Adventures in underwear (73/365)

[white_hart]

As those of you who know me in real life will be aware, I possess a rather substantial bust. This is not something that I particularly like (the me in my head is flat-chested and generally androgynous, and it's always a bit disturbing to be reminded how different the me in the mirror is), and it's compounded by the horror that is bras. Bras, in my experience, resemble torture devices whether they are frilly lacy underwired ones (which (a) scratch, (b) poke into your ribcage and (c) are so femme just looking at them gives me the screaming heebie-jeebies) or sports bras (which are plain and sensible and even a bit compressing if you get the right kind, but which require the skills of a contortionist to get on and off). For the last few years, I've been wearing beige or white t-shirt bras from Debenhams, which have soft microfibre fabric with only a tiny bit of lace at the sides (and, inevitably, a small bow on the front, because apparently it's impossible to make a bra without a small bow on the front), and whose underwires only occasionally poked into my ribcage. They didn't make me particularly happy, but they didn't make me actively unhappy either, so I stuck with them.

Recently, though, I started seeing pictures of the Muna and Broad Banksia Bralette on Instagram, and I was intrigued at the idea of a bralette designed for larger bodies and a range of cup sizes. I decided that making one would be my Christmas holiday sewing project.



I've just finished sewing my fifth*, and now I have enough that I can get from one laundry day to the next without ever wearing an underwired bra. And, wonder of wonders, I actually like how I look in these. They're colourful and fun, and utilitarian, and comfortable, and not at all femme or "sexy". I'm so happy to be able to make them.

*actually, sixth, but the second version I made was in a fabric without enough stretch and the seams ripped almost straight away

Comments

[cosmolinguist]

I can't sew but I bought some bralettes that fit my big chest about two years ago and have worn an underwired bra maybe twice since (when I had to dress up around my family). It's been life-changing. My vision of myself is also flat-chested and in a funny way, while I'm still of course anything but, the bralettes help with the disjunction between my brain and reality because I hardly ever spare a thought for my chest all day when I'm wearing one; they're comfortable and unobtrusive in a way no other bra has ever been for me, so they feel invisible.

[white_hart]

Yes, these are similarly comfortable and unobtrusive so I don't *have* to remember my chest. They also have an impressive amount of control so I think there is less visible flapping about when I look down, which is also disturbing.

[caulkhead]

The control sounds hopeful. I mostly live in sports bras; I've yet to find a bralette that is comfortable. I remember reading an article on holiday packing once that blithely said "Throw in a couple of sports bras; they take no room at all". Ha ha no.

[clanwilliam]

The control sounds very hopeful. One of the best things about the past year has been the complete redefintion of the phrase "work bra" - I now start the day in a regular bra for support while I go out and exercise, but then spend my days in a flimsy bamboo bralette, which doesn't do much support but stops me sticking to myself and does enough lackadaisical sheepdogging that I look respectable provided I don't move quickly.

[white_hart]

These definitely provide enough support for me to be comfortable going for a medium-length walk!

[ankaret]

I tried putting my old sports bras on a while back but they were hideously uncomfortable, so I resort to two bralettes at once.

[legionseagle]

Not having sewing skills, I was extremely pleased to find a range of reasonably priced non-underwired bras from Simply Be which go up to 48G and are extremely comfortable.

[white_hart]

That is good. My FB adverts are currently full of bralettes and non-underwired bras so I suspect that their popularity has risen significantly during lockdown.

[angelofthenorth]

ooooooh - as a 44H I might have to try to make these if they go that big!

[white_hart]

It's worth a look - they specialise in plus-size patterns so would definitely go big enough, and as the bralette doesn't have fitted cups there is flexibility there. (My underwired bras are 34G and the larger-cup version of the pattern with all the support options works well for me, and I've seen photos on Instagram of considerably bigger people wearing them.)

[joyeuce]

I have started wearing Molke bras in the last year. Life-changing.

[white_hart]

Yes, I have several friends who speak highly of those (and also Radiant Chaos) and I might have tried those rather than going straight to making my own if lockdown hadn't depleted their stock so much!

[joyeuce]

Thank you, I hadn't come across Radiant Chaos and will have a look.

[white_hart]

They're made to order so lead times are quite long, but they are awfully pretty.

[ankaret]

I love Molke.

[joyeuce]

I can't remember whether you put me on to them, but if so, thank you!

[girlyswot]

Hooray! They are so much fun, which I think is a huge glaring gap in the underwear market for grown women. In my size (42C) the options are basically sexysexysexy or structural engineering. Neither of which I want. I just want pretty and fun.

Anyway, my FOE has all arrived and I have printed the pattern and now I just need to make time in my sewing room. You have inspired me!

[white_hart]

Yes, they are definitely fun! Particularly if you use fun print fabrics. Good luck with yours!

[cmcmck]

I'm relatively small (38b) and it's strange how 'they' manage to produce reasonably comfortable stuff that actually fits at this sort of size.

[white_hart]

I can appreciate that it's harder to fit bigger breasts (and there is probably more variation in shape) but it is very annoying!

[caulkhead]

What is with the little bows? I can't think of anyone whose style, femme or not, gains anything by them.

[serriadh]

They're so stupid. They ruin the line under clothes, and aren't pretty/big/interesting enough to be worth showing off without clothes (if that's something you want to do).

I find wired bras much more comfortable, which I think makes me a unusual, but I'm very glad you've found something that works for you!

[antisoppist]

I find wired bras much more comfortable than bands of fabric sticking round my chest. The M&S ones that fit me comfortably - I think it's due to gap between breasts - are non-padded underwired balcony bras but the current range are mostly called Allure and come in red and pink lace. And what is with the little metal decorative dangly things in the middle? That show through your white shirt. I would almost prefer a bow.

[perennialanna]

Supposedly a hangover from corset lacing (the only corset I have ever had a close encounter with laced up the back, as you may remember).

M&S generally produce something absolutely plain (eg https://www.marksandspencer.com/2-pack-non-padded-full-cup-bras-a-e/p/clp60375741?color=OPALINEMIX ), which I could bring myself to live with stylistically, but basically I don't want a bra, I want to able to blur my outlines more than any bra will do.

Bluntly, I'd rather not have breasts. The problem is I currently don't have a stable enough body shape to invest in anything that will do the job. So I wear these a size too small and with the removable cups removed, and it sort of mostly works. Enough to live with, at any rate, and once the thyroxine kicks in I might stop expanding.

https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/p/White-%26-Black-Seamless-Stretch-Crop-Tops-2-Pack/136480488-White?searchTerm=:newArrivals:style:Crop%20Top&searchProduct=

[caulkhead]

I want mine not to touch, and ideally not to sit on my lower ribs either. Underwires are really the only way I've found to achieve that (even my sports bras are underwired). I tried going without when it was so hot last summer and just. not. comfortable.

[white_hart]

Yes, being in the "would really rather not have breasts" camp makes a difference, but fortunately I have a stable enough body shape to invest time and elastic in making these. (I suspect a proper binder would flatten them more, but they definitely flatten a bit and blur the outlines, and I can still breathe in them.)

[perennialanna]

I have put on a stone since Christmas. Underactive thyroid will do that. I'm also cross because I physically can't wear my shirts buttoned right up at the moment, because of the swelling in my neck. I don't just feel wretched, I can't even dress to feel myself. And breathing is an issue all the time, so that rules binding right out.

This time next year hopefully I will have settled onto a suitable thyroxine dosage, at which point throwing money at the problem would make far more sense (I have a mental block about sewing at the moment. I'm struggling with oversewing embroidery fabric, which is the most basic task there is). Meanwhile, I got the clippers out tonight and at least my hair is transmasc again.

[white_hart]

I'm sorry, that's miserable. I hope the thyroxine starts to work quickly.

[sollers]

Sports bras: the best way I know to get them on is put head and both arms in, pull down to your waist and and then put arms in one at a time. There is still one moment of struggle but you can use both hands to pull them out and down.

[nineveh_uk]

I must try that method next time I put on my ski bra! It does a great job and is comfortable - picked by virtue of thinking "there are definitely internet photos of the professionals changing their tops after races, I'll see what they wear and get that" - but it doesn't half demand a contortionist performance to get on and off.

[white_hart]

I once spent half an hour in the changing rooms in Bravissimo getting more and more miserable and sweaty as I failed to get any of the sports bras I was trying on to actually go on me. I will try that method if I ever buy another one, though having given up on trying to run I may not.

[caulkhead]

The regrettably named boobydoo have a really, really good selection of sports bras (including the one I once found in a French ski shop and have been looking for hopelessly ever since) and, from recent experience, an impeccable returns process.

[nineveh_uk]

They look great! Very cheerful colours. I've not worn underwired I years, they just dont fit (apart from some amazing short wires when I was c. 25), and at the o end am living happily in various Triumph non wired options, which are blissfully lace free. Though as a year, the last 12 months have certainly been more bra off than normal, even as a person who dodsnt always wear one.

[white_hart]

Most places don't do non-wired bras in my size (or at least didn't - there seem to be more on the market now, presumably because pandemic), and I've never found being braless comfortable :-(

[mrs_redboots]

I don't think I've ever worn an underwired bra in my life! I usually buy non-wired bras from M&S or Tesco, but just this last week have bought some pull-on bralette type things, rather like yours, which are incredibly comfortable, although not desperately supportive (now I no longer skate, that doesn't matter - when you are jumping, you need support or it hurts!). Incidentally, should you tire of making your own, or need a bra for a special occasion, the place to go is John Lewis, who I've always found have been incredibly helpful, and you can specify that you won't wear an underwire, and they respect that.

[white_hart]

It's really not easy to find non-wired bras in my size (apart from sports bras)! Assuming our John Lewis survives the pandemic I might look there - we didn't have one last time I needed to buy bras.

[ankaret]

Ooh, those look good! I would like to have more matching sets that tick the 'colourful / fun / utilitarian / comfortable' boxes. I rely on Molke for bras and it has changed my life to the point that I smile whenever I peg them up to dry or put them away in a drawer (no more underwires, yay!!!) It's a combination of knowing my bra will not actively hurt me and knowing that I have enough of them that I don't have to be hypervigilant about which ones are in the wash at any given time (ask me about being a teenage girl with a large bust and exactly *two* bras, one to wear and one for in the wash, because they were expensive) But your bralettes look like they have more front coverage, which I could do with.

As far as pants go Molke's 3xs are a bit small on me, which is annoying, so I am mostly reliant on M & S who annoyingly only seem to do bright colours in combination with fabrics I don't like the feel of.

WRT clothing in general I want comfort and freedom of movement along with looking aesthetically interesting (but not either 'sexy' or as if I am dressing to appease people who come up with a lot of bullshit rules about how to be as inoffensive as possible while fat). It is annoying how much active effort this requires.

[white_hart]

I've heard very good things about Molke, but I do wonder if the crossover front would be a bit too cleavagey for me - the nice thing about the crop-top style is that there is no cleavage at all. (Well, nice if one would prefer not to have boobs at all and definitely not to look at all sexy.)

I always seem to end up owning lots of bras, and I think that comes from a residual memory of being in a similar position, and having to plan really carefully about when to wash the bra I liked to minimise the time wearing the one I didn't.

I want comfort and freedom of movement along with looking aesthetically interesting (but not either 'sexy' or as if I am dressing to appease people who come up with a lot of bullshit rules about how to be as inoffensive as possible while fat)

That pretty much sums me up as well, and it is really difficult, though making my own clothes helps because I can use interesting fabrics with basic shapes and entirely eschew polyester.

[girlyswot]

I want comfort and freedom of movement along with looking aesthetically interesting (but not either 'sexy' or as if I am dressing to appease people who come up with a lot of bullshit rules about how to be as inoffensive as possible while fat)

ME TOO.

[joyeuce]

WRT clothing in general I want comfort and freedom of movement along with looking aesthetically interesting

Half me. I want comfort and freedom of movement and to look uninteresting enough not to be noticed!

[el_staplador]

I suspect it might be. Mine make me considerably more cleavagey than the wired ones I was previously wearing. I think it's the hoist factor as much as the crossover. It's a feature rather than a bug in my book, but I do realise that's not true of everybody.

[white_hart]

I do always think it's a shame I'm not someone who enjoys showing off a curvy figure, because my body is much better suited to that than it is to androgyny.

[ankaret]

Yeah, they are quite cleavagey on me. It doesn't help that I've always had about half a cup size difference between left and right, so either I have one cup fitting right and one too big (unsupportive) or one fitting right and one too small (overflowing) whichever sort of bra I go for.

I have been failing to get my sewing machine mended / serviced because of residual feelings from the last time I tried home sewing that (a) the amount of pattern adjustment needed is too much of a bother and (b) the kind of clothes that I like and that fit me tend to require more awkward sewing curved bits of material together than I am competent to deal with, but seeing what you produce is very inspiring.

[joyeuce]

I love being able to put bras in the washing machine, having been paranoid about wires getting caught in it for years. It also means I change them more often because I'm not putting off handwashing them until every bra except the least comfortable one is unwearable.

I must try Molke's high rise pants at some point, when I can bring myself to spend £15 on a pair. Quite why I'm willing to spend on bras but not on pants, I am not entirely sure.

[white_hart]

I have to confess that I have always put bras in the washing machine, and have never actually had a wire come out during washing. (I do wash them on the delicates cycle, but as I also use that for all of my handmade clothes there's no change there.)

[ankaret]

It happened to me once, and I suspect the wire in question was already planning to poke out of its channel and either stab me in the armpit or rise up like Excalibur at the front.

[perennialanna]

I wash underwired bras (when I've worn them) inside one of those dedicated net bags. That's where the colour catcher goes too, because those delight in implanting themselves in the filter.

[lokifan]

That's so cool!!