04 Feb Blissful Thinking

Properly Fitted Bras: What’s In It For Me?

Pulling. Twisting. Tucking. Fidgeting. Adjusting. Pulling. Twisting. Tucking. Fidgeting. Re-adjusting. Pulling. Twisting. Tucking. Fidgeting. Re-adjusting. ARGH!!!

We wear bras for about 60 years of our lives, approximately 12 hours most days. That’s a 21,900 day relationship. If you’ve been properly fitted for your bras, this can be a beautiful, empowering relationship with your breasts and with lingerie. If you haven’t been properly fitted for your bras, this relationship can cause you physical pain, mental anguish, body image issues, self-confidence issues, self-abhorrence, shame, embarrassment, and quickly shoot to the top of your “most dreaded tasks” list.

How to shop for properly fitted bras and how those bras should look and feel on your body is an education we can take with us our entire life! With the exceptions of pregnancy, breastfeeding, and anything medical, the criteria for a proper fit remains constant. Size can and will change, age will change, density of tissues will change, gravity will take effect, and the most comfortable and flattering styles will change, but the properly fitted bra criteria will not change.

Can a 13 year old girl with developing breasts wearing the wrong size bra be as uncomfortable as a fully developed woman wearing the wrong size bra? Of course she can! Picture a girl or woman with a size 5 foot. She can be just as uncomfortable wearing the wrong shoe size as a woman with a size 10 foot can be wearing the wrong shoe size. It’s not about age or breast size; it’s about the comfort and support a properly fitted bra offers, and the subsequent ripple effect of confidence and happiness that blooms afterwards!

Many women don’t know that it’s entirely possible, and actually probable, to be different bra sizes! Our size can change between manufacturers, styles, and sometimes even within the same manufacturer when moving between full coverage bra styles into a demi style, a plunge style, a strapless, and a sports bra.

It’s important to remember to not get hung up on the letter cup size and number back/band size on a bra. At Bliss Beneath we like to say the letters and numbers simply provide us with a filing system to keep the bras organized. The numbers of the bra back/band size and the letters of the bra cup size are essentially irrelevant. What IS relevant is how the bra fits and feels on your body! We could say it’s a size 79 XYZ for all the relevance the numbers and letters have. Bras need to be tried on…the nuances in fit can be so minute and yet they can have a great impact on our comfort over an entire day of wearing the bra. It’s also important to put our shirt back on once proper fit has been established, as our shape in a bra will look different under our clothing compared to simply looking at our reflection in the bra.

Did you know it’s possible for our breast shape and size to change as frequently as every six months?! Stopping in to have your bra fit checked by your favourite lingerie specialist is something we should all try to work into our busy schedules.

Some of the health benefits from properly fitted bras are decreased and/or alleviated back pain, neck pain, less frequent trips to your chiropractor and Registered Massage Therapist, improved posture, improvements in shoulder indentations from too-tight straps, and decreased sweating/rashes from skin no longer touching skin. Also no more annoying straps falling down, bra bands creeping up your back, or tucking your breasts back into your cups so you have two breasts, not four!

The aesthetic benefits of a properly fitted bra are appearing more elongated through the torso and our waistlines being more defined by the breasts being properly lifted and supported. Our clothing fits and falls better, and we have a more streamlined silhouette. Many women report they look a full cup size smaller and people inquire if they’ve lost weight!

We also save money by investing in three properly fitted bras and taking care of them. By purchasing what actually fits and flatters our unique shape rather than spending money again and again on poorly fit bras that do nothing but annoy us and we despise wearing, over the long run we keep more of our hard-earned dollars in our wallet.

Once we have been properly fit and have mastered the art of feeling and selecting properly fitted bras, we can shop anywhere in the world because we’re empowered with the education to make informed purchases! Information is power, power gives us confidence, and confidence makes us happy. Who WOULDN’T choose to be comfortable, confident, and happy in their approximate 60-year, 21,900 day relationship with their bras?!

At Bliss Beneath our fitting service is complimentary, and there’s no obligation to buy. In our bright and spacious change rooms, Marcy and Tamara will go through the criteria of a properly fitted bra for your specific, beautiful body shape, and we share all the tips and tricks we’ve collected through the years and thousands of fittings. It’s never too late to go for a proper bra fitting, and you’ll love the Bliss Beneath difference. We’ll turn a once dreaded chore into a fun and empowering experience, one that will have you saying, “I wish I had done this YEARS ago!”

Bliss Beneath is located at 241 Essa Road, Unit 5, Barrie, Ontario