The U.S. Supreme Court is debating Marriage Equality right now, so I just wanted to show my support for what by 2013 should be a given: equality for all.
Here’s to a future where sexual orientation is as relevant to determining our rights and opportunities as our hair color is.
Love, B4J x
This post is hugely overdue thanks to my recent adventures in amazing Texas (howdy y’all), but two weeks late this not-so-new news is still worth shouting about.
It’s no secret I love Bravissimo. Non-UK readers: whenever you ask for the reason why the UK is so much better equipped for our fuller busts than other countries, Bravissimo is it. Founded by a frustrated big busted woman in 1995, Bravissimo went from mail-order secret to high street game changer – re-educating (and empowering!) women about their bodies one bra size at a time. They reshaped the lingerie industry for those of us beyond a C cup (now most serious department stores and lingerie brands carry G cup bras almost as standard) and they continue to champion the importance of good (and regular) fittings and properly sized lingerie.
Boob School is proof of their continuing dedication to that cause. For those of you who have never been “Bravissimo-d”, there are no tape measures in their changing rooms. The fitters assess bras not on numbers and letters, but on how they fit. They show you how any bra does or doesn’t work for you, and explain how to tell when you’ve got it right. For me, this is the key to getting all women in to well fitted bras. An online bra calculator is never going to do it – we have to help every woman to recognise the signs and find her perfect fit for herself, even if it contradicts what a ‘professional’ fitter is telling her.
To be honest, I already classify Bravissimo as a company with great fit advice and a dedication to educating their customers, but Boob School aims to do this on a much bigger scale and to a wider audience. It re-imagines the information that has been hitherto tucked away in the bottom links of their webpage and in the brains of their fitters, and puts it front and center with these easy to understand cue cards on their website and Facebook. So many women wear bras in sizes that squish, squeeze, bulge or otherwise bother their breasts, when the truth is a good fitting bra can stop you from noticing them from one end of the day to the next (unless you want to…) Bravissimo were the ones who introduced me to 30G (from 34E), and in doing so freed me from hating my body… and freed me to discover running, swimming, shirts that button properly, non-nipple exposing swimwear, and liking my boobs. And if you’re one of the many women still struggling with awkward lingerie, I hope one day they will do the same for you too.
Check out Bravissimo’s seven bra faux pas below and see if you need to work on your bra-rithmetic….
Freya’s half-lace cups have always been a firm favourite of mine. Loretta, Trudie, Tabitha, Edith – I love how they blend gorgeous prints and colour with a comfortable, everyday style. I also love how their shape isn’t rounded like most G+ bras – sometimes I want something other than ‘sensible t-shirt’ or ‘eyepopping cleavage’, and this style is one I reach for again and again.
Dionne is another classic to add to the canon. In exactly the same cut as Lorretta et al, she’s comfortable, true to size (my 30G was pretty perfect), and not only does she remind me of the flying power-up on Super Mario World for SNES (aka the best computer game everrrrrr), but check out the sizes she now comes in: hello 28 backs AND K cups: we’ve been waiting for you.
As with the other styles, less full-up-top girls like me will need to tighten the straps to avoid puckering – but assuming the underwire is tracking correctly under the bust and the band is doing all the heavy lifting, this is another cracking bra by Freya for Spring. Love!
Freya Dionne is available in sizes 28 D-J, 30-36 D-K, 38 D-J.
Between Midnight Grace and Just Peachy, Figleaves.com have quietly been doing a nice little line of cute, budget friendly swimwear and lingerie. This non-padded balconnette comes in 10 colours (I love the grey too!), and reminds me of a budget Freya Jolie – if Jolie was still the everyday basic multi-coloured wonder she used to be.
The band is nice and firm, and like Jolie she gives a classic uplifted but everyday shape. She’s comfortable (I love the soft frill under the wire) and the cornflower blue colour in particular is gorgeous. In terms of sizing she’s much improved from the Daisy I reviewed last year, and my ‘go to’ size of 30G was fairly spot on (which is even more important when internet shopping, let’s face it…) however petite girls (I’m 5’4″) may find the wires come up higher than other brands at the side. As great as this bra is, I think I’d find it chaffing under the arms after a long day.
Just Peachy’s non-padded balconnette is not for me, but this is a great buy for a slightly taller girl on a budget. Available in sizes 30-38 DD-G, only from Figleaves.
I love Fauve. Fauve is everything I want from my lingerie – it’s grown up, beautiful, elegant… and for some reason the orange Bronte longline coming this spring (below) is one of the most exciting pieces I’ve seen for G-cups in a long time.
Except… I can never make Fauve work. Not because I don’t have a long satin housecoat, or big glossy hair, or immaculately manicured everything (I mean, I don’t have those things either), but because I can never figure out the sizing. However much I love Fauve, I find it really hard to navigate to a size that works.
Take the Coco balcony bra in Mulberry. She is beautiful (although to be honest I could lose the little pearl/diamante caterpillar in the center – this isn’t Victoria’s Secret), she is elegant, and she feels like great quality. But in my usual size of 30G (and the size I usually default to in sister brand Freya), Coco was all wrong. In the back she’s perfect – firm and comfortable and exactly as she should be. But the cup – be it from size or cut or both – was a miss. There was at least a half-cup size’s worth of space left empty, and I couldn’t fix it by adjusting the straps because… the gap was in an empty, eye-poking peak above the nipple.
I could try a 30FF of course, but even then I’m still not sure it would be a solve. The rest of the bra seemed okay, so if the cup compressed anywhere except in that tip I’d be squeezed. Plus, 30 backs are so rare in Amsterdam I’m totally reliant on mail order. Coco is a lovely looking bra, but I’m not sure I can be bothered to spend time and money shipping another one over to disappoint me.
Fauve would be perfect if they could get a fix on sizing – something perhaps usually consistent sister brand Freya could help her with. I’m crossing everything that the Bronte longline is the very first exception to my Fauve misfortune….
Fauve Coco balcony in Mulberry is available in sizes 30-38 D-GG and 40 D-G.
Busts 4 Justice 