A Tale of Underthings
Feb. 1st, 2005 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
omorkaSo I realized that I was in danger of a wardrobe malfunction recently.
Most of my brassieres date to just slightly post-fire or to a particular shopping excursion two years afterwards. Almost all of the exceptions are weekend "leisure bras" that serve adequately for mere over-the-shoulder-boulder-holding, but would not be appropriate for work, formal clothing, horseback riding, etc. And some of the more formal ones have been doing things like popping individual threads of elastic. This had led to major structural weaknesses, and the occasional odd bulge. I'm bulgy enough on my own, so I decided to make the considerable investment of buying a workweek's worth of new foundation garments.
Now, between then and now, I probably didn't actually go up a cup size. I'd probably been an F/DDD when I bought the last batch, because they'd never quite fit right. But I was used to that. See, I started blossoming along with my black classmates, in 5th grade, well before the other white girls started to pop. My mother, however, was dead set against a 10-year-old wearing a bra, even of the training sort, so by the time I finally wrangled one out of her in 6th grade, I was already nearing a C cup, and she insisted that I couldn't be bigger than a B. So I suspect I've been habitually wearing a cup small since then, because wearing the correct cup size feels weird. Age and gravity, however, have made this a luxury that's too dang hard on my back. So I finally admitted that I have passed beyond merely the House of Large Knockers and am firmly in Wire Boob Cage territory.
Now, as you move up the cup sizes, a number of interesting things happen. The first and most obvious is that if A = 1, B = 2, etc. the number of hooks is usually the same as the letter +/-1. When you are in the Megahooters Club, the boys can no longer do the one-handed hook-snatch. (Not that they tried that too often on me anyway, me not being either popular nor, blessedly, saddled with the "slut" reputation.) Seams appear around C-cups. The next big change is that the straps switch from stretchy/lacy things to padded bands of near-fiberglass rather abruptly between C and D. Demi-cups disappear at the same place. However, I was unprepared for the DD/DDD shift: apparently in Cones of Doom territory, all bras come with an under-cup sling-thing. It's exposed in most of them, which leaves a strange line when you take the thing off, but I suppose it's no worse than the seams. One of the new ones has a very thin lining just inside the sling, which I'll admit is more comfortable.
I will say some of the new ones have a bit more ornamentation than I'm used to - most Serious Bras have the one little bow right where the cups meet, and nothing else that could be considered decorative rather than functional. It's not clear to me whether this is a good thing, bad, or indifferent; for the moment, I'm just vaguely worried as to whether the lacy bits will hold up to use. I also got a larger-than-usual range of color, which I'm quite happy at - I hate pastels, and bras in darker colors are hard to find.
Oh, and I got two new garter belts and some new hose, too. Need more hose - all of my old ones are, once again, not correctly sized.
Next on the clothing list: replacing all the jackets/blazers that I bought during my first year teaching, all of which save one are either stained or pilling by this point.
Most of my brassieres date to just slightly post-fire or to a particular shopping excursion two years afterwards. Almost all of the exceptions are weekend "leisure bras" that serve adequately for mere over-the-shoulder-boulder-holding, but would not be appropriate for work, formal clothing, horseback riding, etc. And some of the more formal ones have been doing things like popping individual threads of elastic. This had led to major structural weaknesses, and the occasional odd bulge. I'm bulgy enough on my own, so I decided to make the considerable investment of buying a workweek's worth of new foundation garments.
Now, between then and now, I probably didn't actually go up a cup size. I'd probably been an F/DDD when I bought the last batch, because they'd never quite fit right. But I was used to that. See, I started blossoming along with my black classmates, in 5th grade, well before the other white girls started to pop. My mother, however, was dead set against a 10-year-old wearing a bra, even of the training sort, so by the time I finally wrangled one out of her in 6th grade, I was already nearing a C cup, and she insisted that I couldn't be bigger than a B. So I suspect I've been habitually wearing a cup small since then, because wearing the correct cup size feels weird. Age and gravity, however, have made this a luxury that's too dang hard on my back. So I finally admitted that I have passed beyond merely the House of Large Knockers and am firmly in Wire Boob Cage territory.
Now, as you move up the cup sizes, a number of interesting things happen. The first and most obvious is that if A = 1, B = 2, etc. the number of hooks is usually the same as the letter +/-1. When you are in the Megahooters Club, the boys can no longer do the one-handed hook-snatch. (Not that they tried that too often on me anyway, me not being either popular nor, blessedly, saddled with the "slut" reputation.) Seams appear around C-cups. The next big change is that the straps switch from stretchy/lacy things to padded bands of near-fiberglass rather abruptly between C and D. Demi-cups disappear at the same place. However, I was unprepared for the DD/DDD shift: apparently in Cones of Doom territory, all bras come with an under-cup sling-thing. It's exposed in most of them, which leaves a strange line when you take the thing off, but I suppose it's no worse than the seams. One of the new ones has a very thin lining just inside the sling, which I'll admit is more comfortable.
I will say some of the new ones have a bit more ornamentation than I'm used to - most Serious Bras have the one little bow right where the cups meet, and nothing else that could be considered decorative rather than functional. It's not clear to me whether this is a good thing, bad, or indifferent; for the moment, I'm just vaguely worried as to whether the lacy bits will hold up to use. I also got a larger-than-usual range of color, which I'm quite happy at - I hate pastels, and bras in darker colors are hard to find.
Oh, and I got two new garter belts and some new hose, too. Need more hose - all of my old ones are, once again, not correctly sized.
Next on the clothing list: replacing all the jackets/blazers that I bought during my first year teaching, all of which save one are either stained or pilling by this point.
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 04:12 am (UTC)Now when I go shopping here, I'm just dissappointed again.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 04:31 am (UTC)I wear an very full C cup, but D's are just too big. Typically, because I 1) can never find a bra that fits well and 2) I'm just weird like that, I just don't wear one unless I have to (work, family situations that would frown on me bouncing around, etc.)
Maybe I should check out your site, and see. Do they have a good "how to measure" thing? Well, I guess I'll see...
Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 05:51 am (UTC)Heat + elastic = shorter life.
That's all I have to contribute to the discussion. Oh. And if you can find a store that carries them in your size, Olga bras are very very nice and last a very long time.