The Delicate Bra

You suck. More precisely, your size selection sucks. The sheer convenience of your stores in the US makes me sad I can’t shop there though. Please carry more sizes if you don’t want to lose business, as more and more women are realizing you suck.

Sincerely,
Woman with bra size outside of your range.

(The less diplomatic version of an email sent to Victoria’s Secret’s customer service.)

Surprise, surprise, a non-automated response (at least partially non-automated):

Hello [Delicate Dream],

Thank you, so very much, for taking the time to contact us regarding our bra size selection.  I really appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback.

I think that is a nice suggestion. I assure you that I have personally shared your comments with our Bra Design team. We truly value your opinion, and your voice has been heard. Our customer feedback often provides us with direction for future merchandise and services.

[Delicate Dream], Victoria’s Secret values you as a customer, and it is our hope that you will grant us the opportunity to serve you again. Thank you for contacting Victoria’s Secret.

Kindly,

[Employee Name]

VictoriasSecret.com Customer Service

I have purposely been using the wording “high cup sizes” to refer to D+ cup sizes as opposed to “large cup sizes” in my blog. The reason for this has been touched on in the blog topics themselves - cup size is proportionate to band size. This is why “high cup size” is more accurate than “large cup size”. A D cup is not necessarily large. It has little meaning on its own unless paired with a band size. “High” implies further down the alphabet, and also a higher numerical difference between the band & cup. “Large” implies a size, as if the size is static no matter the band size.

Bra by luxury lingerie line Fleur of England. Carried in “high” cup sizes (sizes: 28A-46J) at www.elouiselingerie.co.uk

Countless lingerie brands and stores that cater to D+ sizes refer to themselves as being for fuller figures and/or large cup sizes. This sends the message that D+ cups are always large and that women who wear a D+ cup are always voluptuous. This is not the case of course.

It’s a semantics issue, but a significant one, because it effects how bra sizes are viewed and how women who wear certain sizes are viewed. Erroneous views can lead to shying away from wearing the correct bra size and to bra manufacturers themselves designing bras in D+ sizes to suit the needs of larger busts only.

These are the very things that need to be counteracted and that blogs like mine are trying to raise attention to. This may not be a noble cause, but it involves an acceptance of various body types as being within the realm of normal, giving power to consumers so they can fulfill their actual needs and not be at the mercy of marketing, and helping women feel more comfortable physically and emotionally with their breasts. This is important enough and effects everyday life enough to make a little noise over, in my opinion anyway.

UPDATED 3/03/2012

A few more online boutiques to keep in mind when hunting for a bra in a 28 or 30 band.

www.lilleboutique.com is a luxury, pricey lingerie boutique carrying a few selections in the harder to find 30B-E sizes.

www.catrionamackechnie.com is an online clothing boutique which has sizes 28B-G & 30AA-G listed, but had little to no selection in most of these sizes (since they’re listed though, I’ll check in from time to time to see what’s in stock, if anything).

www.journelle.com has 28A-G & 30A-H listed, but again, little selection in stock. There are some nice selections in a few of these sizes from Mimi Holliday, The Little Bra Company, and Fleur of England on sale right now though.

www.miodestino.co.uk has bras in 28 & 30 bands. They have a decent selection in these sizes, although the 28 sizes are not listed in their drop down menu. Search for a 30 band size, and you’ll see that many come in 28 as well.

www.evaley.com is a luxury lingerie online shop that has sizes in 28C-40G listed. They’re offering 20% off your first order right now for their grand opening.

House Of Fraser has bras in 28-50 bands & AA-J cups. They seem to have great sales prices too! Shipping to the US is only £6.00.

Jolene Longline Bralette, available at Lille Boutique.

Hi, I’m a thin, small-busted woman, and I wear a 28E or 30DD bra (depending on who makes it).

I see a lot of other bra blogs out there, articles on bras/boobs, and general buzz about large busted women getting properly fitted. If only they all were fitted correctly, then the size ceiling in the US might be broken, that ceiling which says nothing over DD exists. True, it would no doubt help in forcing stores to carry your size by taking your business elsewhere, namely to stores in the UK & Poland & some online retailers who DO carry your DD+ cupsize. This would be a positive development indeed.

However, a big segment of women are left out in what I’ll call the “bra size movement” urging larger busted women to demand support in their bras and wider ranges in sizes from retailers. These left out women are the small-busted, particularly thin ones. We, as a society, have been convinced that if your breasts are small, then you can’t possibly be larger than an A or B cup. So-called “flat-chested” women are walking around with loose bra bands floating about their torsos & tiny cups perched atop their nipples, the breasts holding the bra up & not vice versa, with everyone including them thinking there is “nothing there” to be supported. Busty women will make back-handed compliments along the lines of, “I wish I was small like you so I could go bra-less!”. And so these women continue to buy their 32As stuffed with 3 inches of padding and insinuations of not being womanly. The bra is more of a nod to social norms than a functional undergarment.

And since this is the general image of the thin, small-busted woman, one they have bought into also, few will readily believe they could be a higher cup size than an A or B, and that the real issue is their band size. But few bring this to light, because, you know, these women somehow don’t need the support or shaping other women need. While larger women are getting fitted into 32G or whatever, a woman with a much smaller body over all is wearing a 34A.  How in the world does this make sense?

28E bra from Marks & Spencer - rather dainty, isn’t it? Or should I say “delicate”?

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