When Oprah featured professional bra fitters on her show, women across North America were stunned at how many women are wearing the wrong size bra. According to a spokesperson for La Senza Lingerie, 75 per cent of women regularly wear the wrong bra size.
My hunch is that this statistic may be even higher for women who need a plus-size bra. So why do so many plus-size women wear the wrong bra? Here are five possible reasons:
• We assume that plus size means boring or ugly. We don’t realize how many gorgeous styles are available in plus size.
For example, although the white Elila 1305 pictured on the left above is kind of matronly, the black Elila 2311 to the right is downright sexy! Elila is a great manufacturer as they design exclusively plus size bras.
• We are unaware of how to properly measure our bodies in order to ensure a perfect fit, or we go by measurement charts that provide incorrect calculations and therefore the wrong fit.
• Most bra manufacturers traditionally target the “average-size” market and concentrate on sizes that are meant for the most common body shapes.
• We don’t have access to a trained bra-fitter in their town, or we feel intimidated by the idea of shopping in a specialty bra store.
• Some women get caught up on the numbers. They refuse to entertain the thought that their “D” cup should, in actual fact be a “DD” or larger. They buy the size they wish they were and/or really want to be rather than invest in a comfortable plus size bra designed to meet their specific needs.
This final point is an important one. Just as squeezing one’s feet into too-small shoes is a painful exercise in vanity, wearing a too-small bra achieves nothing.
In my opinion, wearing a bra that fits our actual body shape is way more important than wearing one that fits a pre-conceived idea of what size we think we should be.
And remember, plus size doesn’t have to mean boring or ugly. The Le Mystere Tisha bra at left is Oprah’s favorite bra, and I think you’ll agree that it’s a nice-looking bra.
There are as many myths about bras as there are styles. One of the most prevalent bra myths is that feminists in the late 1960s and 70’s burnt their bras in public demonstrations.
Although this myth has been repeated for decades, no documented proof has ever surfaced that women actually set fire to their bras. They did, however toss undergarments into trash cans. This was done during demonstrations to critique how modern beauty culture paid far more attention to a woman’s appearance than to her intellectual and spiritual being.
It is widely assumed that this myth actually originated because of the timing of two unrelated events – young Americans who were protesting the Vietnam War were publicly burning their draft cards at about the same time that women were protesting the Miss America Pageant by tossing their bras and girdles into the trash (the first recorded instance was the 1968 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City).
It appears some enterprising reporter decided to amalgamate the two newsworthy events into one identifying act and the myth caught on. Unfortunately, it is still embedded in the minds of many as an actual fact.
A few years ago my parents told me about a radio program that reported wearing a bra contributes to breast cancer. Although I loved the idea that my parents would henceforth approve of me going bra-less, I wondered if the report was actually true.
Well, it isn’t. Ongoing and intensive research into the causes of breast cancer categorically refutes this claim. Although some independent researchers say they notice a correlation between cultures that traditionally go bra-less and a lower incidence of breast cancer, their statistics were compiled without factoring in any other high risk causes for the disease; therefore their conclusions cannot be verified as fact.
Bottom line: there is not now, nor has there ever been any conclusive evidence that wearing (or not wearing) a bra of any kind contributes to breast cancer.
Determining whether or not you actually need a plus-size bra can be confusing. Slender women may have large breasts while heavy-set women may not be as well endowed. This is why establishing a proper bra size can sometimes offer a bit of a challenge for a particular shape.
Bras come in myriad styles and shapes so it is essential to have a properly fitted bra – one that not only enhances and accentuates shape but is comfortable and provides long-lasting wear. Support is not as much of an issue for young women and it’s pretty easy for them to get away with demi-cups and bras of sheer lace. However, these bras offer little or no support and do nothing to flatter a full figured woman if she’s looking for a bra designed to lift and enhance heavier breasts (not that lift is a necessity, see article on the Elita Plus Camisole).
Full figured women are often plagued with back problems, and straps that cut into the shoulders can often cause potentially serious shoulder pain. The larger breasted woman needs a bra with wide, preferably padded, shoulder straps for everyday wear in order to alleviate the constant pressure of straps that dig into the flesh.
PROPER MEASUREMENT IS ESSENTIAL:
The most common mistake most women make is in wearing a bra that is not fitted to their shape and size. Following the steps for proper fitting as listed below will aid in proper bra size:
• Use a quality tape measure to get an accurate measurement.
• Try to get measured by a person who is trained in proper bra fitting.
• When measuring for a proper fit yourself, have someone assist you as the truest measurements are attained when you are standing in a relaxed position with your arms at your sides.
• To get a proper band size the measurement should be taken around the chest, just under the arms – always round off to the next nearest even number. (eg: a measurement of 37″ should be converted to 38″)
• To acquire cup size, measure across the fullest part of the breast and across the nipples – you should be wearing your best fitting bra while being measured. Cup size is determined by evaluating the difference between band size and cup size. (eg: If your across the breast measurement is one inch larger than the under the arm size, you will need an “A” cup, two inches more equates to a “B” cup and so on.)
• It is important to realize that as a band size increases, so too does cup size. (eg: a 38B cup would be smaller than a 40B).
COMMON ERRORS IN BRA SIZING:
A properly fitted bra should look good and feel great. Some of the indicators of an improperly fitted bra are:
• Breasts either overflow or do not completely fill cups.
• Back of bra rides up. Bra band should lie straight across back.
• Under-wires that dig into flesh and leave red marks on skin.
• Bulges under arms or across back.
• Bra cuts into flesh.
• Front does not lay flat against chest.
• Shoulder straps that are so tight that they dig into shoulders or so loose they slip over the shoulders and down the arms.
• Edges of cups don’t lay flat against breast. There should be no gaps or wrinkles in cups.
QUALITY CONSTRUCTION IS ESSENTIAL
Full figured women rarely, if ever, find an off-the-shelf bra that fits properly. Some of the better quality plus size bras on the market are: Aviana, Chantelle, Fantasie of England, Freya, Goddess, Grenier, Lunaire, Panache, Rigby & Peller, Simone Perele and Wacoal.
I LOVE THE ELITA PLUS LONG CAMISOLE. This is the “bra” that I wear everyday because even though I wear plus-size women’s clothing, comfort comes first for me. When I discovered this Elita Plus stretchy long camisole, I was elated. It keeps my breasts in one place without the discomfort of a traditional bra.
And if your breasts are closer to your waist than your chin, don’t worry. The tight stretchiness of this camisole allows you to position your breasts a little higher than gravity level (similar to a Speedo bathing suit).
I buy two whites and one black when they come on sale twice a year. After six months of washer and dryer abuse, they start losing their shape and I replace them. If I was more careful about caring for them (especially if I kept them out of the dryer) they’d certainly last longer. As far as fit goes, I wear a 42DD in a traditional bra and a 16 – 18 dress size. The Elita Plus long camisole size 42 fits me perfectly.
If you go to the Elita Plus webpage, you can click on the tab “store locator” to find a store near you that carries this wonderful product (in Canada and USA). To the best of my knowledge this particular style is not available online. Although the Elita website lists a number of online retailers for the Elita Plus line, those retailers don’t carry the long camisole (they only carry the “mini” or short camisole). If anyone knows of an online source for the Elita Plus Long Camisole as pictured above, please let me know in the Comments section below. Thanks!
As an old-school 1970’s style feminist, I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d ever attend an exotic dance class. But attend I did, and what’s more…I had a great time and an even better workout.
Probably the only thing that got me there was the fact that it was being taught by my favorite instructor, Susan Peach of SoulSister Studio (that’s Susan in the photo at left). I’ve taken Latin dance classes from Susan for years, and I know that she’s a truly woman-positive person.
When I heard Susan was installing exotic dance poles in her studio, I was at first surprised and then curious. I’ve since taken several 12-week sessions of exotic dance fitness, and I find it a challenging workout.
Challenging on two levels: physical and political. The physical is straightforward: I mean just think of some of those moves and you realize that exotic dancers have to be really strong and flexible.
The political is a more complex. I’ve been thinking about what it means for women to be jumping on the bandwagon (or should I say on the pole?) of the exotic fitness craze. Are women perpetuating “stripper” stereotypes when participating in the classes? Or are they expressing their sexuality in an empowering way?
These questions are explored in an article about pole dancing by Jessalyn Keller, who writes:
Dr. Becki Ross, a sociology professor at UBC, has been studying the history of stripping and burlesque in Vancouver for several years…Ross suggests that pole dancing classes have the potential to expand understandings of female sexuality beyond the “good girl/ bad girl” images that often saturate the media.
When a woman who is assumed to be a “good girl” goes to a pole dancing class or sets up a brass pole up in her living room, she is suggesting that her sexuality need not be limited to a simple “good girl/bad girl” understanding. She is challenging norms and subverting mainstream notions of how a woman should act.
I like that way of looking at it. And if you’re a plus-size woman like me, I think exotic dancing has an additional political component. Large women have traditionally not felt entitled to move their bodies in public, never mind move them in a sexy way. Reclaiming that power is a radically transforming act.
Bottom line: I did enjoy my walk on the wild side! If you want to try out it, ask around for a local studio that has a good reputation. Or if you prefer to gyrate in the privacy of your own home, there are several decent DVD’s available to order. Here are two of the best…
The very first bra ever made was in 1914 when an ingenious New York socialite stitched together two handkerchiefs and a long pink ribbon to fashion the world’s first-ever brassiere.
Hoorah for the Bra: A Perky Peek at the History of the Brassiere is the story of the bra, from the 20s’ flat-chested flappers, to the 50s’ bullet-bosomed bombshells, to the sport bras of today.
If the topic itself isn’t, shall we say provocative enough, the format of this book certainly is. It’s a grown-up pop-up book. Yes, the straps and the cups, the underwire and the padding, the elastic and the Lycra, the demure pink satin and the racy midnight lace are all illustrated in three dimensions. To view the pop-ups, you just lift and separate!