If you're under that magic size 36 band, though, there are not a lot of options. You're stuck with your local department stores, who may or may not know what they're doing. I have had both the best and worst fitting experiences of my life at my local Dillard's, years apart. (The worst involved telling the bitchy old lady in lingerie my size--a 38C at the time--and her flat out denying that I was that big. I cried.) However, even if you do get a good fitting, the bras in the small band/large cup range are extremely limited. Locally, I can find three brands--Chantelle, Lunaire, and Wacoal. Now, Chantelle we briefly touched on in a review, and I will say, they make a nice bra. But it'll cost you your first born child and a leg. Lunaire, well, they make a lot of sheer bras. And unlined bras. And bras that offer less support than a crack dealer at an NA meeting. There's a reason the sales girls never suggest a Lunaire bra.
Wacoal, on the other hand, has a pretty wide selection at the upper end of the size range. And the sales girl will always tell you about how a lot of women really like this one, or this one offers great support. And some of them really do offer great support, on the rare occasion that they fit.
And that's my first problem with Wacoal--I can never find one that fits. Maybe my boobs are weird, or maybe it's because Wacoal is originally a Japanese company. While they do have a branch in America, I just have trouble trusting a company founded in Japan with bras for bigger breasts. I'm not trying to be racist here, but Japanese women are not exactly known for having enormous gazongas. Despite what you may see in anime, most Japanese girls do not have exceptionally large breasts. I'll admit, it could totally be my boobs--it probably is. I mean, surely those bras fit some women. Otherwise, they'd've gone out of business years ago.
However, the fit is not my only complaint. I'll admit, my standards are a bit high--I want good fit and support, a reasonable price, and I want something pretty. Every woman deserves pretty underthings, regardless of her size. I don't care if you weigh 500 lbs and the paramedics have to haul you out with a crane, you deserve a pretty bra that fits.
Wacoal makes some of the most hideous bras I've ever seen.
It doesn't even look good on the mannequin.
The really terrifying thing is how well their bras photograph. If you look up some of their stuff online, it doesn't look half bad. But when the fitter brings you a handful of them to try on, it will make you cry. The one above is one of the ones that was available in my size at the time--it gave really good support, just like the fitter said. But it was so hideous on that I wanted to cut off my boobs.
This is actually one of their more attractive bras. It's unlined, with massive straps, no lining, and scratchy fabric. I've actually tired this one on, and the straps were also insanely short. Maybe I just have abnormally high shoulders?
This one is typical for what passes for pretty in a bigger size in department stores. The picture really doesn't do it justice--like I said, this brand photographs really well. You need to go to your local department store to experience the true hideousness.
I'd have more pictures, but the old lady working at Dillard's was eyeballing me funny so I had to take off.
I realize that there are certain features that you really need on a full busted bra. The straps do have to be wider to distribute weight, and you have to have at least three hooks or it's completely useless. You have to have larger underwires, and the bra just has to be bigger in general. But, as we've seen in previous posts, having big boobs doesn't mean you can't have a pretty bra that fits. There are plenty of bra manufacturers who manage this--why can't our stores stock these bras? The problem with Wacoal is that they, like most American bra shops, have this crazy idea that full busted bras have to be ultilitarian, nude or black, and hideous. While they have been making some attempts at making them prettier, I still question the fit--am I the only one who finds they bag toward the top of the cup? Whose boobs are they making these things for, anyway? I have never tried on a Wacoal bra that fit properly, so they certainly aren't making them for mine.
Either way, the problem remains that the largest maker of full busted bras in America has no idea how to dress a full bust, much less how to do it with style. And, let's face it, this is a problem that is encouraged by department stores, and it's not a problem that solely exists with Wacoal. America has this idea that anything over a D cop is enormous, and anything that uses the rest of the alphabet is impossible. If we had more options, companies like Wacoal would have to step up their game and start producing bras that are not only supportive, but also help women feel confident and sexy.
