Here’s what I’m adding to Sweet Nothings’ full-bust wishlist: wide bra bands that are meant to be seen.

Although a gorgeous brick red or patterned bra under a different colored blouse may have been an improvement to this woman’s outfit, it wouldn’t have been enough. The bra would still have distracted from an otherwise amazing look vs. complemented it. The truth is, wide bra bands as they exist today are not pretty enough to display.

It’s another hard truth that backless dresses and deeply scooped backs are off limits to women above an F cup who still want lift and support. No one has yet engineered a substitute for the support of a properly fitting bra band, and I’m still searching for a G+ basque that plummets in back (please tell us if you’ve found something in the comments, though!). For now, these are our options:

  1. Go ahead and wear a deeply scooped back with your regular supportive bra and forget about it since you can’t see your own back;
  2. Avoid anything bare in back;
  3. Wear a camisole or Perfect Cami;
  4. Look for cutouts that leave fabric over the bra band, such as the David Meister gown below;
  5. Alter the garment to add fabric over the bra band; or
  6. Alter a basque to go deeper in back.

I want a seventh option:  Attach two panels of gorgeous fabric (that are the width of the band or a little wider) at the point where the straps meet the band (or a little further back). Then fasten the open ends together with decorative buttons, an elegant zipper or a chiffon bow. I’m picturing something like the new Claudette ouvert bra, except the buttons are in back.

Or like this zipper . . . but in back.

Something more eye-catching could work with a simple black evening gown. I’m picturing this.

Although it would be wonderful if the actual bra had these features, I’m sure there’s a way to create detachable panels that can be used on the variety of bras that each woman owns. That way she could get the support and lift she prefers, depending on the outfit, and look amazing from the back. She can even be comfortable with her “boring” beige in front under a sheer top, and wow people in back with a fabulous print. Wouldn’t the Claudette snakeskin print look amazing peeking out from the back of the woman’s blouse at the beginning of this post?

Oh my goodness–we could even have something in leather!

If you’re an entrepreneur looking for a new idea, please take my idea and run with it. Only promise that you’ll let Hourglassy readers test your product for you and that you’ll give us a discount when it goes to market!