Replacing bra shelf foam with horsehair?

Aw, sh!t. That's supposed to say "NO offense taken..." What kind of brain fart was that?

I'm reconsidering your suggestion about boning in cups. Can't talk much right now, but I think I've got an elegant idea sprouting in my head. Something along the lines of using reinforced vertical flat-felled-type seams in a thinner shelf to create more rigidity. Like the fan-shaped boning of victorian corsets?

Just came back from visiting 48J. Got a good look at the stretchy bra on her and have rejected the whole project. Exactly as you described, the powernet frame was nowhere near her body and her breasts were drooping most unsatisfactorily.

Back to the drawing board.

Pora

Pora, have you seen Bravissimo,

They cater specifically for ladies to whom the Bosom Fairy has been generous and, although they don't go up to a size 48J, they do at least photograph their bras on generously-endowed women.

I find Freya bras very comfortable, particularly FY41 and FY14. You can't see the seam in the lower cup of FY14, but it's in the same place as FY41. I reckon you could pare down the top of the cup of FY14 to give a much more revealing bra without loosing support.

On the subject of fitting: like shoes, every manufacturer has a different idea of sizes. I've been told that La Senza's fitting policy is to sell a bra, any bra, rather than loose the sale, and their fitters are told that if they get the largest cup in a band size and it's too small, they should just keep going up a band size until they find one the fits the cup even though the wearer can practically turn round in it. I know this is also true of Victoria's Secret in the US: my skinny UK-size-10/US-size-6 DD was told she needs a 36D there. Ridiculous! Bravissimo put her in a 30E and it fits perfectly.

I like Bravissimo (can you tell?) and if there's a shop near you I suggest going to have a bra fitted. You may find that your band size drops significantly.

I just had a look at the larger sizes at

and, hmm, they are rather... err... functional, aren't they?

Underwires: just thinking laterally, has anyone tried cutting underwires from flexible plastic such as milk cartons or slightly heavier? It's easy to cut and you could smooth it with sandpaper. If you put the flat side against the body it would curve around the body but not droop. If you use something like a Flexicurve you could make custom-fitted underwires that replicate the shape of the underneath of the breast perfectly by actually tucking the Flexicurve in place and removing it without changing the shape, and a slightly tear-drop shape would give a rounded end under the arm to give more support and less inclination to poke.

Sally

Okay, the lady I previously mentioned hangs out on a delphi web-based message board: Friendly Sewing Forum, Material Gals and Guys.. Her handle is ComNurse (Pauline).

This comment is not directed to anyone in particular, just to the >thread in general....

Would this be one of theirs?

On the other hand, my bras are fabric entirely, save for elastic at the bottom. And I'm thinking of changing from boxer-shorts elastic to three rows of quarter-inch elastic to see whether it's more comfortable.

In essence, my bras are tightly-fitted sleeveless T-shirts with elastic under the breasts -- but I find that woven linen cut on the bias gives better support than knit fabric -- and it's more predictable; I had to re-tweak the pattern for every batch of knit.

I find a bra quite essential when I'm up and walking around, but when I'm reading usenet on a hot evening I'll abandon my wet bra in favor of tucking the front of my shirt into the sweaty overlap. (All my slopping-around shirts are linen or much-washed 100% cotton, so they make fairly decent towels.)

Joy Beeson

I'm sorry, I was not aware that yours was the only opinion being solicited. When we say that a bra gives uplift,

No, that wasn't obvious at all from the post to which I was replying. You made a flat statement with no qualifyers.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

naughty LOL

Claire in Montréal France. http:// snipped-for-privacy@free.fr

I never said it was. Again, you are making an erroneous assumption.

You might have asked before jumping to the conclusion that I'd somehow be making a suggestion that was harmful or painful. Good grief!

Further, I somehow missed your suggestions on how that Pora's bra could be improved or your constructive rationale on why my suggestions were so off base.

Phae

I just love those ideas! It's very much more in the corset vein except with modern materials and no bones. And I have pondered a similar bolero type affair, w/o the sleeves of course, for leisure and night wear.

I do appreciate the clarification. :) I'd hoped you were just kidding.

Good thinking! I've been cogitating along similar lines but with ridgelene or, preferably, some of the other, softer synthetic boning. The German plastic bones are quite good. Farthingales has them and other synthetic boning:

I'm used to thinking in terms of spring steel because that's what you use almost exclusively for corsets. I guess that's why I didn't think of the synthetics before.

Plastic does give some support but rigidity is the problem. For awhile there, lots of bras were being made with plastic underwires but they mostly stopped because they break so much. I've retired scores of such bras to the broken-plastic-wire-cemetery. ;) For F cups+, you get far more rigidity with a thin steel wire than with any similarly sized plastic. Nonetheless, I suspect that plastic boning does have some possibilities for improving the larger-cup bras.

I was recently bra hunting and I looked at the Freyas online, especially the balcony bras. They are indeed beautiful and they even have them in my size which is amazing. What deterred me was that I have very narrow shoulders (and ribcage... I'm usually looking at a 34H) and they seemed to have a very wide strap placement. Our local bra & corset shop does not yet carry them. Alas. Are they as wide at the shoulders as they seem? And the other thing is that the straps are all so narrow. A really great bra does not depend much on the straps for support but I cannot tell just from pictures. So your experience would be helpful.

Phae

Hah! I love it.... bra eats Manhattan..... ::laughing::

You hit the nail on the head! They "grade" bras just like they grade patterns--- stupidly for the most part. But, being the outspoken, intelligent and creative women that we all are, we are gonna change that!!! We're all gonna open our windows and yell, "I'm just not gonna take it anymore!" ........ uh......well, that works well in a fantasy anyway. ;)

Oh now that would be interesting.

Phae

I have very sloping shoulders and the straps stay on just fine. They seem to be in the same place as most of my other bras - at least, I haven't noticed a difference. I tried slipping the strap down to see what difference it made: the cup wrinkled because it was no longer under tension but didn't sag much.

As for them being narrow: no more so than others. I've just measured one and it's 5/8" wide, nice heavy satiny elastic.

I like them because they fit me on the cup and the underwires are close together at CF. Other makes are pretty but they just don't fit as well.

Sally

i'm about a 38H and i have a 36JJ in a freya and although the cups fit perfectly the straps are so wide spaced that they dig painfully into my arms. i wouldn;t call them narrow though. emma

Thanks for letting me know, Emma. I can cross those off my list. They sure look widely spaced in all the pictures too. Believe me, I know about pain and aggravation from ill-fitting bras. My shoulders have permanent grooves from effing bra straps. So I kinda like wide straps now. My Fantasie Lily's straps are 26 mm and my Rosa Faia's are 32 mm. While neither bra is perfect, the straps are quite comfortable.

Phae

Thanks for the info!

Yes, I've been ordering from Bravissimo since nearly their inception. Would you believe I've never kept any of the items? For example, the Panache tankini tops -- what G-cup woman wants straps that narrow? And the tailored shirts for curvy women are too long for my 4' 11" figure. Sally,

Yes, I have some Freya bras. I adore their style, but am a little unsatisfied with the support so far. The rounded balcony style you mentioned doesn't suit me for some reason, regardless of brand. Simply Me makes those in quite an extended size range, which is great for the

46JJ women.

Yes, the person I'm doing this for does prefer a more revealing bra. It would be a great achievement to create a comfy, supportive and well-fitting bra with a plunge neckline for someone of her dimensions. If I can get the first three items done well, I'd certainly play with the neckline too.

As industry articles are telling us, the small band-big cup market is growing rapidly. A sorely underserved group here in the states. You Brits have so many brands that start at 30 band. Let's not even bring up VS...

It took me, uh, 25 years to discover that my proportions are different than commercial bra makers design for. What a revelation it was to discover that my perfect fit could be achieved by buying the proper cup size and then shortening the band in back. It's true at any weight and size. For my proper band size, the wires are just too narrow.

I've been working on the "Fullest Figure" section of my website. Yep, that Triumph Doreen *wishes* it was your father's oldsmobile. Berdita, Ulla and Simply Me are doing so much better. Someone just told me that Ulla goes all the way to 56J, but I haven't found that. If so my 48J should be in luck.

I did a test wire for my friend last night and compared it with the English wire charts. She would need something like a 58 or 60 wire. Beverly Johnson says that the manufacturers list the number for it but don't actually manufacture it, maxing out at 54. I've ordered some flexible spiral steel boning to see what I can make happen. (The hardware store guy suggests I temper it over a gas stove to achieve a permanent curve, but I suspect it won't be flexible enough then. Sigh...)

I've seen that movie! It's called "The Brab."

JK ;-)

Pora