haven't gone to the trash for the single reason of being able to put them on to show people how badly my old bras fit compared to my new ones and what the problems with a badly fitting bra are.

Go support these guys!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Hi Bra World!

I recently discovered the wonderfulness that is a properly fitted bra thanks to A Bra That Fits. I have since then been reading all I can about bras and what types of bras fit ME. Unfortunately due to my shortness, high-placed boobs and narrow shoulders the range of bras that I fit in comfortably without modifying them seems to be relatively low so far. I've been told by a very good fitter who knows her stuff that there are maybe 2 or 3 brands that will work for me. I have yet to see if this is true though since it's only been a few months since I started on my bra search.

My bra "stats": I'm so far a 30E or F depending on the brand, full on bottom, high-placed, average width, slightly shallow, with narrow shoulders. I'm 5'1". So I need to look for bras that have low, short underwires that won't poke my underarms and sternum and straps that are placed close to the middle of the cup and back so that the straps won't fall off constantly. So far this has proven to be an almost impossible combination to find in bras with the exception of one that I own now, but is still not ideal. So my goal for this blog is to either find bras that fit me or find ways to modify bras to fit me and share it with the world because there seems to be a disproportionately low amount of bras, info and resources for short women with narrow shoulders and high-placed breasts out there. So I'll be sharing bra reviews, info, resources and tips/tricks on how to modify bras so they are comfy for people like me!

So far I've only bought 6 bras because my job ended before I could buy more. As soon as I get another job I'll start saving up for more bras though! Only two of those bras fit me relatively well though, the two I bought after discovering the importance of shape and style as well as size when looking for a bra.

The first four I bought on Ebay and was all happy about getting 4 bras for only $90. Until I tried them on and not one of them fit properly. Which I expected though since I had read how there's a relatively low chance that the first bras you buy once you find your true size will actually fit you because it still takes some trial and error since not all brands fit the same because of variances in style and sizing. All by panache: the Emily, the Tango Classic Plunge, the Tango II and the Ariza. All of these except the Emily ran too big in the cup and the straps were much too wide-placed and cut into my armpits a lot. I wore the Emily a few times till I realized that the underwires were way too high and were really painful because they dug into my sternum and underarms.

Then I had my Skype fitting with Butterfly Collection and she suggested I go for bras with very short underwires because my boobs are placed high and I have a short torso, and full-cup bras with straps that aren't wide. She suggested the Claudette Dessous Mesh, which I bought and fits quite well and am very happy with, the underwires don't dig in and the straps don't fall down. The only downside is that it's a full-cup bra so it peeks out the neckline of my tank tops.



In this pic it looks more like a balconette but it must be a small size because the shape looks more like this on me.

Cup: fits true to size
Wires: nice and low, don't poke
Band: was quite a tight fit to put on the first time but is stretching out as I wear it
Straps: somewhat wide placed but don't fall down! :)

Overall: Fits me very well, is relatively comfortable, I still get the red marks and want to take it off at the end of the day when I get home though.

The second bra I bought after my skype fitting was the Simone Perele 3D Caressence Plunge. Incidentally it was the first one that I had tried on in a store soon after I found out my real size but didn't buy because of the exorbitant price they were charging ($120 is WAY past my bra budget!), but then came across it online while searching for bras with features that suited my shape. It happened to be $30 less than in the store I had tried it on at, and FreshPair was having a 15% off summer sale so I got it for only $75!



I really like the special fabric they make the cups out of, it's soft and elastic, not molded. The lace supposedly had aloe vera in it... I dunno how much of a difference that is supposed to make but I guess it's as useful a marketing ploy as any other.

Cups: fit true to size, are very nice and soft springy material, not molded
Wires: nice and low, don't poke
Band: fits well, stretches a bit more than my Claudette, elastic at bottom under cups curls inwards a bit though
Straps: fall down a lot, are very widely-placed, I'm planning on modifying this one soon.

Overall: Fits me very well, is relatively comfortable except for the straps falling and the elastic under the cups curling inwards. I think in that regard cups with no band underneath are best for me cause of my belly pushing it up when I sit down.

So those two bras I wear all the time, the other four will be swapped or sold to whoever wants them.

I googled "bras for narrow shoulders" today and one of the first links I came across was a bra-problem troubleshooting guide on Herroom which under "underwires poking armpits" linked to their "petite, plus-sized" bra selection! Imagine my surprise that such a category even existed! It doesn't seem to make sense... unfortunately a lot of bra manufacturers seem to consider "petite" A-B cup rather than bras proportioned for people with short ribcages and narrow shoulders, and "plus sized" usually means bands over 38". So when I put in my size into that selection it gave me the Anita Rosa Faia bra, which I'll have to try at some point.

I searched for such a selection or combination of bra styles on other bra retailer sites but Herroom seems to be the only one with such a selection. Pity! Most of them didn't even have a "petite" selection. I think I tried googling "petite bras" once and only came up with one website that didn't consider petite to be A-B cup.

I'll also have to peruse google results for "bras for high-set breasts" at some point.

And that's it for my first post. I hope I can help out someone else who is short with my proportions in their quest for a bra that fits in the sea of bra blogs!