Why don't you shut the door, and close the curtains?

[venta]

I have an enquiry of a delicate nature.

I'm having difficulty finding bras which I like. At some point in the last few years, the fashion industry declared that if you are any smaller than a DD, you'll be wanting to conceal this dangerous information with a bra which is padded, shaped, and various other things.

If you go somewhere cheap and nasty like Primark, every single bra available A-C will have impressive cleavage all by itself, without even a person in it. It's terrifying. If you go somewhere posh and pricey... well, it's a little better. But even then the unpadded bras will be embroidered, beaded, be-ribboned and generally all a bit much. Most stages between Primark and posh seem similarly afflicted.

A few places will have, tucked away at the back, a small display of boxed, cheap, dead-plain bras. They won't be execiting, or available in anything other than white, but they will be functional. Interestingly, the mother reports a recent haul from this department of M&S included a bra which (in very small print) had the warning "do not wear for more than 8 hours". We could only deduce it was due to the non-slip coating on the inside of the straps, which was akin to the odd rubbery stuff they put on hold-ups. Which, incidentally, doesn't work; but I digress.

So I turn to you, the bra-wearing section of the LJ-reading public, to help out. Where can I find "nice" underwear, preferably the sort for which one can buy matching pants, which isn't padded? I'm happy with underwiring, I just don't require gel-filled, air-filled or anything-else-filled enhancement. (Except, of course, according to the underwear-making world I do require it. I just don't want it.)

I'd prefer a real live shop, as buying things which need to fit well online is a bit of a gamble.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I think you're the first person I've ever heard say anything bad about Bravissimo. I've never even bothered to go in, being way out of their target demographic, but anyone who has has always seemed impresed.

[lnr]

I don't like them. :)

As a fat person (though less so at the moment) their method of deciding whether you have the right band size seems to be designed to leave you wearing a bra that will dig in uncomfortably and leave red welts. And their clothing for women with big boobs is only clothing for *small* women with big boobs.

I have bought lovely bras there, but these days I wouldn't get them to do a fitting.

[brrm.livejournal.com]

You think *you're* out of their target demographic? I ordered something from their website once (not for me I should add!), and forevermore got emails addressed to "Dear Bravissimo girl" :-)

I have heard people say positive things about the Oxford store, though.