1. Bad News
Yesterday I stumbled upon a blog post called Adventures in Underwear that would depress any full-busted reader who didn’t know better. The writer’s post makes it sound as if our boobs are doomed to a prison of industrial strength granny bras for the rest of our lives. I know better, so it depressed me for an entirely different reason: It means there’s a giant percentage of full-busted women in the world who don’t know about the great options available to us.
Last February, I met a woman who wanted to open a bra store in New York City just for D+ women. That was great, except she didn’t realize that a good number of stores in NYC already sell D+ bras. She also didn’t know anything about the vibrant, international community of D+ bloggers. How had she missed this?
For one thing, D+ bloggers may not be doing everything we can to get the word out. I’m one of the biggest culprits because I’ve been blogging for almost four years without a blog roll. As blog readers, I hope you’ll tell other busty women about Hourglassy and the blogs on my new blog roll. I know I’ve accidentally omitted some blogs, so please let me know who they are! Right now the list isn’t organized in any way, but I do have favorites that I hope to highlight soon, and some are far more active than others.
2. Good News
Another bra maker (based in New York) is concentrating on G and H cups and looking for fit models. Are you interested? If so, let me know. I’ll be posting more details as they become available since I don’t even know whether they use UK sizing or the band size range they’re looking for in their models. This is all I have so far:
My company is now looking to expand on our resources for fit models. We are currently looking for G and H cups. I’m not sure if any of your clients would be in that size pool, or if they’d even be interested in being “fit modelsâ€. In case you’re not sure, fit models are only used within the design studio and do not show garments to a room full of people. They would be fitting with the designers and occasionally show a garment to the merchandiser, but not an audience so to speak… Do you think some of your clients would be interested in stopping by our office to be measured/fitted and or open to the idea of fit modeling (compensation is roughly $50/ hr).
May 18: Here’s more information–you can contact the company directly through the email provided below. I was sorry to learn that they use the +4 method . . . I’ve already sent the designer links to the Bra Band Project, but keep in mind that companies that have a lot invested in a traditional way of doing things are unlikely to be able to change overnight–there are a lot of people who have to be convinced.
As far as underbust measurements, btwn a 34 and 44 band size? We measure the American way so a 29-30†rib cage translates to a 34 band size for us (but of course some of that is based on personal preferences and comfort depending on the woman). I hope that helps clarify.Also, at the moment I am focusing on finding G and H cup models, but am not limited. Our size pool is from C-H now… we do have existing fit models, but are always in the market to expand on the model pool/figure types, especially in the larger band sizes like 38 and above (most women at this size are very shy about fit modeling in that range). If it’s easier for you, they can email me directly at this address: design@prettier.com.
3. More Good News?
Frankly, I’m excited about Wacoal’s recent acquisition of the Eveden Group (Freya, Fantasie, Elomi, Fauve, Goddess, etc.). If Wacoal builds on Eveden’s great fit options while adding its own high quality standards, we are in for some great new products . . . and hopefully all the old ones that we’ve come to love and depend upon. A lingerie store owner that I spoke to recently, however, had a different take. She felt that Wacoal’s distribution is so widespread that G cups will become common in every department store, giving your average bra shopper even more chances of putting herself in the wrong size bra. My take? If the major outlets don’t offer enough sizes to begin with, then that woman has even less chance of being put into the right bra! But I can understand an unspoken concern she might have–do you think bra fitters in small lingerie stores will become obsolete if department store racks become filled with all the D+ sizes we’ve been clamoring for?
I have to admit, I see it as a good step. Wacoals are sold locally in Brazil (well, to at least to an E cup… ugh!) so there’s a chance that with this acquisition that they’ll be sold here too.
I understand her concern and I’d hate to see small boutiques go out of business but G cups aren’t that big and there are still a lot of us who need larger cup sizes too! I also *hope* it would mean that more women will be put in their correct size so if anything they’re more apt to seek out boutiques for a larger selection. Another thing to consider.. maybe this would give boutiques an opportunity to try newer brands or a wider selection. My guess is that dept stores will carry pretty standard nude/white/black up to G cups first (if this actually happens) so bra enthusiasts would still want boutiques to get their hands on color and special styles.
Wish I still lived in NYC, I’d love to be a fit model (although I guess I’m still outside the range…).
Also, I’ll have to double check the blog roll later, I think I saw a couple of names missing but I have a talk to prepare for tomorrow, yikes!
Good point about dept stores carrying the basics and freeing up the specialty stores to carry the pretty and fun styles. And I only used a G for an illustration because that’s what the lingerie store owner used, but I hope that Wacoal would continue to offer in dept stores all the sizes and styles that Eveden has been offering. I see so many women shopping at Macy’s who should be wearing Elomi instead of Bali.
Since Wacoal is a giant company, I hope that the smaller big-bust brands can remain agile and responsive to the market . . . and that they stay in business!
Thanks for being willing to doublecheck my blog roll.
I’ll be honest, I’m a bit worried about Wacoal buying a couple of my favourite brands. Wacoal makes beautiful bras, but their sizing leaves MUCH to be desired—nothing below a 32 band?!—and my concern is they will KO the small band/full cup size bras. Not happy at all about it. 🙁
After speaking to another lingerie store owner this morning, I have to admit I’m starting to get worried, too. Wacoal has purchased a goldmine of fitting wisdom . . . I hope they recognize that.
I’m not thrilled about it either. Wacoal’s size range isn’t great, and their bras are rather, uh, ugly. (Admittedly, once I found Freyas and 30/28 bands, I never looked back at Wacoal’s offerings.) Wait, the iBra was kind of cool, but plain.
Here is my hope: that Eveden maintains or (even better) expands their range under Wacoal, that Wacoal doesn’t push them into fugly territory and that they remake their elastics so the bands are tighter.
i just looked at a bunch of the blogs on your blogroll… and i have to say, the writer of “vanity killed the cat” seems very judgmental and closed-minded regarding other people’s bodies… she doesn’t seem to blog about lingerie at all, just celeb-worship and body snark. 🙁
I debated whether to include her blog, and I may ultimately delete her if she doesn’t write anything new soon, but one of her earlier posts made me think a lot. Even if I don’t agree with everything she says, I decided to include her blog for its different viewpoint. I appreciate that you actually looked at some of these blogs so that I know it matters what I list there. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on Vanity Killed the Cat. Perhaps I’ll add a caveat when I finally organize this list.
I will be in New York for the summer (and on and of thereafter) and would be very, very, very happy to be a design model because I am always very sad about the pain in the neck that is bra shopping. Please do pass the information my way!
I guess I don’t understand the lingerie store owner’s logic here. If we keep offering only up to DD, all the E-K women will all just magically go elsewhere and get fitted? The problem is so many women have no idea they’re in those sizes anyway, so they’ll just shove themselves into whatever badly fitting thing is available. At least if stores stock G cups, it will raise awareness that they exist. That paves the way for larger cup sizes, and more awareness of fitting in general. Maybe I’m misinterpreting something though?
I don’t think you’re misinterpreting anything. I think she’s so immersed in her own inventory that she forgets that the average woman shopping in a department store has no idea that anything else is available elsewhere.
To put it bluntly, I think it’s better to have an HH/J/K cup woman shoving herself into a G cup than a DD cup. It’s a weird sort of progress, but still progress!
YES!
Hey, I don’t know if you follow Moje Szycie, but I love looking at her pictures. Her blog is written in Polish (and the google translate isn’t great), but she seems to be a designer who sews for busty ladies and her designs look fantastic! I follow her just for the eye candy. She’s proven to me that I can look good in almost any style so long that it fits.
I follow her through Braless in Brasil’s blog roll, but thanks for the reminder. I’ll add her! Also, are you on Twitter or Pinterest? I thought of you when I found this via Jen’s Pinterest board yesterday but didn’t know how to contact you directly: http://www.afashionablestitch.com/2012/tips-and-tricks/the-button-up-refashion-swap/
Hey! Yes, I’m on Pinterest and Facebook, but not Twitter. I’m Hannah (Jean) Vlieger on both. You can also contact me at makeabigseam@gmail.com. Thanks for the link!
Very timely post. I met a woman today who happened to mention that she wants to take up running but can’t because of her cup size (she said she is 36DD). I told her that there are lots of bras out there online, including sports bras for women our size (and that I am DDD and I have a sports bra I can run in) and recommended she look at herroom.com for bras and also for sports bras only, title9.com. I also told her there were a lot of blogs out there for women like us and specifically mentioned this one!
Thanks so much, Kara. And hopefully she thanked you, too!
yes she did, she was very thankful
As other lovely commenters have pointed out, I think having a bigger selection in department stores can only be a step up. It would hopefully mean that more women have a chance of finding a bra that fits (slightly better). I never actually had proper fitting (I tried a couple of times, but they were more clueless than I), but through trial and error (and it took me about 2-3 years) I’m fairly certain that I’ve found the “right size” for me (I’ve gone from wearing a 34/36D (MAJOR quadraboob!) to a 30G). So even if the fitters at the department stores aren’t actually helping, at least women will have a bigger size range to trial-and-error their way to a better fit.
Also, some women might not have access to a nice little boutique – or even know they exist.
Personally I also think that once women do know their actual size, and the important of wearing a good bra, they’ll go to a smaller boutique (if they can) for quality, bigger variety and expertise.