With B4J HQ relocating to Europe and the cat taking up most of the space in the car, I’ve had to do some serious thinking about my lingerie collection. With most of my clothes being shipped, which of my bras could I stand to be parted with for for four to six weeks? Stranded on a desert island (or worse, notoriously rubbish-for-big-boobs continental Europe), which bras would keep me going until my rescue?
I had to wrestle my bra selection down to five, a challenge that made me realise that my lingerie habit is very much at odds with my general beliefs about sustainability and consumerism. No matter: everyone is allowed one weakness…
First in went my Freya Active (above centre): I love running too much to miss it for any amount of time, and it is simply impossible without the structural support of my sports bra. My Freya Deco (above left) gets to come along for those days I need an eye-popping cleavage to distract from my terrible grasp of Dutch. I wanted my Wonderbra Ultimate Strapless for versatility, but it is simply too big for my bag and is shipped by default. Instead, I replaced it with my coral Freya Jolie to break up the black a little bit. Holding on to my bikini (also Freya – I’m noticing a pattern) was a bit of a gamble, taking a coveted place from a prettier bra. But while I’m not sure how many immediate freshwater swimming opportunities there will be in the Netherlands, I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss out on any due to lack of kit. A solid selection, I think, even if it does betray my serious Freya habit…
And my final choice? Bra superstar, the Panache Tango plunge (above right). Whilst it’s not the most beautiful, it is the most comfortable bra I have ever worn. It gives a wonderfully supported silhouette without any, er, thrust, which makes it great under clothes. A fantastic basic, though it could definitely benefit from a short option in the matching bottoms range. I would be a constantly mismatched if comfortable castaway if it were the only bra I had.
This whole exercise really has proved that as much as I love variety, comfort and fit are still the most important factors for me in loving my underwear. Though I will miss the colours and patterns and styles as they take the long route to Amsterdam, I think G-Unit will get by. Of course, there’s every chance that in the meantime Europe will surprise me with incredible well stocked lingerie boutiques… As if I needed an excuse.
What would your top five be?
Busts 4 Justice 
If you get a chance you should check out the factories of two brands: French Empreinte and German Ulla. Ulla Dessous (www.ulla.de) are in Leinach, near Würzburg, Southern Germany. And IIRC the factory for Empreinte is in Brest.
The quality of those two brands is excellent, but the price is ridiculous. I personally had a bit of a laugh about the Bust4Justice thing, simply because compared to Germany and France the prices at M&S are a joke, even with the 2 pounds extra for the larger sizes. Germany’s Karstadt carries only Triumph, Anita and Primadonna – all which make up to F/FF cup max. Anything larger than E/F is considered abnormous. (You poor thing, why don’t you get a reduction?) You have to travel 2-4 hours to get to a store which carries your size and then pay between 80 and 130 EUR for a bra. As a consequence many European women fly to London to shop for bras or order online in British online shops, myself included.
BTW, you might want to take a look at this one:
Only Ulla Dessous carries bras in K/L, which equals a GG. Empreinte has its own sizing system which increases by 3 cms per cup, so their G/H cups might fit you. Primadonna and Anita would also be worth looking at, bc their bras tend to run a little large.
Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for this Maria: so helpful! I will look out for these brands when I’m in NL and do some European brand reviews.
I had a lovely afternoon being interviewed by a writer from Der Spiegel a while back and she was explaining to me just how bad things are for big boobs over there. We are comparatively very lucky in the UK, but things have improved infinitely over the past decade so it proves that things can change. Perhaps I’ll try some campaigning for my EU sisters 🙂
If you want to campaign in Germany and the Netherlands you might want to drop http://www.busenfreundinnen.net a few times.
It is a German forum on brafitting with over 3000 members, very active.
I’m not the owner, but I volunteer there.
That’s amazing! Thanks for all your help x
love your picks!! i am in love with the freya deco bras..might have to check out the sports bra too!
please check out my current top 5 lust-haves for spring summer @:
http://www.undercoverlingerista.blogspot.com
xo
Thanks Kitty! I loooove the Rhea and Loretta on yours: alas it was practical over pretty in my packing. Can’t wait for my boxes to arrive! Do try the sports bra and report back: it was SO liberating for me x
🙂 Buying that sports bra will hopefully give me reason to start up an exercise routine haha! By the way have you tried the Freya deco strapless bra? I’d be interested to find out how it compares to the wonderbra strapless! x
No I didn’t, but when I got my Deco I did think it was very similar in shape and structure to the Wonderbra US… Keep seeing Freya adverts over here so will keep my eyes posted to try one on. The great thing about the Wonderbra is it’s got a lot going on around the rings, so there’s an awful lot of structure pushing it all up. Not sure the Deco has that… but we shall see!
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