Ladies, if you have large breasts and the guy doing the promoting is known to like small breasts, then wear something that will minimize your endowment. If the converse is true, then get yourself to Victoria’s Secret and buy a cleavage enhancing Miracle Bra if you need it and wear a low cut shirt. I think cufflinks are sexy as hell. It’s conceivable that I might promote a guy who walked into my office wearing a shirt with cufflinks over the guy with a shirt with buttoned cuffs, especially if they were equally qualified for the job.
So let’s forget breasts and the male/female question all together and use something applicable to both genders. If you are gunning for a promotion and the hiring/firing/promoting supervisor, be they male of female, tends to promote brunettes over blondes and you are a blonde, be you male or female, then you may want to consider dying your hair a shade or two darker.
Yes, my point of view may seem like a very mercenary one, but oh well. In a perfect world, all employment promotions would be based on merit and service, but I doubt that I need to remind anyone on ATS that we do not inhabit a perfect world by any stretch of the imagination, nor do we inhabit a world where what is fair and good dictates outcomes. If you want the promotion bad enough you will do whatever you can to tip the scales in your favor. It is irrelevant whether it’s right or wrong for the hiring/firing/promoting supervisor to have a bias. If you are aware of the bias, the most expedient thing to do is to use that bias to your advantage. I once had a very religious boss. Though I did not subscribe to the same beliefs as he did, I did not hesitate to use an occasional well placed religious key word or phrase whenever I spoke with him if I had an opportunity to work it into the conversation. At the end of the work day, it really comes down to how badly you want to curry favor with the guy or gal in charge. If you are within the parameters of the law, then the only logical way to proceed is to act in a way that works in your favor.
I have, however, just completed a law degree (I did not put a photograph on my exam papers or university applications) and have obtained a training contract with a prominent legal firm (again, I did not put a photograph on my application, and I was one of only 4 applicants chosen for interview – at the interview I was well covered).
In my experience, it is usually unattractive or fat women who feel the need to expose their cleavages…..
Has it affected her work and chances of promotion, mmmm, I’d say not…she is a Continental director for a major Multinational and one of the most highly regarded persons in her field of work world wide.
She says that if men are stupid enough to judge her on her bust, or pay more attention to that than negotiating and business, then they get exactly what they deserve.
As for bitchy comments from women, those she ignores completely as that can only be put down to jealousy and envy, whether of her bust or brain, she cares not… she has succeeded where very few women have even tried to go… and good for her..
That said, I don’t wear anything too plunging or clinging at work. I work in a male dominated environment and I know that if I wore anything too low cut it would change their perspective of me.
I’m a 12DD or a 10E. I used to be a 12F or 10G, but I had a breast reduction. I don’t think most people realise that a breast reduction will generally only get you reduced by two cup sizes. I was disappointed I couldn’t go smaller, but got over it.
I don’t want to wear baggy clothes that make me look fat. I work out so I look good and that’s hard in 2 sports bras that restrict your breathing. The fact is, people look at unusually large breasts no matter what you do. I don’t expose my cleavage, but they are still noticeably large and people have opinions.
I refuse to wear clothes that make me look fat so I deal with the looks.
Their problem. Shoot me.
What are naturally large-chested women supposed to do? According to a lot of commenters that would be have surgery or hang their heads in shame and wear baggy clothing! I have 34G breasts therefore I CANNOT hide them even in baggy clothes and I am not prepared to wear unsupportive underwear to make them look smaller.
At work I tend to wear V necks to flatter my overall shape but don’t show cleavage but plenty of my busty colleagues do and no one thinks the worse of them for it – they just want to look attractive and that’s the way they choose to do it.
This whole feature is just discriminating against large-chested women. Smaller breasts can be displayed equally provocatively.
It is hard to “hide” big boobs.
Usually having being large chested means that if you aren’t careful you actually end up looking pretty bad. The shirt hangs in a way that makes you look very rotund even when you aren’t.
Or if you were a higher cut/collar it looks ridiculous, or it can even sometimes be MORE revealing than just wearing something which is more flattering.
My MIL tried to buy me some more “conservative” shirts – the look on her face when I wore the turtle necks she bought me was priceless. I can literally be covered from feet to chin, and still look like I’m showing off.
Something that looks professional on my coworker can easily make me look like I’m about to step onto the stage for strip tease……seriously, I actually borrowed a friends professional wardrobe for an interview once, and the guy thought I was lost and directed me to the strip club across the street before he realized I was his interview. Awesomeness. Very frustrating. And no – there was actually no cleavage, and I was wearing pants….flowy pants.
You have to understand – not very many “average” sized women are over a C. Finding shirts and dresses which are flattering without being too sexy, and being professional ….. there are no role models. No models are in the magazines. Few women fit this category, so you can’t just take stock of the women around you. The only role models you do have are hooters and porn really.
It took me a while to figure out how to dress so I look nice, professional and not resort to wearing things which are just expensive to compensate for looking like a sack.
If you are an employer, and you have a good employee who fits this body type and you have the sort of company that has some sort of employee assistance programs, the sort of employer who is looking to work with an employee….I might suggest you find a service in your area that specifically works with people to help them with personal presentation and wardrobe. Just have it as a service that the employee assistance / HR program can suggest if someone seems to be struggling with it.
Consider it toastmasters for the body.
***
If anyone on here is this woman, here is the best tips I have:
If you have a waist, use it. If you don’t, use the empire waist to your advantage or the wrap style to “create” a waist.
Buy your shirts to fit your largest two parts – your shoulders and your breasts, then get the shirt tailored to fit elsewhere. You may need to go to a plus size store – swallow your pride if you aren’t plus sized and try it. Big women still come in your shoulder size.
Get good foundation garmets. It is worth going for a professional fit. If you are average sized but have larger breasts, the pretty lingerie shops in the mall probably aren’t carrying what you need.
Layering with jackets, and nice sweater/etc can help minimize the impact.
Keep the neck line that works – just move it up an inch and a half. The neck line that flatters you truly looks good low or higher.
But like I said, say a lady works in an office with casual dress. She has a nice figure, and just happens to be blessed with very large boobs. She won’t be able to hide it, I know this from experience. As one poster mentioned, the only way you could is with baggy clothes, which is in itself unprofessional looking. So these ladies are really in a lose-lose situation, even if thier neckline is all the way up! I think men and women alike will generally take such a woman less seriously, simply because of her breast size, regardless of whether or not she shows them off. And yeah, thats sexist and something that I don’t agree with, but at the same time I realize its something that is ingrained into a lot of people.
So those women with large breasts I think have to work a little harder to be taken seriously, as I think they are often just seen as a pair of boobs. know what I mean? I guess you can’t really fully understand unless you actually are a large breasted woman in a workplace. It happens, though.
