Your comments to last week’s great dress that fit my large bust made me feel like I was shopping with best friends and sisters, one of my favorite things to do.  How does anyone make a purchasing decision anymore without posting a photo for feedback? That being said, I actually haven’t made a purchasing decision yet because the saleslady told me that if my size sold out, she could order it for me. Don’t you love honest, service-oriented salespeople?

I did, however, make three purchasing decisions at the thrift store where I found my big bust fitting Armani blazer, but even these $5 purchases weren’t spur of the moment. I put them on hold and thought about them for 24 hours, and yet I still ended up with buyer’s remorse for one of them.

But let’s start with the winner: a silk dress with princess seams that skim perfectly over my big bust, my favorite scoop neckline with a bonus drawstring (that allows for a peak of cleavage), and REAL sleeves.

 

 

It’s cut on the bias with little inserts at the bottom that make it even flouncier. I think this is a nice bust- and hip-balancing detail. The deciding factor for me,  however, is something you can’t even see–SILK LINING. I am so tired of pretty dresses made in natural fibers but lined with polyester. I’ve already worn this light, floaty dress on two of the hottest days this past week, and even though I perspired, at least the sweat wasn’t trapped beneath my back and an impermeable lining!

I don’t consider this a Serious Dress, so I’m willing to overlook the wild print, including the one thing that almost kept me from buying it: the two blue-rimmed daisies that you can see on my right thigh in the top photo. They look like cartoon eyes. But for only $5, my thinking was that if I didn’t end up wearing it, I could actually take it apart and create a pattern from it for a new dress in different print. It really fits that well. The brand is called Trio New York, but the Trio New York website has only 2002 dates, so I wonder if they’re still around? I’ll let you know what I find out.

My next $5 purchase was this Gap tee shirt. It’s size large and a little snug on me, but the V neck and chevron stripe front shout, “THIS TOP IS MADE FOR A WOMAN WHO WANTS TO MINIMIZE HER BUST AND LOOK THINNER.” So of course I bought it, even though it has cap sleeves. The colors match a lot of what’s already in my closet.

Looking at the photograph now, it’s so fitted that I don’t think it can minimize my bust, and of course you can see how short this top is at the waist after having to cover my bust. I feel like I must keep pulling it down. So it isn’t as great a deal as the dress, but it’s still a better deal than my third purchase.

Once again, I was captivated by a color, this time purple, and until I saw the photos below, I truly hoped that I could get away with wearing this $5 Topshop find in public.

Holly recently published a provocative post questioning full bust fashion rules. I would say that there are very few hard and fast full bust fashion rules that we must follow all the time no matter what. It all depends upon what we are trying to accomplish. However, I’m willing to bet that 99.99% of the time, women with a full bust should avoid a top with gathers above the bust and then falls like a waterfall from it.

Finally, here’s one final thrift store find that I didn’t buy. It was cotton and not even lined and fit perfectly (size 14) except for showing off the fat pockets under my arms. Read below the photo for some well-meaning bra advice that I received from the woman working there after she saw me in this dress.

She called me over to explain that I needed to be sure to wear an unpadded bra under this dress. She even pulled a padded bra out of one of their bins to show me what she meant. Then she said, “You need a D cup. An A or B is not for you!” At that point I couldn’t feign ignorance any longer. “I know!” I exclaimed enthusiastically. “I wear an H cup!” Of course she was surprised.

Some might despair from such a story as evidence of how ignorant Americans (including first generation immigrants like this shop worker) are about bra fit, but I actually find encouragement in it. If this woman could be made aware of all the fit options out there, imagine what a fit evangelist she would be. Women care about fit and want to help others. We just need to keep working at getting the word out to them.

One more thing: I recently added the cool new blog Busty & Thrifty to my blogroll. With three kids, a husband and a new puppy, she doesn’t have much time to write, but it’s worth adding her to your reader to be notified when she does.