For local recommendations, I went to this placed called “Just Like A Woman.” I got measured there, because it had been /forever/ and they were very nice and knowledgeable. I am a G cup and they had stuff in stock. They will also order stuff for you there as well.

I feel you on the boy shorts Lesley! I hate them, they total ride up on me and they fit me weird. I just like plain old “granny panties”. Love it or hate it, I don’t give a damn. lol

@JonelB I totally relate on the clothing limitations and not being able to get nerdy clothes! I envy those shirts, and even the print-your-own sites charge like $30-$40 per. I just can’t part with that kind of cash.

As for getting measured Lesley, you really need to go to a speciality store. I went to Nordstrom once, and I was bigger than the sizes they had, but the sales lady still kept trying to jam me into their sizes so I would buy stuff. I also felt very uncomfortable. The lady put us in one of the smaller dressing room, so you can imagine how that was. The big deathfattie and this thin white lady in one of those tiny rooms. She looked so uncomfortable too and like she didn’t even know what to do. When I went to the Just Like A Woman store, it was soooo different. They had actual like fancy dressing rooms that were /rooms/ with one of those fainting couches and a vanity table and stuff. She was a younger thin woman, however she was very professional and I felt like my fatness didn’t even phase her. She brought several different sizes for me, in several different styles, talked to me about the pros and cons of each and even insisted that if I wasn’t sure, then I shouldn’t buy it. She said if doesn’t feel like it’s a good match, she’d be happy to find more and we have all day. It was just a really great experience. Because, as you know, each bra is cut differently. So the “right” size in one bra is going to be completely different than the “right” size in another and one really has to just try it. I’m sure you’re familiar with that process! lol

Of course, that place is all about specialty cases. They specialize in mastectomy bras, and sizes up to 56K and all that. I found it by using LiveJournal and going to the community for my local and just being like “I’m have HUGE boobs, anyone know where I can go?”

This is kind of an awkward question for me…how does one “try out” underpants? I mean, do you just buy one size and take them home and if they don’t work you buy another one? Can you try them on over your underpants in the dressing room? I always got the Hanes 5-pack growing up. However, I’m sized out of that option now. I’ve bought a multipack from Woman Within; but they’re /terrible/ quality and literally start falling apart after one wash. So I’m trying to buy the single ones at places like Avenue/Lane Bryant. Since they’re like $10 a pair though, I worry about wasting that money. It is just one of those things we have to deal with? (How embarrassing is it that I have to ask strangers on the internet because I don’t have anyone else? lol)

Another question, are y’all okay with being addressed as Lesley and Marianne? Or would you prefer something more like Miss Kinzel and Miss Kirby? Or Miss Lesley and Miss Marianne? Or whatever combo.

And if you’ve looked at the lace-trimmed Valmont underwire camis that they sell now, just be warned: not only are the cups huge, but they are in totally the wrong place. My boobs do not actually need to go in my armpits, and I really do not need the cup to be pointed AND off-center so my boobs look wall-eyed, thank you very much. I’ve had that problem with other bras from JMS as well. I don’t know what kind of fit model they’re using, if any, but she must have a very unusual body shape.

While LB is an offender with this, Torrid is the absolute worst.

I have no idea what the quality is like, though, so was hoping someone could advise…

Anyway: Bare Essentials on 202 in Wilmingon, DE. Worthwhile.

Anyway, I too have searched all of creation for a bra that fits and have only recently found a solution that works for me. I’ve tried 38 D’s, 40 B’s, 42 C’s and all other sorts of size combos. I wore underwires for a long time but finally got tired of the poking and pinching feeling I get from them. Wouldn’t wear anything but super-padded molded cups (even though they feel uncomfortably hot to me) because I hate nipple show-through. My other problem, and the most irritating, has been bra straps that constantly slip off my shoulders. No matter what cup/band size or adjustment I tried, I could never get the darn things to stay put, and racer-back sports bras give me a headache. I was about to give up on comfort altogether when I recently discovered Bali bras with a u-back design for straps that stay put — and it actually works for me. I finally found my personal “Holy Grail” bra with their all-cotton, no-wire version of this bra. Not especially glamorous, but I’m finally cool, comfortable and not tugging at band and straps all day! The sad part of this is I think their size range is quite limited…. they may go up to a 42″ band size and D cup….but they do carry the hard-to-find 40 B!

I’ve also been able to kiss hot supermolded cups goodbye with the discovery of Nippies (that’s the name, I kid you not) on amazon. Nippies are silicon nipple covers that painlessly stick to your skin and provide fantastic coverage. I can even go braless if I want, and not a peek from the nips! I’m not affiliated w/ the manufacturer in any way (and other companies make similar products) but what a find! I wish I had discovered these options long ago when I felt so stuck wearing bras that I hated. Anyway, maybe this can help someone else.

On a slightly related topic, I have a friend who wears lacy bras under smooth shirts, and it really shows! How do you tell someone about this tactfully? Or just forget about it?

Some people in comments (and there are also scads of posts on this subject on the livejournal fatshionista community) have recommended local places – I think that for a lot of people, LB alternatives are going to be smaller, more personally run stores like the place Sarah discussed in the comments above. I’d love to see more recommendations like that.

In the meantime, the alternatives I’ve tried… I can’t honestly recommend them.

I know that you guys are limited by your actual experience, but I was still a little disappointed.

This is a great issue, I see so many women wearing the wrong Bra size. I will have to take the tip to lossen my bra straps as I know my band is the right size.

How do you know your band is the right size? It goes across your back, it does not raise towards your neck.

I was reading a page in (believe it or not) the Sears catalog and it had all sorts of tips and tricks for a more comfortable fit. One of the things that they said more often then any other tip was to increase your cup size. So many women wear too small a cup size.

Your breasts should rest between your shoulders and your elbow, right in the middle. Many women are either too high, or too low.

I have always been heavy, but small chested. For most of my life I wore a 38B thinking I could do to wear a 38A.5 if they made it. A few years ago I had a large weight gain, since then I have had back pain and often felt strained wearing anything but a sports Bra for longer then 8 hours (work, regular bra, then sports bra, day off, sports bra all day) It wasn’t till I went to the Maiden Form Outlet (As in my area of NY anytime I looked at LB for bras they only had D and up and only C in thin icky Bras, see I need some sort of padding or thickness as I am paranoid about nipple showage) and the woman there suggested I go up in cup size, and that my band size could stay the same. I was sure I needed a 40 at least if not a 42. Turned out I needed to go up to a C (and I swear my boobs didn’t look any bigger) and go to a 40, the 38 cut off my air supply. I ened up finding two models that felt great, one Maiden Form Brand and one Lilyette. Thick straps, hot colors (Black, blue, bright purple) and all, and the panties there were hot looking too and fit great.

When I was young (a late teen as my breasts didn’t come till I was 15 and came over night) I never had the box bra problem, my mother was a firm believer in buying pretty underthings. We women see this one garment more then anyone else would, and at that age we were the only ones to see them, so we might as well please ourselves. I love having matching sets, when I have old underthings or they don’t fit right I feel ugly. When I have soft, nice fitting items on I feel amazing. (Oddly, one of my sisters can’t stand my style of under things and can only wear granny panties, she loves her hanes.)

Also, my niece has issues, she is 16, a DD, and hates underwire, try finding a bra that large without it. She was forced to wear nursing bras, Maiden Form Outlet again to the rescue

As for getting fitted, the only time it was ever accurate was going into an old lingerie run by a tiny old italian woman (must be something about the accented women) who didn’t measure me but asked me to put my hands up, felt around under my arms and cupped me and then turned around and wrote down my measurements. For the dress I needed she didn’t have a foundation garment that was smooth on top so she sent me to David’s bridal with the size, in and out of there in 5 minutes and $90 less I had a great foundation garment.