Realty check - body image

[Kitsune06]

Yesterday DH took me to my favourite store and the owner, my friend, got me all dolled up in some fab new outfits including the total alpha b**ch work clothes. hmmmm Well, that was cool and made me feel wonderful, even though some of the sizes were a large....

Then we went to a very nice bra store and I was fitted properly. It's been a few years. I used to be a nice tidy 34C. Well, now I'm a 34D, and in some brands a 34 DD

This is pretty conflicting. I hate to spend $155 on a great new bra that actually fits when I'm just beginning to get back into shape. I don't know what to think of the extra size in those cups And, of course, DH has no idea why this is an odd and difficult time for me and how I feel about my body.

Anyone else find bra shopping difficult, unfun and sometimes terrible for body image?

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

Welll I actually had kind of the opposite experience recently.
A couple years ago I was pretty solidly an A- or something. With my hair cut short and a bandanna on, baggy shorts, I could actually go topless without getting second glances. I hated bras. They rode up, the shoulder straps slid down, etc etc, I said 'Eff this' and started wearing sports bras all the time.

...then they started to be sore etc. Very uncomfortable. Hated wearing bras.
...
had a funny little thought around a month ago, and decided to raid X's underwear drawer, found a C and put it on. I was amazed at how close it was to fitting. Went to the store and realized I was comfortably a B+, not quite a C. Wow. I mean Wow. Shocked.
and this happened at the same time as the waist-trimming and sculpting from all the running around and order processing at TE... so I realized all of a sudden that wearing a 'real' bra (not a smooshing sports bra) did really nice things for my bod and I looked so much better in more form-fitting clothes than the uber-baggies I had been wearing all the time.

So yeah.... I'm happily at 36B now, but I'm kinda wondering if I'll be at 36C next year (?) but it was nice.

[Wahine]

I'm a solid 36 A. It's not easy to find a 36 A and like many other women here I don't want a whole lot of extra padding. DH calls those FAB - false advertising bras. Any way, I've just started to go braless except at work. I wear tight tees and the whole bit. Don't care anymore. But hey, it's important to be comfortable in your skin so you need to do what you need to do to feel good about yourself. As for my smaller than average breasts, DH says that anything more than a mouthful is a waste.

[bmccasland]

Since my weight has fuxuated, am essentially a size larger than when I moved here 5 years ago, but that menopause thing has really messed me up. So I took myself to Victoria's Secret, begged for mercy and got fitted again. Just because I wore a 32 b-c ten years ago apparently doesn't mean it fits now. They put me in a 34 c, then handed me a box full of 34c and suggested I try on several to pick ones I like. Took awhile, but it was the right thing to do. In fact I forced a friend of mine to do the same thing when she had me go shopping with her - she's large chested and always wears sports bras, but needed to get something that fit to wear under a nice dress.

Clothes - I find that sales help makes the difference. My current favorite is Banana Republic because their sales people actually help, and will tell you when something doesn't look right. When I lived in rural areas I did a lot of catalogue shopping, but would often get clothes that didn't fit right (especiallly slacks and skirts).

And shopping in general - being short, and medium build, I've never had much of a selection in the 'petit" department; until I moved here. That *inbreeding* of French bloodlines means there are LOTS of short people in this city - I'm no longer short! I'm average height. It is very strange to be taller than some men in the office!