Aren’t you impressed with the care with which the seamstress matched the intricate patterns in this vintage dress?
You can also find such attention to detail in this longline bra from my friend Moira Nelson‘s collection of vintage lingerie.
Neither this dress nor this longline are sized for a full bust, and as much as I love the quality that was so commonplace back then, I would only go back in time if I could wear today’s bras for big busts. In this article by a woman who wears a small band and large cup, the author tried bras from long ago and today. She raised my hopes when she wrote that the vintage store owner “grabbed sizes like ’34B’ – laughable to me, considering the bras I own all bear multiple D’s on their labels. But sizes since the 40s and 50s had changed dramatically, she assured.”
My own expectations returned to reality when the writer concluded that, “In some cases, that delicate design meant an unsupportive, floppy fit. The bras were attractive, artful even, but among the many I tried, the pointy cups and silky fabrics did little to support.” I wonder what women with large cups and small backs did in fifties and earlier. Did they simply wear the wrong size? Did they sew their own? Was there a utilitarian brand that catered to them?
Speaking of a utilitarian brand, I want to highlight last year’s review of the Pambra’s bra liner before the summer gets away from us. During our days of 90+ temperatures, my bras became so sweaty that I washed them after every wear. The next heat wave we get, I’m pulling out my Pambra’s.
I know only a little about what the buxom women in my family did for adequate support. They made return trips by boat to Italy in the forties, fifties and sixties. Then, our hometown in central NJ had a lovely place called “Sylene’s Corset Shop” that offered fittings, bras thru K or L cup and an extensive post-mastectomy selection. Sadly, they are no longer in business, having closed a few years ago. But when they were open, they had a great selection of beautiful and beautifully made bras. I still have the longline I needed for my wedding nearly 25 years ago. I wear a 40H, give or take. A short while before they closed, I had a lovely young fitter from Poland working there tell me to go to Europe for an even bigger selection. My bras are now about 1/3 from European vacations, 1/3 mail-order and 1/3 from a brick & mortar store in Brooklyn.