Photo Courtesy of Net-A-Porter.com
Bra shopping is always a loathsome process for me. I'd honestly rather do my taxes than spend an hour messing with tangled heaps of straps and plastic hangers.
The exact definition of curvy, my figure is trim but my chest is considerable. I've been a 34D since I was a junior in high school and since then, I've been searching far and wide for cute bras with less than four hooks. Not an easy task -- I've cried and have been frustrated in several fitting rooms.
Recently, my friend Alana let me in on a little secret: the joy of professional bra fitting. She recommended Intimacy, a specialty bra fitting boutique. Her friends staged a bra intervention for her a year ago and had done the same. Apparently, the ill-fitting Gap Perfect Bras that she had worn exclusively were causing major fashion faux pas. "I don't know what I was thinking -- I had no clue," she laughed. "I look back and those bras were horrible!" After an appointment with an Intimacy fitter, Alana, who has an excellent figure, learned she was a 34E -- and not the 34C she thought she was.
Alana and I are not alone. A study by Wacoal, a bra company, discovered that nearly 90 million women over the age of 18 are wearing the wrong bra size -- that's eight out of 10 women! Despite the odds, I was pretty confident in my size. I knew my body.
When Intimacy store manager, Kirsten Saenz, took me into a fitting suite, she didn’t have a measuring tape. She simply took one look at me in my own 34D Calvin Klein nude lace bra and fled to her inventory to pull some styles.
The boutique is stocked with European labels and sizes rarely found in department stores -- in 90 sizes from A to K cups. Saenz returned and announced I was -- gulp -- a 32F! The assessment didn’t seem possible. It sounded more like a seat assignment on an airplane than it did a bra size.
Gosh, they weren't that big, were they? I wasn't exactly spilling out all over the place all these years, and no one ever felt the need to stage an intervention on me. Sure enough, my life -- and my figure -- seemed to improve the moment I slipped on the first bra. The straps didn't dig into my shoulders, there were no awkward bulges anywhere, my cleavage was on point, and there was a surprising slimming effect to my midsection.
Eight of the 12 bras Saenz selected for me fit like a dream. How did she know what bra size would be perfect for me? She revealed these secrets, so when you go shopping for a new bra, you'll know what to do:
The Back Strap is Key
The right bra provides 90 percent of support from the back strap, and only 10 percent from the shoulders. "The test of the right fit is to slip off your shoulder straps and feel like you’re almost totally supported without them," she says. For the best support, the back strap needs to be tight to evenly distribute weight and keep from shifting.
Seams are Good
Skip the smooth, sheers styles. Bras with seams are built for better lift, and have a narrowing effect that pulls the breasts in and creates a flattering, streamlined look.
Underwires Should be Comfortable
Did you know you shouldn't feel the underwire if you’re wearing the right bra? A shallow cup or an ill-fitting bra band is the real reason behind underwire complaints. The weight isn’t properly distributed and as a result, presses into the rib cage, or digs into midriff.
Pictured: Mimi Holliday by Damaris L'Amour Satin and Lace Bra ($85 at Net-A-Porter.com)
Plus
• Use this tool to find the perfect bra for you
• The cutest bikini under $40
• Swimsuit help for all figures
