Just What are all my Bras for Anyway?
Hey all! Sorry for the little break in posting, I’ve been terribly busy with school. I’m into the last month of my semester now though, so once April hits I’ll have a lot of posts to catch up on. There’s a lot I want to talk about!
Now, onto the content.
Despite how many bras I review, I don’t end up keeping a ton of them. Even bras that I’ve reviewed highly often end up sold to someone else. The reason for this is that different bra styles serve different functions. Let’s take a look at my Ewa Michalak bras as an example. Almost all the bras I got from EM fit well, but they were also all plunges. For practical reasons, I’ve decided to keep only two bras (Technically four, as I also have two that are currently too small, because I could easily fluctuate back to my smaller size in the warm months). This is because I don’t like to show a ton of cleavage, and in lower cut tops you get quite a lot on EM plunges. I do love their extremely lifted shape for under sweaters, but not so much that I need five of them!
Thinking of bras in terms of functions has helped me plan what I’ll need (and what I’ll want, let’s be honest), and helped prevent me from spending too much money on impulse. It’s allowed me to figure out which of my bras are unnecessary and can be sold for cash. I used to be unable to plan to this extent because I wasn’t aware of all of my options, so I would just search for anything that fit. Now that I know I have quite a few options, I can plan accordingly. So what I’d like to do now is take you through my bras and their functions, and show you the areas where I could use more or less bras.
Here are my current categories: Every day bras (classified by having higher gores and great support, comfortable for many hours of wear), home/wireless bras, period bras, T-shirt/fitted clothing bras, strapless/multiway bras, sports bras, and fancy bras. Now here’s what I have to fill those categories:
Miss Mandalay Paige x2: Everyday bras
Miss Mandalay Paris: Everyday bra (cannot wear on period)
Fortnight Mira: Comfortable home bra/Period bra
Ewa Michalak PL Stalowka: T-shirt/Fitted clothing bra (cannot wear on period)
Ewa Michalak PL Black: T-shirt/Fitted clothing bra (cannot wear on period)
Panache Andorra x2: Period bras
Cleo Marcie: Everyday bra/Period bra (The wide wires and loose upper section make is amazing for period boobs. My god)
Shock Absorber sports bra: Sports bra (clearly…)
As you can see, I don’t have a strapless/multiway bra, or any fancy bras (I mean like super fancy), and my only “t-shirt bras” are plunges, which I don’t like wearing as frequently as higher cut styles. Not to mention, my everyday bras that I can actually wear at all times of the month are quite limited. So according to what I have, I’ve developed a list of bras that I’ll be looking to get in order to create a well rounded bra wardrobe. From that list, the bras that are currently on their way to me are:
Fantasie Susanna basque in petal/ivory: Fancy bra!
Fantasie Rebecca in beige: T-shirt bra (the perfect T-shirt bra, I should add)
Freya Just Flew In Longline: Everyday bra
Avocado Kyoto bra: Everyday bra (I am VERY excited to try this brand)
Ewa Michalak HP Kobalt: No idea, this is mostly an experiment to see if I like the HP shape.
Of course there are many more bras on the docket to be purchased (The Deco Longline to fill the strapless/multiway void, or to stock up on more everyday bras that can also be worn on my period, like the Cleo Bella), but they are not available to purchase yet. I’m really enjoying planning this much though! It gives me a lot of time to think about whether any given bra is really necessary, and it’s helping me not to double up on styles that I don’t wear frequently.
Embarrassingly, I actually have a photoshop file that gets updated pretty often that features pictures of all the bras that I currently own and have my eye on, even including bras up to the autumn/winter 2013 season.
The letters “S” or “W” indicate whether the bra is from the spring/summer or autumn/winter seasons (except in the case of the two Mimi Holliday bras. They are technically from this autumn/winter season, but since I’ll be buying them in the spring I just tacked an “S” on them). Green check marks mean I have paid for the bra or it is on its way to me, purple check marks mean I have received the bra and now wear it.
I forgot to put PL Black in the document! Whoops!
I don’t expect anyone to be an anal as I am about planning and budgeting for bras (I really just enjoy it), but thinking about bras in terms of functions has been extremely practical in my experience, and I’d suggest it to anyone who’s looking to build a new bra wardrobe. Make sure to think about what is functional for you. Some bra buying guides want you to get every kind of bra and the kitchen sink. If plunges don’t work for you, don’t get a plunge. Hate balcony bras? Don’t get one. Just think about that functions you need your bras to perform, and go form there.
Windie
Oh my goodness you are so organized! I need a system like this. Although everything would be in the “needlessly fancy” category 🙂
Sometimes my need to organize can be a curse 😛 Reorganizing my Pokemon card collection once a month, when I rarely even look at it, is just not a necessity, and yet…
And the number of layouts my lingerie drawer goes through is just crazy. I don’t think I’ll ever find a set up I’m 100% pleased with.
The fact that all of your items would end up in the “fancy” category is something I very much enjoy about you haha
Brilliant! I love it. So organized!
Thanks 😀
Very disciplined of you! I tend to see a bra, fall in love, order & return it (and so on). Alternatively, I’ll find one that fits, and get a bunch. I actually like this less, because I love being able to keep trying more. I have to ask, where did you get your Avocado bra? I want to try that brand!
I actually got it straight through their website, they ship internationally! Unfortunately their payment options are very limited for international buyers though, and bank transfers tend to be the way to go. Since they skip double letters in their sizing system make sure to accomodate for that. I ordered a 28H and it fits really nicely, even though I wear a UK 28FF.
I love this post because it speaks to what I recommend to my customers: Start thinking of your lingerie drawer as its own wardrobe that complements the clothes you wear on the exterior. You don’t have to buy five versions of the same bra because they are like a Swiss Army knife and work with everything. You can mix things up!
By the way, I can’t wait to read your thoughts on the Fantasie Susanna!
I used to be the person who would buy three of the same bra, but now I’m really starting to appreciate some variety in my drawer!
Oh, I have Susanna now 🙂 I’ll get a review up as soon as possible. I will have many good things to say about it!
Some of the styles in the pictures I didn’t recognize. Can you list what they all are? I know you have a list above but I think there are more images than items listed? Especially the two plain black ones and the pale blue look like they might work for me, so would love to know what they are.
Also I just got my first avocado bra too and love it. Have found a few other polish companies lately that make 28s too, but don’t seem to ship internationally, unfortunately, but very pleased that at least avocado do!