Women's Underwear

It has become quite difficult in recent years to pick up a woman’s magazine and read about how many women wear a poorly fitting bra. Even a character in Sex And The City was depicted as not knowing her bra size, a reflection on how even the most savvy of women can get this most basic of necessities incorrect. It is indeed true that at least 70% of UK women are wearing a badly fitting bra or one that is the wrong size entirely, so when you’re aware of this fact, what to do about it? It is easy to believe the answer is simple. Most magazine will tell you to go and fight the embarrassment and be correctly measured, usually quote places like Marks & Spencer and Debenhams as having bra-fitting services. However, unfortunately it isn’t that easy – an American study showed that even in these specialist areas of department stores, around 80% of women are still fitted incorrectly, and variations between one measurement and one taken in another place can vary up to three sizes
I truly wish the problem of bad bra sizes could be solved just by a quick appointment at a department store or by following one of the many myself-yourself guides on the internet or in magazines. Unfortunately, it just isn’t the case. The only way to ensure you are always wearing the correct bra size is to recognise what constitutes a correct and fully supporting fit. There are hundreds of bra manufacturers out there and even if you believe you know your size with a particular designer, unless you buy nothing but one type of style and shape from that designer, you can still go wrong. Treat every bra purchase as a new experience and repeat the same process; learning to recognise a good fit is what will ensure a good bra and therefore good support. An actual size is a guide and nothing more, so while it is worthwhile having an idea of your measurements, never view it as gospel.

There are many ways to recognise a good fitting bra. First, the underband; the band of material that runs underneath the breasts and crosses the back, usually with the clasp in the middle of it. This should always be perfectly horizontal and should not ride up, dip in the middle or create an arch. This is the foundation of your bra and while it should be firm it should not be restrictive or uncomfortable. Second, consider the underwire in each cup. It should lie flat against the sternum, not your actual breasts – any contact between the breast tissue and the underwire is an incorrect fit. Thirdly, cups should cover the entire area of the breast, even when wearing a low-cut style bra like a balconette bra there should be no bulging. The cup should be close to the breast; a baggy cup is just as problematic as one that is too tight. Lastly, the actual support of the bra should never come solely from the straps – if straps dig in, the bra is not fitting correctly. Having badly fitted straps or straps that are too tight can actually cause nerve damage if worn for a long period of time.

If you remember these four cardinal rules and check every bra to ensure you have these factors, you will be wearing good fitting bras. Finally, don’t forget that your bra size changes constantly – keep assessing a bra every time you wear it.

You may have the impression that only proper athletes need to wear a sports bra, but in truth, any activity that involves walking faster than a steady walking pace means you will need a correctly fitting sports bra.

There is no doubt that the sports bra is not a particularly attractive garment to wear, but in truth that is not its purpose. Its purpose is to provide maximum support, restraint and comfort, not to be a fashion statement. When choosing a sports bra, you will first need to decide why you need it – do you want to encapsulate the breasts (provide support) or restrain the breasts? Restraint is particularly popular for women with larger breasts who wish to preserve modesty while exercising. All sports bras will have an element of these two purposes, but if you wish for one more than the other then study the bra’s design and small print to decide which is going to work best.

The sports bra itself basically consists of a tank top cut with the bottom half removed to create material that stretches across the sternum and breasts and ends at the midriff. Most sports bras are made from a stretchy material which helps both control and ease of movement, as well as being absorbent. You can also buy sports bras which are designed to take perspiration from the skin, which is particularly helpful when exercising vigorously.

Sports bras tend to come with four different levels of control, to be used depending on how vigorous the exercise undertaken is. As a general guide, a sports bra described as “light control” should be used for things such as walking, yoga, Pilates and even gardening – not stereotypically a ’sport’, but all that bending and lifting does require a little extra support than the standard bra gives.

The next level of sports bra is “medium control”; select this if you are going to be bike riding, hiking or power walking. Then it is “firm control”, which is ideal for activities such as tennis, football and the classic exercise activity of jogging. The final, anda strongest, level of control is “maximum control” - use this when running, working out intensely on gym equipment or horse riding (even if you only plan to ride at a walk).

A standard gym session, you may be thinking, can consist of many of these things, from yoga right up to using intense gym equipment. If this is the case, use the highest level of support for whatever you’ll be doing – so if you’ll be doing yoga (light control), cycling (medium control) and running (maximum control), select a maximum control bra.

If you are indulging in any exercise at all, a sports bra is a must-have purchase. Not only will it help maintain good posture, prevent pain and preserve the lift of your breasts when natural, it also helps preserve modesty. Sports bras may not be attractive or sexy, but using one when exercising will allow you to continue to be so in the rest of your life.

Every pregnant woman has a different experience of carrying a child. Some having horrific morning sickness while others never even feel slightly nauseous and some women have weird and wonderful cravings for oddities such as petrol and coal while others experience no cravings whatsoever – perhaps such variants are the glories of pregnancy. However, there is one thing that is certain in pregnancy, and that is weight gain.

When pregnant, women are actually encouraged to increase their calorie intake as there is some truth in “eating for two”. UK women on average gain between 25 and 35 pounds during pregnancy with the majority of the gain happening in the first six months of pregnancy and then around one pound a week increase until the birth. This weight gain means that your breast size will increase, in most cases rendering your pre-pregnancy bras useless, but considering women are expected to continue to gain weight during pregnancy there is no way of knowing how big you will get. Here in steps the maternity bra, which prevents the need for continually purchasing expensive new bras throughout pregnancy.

Although it is still said that a woman will need at least three different sizes of maternity bras during a pregnancy, this is still a lot less than if a woman decided to stay with normal bras. The wonderful thing about maternity bras is that they are adjustable, so as a woman’s weight – and baby – grow, the bra can grow with her. During pregnancy, when the body is already going to be experiencing an increased weight at the front, wearing a good-fitting supportive bra is vital to prevent back pain and a maternity bra is a wise investment in this case.

There are many different ways maternity bras work, most being adjustable in both the underband – the strap underneath the breasts and across the back – and the cup size. As with most bras, they will also feature adjustable straps, which in maternity bras are usually wider than normal for extra comfort. As I mentioned, no one maternity bra is going to see a woman through an entire nine-month pregnancy, but a maternity bra will cut down the need for continual purchases.

It is also increasingly likely that, despite their practical function, you will be able to purchase maternity bras that are extremely attractive, with all the usual features and adornments of a standard bra. As manufacturer’s recognise that women still want to feel attractive as well as being practical, the options are increasing all the more. You can now even purchase Multi-Way maternity bras, allowing a variety of garments to be worn throughout pregnancy – such as halterneck tops or backless dresses – and still have the practicality and support of a maternity bra. If pregnant, a maternity bra or two is an extremely wise investment, and the choices in style are ever-changing, allowing a nod to both fashion and practicality.

It is easy to look at the way a conventional bra is designed and assume that the support comes predominantly from the shoulder straps. At first glances, bras do indeed look like the over-shoulder support is what holds the breasts up and anchors them in place, with the rest of the garment simply providing a foundation for the straps to build on. In actual fact, on a well fitting bra, a minimal amount of support should be provided by the shoulder straps – and due to this, strapless bras have become an increasingly popular item of lingerie.

A great amount of women’s fashion makes wearing a bra at best unsightly and at worst impossible. Garments such as halterneck tops, so-called “boob tubes” and a variety of necklines are cut in such a way that it is exceedingly difficult to wear a bra underneath and for it to remain out of sight. Of course, this is more vanity than anything, and it is certainly better to wear a bra – and thus be supported and comfortable – with the straps showing than wear no bra at all. However, a good strapless bra means you can go bare-shouldered and wear a bra at the same time – there is no need for compromise.

Perhaps more than any other type of bra, a strapless bra must be a good fit. A standard good fit of a bra includes a back strap that is always horizontal, cups that fit neatly around the breast without digging in or becoming baggy and ensuring the front of the bra sits on the sternum and not the breast. Added in to these usual considerations are those to consider specifically when purchasing a strapless bra; you must study the amount of support and ensure it will offer a good lift and keep your breasts in place. The best strapless bras are aided in this by silicone strips, so ensure these are comfortable on your skin and do not dig in.

A common misconception about strapless bras is that they can only hold and support what you already have, but it is perfectly possible to wear a strapless bra and achieve a boost to your cleavage. A good, solid underwire will help this and you can also purchase bras with “bump” pads that are placed inside the cup and help create an uplift – most strapless bras will come with these attached, but you can also buy them separately.

The final point I will make on strapless bras is to keep them simple and, wherever possible, close to your skin tone in colour. The very purpose of them means you will be showing a little more skin and just because a bra is strapless doesn’t mean it is utterly invisible, so understated colours are a good idea.

If you can bear all this is mind, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t be bare shouldered and supported at the same time.

Fashion is an ever-changing world, and throughout history designers have pushed to make garments that are as dynamic and interesting as possible. As they continue to strive for more ways to create a stunning ensemble, along the way practicality has taken something of a hit.

Very few women actually have small enough breasts to be able to go braless – you do need to be almost completely flatchested before this is a viable option, and considering the average cup size in the UK is currently between a C and D, clearly very few women are actually able to consider going without their supportive bras. So does this mean, when it comes to backless dresses and tops – items which are certainly designed to create a stunning effect – a woman is stuck with the choice of being uncomfortably unsupported, or stuck with showing an unsightly bra strap? Of course not, as just as fashion for outerwear has advanced, so has lingerie – backless bras are now a staple of many women’s wardrobes.

In truth, to call a bra “backless” is something of a misnomer, as very few backless bras that are actually adequately supportive exist. This is for several reasons, the main one being that the back strap of a bra is actually what provides the majority of the support in a bra, and without it the object of lift and comfort is defeated somewhat.

What so-called backless bras do do, however, is move that necessary strap. The majority of bra back straps are designed to sit either on or just below the shoulder blades, depending on the style. Usually, these straps are at least an inch in width and in the majority of styles they also hold the clasps that secure the bra onto the body. If you want to wear a backless gown or top, the visibility of this strap is always going to completely destroy the effect of the garment and render wearing it futile. However, these backless garments do always come to an end toward the small of a back, leaving material to hide the strap under.

So lingerie designers simply shift the location of the strap to further down, securing it in place with a second strap across the stomach. This is the maximum amount of support you are going to be able to get if wearing a strapless bra, but it nevertheless is not truly “backless”.

It is not a choice of backless or lower-strap bras alone, however. Many bras described as “backless” do actually have a back strap, but rather than an unsightly band of cotton, they featured two rows of encrusted diamante which is usually elasticated. These straps provide almost the same level of support as a conventional back strap, but are much more attractive and suitable for evening wear. For these, the clasp is usually moved to the front, so two seamless lines of diamante are all that is visible.

Backless bras – no matter which of the three options I’ve mentioned you may choose – are never going to be as fully supportive as a conventional bra complete with a back strap. However, for the occasional night out, they are perfectly adequate and allow you to showcase a part of your body rarely seen, without any unsightly material and clasps getting in the way.

Giving birth and having a baby is one of the most thrilling, exciting experiences of a woman’s entire life – but that doesn’t mean it’s a particularly practical experience as well. Firstly, there’s the huge amount of accessories seemingly required for a baby, meaning leaving the house is like planning a military operation. It’s also well known how exhausting a newborn can be, as a mother who has been through the intense physical experience of giving birth tries to deal with recovery and adjusting to life as a mother. However, there is something you can buy to ease the difficulties associated with a newborn child, and that is the nursing bra.

Women are constantly told that “breast is best”, and indeed it is, as hundreds of medical studies have shown. Yet once again the practicality issue raises its head; when you need to feed a baby numerous times a day, removing and then replacing a bra is nothing short of ridiculously time consuming as well as a physical exertion new mothers can do without. So in steps the nursing bra, allowing breastfeeding without actually removing a bra.

Unlike the traditional bra, the nursing bra is still a developing technology, despite having first been produced in the 1930s. At present there are several patents pending for new types of nursing bras that are seeking to explore ever more convenient ways of breastfeeding a child without needing to remove the bra. Current innovations available for removing a cup to free a breast for feeding include zips, clasps and standard buttons.

The most recent advances in nursing bra technology, however, deal with the fluctuation of size a nursing mother experiences in the first few months of nursing. After giving birth, breast size can increase and decrease rapidly and seemingly almost daily as the body shifts back into regular hormonal patterns and establishes a routine of producing milk. There are also more practical problems with size, in that breasts can fluctuate by an entire cup size depending on whether or not the mother has just fed a child or if she is full. This incredible change means that a nursing bra cannot only focus on the practicality of quick access to a breast, it must be able to change with a woman’s body, or the process of nursing would be ridiculously expensive as many different size bras would have to be purchased.

To tackle this problem, there are many adjustable nursing bras available to purchase, which continue to give support through a system of multi back straps and multi cup sizes, all of which are usable on the same basic bra frame. This is absolutely essential, as an ill-fitting bra can result in a compression of milk ducts in the breast, which can lead to the incredibly painful and difficult to treat infection of mastitis. It is also essential that during the feeding process, when the main cup of the bra is unzipped, the breast is still supported.

Knowing this, it’s easy to see why nursing bras are still constantly being updated and refreshed. After all, a new mother wants to concentrate on spending time and bonding with her baby, not worrying about the associated difficulties of breastfeeding. For this reason, nursing bras are an essential purchase.

It is a common myth that men are exclusively, or even overwhelmingly interested in women with large breasts. There is little doubt that there are many men for whom the larger-breasted woman does hold a fascination, but it only takes a quick look at Hollywood to see that the ladies getting work their range from the waif-like to the Amazonian. So if you happen not to be in possession of bosom that obscures your feet when you look downwards, there is no reason to feel that you are less sexy or less of a woman. In fact, the smaller-breasted woman is very much a turn-on for a large range of people – and not because the smaller breasts mean that they choose to look elsewhere. Sometimes a flatter chest can be attractive in its own right.
This does not mean that you cannot dress to accentuate your breasts. It may mean that at times you can go without a bra – and much though this may sound like a “look on the bright side”-style scolding, please bear in mind that women with larger breasts certainly have their own crosses to bear when it comes to finding the right support and avoiding painful straps which dig into the shoulders. If, however, you want to flatter your assets with sexy lingerie, it is not about trying to make them look huge, but rather about enhancing them to make them more prominent. These are two very different things – you can have a cleavage even on a smaller chest. Indeed, there are many to whom this looks all the more alluring.

To enhance what you have been blessed with, it is a matter of finding the bra which provides the right amount of uplift while not squeezing you painfully. Some bras will pinch you in an entirely uncomfortable way by incorrectly seeking to push skywards something that really does not need or benefit from this approach. A popular choice for many women with smaller chests is the gel bra. This provides support and rounds out a figure without pinching you and leaving you gasping for breath, and enhances, without changing, a gamine figure which is a source of attraction to so many. Bear in mind the fact that no gel bra will make an A cup look like a double F – if this is what you desire or what you fear, be aware that it is impossible.

The smooth lines created by a good gel bra can make smaller breasts more prominent without turning the wearer into a pneumatic glamor model in training. Rather, they allow you to display your assets and they mean that you don’t have to labor under the misapprehension that small breasts mean you look like a boy (you don’t), that they make you less sexually attractive (this just isn’t true) or that you cannot wear sexy lingerie (you really can). After all, as has been mentioned, there are people out there for whom larger breasts do nothing. Well-accentuated small chests can be a real winner, if you find the right bra for them.

Lingerie is a major part of the daily routine for many women, whether it be for reasons of looking sexy or simple practicality. Whatever the reason, it is a major industry and something that is an expression of need above all else. However, the simple fact of where lingerie sits on the body makes it intimate, and to some extent a source of titillation and of desire. Much of the lingerie currently on the market is designed as much to flatter and emphasise the assets as it is to support or cover them. For this reason there is an element of competitive spirit between companies who seek to deliver the primary need (support and cover) while not ignoring the secondary need, the desire to look sexy.

There is some debate over whether invisible bras constitute sexy lingerie. In many cases, they are considered a matter of practicality – that is to say that a conventional bra can cause certain issues, such as the straps digging into a woman’s shoulders or the back strap being visible through a t-shirt. Some women are not terribly concerned about the latter issue – “So I wear a bra, is that really so interesting?”, - but the issue with straps is more of a practical matter. A bra-strap digging into your shoulders is more than uncomfortable, it can be painful and restrictive. There is another matter at hand, though, which makes invisible bras something in which many women are prepared to invest – it allows you to wear strapless dresses.

Fashion is a very demanding industry – some time ago strapless dresses just would not have happened because they made it impossible to wear a conventional bra. The invisible bra has happened because women want to wear strapless dresses. For many people, one of the sexiest parts a woman can show off is their shoulders. Although not a “taboo” part, the shoulder is close to the breasts and draws attention in that direction. It is also, for many women, something of an erogenous zone, and if you are to lay your hand on a woman’s shoulder you had best make sure that you are already well acquainted with her – it is considered to be something of an intimate gesture.

Strapless dresses expose the shoulder in a way that makes many men look twice. But of course, it’s not just the shoulders. If a dress is not supported by shoulder straps it will be supported in some measure by the bust. This is enough to draw admiring glances, and if you can get the right bra to enhance the shape of your bust it can turn a strapless dress into a deadly weapon. Invisible bras are sexy lingerie for one very simple reason – they raise the question of how exactly that dress is staying on, and how the woman is getting support. They draw attention directly to the breasts, and this is enough to make very many men stand in place, wondering whether a round of applause would be impertinent.