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Bras without underwires

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Right, firstly I want to say that I don't want this thread to become about bitching about my health issues or weight issues or anyone else's, it's a thread about bras.

As I've posted elsewhere on thesite I've lost weight recently for a variety of reasons but mostly due to depression and related issues. Prior to losing weight I was wearing 28E bras which fitted okay although I would usually be told that 28" were a little big for me and that if they made a size 26" that it would fit me better but they don't make 26F bras so 28E is the closest thing to that.

Now I've gone down about two cup sizes which isn't really something I feel strongly about either way (they looked fine before when they were larger and they look fine now they are smaller). But I've also lost a fair amount of fat from ur... the bit wear the boobs are on (back, chest, torso etc) so the 28" is really much too big and rids up and the wires really dig in. Where the wires dig in they are really quite painful, especially where it digs in between my boobs as I guess this is where there is the least fat of all to cushion the wires digging into me.

So I was thinking that I would be much more comfortable if I got some new bras. Either ones that actually fit. Or, probably more likely, ones without wires to dig in so they are just less unpleasant to wear. I'm not small enough to go without a bra, I do need some support. So my question, would be where can I get such bras from? I don't think 'girls' bras would accomodate my boobs. I want to find the smallest back size I can in a wireless style. I know my mum can't wear underwires officially (as she had breast cancer and has had some surgery done - although I know that some of her bras do have wires anyway) and she gets wireless bras in M&S but I think they wouldn't go small enough in the back size. I know they do a 30" woman's bra in some styles but I think they are all underwired as they only do it in a tiny minority of their bras. And that they have 28" bras in smaller cup sizes for girls without wires but only 28AA, 28A and 28B and I would need about a D cup.

I know that new bras aren't a long term solution to my problems but I would like my breasts to hurt less in the short term whilst my regular sized bras are too big.

I've used bold font for the main question of this thread incase you can't be bothered to read the whole thing as I realise it's quite long for what is actually quite a simple question, but I thought I'd try to explain in more detail as well incase anyone has any other helpful ideas or advice for me and my boobs!

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Would removing the underwires work? Failing that, do sports bras come in small back sizes? They are supportive but not wired. I'll have a look on figleaves, back in a minute ... :)

    Ok, figleaves do wireless bras but they start at a 32A. Would that be possible to sew it a bit to make it smaller backsize?

    What about this one? http://www.figleaves.com/uk/product.asp?product_id=LL-17349&mci=&size=&colour=&image=r491866-p492262-front
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Would removing the underwires work? Failing that, do sports bras come in small back sizes? They are supportive but not wired. I'll have a look on figleaves, back in a minute ... :)

    Well I don't think I could do that without damaging the bras (and I still live in hope that I will recover and be able to wear my yummy expensive designer bras once more). Unless I got new ones just to do that to. I do have a few sports bras, infact that's how I know that it's the wires that cause the problems as I am most comfortably when wearing my sports bras. But they tend to give me a "mono-boob" look and also they are quite high necked so might look a bit odd under normal clothes like V-neck tops etc rather than just gym kit, t-shirts etc.

    Thanks for the figleaves idea, I'm going to check it out too now... :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Would removing the underwires work? Failing that, do sports bras come in small back sizes? They are supportive but not wired. I'll have a look on figleaves, back in a minute ... :)

    Ok, figleaves do wireless bras but they start at a 32A. Would that be possible to sew it a bit to make it smaller backsize?

    What about this one? http://www.figleaves.com/uk/product.asp?product_id=LL-17349&mci=&size=&colour=&image=r491866-p492262-front
    Oh I like that one, especially in black. It looks like a proper grown up woman's bra rather than a girl's crop top :D And it comes in a 30D which would probably do (I assume that ridding up elastic hurts a lot less that ridding up wires!)

    I'm going to try to find if any of the department stores in London stock that bra as I'd like to try it.

    Thanks for your help :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Oh yeah, monoboob is never good!
    As for removing the wires I thought you could buy a couple of new ones to do it. All you'd need to do is make a slit along the top of one of the ends of the wires and wriggle them out. Hell my old washing machine managed to do that to two of mine!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No problem, glad you like it :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I always hand wash my underwired bras so I've never experienced the wires coming out like that but it sounds like I could try it.

    I found that Debenhams stock that first bra you found me and that they have it in the sale! They've got it on their website but I think I'm going to trek down to the store to try it on if they have it!!

    I thought this was going to be an incredibly depressing exercise but I do actually like that bra in black, I thought I'd have to get a nasty white girl bra like I used to wear when I was about 12 years old so now I've seen that one I've cheered up.

    I can tell my mum about that brand too when I see her next, she's always complaining about the crapness of the non-underwired bra ranges and that's why she rebels against her doctors advice sometimes and wears wires anyway but I think they hurt her or at least aren't very good for her.

    I'm off to Oxford Street! :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think all washing machines come with the facility to de-wire bras but it was a bit of a shock cos I took them out of the machine and looked at them thinking "I'm SURE they were wired..." and thought I was imagining things. Then a few months later the machine broke. We took the back off and sticking out of the back of the drum were 4 underwires :o
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think all washing machines come with the facility to de-wire bras but it was a bit of a shock cos I took them out of the machine and looked at them thinking "I'm SURE they were wired..." and thought I was imagining things. Then a few months later the machine broke. We took the back off and sticking out of the back of the drum were 4 underwires :o

    I've had that happen too. Try putting them in a delicates bag to wash them (or a pillowcase with a knot in the top if you're cheap like me) and then they don't break the machine if they come out!

    And RG, I know you already said you're going down there but I'd try Debenhams :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Good tip, thank you!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I do the pillowcase thing. I also used to use a pillowcase for all my underwear when we used to do washing at the laundrette in case any of my knickers fell on the floor and everybody saw! :o
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i found this site http://www.petitepluslingerie.com/?i=20251 which is specifically for small back sizes with large cup sizes but i think theyre all underwired but i thought id show you anyway. I hope you manage to get that pretty one you like.
    I have both removed wires from bras before, and ive also sewn the backs of bras before to make them a bit smaller if necessary. If you didnt want to do it yourself, you could always take it to a dressmaker or something
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    underwires suck, tesco are doing own brand bikini tops iin a size six for £2, black, tie straps so it doesn't matter what boob size, machine washable...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i hate my non wired bras, i find they give me mono-boob very easily. They are more comfortable though. Just not that supportive for big tits
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Those triangular shaped ones in the back of granny magazines would probably do a good job eliminating monoboob, but I doubt they come in smaller back sizes.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Right. I'm pretty much sorted now :D

    Thanks for all your replies and ideas :)

    I went to Debenhams and didn't have much luck there. I got fitted and they said (as I thought) that the closest thing to my actual current size is 28D and they didn't have anything even vaguely in my size in soft cup. The 28D bra I tried on that did have wires still really hurt so I didn't get it. A gross looking girls bra in 30C was too big. Tried a few other shops like H&M etc without luck. In House of Frasier though I had much better luck, I managed to find that Lepel Soft Cup bra that KHSS found me and the 30B one fitted in a reasonable way (much better than 30C anyway). I bought two of the same one, one in black and one in nude colour.

    Also I found a good cheap Italian bra shop at Oxford Circus called Tezenis that used the Italian size system (1 - 5) where all the other customers were Italian women and a few Brazilian women. They had lots and lots of soft cup bras and they were pretty cheap too so I got four in there.

    I now have six new bras that are all soft cup ones although I might return one or two as six might seem a little excessive especially as my weight isn't at all stable so they might only fit for a few weeks if I gain weight or more likely lose more weight. That said I'm quite lazy with laundry and hand washing my bras (I think the soft cup ones will machine wash okay), I like to do it not that often and do lots at once so maybe it would make sense to keep them all, especially as simple things like laundry can seem so hard to do most days as I'm depressed, I only have days when I'm well enough to do my laundry every now and again these days.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i found this site http://www.petitepluslingerie.com/?i=20251 which is specifically for small back sizes with large cup sizes but i think theyre all underwired but i thought id show you anyway. I hope you manage to get that pretty one you like.
    I have both removed wires from bras before, and ive also sewn the backs of bras before to make them a bit smaller if necessary. If you didnt want to do it yourself, you could always take it to a dressmaker or something

    Thanks for that website. I will remember it for when I'm ready to go back to underwired bras again. I agree that underwires look a lot better in general and until the weight lose I found them more comfortable anyway but not at the moment.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Acrobat wrote: »
    I've had that happen too. Try putting them in a delicates bag to wash them (or a pillowcase with a knot in the top if you're cheap like me) and then they don't break the machine if they come out!

    On the washine machine debate...

    I couldn't care less about the washing machine, it's not mine and it's completely knackered anyway so if it broke and needed replacing I'd be quite pleased :yippe:

    But hand washing delicate bras, especially with lace and wires and what not, well they last a lot better and don't lose their shape and support as quickly.

    I have one of those delicates bags that I keep inside my laundry bin to keep my hand wash only garments in when they are dirty to reduce the risk of me accidently scooping them up in a machine wash - I always put the bras and anything else that I only ever hand wash in the bag when I put them in the laundry bin when I remove them but I just use it for storage purposes not for actually washing them in.

    I bet I seem really neurotic now :blush:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I just wanted to report back that my boobs and I are now a lot happier! My red marks from where the wires have been digging in have finally disappeared and the soft cup bras are proving so much more comfortable.

    Thanks for all your replys and support and advice once again :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    im glad theyre more comfortable for you now. underwires are definitely more pokey inney,
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