Rare De-Lurking!
Howdy, Fats!
Recently, my husband happened to notice Lane Bryant was holding a one-day intimates sale. He's been a first-hand witness to the lengths I will go to extend the life of my bras, so when he notices a good sale he encourages me to take advantage.
When I arrived at LB, I expected that I'd just stock up on the usual suspects and be done with it. Then I chanced across the Reversible Plunge Bra and my mind was a little bit blown.
A cute, under-wire bra with a front-closure in MY size? O_o What kind of wizardry was this?
See, when I was a young chubling I had mad love for the front-closure bra. My mom hated the ones she had, so when I had "blossomed" to a point that our cup sizes were similar, she showered all her front-closure bras on me. Once I got over being squicked at the hand-me-down bra thing (hey, we were poor), I grew to love the ease of entry and egress that the front closure provided when changing before and after gym class. Even after my cup-size outstripped my mom's, I sought out front closure models when shopping for new bras.
Then, junior year of high school, I gained most of the weight I carry today and couldn't find a cute, front-closure, under-wire bra to save my life. With a heavy heart I waved good-bye to my beloved front-closure bras and resigned myself to the contortionist act necessitated by my short arms reaching far enough behind me to fasten a back-closure bra.
You've all seen the T-Rex making a bed picture that was circulating around teh intorwebz awhile ago?
This is what putting on a back closure bra feels like for me most mornings. :(
So, with guarded enthusiasm I picked out a couple to try on... and was pleasantly surprised to find they actually fit well with no cup spillage and decent support. :D
I went home with one of each of the leopard and polka dot patterns.
After a couple of wearing/washings I can report that they are holding up rather nicely. I only have two criticisms so far:
1) For the price asked (these puppies go at just over $40 when regular price), the manufacturer really ought to spend the extra few pennies in thread it would cost to run a line of hem-stitching around the edges anchor the hem.
For those of you not familiar with sewing: With a reversible garment, each separate piece is sewn together right side in, then turned inside out and pressed at the hemline between the different colored pieces to create the reversible effect. With any garment of this nature that does not have hem-stitching as an anchor, the hem has a tendency to roll up slightly (specifically, for these bras, along the top of the cup) and create an odd line.
Additionally, the back strap could stand to have some anchor stitching to better secure the elastic (which is sandwiched between the inner and outer panels of fabric and only held in there along the un-anchored hemlines. :\)
The hemline issue is nothing a little quality time with my sewing machine can't fix... But, if I'd paid full price, I'd be a bit miffed at having to "fix" a garment that should have come home from the store without needing further alteration.
2) The front closure hook, while cute, is a bit on the small side and has a tendency to dig into my sternum slightly. It's a minor issue, but is less-than pleasant after a full day of supporting the "DD twins". :\ Additionally, with the closure being so small, you have to be absolutely sure to hook it all the way. If you do, you're fine... but if you're in a hurry and don't you might run the risk of a wardrobe malfunction later in your day. (This happened to me once. Thankfully, the only person around was my husband and he didn't mind one bit. XD)
So yeah, LB's Reversible Plunge Bra gets a solid B in my book. :)
Recently, my husband happened to notice Lane Bryant was holding a one-day intimates sale. He's been a first-hand witness to the lengths I will go to extend the life of my bras, so when he notices a good sale he encourages me to take advantage.
When I arrived at LB, I expected that I'd just stock up on the usual suspects and be done with it. Then I chanced across the Reversible Plunge Bra and my mind was a little bit blown.
A cute, under-wire bra with a front-closure in MY size? O_o What kind of wizardry was this?
See, when I was a young chubling I had mad love for the front-closure bra. My mom hated the ones she had, so when I had "blossomed" to a point that our cup sizes were similar, she showered all her front-closure bras on me. Once I got over being squicked at the hand-me-down bra thing (hey, we were poor), I grew to love the ease of entry and egress that the front closure provided when changing before and after gym class. Even after my cup-size outstripped my mom's, I sought out front closure models when shopping for new bras.
Then, junior year of high school, I gained most of the weight I carry today and couldn't find a cute, front-closure, under-wire bra to save my life. With a heavy heart I waved good-bye to my beloved front-closure bras and resigned myself to the contortionist act necessitated by my short arms reaching far enough behind me to fasten a back-closure bra.
You've all seen the T-Rex making a bed picture that was circulating around teh intorwebz awhile ago?
This is what putting on a back closure bra feels like for me most mornings. :(
So, with guarded enthusiasm I picked out a couple to try on... and was pleasantly surprised to find they actually fit well with no cup spillage and decent support. :D
I went home with one of each of the leopard and polka dot patterns.
After a couple of wearing/washings I can report that they are holding up rather nicely. I only have two criticisms so far:
1) For the price asked (these puppies go at just over $40 when regular price), the manufacturer really ought to spend the extra few pennies in thread it would cost to run a line of hem-stitching around the edges anchor the hem.
For those of you not familiar with sewing: With a reversible garment, each separate piece is sewn together right side in, then turned inside out and pressed at the hemline between the different colored pieces to create the reversible effect. With any garment of this nature that does not have hem-stitching as an anchor, the hem has a tendency to roll up slightly (specifically, for these bras, along the top of the cup) and create an odd line.
Additionally, the back strap could stand to have some anchor stitching to better secure the elastic (which is sandwiched between the inner and outer panels of fabric and only held in there along the un-anchored hemlines. :\)
The hemline issue is nothing a little quality time with my sewing machine can't fix... But, if I'd paid full price, I'd be a bit miffed at having to "fix" a garment that should have come home from the store without needing further alteration.
2) The front closure hook, while cute, is a bit on the small side and has a tendency to dig into my sternum slightly. It's a minor issue, but is less-than pleasant after a full day of supporting the "DD twins". :\ Additionally, with the closure being so small, you have to be absolutely sure to hook it all the way. If you do, you're fine... but if you're in a hurry and don't you might run the risk of a wardrobe malfunction later in your day. (This happened to me once. Thankfully, the only person around was my husband and he didn't mind one bit. XD)
So yeah, LB's Reversible Plunge Bra gets a solid B in my book. :)