Awaiting the bonfire. Via piperkinsvater @ Flickr.
I find bras so. damn. uncomfortable. Why don’t they make bras with cups a little further apart, for those of us whose tits aren’t standing at attention in the middle of our chests? The constant adjusting makes me want to cry. I’m sure Oprah would say I’m just wearing the wrong size. I have seen my fair share of formerly forlorn women walk out of specialty lingerie shops with smiles on their faces and springs in their steps (on tv, natch). Maybe I need to get measured and fitted with a bra made just for me.
But I don’t want to wear a bra at all! I don’t like the straps and wires and clasps against my skin. I am sick of reaching into the neck hole of my shirt to pull sliding straps back up onto my shoulders. But I still have to ask: Have any of you been converted from bra-haters to bra-lovers by a particular brand or style? Help a sister out, at least for during those times when I need to present myself as “professional.”
go to target and get their soft comfy sports bras. buy shirts (especially cute ones, like racerbacks) in which you can wear said bra with shirt and it not be noticeable.
I’ve done this for the past six months and have been in heaaven. I only wear one “real” bra now, which is strapless and only comes out when I’m going someplace fancy (and drinking heavily).
free yourself! (and still look cute)
I hate to tell you, but you probably are wearing the wrong size. Most women wear a cup or two too small and a band size way too big.
For instance, I thought I was a B36, but when I got sized, I was a D34. The big difference I noticed is that my boobs were no longer squished together in the centre of my chest. And it was a heck of a lot more comfortable – no more digging wires or elastics.
It says a lot about our screwed up society where the idea of D and DD cups are fetishized, making regular women believe that there’s no way that they could be that size, because only people with implants are that size. So, they buy bras in the size that they think they must be, which are not their size and make them uncomfortable.
The reality is that D is a very common and not very large size, and those implant people are waaaaaaaay larger than that.
Fucking patriarchy, making our boobs hurt!
Anyway, yes, get yourself sized, if only to wear a comfortable bra to fancy places and work, and then whip it off when you’re home anyway, ’cause the gals, they gots ta breathe.
Bras are the only thing I buy at Wal-mart because I don’t know where else to get no underwire bras. This year I tried going to La Senza. I bought bras with underwire and have not brought myself to wear them yet. And strangely all my bras were 34B until recently. Now I have 38B from Wal-mart and other sizes from La Senza. I don’t know if my bras were too tight before or what. Also, I feel like I’d have to wash underwire bras by hand and that’s a pain.
All my favorite bras (no underwire, no padding, I’m normally a B cup) are sadly discontinued. It’s like they think there’s no market for non-hurty undergarments!
My discontinued faves include Barely There and Gilligan/O’Malley (Target) brand. Good luck. Hah.
I also like the French Dressing camis with built-in bra that they sell in 2-packs at Costco. They do still exist, but I can’t find a link online.
American Apparel has some minimalist bras, which are OK but tend to be on the flimsy side. I like the cross-back ones the best.
I’ve been one of those women for some time. I’ve found AntiBra.com has some excellent stuff which I’ve found useful when countering the idiotic “facts” people come up with (“If you don’t wear a bra your boobs will SAG!!1!”, anyone?). If it’s hot I wear a kind of crop-top-cum-sports-bra thing, because (TMI!) I get a bit sweaty under my boobs otherwise, which can make the skin sore. Other than that, I let ‘em swing free. After a while bra-free you’ll wonder why you ever wore the damn things. ;oP
@Rebecca,
Nope, I can go 16 days at the longest, I’m afraid
I actually do lots of laundry, because I hate wearing things more than twice without washing them. I would do more, if I wasn’t a poor student without her own washing machine.
But because I take care of my bras, I’ve managed to build up a collection of 7 or 8 of them, which means I can go roughly a month without washing them again…
Go and stay braless…
I’m in a similar boat to you, and generally don’t even wear one to work/nice place unless I’m wearing a white/light coloured top (seems a hint of the darker coloured areolae offend the *nice people*)
It’s whatever you choose. My mom goes without a bra wherever she can get away with it, and she wears a DD!!! But if you still feel that you haven’t explored your options, then explore them. You could be wearing the wrong size or just haven’t found a good bra. Though I hate to say it, the IPEX bra was the best purchase I ever made for a bra. It costs an arm and a leg, however.
I have to say, I just got fitted for a bra–like a broken record, i was wearing the wrong size, am now wearing 34E (couldn’t believe an E cup, but there you go)–and it’s been the first time in 20 years that I’ve had a bra that was comfortable. and my clothes fit correctly. and it’s underwire, and yes, i bought some expensive french bras, but it’s like on tv, my posture is better, i feel better, and i can wear it for 18 hours. the old bras I can’t even wear b/c they are so uncomfortable. it’s been something of a life-changing experience, which is crazy for feminist me to say.
[...] have been a couple of bra rants that I’ve seen recently, this one from Shakesville, and this one from SarahMC at Harpyness, more contributions to an emerging genre of feminist bloglandia, the [...]