Ive had this one bra for ages. It wasnt perfect, because its an American-cut bra and American manufacturers cant size bras to save their lives. But it sufficed. What I liked about it was that it was convertible. It could be a standard bra, but I could also change the straps to halter or criss-cross or go strapless if I wanted (which I never do because strapless tops just dont stay up on me). But what made it noteworthy is that it was ALSO low-back convertible. That means that I could wear the band at a normal level, or I could pull down on the extra-long strap that goes across my ribcage and lower the back of the band to wear a low-back dress or shirt. This one bra meant that I didnt have to buy a strapless bra, a backless bustier, and a convertible-strap bra all to do the same functions that this one bra did. But I bought this bra years ago, before I discovered the style of bra I have completely switched to these days. I posted a while ago about finding the perfect bra-for-me and buying like a dozen in white to dye different colors and to put some away in storage for when these wear out. Because that bra fits me the way a bra is supposed to fit, I have actually noticed that some of the extra tissue that had started to appear under my arms (as happens to so many women as we age), had started to DISAPPEAR and I started to fill out my bra cups better. Apparently, I learned, that tissue is breast tissue that migrates away from the breast when we wear bras that dont fit right - particularly when the underwire presses on the sides of the breast instead of the root of the breast. I havent exactly increased my cup size, but I am noticeably fuller now. I went from a full A / flattish-B (depending on the manufacturer and how the bra was cut) to now a very full B and I cant fit into an A at all anymore. And, when I wear European bras that are sized correctly, Im actually a 32C or D! (Because cup sizes are relative to the band, not just Big / Medium / Small, which is how American bras are cut). My convertible bra is an A cup, which I was always a little snug in but could still fit. I was fine with being snug in it because it made me pop out the top just a little, which, as a smaller chested person, I rarely ever got to experience and since I wear the bra for dressing up only, thats a silhouette that I would often want in a dress-up bra anyway. But now I cant fit into it at all. I overflow the cups both top and bottom, and the underwire doesnt sit at the root, it sits on the breast tissue. So Ive been searching for a replacement bra for about the last year or two. I have been unable to find anything at all. I can find convertibles but not with low backs. I can find low backs, but not with the option to wear standard strap arrangements. I can find the bustiers but that doesnt hep me when my shirt is both low back and midriff-bearing because bustiers cover the ribcage and sometimes even the stomach. I finally found one a few months ago, right in the middle of one of my moves. Since I was leaving for a trip in a couple of weeks that I needed that bra for, I went ahead and ordered it and prayed for the best. That bra sucked. It was complicated, way over-engineered, and because it used so many straps to accomplish the different arrangements, it never actually fit me in ways to match the dress. What I mean is that, when I put it into halter mode, the two different settings made the straps show either inside the halter straps of the shirt or outside the halter straps of the shirt. The connecting points werent where the shirt halter straps were. When I converted it to low-back, the strange double-strap band was too high under the arms so it was seen. If it had only used the single-strap band (the bottom strap), it would have been fine. PLUS, the various hooks and straps didnt stay hooked during wear! It kept popping open in various places randomly throughout the night! Id given up on finding my bra anywhere and I was starting to contemplate just making one. I had literally just stopped in the notions aisle at the fabric store the other day to price out bra supplies and get an idea what kind of bra supplies were available, to plan out the design of a bra. Then, the next day, I just happened to be in a mall for totally non-shopping reasons. On the spur of the moment, I decided to look one more time at department stores for a replacement bra, before I went through the trouble of making one. I discovered that Dillards, in Fashion Square Mall, is converting itself to a clearance type store instead of a department store, so everything in the store was on a steep discount. I actually got distracted by the $20 prom dresses and almost forgot to look for a bra (I found one, btw, and Im so excited to have a dress appropriate for a ballroom formal now instead of my old prom dresses which are not suitable for ballroom dancing or my dresses which have skirts appropriate for ballroom dancing but arent formal, and to have found one for only $20 because I have so far refused to spend the full price on a formal gown for a dance that isnt a landmark dance like a prom and that I probably wouldnt wear much, if at all!). Anyway, as I was walking out with my amazing find, I passed by the lingerie section that I had been unable to find until then. I grazed through, not expecting anything, when suddenly I spotted MY bra! In my size! The only one left! It was exactly the bra Ive had forever and no longer fit into and have been trying to replace! And it was $10 because of the sale. Now nothing can ever happen to this bra and it has to last me forever because Ill never find it again!
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:57:50 +0000