A Bra Solution

Wherein I go on at length about bras and TMI about my own bra needs that will probably only be of interest to other bra-wearers or people who care about the happiness and issues of people who wear bras.

I've occasionally been linking to a blog called Adventures In Bra Fitting (http://adventuresinbrafitting.wordpress.com/).  I have the exact opposite problem that she has - wide back, small cups - but I totally relate to the problems with how America handles women's breasts (pun intended).

After roughly 20 years of searching, I finally found a bra that I like.  It has wide straps that don't cut into my shoulders, it fits snugly around my ribcage actually taking the weight instead of the straps, the gore sits flush against my sternum, there is just enough padding to keep my sensitive nipples from being irritated by my clothing and from showing through my shirts, it has a deep plunge for low-cut tops, it's a racerback which I need because my scoliosis causes standard straps to slip off my shoulders (conversion clips make it nearly impossible to put on a bra by oneself with the clips on), it's cotton which is my preferred aesthetic look and feels better when I sweat and do physical labor at work than the nylon and lace bras do, and the cups are the matching shape for my breasts (hardly anyone matches molded one-shape-fits-all bra cups).

Because I finally have a bra that fits, some of the fatty breast tissue that had migrated around to under my arms and my back (which is very, VERY common in women) seems to have migrated back to the breasts where they belong.  After 20 years of being flat chested, I actually have cleavage for the first time that I can remember.  Other people have noticed and I have actually been asked if I have increased in size.  I haven't, but my breasts are better supported now so it looks like it.

Unfortunately, they only make the bra in a handful of colors.  The heather-grey I like, and of course I had to get a black pair.  But those were the only two colors for a long time.  Now, they've added a black and white striped pair, and a fucking neon green pair.  I like to match my bras with my underwear, and in fact, I almost never wear bras & underwear that doesn't match, regardless of who might possibly see them.  I don't dress for other people, I dress for me, so I always match my bras and underwear because *I* like them to match even if no one ever sees them.

In a fit of frustration, I had a thought.  Since I can't find the one bra I like in the colors I want to match my existing wardrobe, it occurred to me that I could buy the grey pair and bleach them, and then dye them to match.  Sure, it seemed like a lot of work, but the alternative is to go without and continue running around in sub-optimally shaped bras that do match, or wear (Zeus forbid) mismatched sets.

So I haunted the one store that carries this model, looking for the ever-elusive size 36B (apparently only 34s can be Bs but 36s and above must be Cs or bigger).  Forget finding a 36A, which is the size I normally have to wear in bras that don't fit as well, especially before my breast tissue started moving around with this better-fitting bra.  Pre-molded B cups with a 36 band just had too much empty space in them at the top and non-molded cups didn't encourage the shape I wanted, leaving my breasts to do that thing where they start to slide towards the armpits, and I wanted cleavage in my low-cut tank tops.

Finally, after several shopping trips, I found, not a grey 34B, but a white one! And only one - not just in that size, but it was the only white bra of that model there.  I normally prefer a 36, but this is a nice soft cotton t-shirt-like material that was a little more snug than I prefer but not uncomfortably so at the 34.  So I snapped it up and bought a bottle of red RIT dye for a little experiment.  At only $6 a bra, I was willing to experiment. (Also, note that it was under $10, another reason why I love these bras.  Normally women have to pay $30 or more for a good bra)

Today I dyed the bra and it came out FABULOUS!  So this afternoon I will be going to the store and asking the lingerie counter lady to order 5 more 36Bs in white, and another 36B in grey and one in black.  The extra grey & black one will get packed away until my current grey & black ones die out and need to be replaced.  The white ones will get dyed 1 more red, two purple, and two nude (the duplicates to be packed with the duplicate grey & black).  If I can find underwear I like in green and blue jewel tones, I'll get another set to dye in those colors as well.  I'm just as picky about my underwear as I am about my bras, but that's another rant.  Women, even in body shape, are not all the same person.

So, the point of this long, TMI story is to recommend that everyone with breasts learn how to size themselves properly, make the effort to find a bra that you like that fits you well, and then buy a shitload of them in white to dye the colors you want if they don't already come in the colors you want.  It is totally worth the effort to learn the proper way to be sized and find bras that fit well and then do a little DIYing to make them match your aesthetic so that you are wearing bras that YOU find pleasing as well as comfortable.

I hear from the blog author, who has double Gs, I think, on a small frame, that she has none of the complaints that women with large breasts often have - back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, fatigue, etc. - because she wears bras that fit well.  So I believe very strongly that this amount of effort is worth it for a good fitting, attractive (according to the wearer) bras.

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For those interested in which bra I'm talking about, it's called the Fruit Of The Loom Perfect Racerback Bra from the Fresh Collection that I can only find at Walmart. I can't find it anywhere else, and even the Walmart online store doesn't carry it. I have to physically go into a Walmart and hope they have the size and color I want.

I have occasionally found individual people selling an individual bra on places like Ebay, but no online retailers, including the Fruit of the Loom website itself. Also remember that, since molded cups fit almost nobody, what works for me may not work for you. But here are some links to images I found of the bras so you can at least see what I'm talking about, if you want to go out and try to find this bra to try on for yourself:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fruit-of-the-Loom-Frontclose-Racerbrack-Bra/22751234  - this is the same bra but found in the girl's section in only "girls" sizes. But it's basically this bra in adult sizes with a hanger tag that says "The Perfect Racerback Bra"

Here's the grey one I bought, offered for sale from a seller on an Ebay-like storefront: http://hotuniqueboutique.ecrater.com/p/17539530/womens-fruit-of-the-loom-racer

Here's one from Ebay with the hanger tag that helps me identify it on the shelves: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRUIT-OF-THE-LOOM-FRESH-COLLECTION-BRA-RACERBACK-COLOR-KIWI-GREEN-/221357842263?pt=US_CSA_WC_Intimates&var=&hash=item3389f49f57