Boobies!

[tzikeh]

Yes, it's the promised boobies post.

ETA: Please send your friends over; we need as much boobies data as we can collect for this entirely unscientific and pointless poll!

[Poll #951716]

Comments

[starwatcher]

.
I hate bras; there's not a single one that is comfortable. The last batch I bought, I spent two full days trying on every brand / style / size in town, looking for something that didn't drive me crazy. No luck.

BUT, I have large, heavy breasts, and I also hate the feeling of flopping, and the sweat that forms skin-against-skin when I don't wear a bra; can't win for losing.

But, yeah, as soon as I hit the door, the bra comes off. They are completely YUCK!
.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

I've never been thrilled with bras, but since menopause began it's been PURE BRA TORTURE. Fortunately I work at home, so I am braless more than 90% of the time.

I just bought a couple of the new Bali Passion for Comfort (http://www.onehanesplace.com/product/19932.html?cgnbr=3031000000) bras, which are almost OK. Have OK-like properties? Worth trying, at any rate. The silky lining is everywhere, including covering the elastic on the band, and there's no tag.

[movies-michelle.livejournal.com]

I love being able to take off my bra a lot of times, but I find that if I go for too long without one, I get kind of uncomfortable. I have some comfy sports bras for when I'm just lounging around the house.

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

Whether I take my bra off when I get home depends on the time of the month and the bra. I will also sometimes change my bra when I get home, to a comfy schlubby one that gives me support but a less flattering silhouette.

[mtgat]

Oh sure. Once again the A cup crowd is marginalized. ;)

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Get your own boobie poll, you miscreants.

[reginagiraffe]

The "taking it off when I get home" depends on the temperature. In the summer here in Baltimore where it's apt to be 95 degrees out and humid, I'm much more likely to take it off as soon as I get home than in the winter where it gives me an added layer of warmth.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Not only do I rip my bra off the moment I get home, I have been known to inappropriately quote Martin Luther King while doing so. (I leave it to you to guess what the quote is...)

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Sorry. Hit the wrong button.

[watergal.livejournal.com]

I'm in between #2 and #3, but went with #2 as #3 read to me as "YAY, it's off!" which wouldn't be accurate. At home it's more a matter of entropy. If I'm changing clothes and it's already on, it's usually stays on because...eh. If I'm putting on stay at home clothes from a braless state, I'm most likely not to bother with it.

But before I discovered that Hanes makes cotton bras in my size, the answers would have been different.

Why don't I have a boob icon?

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Your poll doe not cover my situation--I only wear a bra to work and when I exercise or when I decide to 'dress up'. Normally, I don't wear it at home, and I don't wear when when I go out to the grocery story. I don't weat it to exercise if I am going to be working out for less than an hour, either. A bra is for anything other than casual dress.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I lied. I'm barely a B cup if that, but that's what it says on my bras.

They're not large, they're not heavy but gravity makes droopers of us all, and without minimal support (and I do mean minimal), I get uncomfortable if I'm active for more than a day without one. If I'm inactive - not leaving the house for whatever reason - I don't bother putting one on. When I was much younger, I could go for days, even weeks, but not anymore.

However, the minimal support means that my bras are not uncomfortable, so I don't bother taking mine off until I get ready for bed.

[blk]

Ditto here. I wear a bra for minimal support and also because I tend to sweat more in the underarm/underboob areas without one, and I wear cami-tank bras, which are super comfy, so I mostly just take it off to sleep.

That said, in the summer, I also wear plenty of tank tops or tighter fitting shirts that have built-in minimal support, enough that if I'm not planning on being hugely active, I'll skip the bra.

[djinanna.livejournal.com]

In the interest of SCIENCE and BOOBIES, I must clarify my answer to the first question. I do wear a boobies support garment but it is not a traditional bra (no cross-your-heart, or choosing between underwire and soft cup, or whatever). Instead, I wear sports bras or camisoles with attached "shelf bras". They are comfy, come in bunches of colors, look nice with very over-shirts, and Chicago+layers is always of the good.

Continuing BOOBIES SCIENCE info, I started wearing these over a decade ago when I had trouble finding comfy bras in my size. I'm a big girl, see, but Junoesque and queen-size generally tends to assume those who wear large sizes have a matching large rack which is not true for me.

Besides, just, yay sports bras and shelf-bra camisoles!

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Junoesque and queen-size generally tends to assume those who wear large sizes have a matching large rack which is not true for me.

Sistah! :-)

I'm kind of a "B-and-a-half" which is really hard to find bras for. Gah.

[cofax7]

I wear a bra during the week and mostly shelf-bra camisoles on the weekends. If I'm home sick I may go bra-less, but it does get uncomfortable after a bit, so I usually would put a camisole on. Also, if I have to run around the corner to pick up a loaf of bread, I don't want to be bouncing around in front of the kids on the street.

And since losing some weight, my bras are comfortable again. Yay!

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

I am seriously envious of those who can wear shelf-bra camis.

Me? I've been over the moon lately because I seem to have lost a cup size! Down to an H (or in some cases GG) cup! OMG TRIUMPH OVER THE BOOBIES.

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

I'm VERY close to "not if I can avoid it," but since I only do that maybe once or twice a month, I don't think it counts.

Unless you're counting only full-blown structural bras and not the shelf-bra camis and low-impact sports bras I live in. I wear a "regular" bra maybe once a week in winter, more often in summer, depending on the shape called for by my choice of top for that day.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

I have a loose cotton bra that I wear around the house when I can; it's more comfortable than wearing nothing, for me. Outside the house, I'm going to have a bra on.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

I cannot walk around for more than a few minutes or sleep without a bra without experiencing discomfort. Things are bouncing about or getting stretched (by gravity) and that hurts me.

{steps on soapbox}

Almost every woman I know who hates bras and thinks they're uncomforable and evil has been wearing the wrong size. (But I will grant you that larger women/super endowed women present a considerable engineering challenge and that its hard to make a bra that's going to support something that weighs as much as 2-3 large turkeys in comfort.*)

But back to the wrong freeking size thing -- a friend of mine, a member of the "bras are the great evil, underwires are the tool of the devil" club was recently talked into going down to a Nordstroms and having herself sized.

She walked in wearing a 38 C.

She walked out as a 34 E. And, gee, now she loves bras. Funny that.

Another friend of mine who also hated bras (see above for reasons) came to love bras (and underwires) after years of trying to cram a 38 DD into a 42B.

(I mean, no wonder they were so uncomfortable, it's like trying to put a size 9 foot in a size 7 shoe!)

Now, I'm not saying that how a bra is designed/cut doesn't make a difference. It does. I had to give up on those "demi cup" things, and I certainly try before I buy. I'm also more comfortable in an underwire design than a non-underwire when going about my daily activities (I sleep in a non underwire sports bra), but I have friends who find they are more comfortable in non-underwires. the way you're built and how your endowments hang makes a difference. But, the first step in finding what works for you is being sure you've got the right size on.

And finally, if you are well endowed and suffering from chronic back pains, look into getting a medieval wench bodice. If you choose your tops wisely, and aren't going for the "busting out all over, super tight lace" you can wear one of these underneath, or even even on top, like a sort of vest. The weight of your bosom is supported by the boning and the cut of the fabric, and is not hanging off your shoulders. (However, this garment will restrict some of your movements, will make you change the way you eat -- think of it as giving your stomach a temporary lap-band -- and you cannot do sustained aerobic activity. But, seriously, no back pain from your titzillas.)


* Discover Magazine recently ran one of their short sidebar articles on bra design and the way that the mass and motion of breasts are being studied in order to help make better bras. If you are a D cup (like me) you're actually walking around with about 15-20 pounds of flesh on your chest.

[lunaris1013.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered just how much of my weight I've been carrying around on my chest, attempting to hold it aloft against the forces of gravity. D cup is 15-20? So an F might be another 2-5? Gah!

(Also? Word on the fit issue!)

[volaremn.livejournal.com]

I've heard often enough that one should wear a bra to bed to maximize the fight against gravity that it's become ingrained. Nothing scientific but it seems to be working for Halle Berry. And to further horrify people, all of mine are under-wire.

[danceswithwords.livejournal.com]

I am a D cup and I find it's actually uncomfortable to move around a lot without a bra, the underwirier the better. If I'm loafing around in my PJs at home, I usually go without, but otherwise I wear one.

[misspamela.livejournal.com]

I'm a D cup and I always, always wear a bra. Especially in the summertime because, ewwww, sweat and rashes. I tend to get pain and chafing without a bra, even at night. Rack those babies up high!

[greensilver.livejournal.com]

I can't sleep without a bra on - it's just too uncomfortable. In general, I find that going braless at all becomes taxing on my back pretty quickly. Huzzah bras. *g*

[ubixtiz.livejournal.com]

I'm a B cup, and I mostly wear pajamas around the house (for example, I'm currently wearing polar fleece pants and an undershirt-style ribbed tank) so no bra around the house. If I'm leaving the house I'll put on a bra (or shelf-tank), but then I'll also put on jeans or other going-out pants and a different shirt. Bras are definitely going-out clothes for me, but then so are most things, and I don't find my bras more uncomfortable than I find my jeans.

[klia.livejournal.com]

kadymae makes a great point: supposedly a HUGE percentage of women are wearing the wrong bra size, which would account for most of the discomfort. If you haven't seen the Bra and jean intervention on http://www.oprah.com/ it's worth checking out.

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Seems to me the last time I went to have a bra fitted they wanted me in a 34. Hello, I like to breathe most days. I'd rather wear bandaids over my nipples. Fortunately, every once in a while some manufacturer will make "bralettes". And I'll buy ten.

[topaz7.livejournal.com]

I qualify as a b-cup, but since I'm a 32B, it's not like they're really that hard to manage.;)

I hate hate hate bras, but have to wear one now that I've breastfed 2 kids. One strap is continually sliding off my shoulder. It's always the left strap. This puzzles me to no end, since my shoulders seem to match when I look in the mirror. Ah well.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

One strap is continually sliding off my shoulder. It's always the left strap.

I had that too, and it puzzled me forever, until someone with the same condition told me that her left boob sat higher than her right boob on her body, so the bra was looser on the left than on the right for support. Sucks.

I need a boobies icon.

[lunaris1013.livejournal.com]

There is maybe one day per month that I come home and un-bra (yes, *that* day). It's rare that I go without, not just because they're heavy (38Fs, my girls), not just because of the uncomfortable sweaty business where they're drooping, but because I have a male roommate with lots of male friends. Nobody gets a free show!

[akite.livejournal.com]

I'm somewhere in between on when I take my bra off. I generally take it off when I put on my night attire. Sometimes that's just before I hop in bed, and sometimes it's a few hours earlier. Then there are those days when it's bugging the shit out of me, and I rip it off as soon as I get home.

[apathocles.livejournal.com]

B-cup, although that's by Australian standards, so I have no idea if there's a difference.

Sometimes I wear a bra while I'm at home, and sometimes I don't. Used to almost always wear one at home, but have been relaxing more on that lately. If I know there's a good chance I'll be going somewhere later in the day, I'll make sure to wear one. Now that I have a job (and thus get changed when I get home), I'm generally not bothering to wear one in the evening.

Of course, extreme between-jobs poorness means that I only have one bra that even comes close to qualifying as half-decent, so I'm often throwing the poor thing in the wash with my work clothes of an evening, thus leading to HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE FREEDOM. Really should buy more. (The fucker slides off my shoulder all the time at work, and we're not supposed to touch our clothes if possible, due to it being unhygienic or WTFever. Having to make with the constant surreptitious bra-hitching is a pain in the arse.)

Case in point: I am braless right now! (I am also pantsless right now, as it got too disgustingly hot and humid for my trackydacks, but that is neither here nor there.)