Adventures in Strapless Bra Hunting
I've known for a while that I needed a new strapless bra - I've known it since I first got the one I'm wearing now, to be honest, the Panache Porcelain Moulded Strapless (3370) , and I couldn't fill the bottom of the cup, but over the year I've owned it the bra has become so twisted by my wearing it that the cup is actually folded over itself even when I'm not wearing it, not to mention the way that if I slouch at all the lines of the cups show up under 100% of my clothes. So yesterday I went out hunting for a new one.
I went to four different stores and I thought only one of them would be a long shot, really. I went to Nordstrom Rack, where I saw maybe one strapless bra total. Disappointed I decided to try out the Nordstrom at the mall down the road, which usually carries some 30 bands so I figured there'd be something, right? Well, not really (there were even barely a few drawers for 32 bands), but I tried on a few things in 30 and 32 bands and almost every single one did either or both of the things that my current strapless does. (I regret not writing them down as I tried them on tbh - I only remember the Simone Perele C\u00e9leste Smooth Strapless (12M300) in 30F and the Natori Calais Strapless Bra (174066) in 32DDD but I know I tried on at least one or two more. So, nothing there, okay that sucked. Since I was at the mall I checked Macy's anyway, but I found a single bra in a 30 band in the whole section, and maybe three bras in 32DD or DDD. Never going back there.
As a last ditch effort I decided to try the new-ish specialty lingerie store near my house, which I knew would be expensive but I figured on trying anyway. I walked in and told the woman who asked me my size. Apparently they don't carry 30s in strapless bras, but she gave me two bras with 32 bands - the Va Bien Ultra-lift Perfect Strapless (1506) in 32E and the Carnival Invisible Strapless in 32DDD. The Va Bien bra almost worked, but. When I first put it on I had some serious folding action going on. She pulled it up for me and the high gore no longer quite tacked and I almost was going to buy it I tried the Carnival on anyway and it was utterly terrible, so I put the Va Bien back on for a final check, pulled it up as high as I could, and there were major cup lines showing even under my pretty thick tank top. So I left with nothing.
I've only found a single post in the entire internet where someone else has my problem - http://www.reddit.com/r/ABraThatFits/comments/1rit1e/is_there_a_reason_why_my_strapless_bra_is_shaped/ - and there was no advice that was useful in the comments. I don't feel like ordering and sending back bra after bra or keeping one to find shirt lines later. I just want to find a strapless bra with immediate projection that doesn't show up under my clothes. Is that so much to ask?
Filed under Bra sizing and fit
3 comments
As an FYI regarding Nordstrom (regular, not The Rack), they typically keep all their stock of 30's in the back. So even if you don't see them out on the floor, it often pays to ask "what do you have in strapless in a 30 band?" or something similar.
The big downside to this is that not all their fitters are very good, and I've had more than one who was unwilling to go get them for me because she didn't think I needed a 30.
^ Yep. Nordstrom Rack is basically sale/out of season items. Nordstrom does carry a lot of stock in the back, so I would ask about a size; they also have free shipping and returns to the store if you see something online.
I have the Fantasie Smoothing Moulded Strapless Bra (4530) and I wear it with the straps and without the straps and I don't get the cup show through.
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