Stylish Person

Okay, time to face the music … or the mirror. Many, many women buy the bra size they want to be rather than the one that fits. It’s psychological – we convince ourselves that we are a certain size, and we cling to it for dear life. Now, I know we don’t always want to accept that we’ve gained weight or that our bodies aren’t what they used to be.

To acknowledge that is to admit the passage of time. One of my store regu­lars told me that she used to pride herself on having breasts like wineglasses turned up to the sky. but now they are more like cham­pagne flutes hanging down. But trust me on this: Nobody is going to know if you’ve gone from a 32C to a 34D.

While some fit problems stem from your ever-changing body, others have more to do with the bra itself, complicated endlessly by industry sizing issues, plus the all-important variables of style, fabric,

If you’ve tried bra shopping on your own and still can’t find the one you love, it may be time to call in the professionals. Just think of a bra specialist as a dating service for your breasts. In half the time and with better results, a professional fitter can guide you to the bra that’s just right for you. Unfortunately, many women are uncomfortable talking about their breasts and cringe at the thought of showing a salesperson how they look in a bra. They might imagine getting manhandled by fusty, matronly ladies (who, by the way, probably know their stuff). But you have to understand that salespeople who are accustomed to fitting women for bras are extremely professional. They do this every day. They understand when customers are shy and try their best to make everyone feel comfortable. In lingerie and in life, some things are hard to ask for, but if you don’t put yourself out there, you’ll never get what you want.

It’s important to understand the complexities of bra fit, rather than settling because we blame ourselves for not sizing up in some way or another. Our bodies change over time, and sometimes week by week. That’s the first challenge. One of the areas where weight fluctuation is most evident is our breasts. Indeed, the average woman will wear several different bra sizes throughout her life. How long has it been since you’ve checked yours? I lave you worn the same size since you stopped growing? Ever go on the birth control pill. .. off die pill . . . had a child . . . breast-fed? Does your weight fluctuate according to your menstrual cycle? Have all those mornings at the gym begun to pay off, or are you starting to see the effects of not working out? Has gravity caused your boobs to look down instead of straight ahead?
Do you find that you want to rip off your bra at the end of the clay? If you answered yes to any—yes, ANY—of these questions, you probably need to reexamine both your mind-set and your bra size.
Introducing yourself to lingerie is an education. And when it comes to bras, most of us are still in the dark ages.
What I’d like you to do first is to think of your bra not as a pretty fluff piece, but as a work of careful engineering. And the bigger your breasts are, the more complicated the “rigging”—and not just by a little, but by a lot. The worst part about all this is that most women accept bra discomfort unquestioningly, assuming that its just one of those things. No matter what size you are, bras are meant to help, not hinder. Yet people look at me like I’m joking when I say that a bra should be comfortable!

The right bra is like the perfect man: good-looking, supportive, and sure never to let you down. Its also just as hard to find. In the lingerie business, its common knowledge that the majority of women wear their bras in the wrong size. Ask around and you’ll hear percentages ranging from 70 to 85 percent. Whatever the exact numbers, the takeaway is that most women don’t feel as comfortable or look as good as they could. True, you may be among the minority that has it right, but it’s worth double-checking. The wrong bra can make you look fat or totally flat. It can make a young woman look dumpy and beyond her years. The right bra can give a fifty-five-year-old woman the bust of a thirty-year-old and will do more for her appearance than all the ant wrinkle creams in die world. So why, given all the money and energy we pour into our looks, do some women still consider it an indulgence to invest in a good bra? I mean, what sounds more frivo­lous than bra shopping? Purchasing a bra might give the same rush of excitement you get from buying other typically female tiling, like a new pair of heels or even a daring shade of lipstick, but it truly is an investment, and in most eases a necessity. More than any other article of lingerie, the right bra can dramatically alter your appearance, improve your comfort level, and change your outlook—the way you carry yourself, the way you are perceived, even the way you think. It sounds impossi­ble, but it’s true: The right bra has the power  to transform you.