A couple months ago, I fell in love with the 4” denim shorts from Express that came in a random collection of bright hues (red, dark orange, lavender, and peach), but at $59.90 decided they were waaaaaay too expensive. But this past weekend all shorts were on sale for $39.90 and I had a $15 off coupon. I went to the store to try them on and found that a size 8 was perfect in the thighs and rear, but had a massive gap in the back of the waist. Even with the price drop, I felt it wasn’t worth it. But then over the course of the last few days, I decided I absolutely loved the bright orange color; plus it’s so hard to find shorts that are mid-thigh length instead of being either way too short or knee-length. So I figured I’d just get them and sew in some darts in the back. Where else am I going to find bright orange denim shorts, much less ones that fit correctly right off the rack?

This project requires:

One pair of jeans (or really, casual shorts or pants of any variety)
Thread
Needle
Pins
Chalk
Measuring tape

Here are the shorts from the front (please excuse the smudgy mirror):

And the back. There are inches of space! Why??

Start by pinching the shorts on each side, about halfway between the side and back belt loops. If you want to be really precise, measure how much fabric you’re pinching. I just eyeballed it, though. In my case, it was about a half-inch sized pinch on each side (meaning I’ll be taking in one whole inch on each side in the end).

Now turn the pants inside out and mark with your chalk about halfway from the center back seam to the side seam. This should be about the center of your pinch from the prior step.

Next, mark where you will have the dart stop. Make sure it’s high enough that you don’t sew over the pocket. In the case of traditional jeans, the horizontal seam above the pocket is a perfect spot to stop.

Now fold the jeans along an imaginary line leading from the top chalk mark to the lower one. Pin in place far enough from the marks that the pin won’t get in the way of your sewing.

If you want, you can draw a chalk line where you want to sew, but again I just eyeballed it. Starting at the waistband, at the distance from the fold where you originally measured with the pinch (so half an inch in my case), sew a straight line from the waistband to your stop point. It’s imperative that you stop sewing exactly along the edge of the fabric. If you stop even a little bit inward, you’ll end up with a little pocket at the bottom of the dart instead of a smooth finish. I always have trouble with this part. If you stop too far in, you can always sew just a tiny bit further (might be easiest to do it by hand) to smooth out the base of the dart.

You are done! Now you have a custom-fitted pair of jeans. With my sewing machine, the whole process took less than 15 minutes!

If you’ve never been to a clothing swap, here’s how this one worked:

1. free admission for bringing 3 items of still-wearable clothing; otherwise pay an admission fee (in this case it was $10)
2. bring up to 10 items and receive 10 poker chips
3. while the workers organize the clothing in a roped-off area, the participants shop at vendor booths, check out the goodie bags, and snack on the provided refreshments
4. an announcer tells everyone they can enter the roped-off area
5. when a participant leaves the roped area, she gives a poker chip to the attendee at the exit for each item of clothing she takes out
6. there are dressing rooms; if something doesn’t look right, the participant returns the item of clothing, gets her pocker chip back and re-enters the clothing area
7. at a certain point everyone is asked to leave leave the clothing section while the clothing is reorganized and items from new arrivals are added
8. steps 4-7 repeat as long as there is interest

My strategy was to make a beeline for the tops and dresses because I always need more of these. Sadly, everything I liked seemed to be S or XS, and I was too put off by the aggressiveness of the other swappers to delve any deeper. It was crowded and stressful–not my shopping style at all. So I focused on the accessories table, since size isn’t an issue there. Eventually, I also found a pleated khaki skirt to try on.

The dressing room turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the experience. I knew that the skirt shouldn’t look good on me, but it fit. However, both women in the dressing room told me not to get it. I love that! Later I found a couple of cardigans that my fellow swappers in the dressing room told me were keepers.

By the final session, many swappers had left or were mingling outside the clothing section. This is when I found it–a knit dress with princess seams that fit!

There’s a wide band of ribbing around the waist and a clever zipper detail coming down from the scooped neckline.  Interestingly, if this dress had been in my closet, I probably would have donated it to the swap because it’s definitely been worn and loved by its original owner. But for me, it’s a welcome new addition to my closet. Sadly, it has no labels whatsoever, so I have no idea who makes it.

If you’re considering attending a closet swap, here’s the strategy I’d take:

1. Begin at the accessories table while the smaller-busted swappers clear the S and XS items from the dress and tops racks.
2. Observe other large-busted swappers going to the dressing room and keep an eye on whether they return something that you like.
3. Browse the racks at the very end to see what treasures have been returned.
4. Wear pretty matching bra and underwear. It’ll make you feel good about yourself whether you find something or not. I saw one woman standing in front of the dressing room mirror in dingy, torn, cotton granny pants.
5. If you have business cards for bra fittings, full-busted blogs or full-busted clothing, be ready to hand them out. All you have to say is, “This is good for someone who may be a D cup or higher,” and they’ll look at you gratefully and exclaim, “Thank you! I’m a 36DD.” You know they’re not, but you’ve pointed them in the right direction!

As I wore my “new” dress to church the next morning, I found myself daydreaming about the possibilities of a full-bust themed closet swap. Wouldn’t that be neat?

1. We’d bring all the mail order items that we never got around to returning and all the bras that we discovered weren’t perfect for us once we cut off the tags.
2. We’d have booths with reps from all the full-busted brands so that we could try everything on in person. The designers would be there so that we could give them immediate feedback.
3. We’d have seasonal details like coat and jacket vendors in the fall and swimwear vendors in the summer.

But here are the challenges:

1. Would there ever be enough tops and dresses? The problem is that once a full-busted woman finds a top or dress that fits her perfectly, she either wears it into the ground or gets a stain on the bust the first time she eats something while wearing it!
2. Are there enough full-busted women in enough parts of the world to hold regional swaps? I could see London being a great swap headquarters, but could we get enough participants to come to NYC, Chicago, Atlanta and LA? We don’t want transportation costs to exceed the value of the experience.
3. How would we publicize it? This is always the challenge, but I think as more full-bust clothing brands and blogs develop, we’re coming up with the right terminology to attract the right swapper.

What do you think??

This quote from his blog also does a good job of explaining things:

Today practically no off-the-rack suits and very few custom jackets are made with high armholes. Perhaps this is due to the ease [with which] low armholed jackets slip on and off (high armholed jackets are a bit more difficult, usually one arm at a time). Yet jackets are meant to be worn and if a jacket is uncomfortable or badly made (low armholes are a bad design) I do not want to wear it. I take it off. At least that part is easy thanks to the low armholes…

Last year, an image consultant told me that she has clients who flail their arms about to show how difficult it is to move and how stiff they feel in the jackets she puts them in. Her answer? She tells them that they’re not supposed to be comfortable in jackets!

Sadly, she’s both wrong and right. She’s wrong because in a perfectly fitting jacket, you would move so freely that you would have no qualms about keeping one on all day as you sat in front of your computer.  She’s right because most of us are unwilling to spend the money that such a perfectly fitting jacket would require. As I mentioned yesterday, even alterations are expensive. With so many business casual dress codes, the cost per wear of such a garment becomes pretty high (although the likelihood of wearing it increases with the fit!).

Now here’s the wakeup call I received while writing today’s Campbell & Kate post: If we could afford custom-made blazers with high, narrow armholes, we’d discover how low and wide the armholes are on almost anything we’d want to wear beneath them! The fabric bunching beneath our armpits would make this very clear. Suddenly off-the-rack tops and dresses wouldn’t be good enough for us. We’d want to have everything altered or custom-made. Such a dilemma.

I’ve mentioned before that we have to pick our battles. Even though it’s sacrilege to say, sometimes “good enough” will have to do. The challenge is figuring out when that is.  Maybe as I continue to come up with the wardrobe list that I wrote about earlier this month, I’ll discover when that is for me. What about you?

Finally, to inspire us all to continue to care about little details like these, I leave you with these photos of sleeve alterations made by Extra Petite.

but looks like half-opened shutters from the front.

As you know from her recent post here, Holly of The Full Figured Chest is revamping her wardrobe. When she told me that she’s been looking for a basic suit jacket for weeks with no results, I could relate because I’m ALWAYS looking for a basic blazer that looks as good over my large bust as it does over my back. Here are links to past posts on this topic:

Possible Solutions:

1. Buy a blazer that’s too large and have it altered.  This post goes into the cost benefit analysis of doing this–and that’s only after you’ve found a tailor that you trust. (One criteria: you have to love the blazer enough to spend the money, which is why I returned this jacket.) I’ve been meaning to try this solution forever. Perhaps Holly will try it for one of her upcoming Hourglassy pieces (hint, hint).

2. Go the made-to-measure route.

If you’re in the United States, my friend Tina loves the service that she gets from Tom James. Even with made to measure, however, she goes through up to three fittings to get the fit just right. This is why I do NOT recommend a service where you simply send in your measurements. Sadly, this is now Moi-Meme‘s approach; they select from one of 72 patterns for your measurements and no longer offer alterations.

In 2009 I reported that Rebecca & Drew offered made-to-measure jackets, but you won’t find them on their website today. However, they do plan to offer them again in the fall, and only through their showrooms in NYC and Houston–smart move.

You can also try Tina’s great Maria Ficalora find–another option that I still want to try one day.

And there’s custom clothier Jennifer Dule. You can see her amazing blazer in the photo I took of her at the Bra La Mode event in January.

If you want to travel, I highly recommend a vacation to Hoi Anh in Vietnam. Amass frequent flier miles and spend your days reading by the beach between fittings.

Do you have other in-person custom options that you can recommend?

3. Grab something from Pepperberry. I’m cheating by linking directly to their site instead of a past post about them, but I haven’t tried one of their blazers yet. However, June of Braless in Brasil recently had a pretty good experience with one.

4. Go for jersey blazers and jacket-like cardigans.

Jacket-like cardigan example
Marketa’s Free People Find  (This also shows that hooks can be our friend. And don’t forget zippers.)

Miscellaneous links to past blazer hits and misses

Buxom Blazer Discovery . . . single button below the bust
Blazer Shopping with Marketa
Felix Felton Fail at Anthropologie (Part 1 and Part 2)
Red Worth Jacket on a Size 8 Who Wears an F Cup

I love tee shirts! I own so many that my boyfriend sometimes gives me a hard time about it (the drawer is almost overflowing…). When I see a tee shirt design that I really like, I have a habit of buying it even if it only comes in a size that’s way too big for me. I also get a lot of free tees from press events, courtesy of my varied freelance editorial jobs. I rarely turn down a free shirt, but more often than not, your only choice is a men’s large or XL. Well with just a little bit of sewing know-how, you can turn those boxy blah shirts into a fitted, feminine shape.

For this project, you will need:

1 oversized tee shirt
1 tee shirt that fits you perfectly (to use as a guide)
Chalk
Lots of pins
Needle and thread
Scissors

Here is the shirt I chose. It’s actually not that big on me, but the shape is pretty unflattering, the sleeves are too long, and the sleeve seams are way out of place.

Start by turning the shirt inside out and cutting off the arms. Try to keep track of which one goes with what side.

Next, lay it out on a flat surface with the front facing you. Smooth it down so there are no creases or wrinkles. Take your perfectly fitting tee shirt, turn it inside out, and lay it over the oversized one, again with the front facing you. Line them up along the top of the shoulders.

Take your chalk and make a mark on the oversized tee where the sleeve seam will go.

Using the fitted tee as a guide, draw a line up the side of the oversized tee. This is where you’ll sew. Draw an armhole about the same size as the original one, but starting from your new shoulder seam and stopping at your vertical chalk line. Repeat at the other armhole.

Now place pins along the vertical chalk lines.

To re-attach the sleeves, first turn them right side out. Slide the sleeve inside the armhole

Line up the sleeve with the chalk mark. First meet it with the top of the shoulder. Place a pin here, perpendicular to the sleeve’s raw edge. Now shift the sleeve into approximately the right placement so that the bottom of the sleeve is located at the chalk mark. Most tee shirts have a seam on the bottom of the sleeve (parallel to your arm when you’re wearing it). You want this seam to meet up with the shirt body’s vertical seams, which are denoted by your vertical line of pins. The placement of the sleeve doesn’t need to be exactly along your curved chalk line; the most important thing is to get it flush with the armhole without any gapping and get that sleeve seam in the right place. Stick a pin at the bottom of the sleeve now, again perpendicular to the sleeve edge.

A view of the inside of the sleeve, with the pin placed at the base, perpendicular to the sleeve edge (and parallel to the sleeve seam).

Now place pins approximately along your chalk mark to hold the whole sleeve in place.

Doing it on side of the sleeve that doesn’t have chalk is a little trickier. Try to line it up so there’s the same amount of space between the sleeve’s edge and the armhole’s edge as you had on the chalked side. Start pinning at the shoulder and use each preceding pin as a guide until you reach the base of the sleeve. When that’s done, remove the perpendicular pin from the shoulder and the sleeve base. Repeat for the other sleeve.

The non-chalked side. That fat strip of fabric on the right is the shoulder seam.

Finished pinning the sleeve.

You’re now ready to sew. Start with the armholes. Beginning at the base of the sleeve (at the sleeve seam if there is one), sew along your pin line all around the open armhole. Remove the pins as you go. Repeat on the other sleeve.

Finished sewing the sleeve.

Now sew down the vertical pin lines, going from the base of the sleeve down to the bottom hem. When you turn the shirt right side out, the armpit should have a nice T where the body seam, sleeve seam, and the line where the sleeve is attached to the armhole all meet. It’s okay if it’s a little off, but the T is the result you were going for.

You’re done. Turn the shirt right side out and try it on. If it looks good, you can turn it back inside out and cut off all the excess fabric along all the seams so that there’s no bulk. Here’s a photo of my finished shirt:

I should probably make it a little shorter, to help keep it from bunching up around my tummy so much…but I’ll save that for another day.

And here’s the original tee again, for comparison:

Yesterday I stumbled upon a blog post called Adventures in Underwear that would depress any full-busted reader who didn’t know better. The writer’s post makes it sound as if our boobs are doomed to a prison of industrial strength granny bras for the rest of our lives.  I know better, so it depressed me for an entirely different reason:  It means there’s a giant percentage of full-busted women in the world who don’t know about the great options available to us.

Last February, I met a woman who wanted to open a bra store in New York City just for D+ women. That was great, except she didn’t realize that a good number of stores in NYC already sell D+ bras. She also didn’t know anything about the vibrant, international community of D+ bloggers. How had she missed this?

For one thing, D+ bloggers may not be doing everything we can to get the word out.  I’m one of the biggest culprits because I’ve been blogging for almost four years without a blog roll. As blog readers, I hope you’ll tell other busty women about Hourglassy and the blogs on my new blog roll.  I know I’ve accidentally omitted some blogs, so please let me know who they are!  Right now the list isn’t organized in any way, but I do have favorites that I hope to highlight soon, and some are far more active than others.

2. Good News

Another bra maker (based in New York) is concentrating on G and H cups and looking for fit models. Are you interested? If so, let me know. I’ll be posting more details as they become available since I don’t even know whether they use UK sizing or the band size range they’re looking for in their models. This is all I have so far:

My company is now looking to expand on our resources for fit models.  We are currently looking for G and H cups.  I’m not sure if any of your clients would be in that size pool, or if they’d even be interested in being “fit models”.  In case you’re not sure, fit models are only used within the design studio and do not show garments to a room full of people.  They would be fitting with the designers and occasionally show a garment to the merchandiser, but not an audience so to speak… Do you think some of your clients would be interested in stopping by our office to be measured/fitted and or open to the idea of fit modeling (compensation is roughly $50/ hr).

May 18: Here’s more information–you can contact the company directly through the email provided below. I was sorry to learn that they use the +4 method . . . I’ve already sent the designer links to the Bra Band Project, but keep in mind that companies that have a lot invested in a traditional way of doing things are unlikely to be able to change overnight–there are a lot of people who have to be convinced.

As far as underbust measurements, btwn a 34 and 44 band size?  We measure the American way so a 29-30” rib cage translates to a 34 band size for us (but of course some of that is based on personal preferences and comfort depending on the woman).  I hope that helps clarify.Also, at the moment I am focusing on finding G and H cup models, but am not limited.  Our size pool is from C-H now… we do have existing fit models, but are always in the market to expand on the model pool/figure types, especially in the larger band sizes like 38 and above (most women at this size are very shy about fit modeling in that range).  If it’s easier for you, they can email me directly at this address: design@prettier.com.

3. More Good News?

Frankly, I’m excited about Wacoal’s recent acquisition of the Eveden Group (Freya, Fantasie, Elomi, Fauve, Goddess, etc.). If Wacoal builds on Eveden’s great fit options while adding its own high quality standards, we are in for some great new products . . . and hopefully all the old ones that we’ve come to love and depend upon. A lingerie store owner that I spoke to recently, however, had a different take. She felt that Wacoal’s distribution is so widespread that G cups will become common in every department store, giving your average bra shopper even more chances of putting herself in the wrong size bra. My take? If the major outlets don’t offer enough sizes to begin with, then that woman has even less chance of being put into the right bra! But I can understand an unspoken concern she might have–do you think bra fitters in small lingerie stores will become obsolete if department store racks become filled with all the D+ sizes we’ve been clamoring for?

E.  Fantasie Smoothing Balcony Bra #4520

Pros: The center gore tacks perfectly, no quadraboob, and it’s great under low cut tops. Super reasonable in the $50 range (I link to Linda’s because she offers it for $49.)

Cons: I jiggle when I wear it, and you saw the lift in yesterday’s pics.

D.  Fantasie Rhiannon Balcony Underwire Bra #2222 (I link to Bigger Bras because it’s my only advertiser selling the Rhiannon right now–and most of the colors and sizes are on back order.)

Pros: AMAZING lift as you saw in yesterday’s second pic. Just what I like. Also wide and deep enough to go under wide and deep necklines.

Cons: I swore I’d never buy another contour cup, but with this lift I couldn’t resist. Besides, it’s much less bulky than my old Le Mystere Dream Tisha, and it’s less east-west than my old Panache contour cup bra. Unfortunately, as with all contour cups I’ve experienced, it adds a little bulk so that even my Campbell & Kate 14L won’t button smoothly over it. It’s pricey at $74, but the cost-per-wear is going to be excellent. Also, they try to make it interesting with the lace pattern, but it just isn’t a pretty bra.

B.  Wacoal Romantic Inspirations #85569

Pros: It’s pretty and it was 25% off because it’s past season.

Cons: It’s a LOT of bra. It didn’t actually fit perfectly in the store, but after my good experience with the Wacoal Alluring and because of the discount, I thought I’d give it a chance. Meh. Plus you see the old-fashioned pointiness in yesterday’s pic. EVERYONE who answered the quiz got this one right!

HOWEVER, it looks like Wacoal is really trying to revitalize its image, and Barenecessities is offering free shipping AND RETURNS on all Wacoal bras until June 3. Wacoal now offers some pretty styles in G and H cups for 32+ bands. I might be taking advantage of the offer to try these:

Wacoal Seduction Demi Underwire is $50
and includes sizes 32G-38G.

Wacoal La Femme Underwire is $58
and includes sizes 32H-38H. I would
order it in hot pink!

A.  Curvy Kate Emily

Pros: Remember how I said I’d give the 36GG a try? Well, I’m glad I did. Plus, everyone recommended the Emily, and they were right–it’s super pretty and comfortable. I had fun wearing it for the first time Monday under a matching coral cami. I can comfortably wear it on the middle hook. It’s definitely not too loose.

Cons: The lift is about the same as the Fantasie 5420, and on my shorter frame, the side of the cups cut into my underarm. I only noticed this while getting dressed and then while walking at the end of the day–nothing about this bra made me notice it while working on the computer throughout the day. The underwire continues to go past the ending of my breast and to leave some space at the bottom of the cup, but it’s actually better than my new Wacoal. I may try it in 36G in the future.  At $67 it’s not cheap, but the only Curvy Kate bra cheaper in the States is the $65 Daily Boost that I’ve been hearing good things about.

C.  Panache Masquerade (or Harlequin?) Persia 6581

Pros: Super pretty and very comfortable. Very little elasticity anywhere. Gives my breasts the shape I like. (I’m not sure why it’s so hard to find this style online. I’ve linked to Herrom above, but it’s also available from Figleaves.) By the way, you can see a photo of a 28FF wearing this in the just-launched Bra Band Project pics.

Cons: As you saw from yesterday’s pics, the lift is meh. The lace at the top of the cup doesn’t lie flat against my breast. Also, because of the pretty straps, they won’t adjust the full range.

Can you match the bra to the lift? I was going to spell it out for you, but I thought a quiz would be more fun. Just answer in comments by putting the letters in the order that you think I’m wearing them. For example, you would answer CBAED if you think that from left to right I’m wearing the Masquerade, Wacoal, Emily, Fantasie 4520 and Fantasie 2222. I’ll post the answer in the comments tomorrow!

]]> http://hourglassy.com/2012/05/the-highs-and-lows-of-my-new-big-bust-bras/feed/ 5 http://hourglassy.com/2012/05/the-highs-and-lows-of-my-new-big-bust-bras/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HOURGLASSY/~3/DjJVRjy_yvM/ http://hourglassy.com/2012/05/low-coverage-roundup-for-d-cups-and-up/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 15:52:44 +0000 Darlene C. http://hourglassy.com/?p=4856 I don’t have a roundup of my favorite posts for you this week, but Holly of The Full Figured Chest published my guest post this past Friday on a topic I’ve been wondering about for a while: “Can large busts do delicate?” It turns out to be an enormous subject, and I only scratched the surface with a discussion of how to wear delicate jewelry. When you read it, please share your experiences with “doing delicate” in the comments, plus any advice you have for the next part of this topic, how to wear delicate clothing.

One reason I didn’t catch up on blog reading this weekend is that Mr. Campbell and I attended a party given by Holly’s parents in honor of her recent wedding. I’ve posted pics of her fabulous gown on Pinterest, and if all goes according to schedule, you’ll find a guest post about it from Holly this week!

There are so many great photos and stories, I had a really hard time picking my favorites. If only you could vote for four, or five…but no, you only get three votes. Of course my first vote had to go to Brittany Jencks, of the website Thin & Curvy. It’s one of my favorite big bust blogs.

So that left me with only two votes. I had to set myself some rules to help narrow it down, since all the contestants are beautiful and confident. Some of the ladies have really beautiful photos but a very short personal statement, while some have a great personal statement, but the photos didn’t grab me as much. So rule #1 was that the personal statement must say something actually personal, not just “I want to be Curvy Kate’s model.”

Rule #2 was that the model must be wearing a size that looks correct. No obvious ill-fitting bras allowed. I could see quad-boob and bands riding up the back in some of the photos. I have no doubt that Curvy Kate would fit these women correctly, but if I’m voting for someone to represent the big bust market in the U.S., then it’s important to me that the winner have a really good understanding of size, especially her own.

My third and final rule was that I wanted to place at least one vote for a woman of color. The U.S. is such a wonderfully diverse country, so I want the top 10 finalists to reflect that.

My last two votes eventually went to Krista Cousins and Bonnie Blackmon. Krista’s big smile really captured my attention. She’s also from Brooklyn, and I just couldn’t resist a fellow New Yorker. At only 29, Bonnie is the oldest contestant, and says she still feels sexy even after two kids. I love that! And I’d love to see Curvy Kate use a wider range of ages among their models. Women don’t turn into pumpkins at the age of 30, you know! (Or a pair of pumpkins, as the case may be…)

Who did you vote for, and what was your criteria?