I’m bored of wearing bras that don’t fit, hbu?
By Caleigh Wallace
Big boob havers know the pain, (back, chest, and wallet) of finding a good bra. And by good, I mean, achieving the bare minimum of bearable support. For those of us blessed (or cursed) with big boobs, this struggle is all too real.
“I’m so tired and my tits are so heavy” - Mavis Beaumont, Survival of the Thickest.
Can you even imagine a bra that does the work for us? like a hammock for the boobs. Imagine the relief on your shoulders, neck, and back. Like boobs on vacay.
As Dr. Phillipa Kaye, doctor, and journalist, wrote, “Bras are a masterpiece in under-appreciated engineering”, and I think we’re short on engineers.
The harsh reality is that engineering a bra is hard work, and not a lot of brands have the resources to do it right. As a direct result, they are determining a market that excludes people with big boobs. Even though we are seeing brands slowly gravitate towards more inclusive sizing, the trend is not in favour of the bigger busted.
Globally, breast sizes are increasing. Dr. Kaye writes in her body literacy book ‘Breasts; an Owner's Guide’ that around 80 percent of us are not wearing the correct bra size. “No globally standardised system makes it harder than ever to know your true bra size, even then, bra size charts were originally devised for sizes up to a D cup.” So if size charts were devised for sizes up to a D cup, where does that leave the rest of us?
The health implications of an ill-fitting bra are real. Many people experience pain that is a direct result of wearing the wrong bra size, where the correct size should provide support and relief in common pain areas like the back, neck, and shoulders. According to research by ‘She Science’, Australia’s only specialty sports bra store, a single breast can weigh anywhere between 400 grams to over 2 kilograms. We're carrying kilos on our chests, it's high time we had a bra that lightens this load – quite literally.
So why does it feel so incredibly liberating to take off our bras at the end of the day? Shouldn't our bras be providing the relief they're designed for? The problem lies in the market saturation of smaller cup sizes and poorly constructed bras leaving those of us in the D cup and beyond range stranded in a bra-less desert. It's a tumbleweed moment – where in the world are the options for us?
This scarcity becomes even more alarming when you consider the numbers. Within our relatively small community here at RAQ, over 40,000 individuals are facing this struggle. Yet, the solutions seem few and far in-between.
There's a lack of research on movement and motion of breasts, in comparison to how important shoes and supportive gear are heavily researched and tested for athletes. A 2018 study from Portsmouth University found that even when walking, breasts move up to 4cm in any direction, and during exercise and high-impact sport, breasts can move 12-15cm, and in some cases up to almost 20cm. Those numbers seem pretty athletic to me. So how are good bras supposed to be made without this research and expertise? we’re out here doing the work ourselves.
In doing this research for RAQ, we’ve tried and tested many different bras, so we're kind of self-proclaimed, professional bra testers. Here for the good, bad, and the ugly. Join us in this mission. D cup and up bras need testing, to Olympic standards, and we are investing our time and resources to step up to the challenge. More than 2 years in the making, we just want an all-purpose bra, one that passes the sleep test and the squeak test, and still looks cute, is that really so much to ask?
Let's make the world of bras a better, more comfortable place for every big boob haver. Together, we can lift the weight off our chests, both literally and figuratively.
We deserve bras that provide the support they promise, and we're not settling for anything less. Watch this space!