When you revisit your tween and teen years, do you ever think about how different things would have been if you could have had then what you possess now? Here are three things from the present that I wish I could take back with me in time:
1. More confidence. If I could go back to my teens, I’d wear a certain knit top that looked amazing on me but I was too self-conscious to wear out of the house.
2. Every pretty and supportive full bust brand currently on the market, including all the new and amazing sports bras for PE.
3. The internet.
With items 2 and 3 readily available today, you’d think that full-busted teens would have it easy now, wouldn’t you? I’m not so sure because here are a few more things we only tend to have as adults:
A. Funds—full time jobs that pay for the great bras we find on the internet;
B. Independence—the discretion to spend on our own priorities instead of being subject to our parents’ budgets; and
C. Transportation—the ability to reach a professional bra fitter when the only options in our town are department stores.
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to find a high schooler to write about what it’s like to be large busted as a teen . . . while a teen. Maybe it’s my way of trying to revisit the past, but it’s actually more a way to keep up with the present. What issues do DD+ teens deal with today that we never had to deal with? What issues remain the same?
In March I received an email from a high schooler I’ll call Denise who impressed me with how seriously she had been searching for a correctly fitting bra. She’d done all her homework, but a lack of funds, independence and transportation were affecting her options. I offered the little bit of advice, but Denise ended up helping me out even more—she agreed to be the high school writer for Hourglassy. Look for the first installment in the Hourglassy high school series tomorrow!
Sounds great! I can definitely relate to the funds/transportation/independence issues. This was exacerbated for me due to small-busted relative being the one who did most of my bra shopping for me (and it was really lost on her on why I even wanted to try on bras before they were bought!).
I never really got the “bra lessons” from my mother. She is a B cup. She took my hand me downs when I was in 7th grade. I hit a “C” cup by 8th grade and never grew out of “C” because my mother had no idea what a proper fit was. All of the women on my mother’s side are small busted.
My aunt, who is full busted, always ordered her bras from a catalog. She hates underwires, and wears those hideous minimizers. I didn’t find my proper bra size until I was about 28! I was suffering through 40DDs when I was actually a 36G-H. And I thought it was completely normal to have to adjust during the day so you didn’t fall out from the bottom. I just thought that was par for the course for full busted women.
So I wish in high school I had access to “full bust role models” like bloggers like you. 🙂
I got shoved into Wacoal minimizer bras that didn’t fit, and it was awful! My mother wouldn’t let me buy anything but nude bras either. I would have killed for a bra in absolutely any color at that point.
What’s the market like for colorful/supportive/teen appropriate bras these days? I do think there’s an age consideration, and I wonder if any companies are specializing in that. I’m looking forward to the column!
I’m so excited for the D+ teen series! I’m an 18 year-old who started learning about good bras and good fit a year ago, and I’m excited to learn more from someone in a similar situation as I am. Honestly, I’m kind of jealous that Denise offered to write for you before I ever thought to!