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.
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