what lies beneath: the basics of underwear

I haven't really had the chance to blog much this week because I have been busy with work. What do I do for work you ask? Well I work in the intimate apparel section at a department store, my official job title is intimate apparel stylist (yay I'm a 'stylist').  The company I work for is Elle Macpherson Intimates, Pleasure State and Bendon. I love lingerie so when I saw this job opportunity I knew that I had to apply and luckily I got the job. This is only a casual job until I graduate from university in a few months and find a casual job but I am thoroughly enjoying it so far. 

What I have learned from my position so far is how to correctly fit and wear a bra. A large number of women come in and either have no idea what bra size they are or are wearing the incorrect size. This edition of my blog is going to be a lesson in bra's. So let's start with the signs of an incorrectly fitting bra

• Breasts are spilling out of the cup, giving you that double boob look
• The underwire is digging into you and is really painful
• Shoulder straps are digging in or you are constantly fiddling with them
• Band is not level and riding up your back
• The bra is just overall uncomfortable and giving you all kinds of pains

 It is best to get fitted for a bra probably once every year because our body does change either from weight gain or loss, exercise, pregnancy, surgery, that time of the month and I think you get my point. Here are the things to look for when trying on a new bra:

• The band should be snug but comfortable and must sit parallel to the waist line. Which basically means it should sit in a horizontal line from front to back.
• The underwire and front centre should sit flat against the chest. The should fully enclose the breast and should not be digging in at all.
• The cups should fully enclose the breast giving you a smooth look with no bulging or spilling over at the top, underneath or at the sides. If there is bulging you will need to go up a cup size. If you don't fill the cup go down a cup size.
• The side seam of the bra/cup should be at the underarm, away from the fleshy part of the breast. If the bra gives you side spillage then go up a cup size.
• The straps should sit firmly over your shoulders and they should not dig in. If they leave horrible, painful red marks then it is to small. 
• Try and sit down in the bra(there is usually a seat in the change rooms) to make sure that the bra is comfortable because we do not stand up in our bra's 24/7.
• Always readjust your bust into the cups because when we put a bra on our boobs dont magically fall into place. we need to position them correctly.

So there you have it ladies (and gents) how to find the correct bra. I am not going to get into the different types of bras and briefs in this post. I will save that for another post.

I hope this was helpful for some of you and if there is anyone reading this who has any questions feel free to ask away and I'll try my best to answer them.

Until next time
- Carrisa


Picture Credit: Pleasure State.com 2011, Passionata.com 2011