Finding a Bra that Fits

Now this is a topic close to my heart!

My good friend Mo Pie of BFD Blog (that’s her eating sushi last July when we went out after BlogHer) last week posted a letter from a reader regarding finding a bra that fits. I have often been inspired to bully preach to the people about how to get your bras properly fitted and I thought that since someone actually asked for the information, this might be my opportunity to share information that I have learned over the years from some of the most knowledgeable people in New York City selling foundation garments.

Your brassiere is literally the foundation of your entire outfit so consider dressing from the inside out. Your bra also has a great affect on your posture, your comfort throughout the day, and depending on your breast size, could prevent back pain. A good bra is not something to be taken lightly my sisters!

It is very important to go to a lingerie shop and get yourself measured. It isn’t the same to try and do this for yourself. If you search Google for “find my bra size” you be rewarded with 576,000 pages of information. Ridiculous I say! Preposterious! And for my friends in Paris and Quebec – Merde!

Get thee to a real lingerie shop. In fact, go to several lingerie shops. I’m not talking about going to a department store (even one that seems like they have a good selection), and I’m not talking about the type of bra that is meant to be taken off within a few minutes of hoisting the lacy straps over your shoulders. No! I’m talking about structure and fit in pursuit of the ultimate wardrobe purchase – a bra that fits.

Begin by going to every lingerie shop within an hour drive of your house, your work, your place of worship and your supermarket. They are out there. That place that you’ve never gone inside with the mannequins from 1948 in the store windows and a little old lady with a sewing machine who curses like a sailor sitting behind a curtain in the back of the shop. The one with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth – she is a magician with a brassiere. Find yourself a fairy godmother for your cleavage. Don’t worry if the place isn’t fancy schmancy, go and get fitted.

In case you have never had this experience before this is what it will be like:

The point is, she will ask you to take off your top. Take a deep breath and think of her as a bra doctor. She might touch your bra straps, she might not. She might ask you your bra size, but if she knows what she is doing, she started to size-you-up the moment you walked through the door.

This is your opportunity to try on every bra they have in the store. Try on styles you thought you could never wear. Try on bras you can’t afford. Find out your bra size in different brands and styles and listen up My Sisters — write this information down. If all of this makes you uncomfortable and you don’t like people seeing you nearly naked then have a shot of whiskey and let someone else drive, because there is no other way to get properly fitted.

Some of the people you meet will treat you like royalty and others will treat you like you are an idiot. Some of these women will make tsk tsk noises when they see your back fat. You are dealing with the human race and sometimes people are rude. But remember that you are woman! You are invincible! Don’t take it personally and just take your business elsewhere.

You will find by the end of your quest, a bra technician who will understand your Ying and grok your Yang. She will present you with bras that fit and you will marvel at the way clothing caresses your torso, flows over and around your boobies, and fits comfortably around your back with straps that never leave a red mark on your shoulders. Ahhhh….you will think to yourself….this is how it was meant to be.

And maybe, just maybe, you’ll even consider having a bra custom made for your glorious ta tas. I know you’re thinking that you can’t spend the money but listen to me boobeleh, there is nothing – I am telling you nothing – more important in your wardrobe than owning a good foundation. That’s what my grandma Rose used to tell me and she worked in a New York City sweatshop back in the 1920′s, so she would know.

Yes there are some basics that you have probably already read elsewhere having to do with the quantum physics of bra fittings.

So someone else will measure, but you will still write it all down, right?

I can not rave enough about my love for BiggerBras.com. Oh the selection! Oh the choices! Once I got fitted properly, and had a sense of how specific styles of bras would fit me, I decided that I would try buying online and BiggerBras.com has become my BFF.

Yes, you can visit Hips and Curves.com – Sexy plus size lingerie for women with curves. Those bras that are meant to be taken off not long after you put them on? Oh they are also an important part of your wardrobe!

Questions, or comments? Have you had a good or bad experience shopping for a bra? What’s your favorite brand? Or have you given up and burned your bra?