So today I received an email ad letting me know that a bra I had been wanting is back in stock. Excitedly I clicked, and with great anticipation I went to my size and….nothing. Nada. Not one color had my size.
Now for those of you who still are blessed with perky cute little breasts that could be headlamps, one of the truism that nobody tells you is that as you age those pretty, perky adorable little boobies are going to become hanging lamps. It doesn’t matter how big or small or you. They will eventually touch your belly button.
The issue that I confronted today, and honestly every day when I get dressed to leave my house (which honestly, since I began working from home, is not as often as would be deemed healthy) is that while we age, it seems bra manufacturers do not know that women of a certain age need a differently developed chest enveloper. Or maybe they truly don’t understand how women’s bodies change with age, nevermind with child bearing. You would think that in their development department someone would have actually told them that there is really a market out there for the senior woman who needs a bra that isn’t quite frankly a torture chamber.
(Yes I know that not every woman gives birth. Listen, simply because you were born with the plumbing doesn’t mean you need to use it. Not every female wants to be a mother. But it also doesn’t save those taut little hills on your chest from slowly looking like a flattened sand dune in the aftermath of a hurricane. Gravity afterall takes it toll on all of us.)
I think one of the interesting things about bras and older women is that quite frankly nothing fits. And it’s not that I haven’t had fittings, and measured myself, and am willing to spend money on a decent bra. Honestly if I found something that was comfortable and fit I would even consider a 2nd mortgage on my home at this point. They just don’t make them for those of us who have certain band/cup/sensory needs (and don’t get me started on underwires).
My entire body changed during and after perimenopause, menopause, and honestly after breast cancer. I was lucky enough to only need a lumpectomy, but that also changed the shape of one of my breasts, as did the daily regime of post treatment treatment.
I am smaller in my rib cage and larger in my cup size than I have ever been. I honestly believe that the powers that be that buy and sell bras only buy 1 of my size for the entire country and once that is sold they have no more. Another really aggravating reality is that bras made by the same company never fit the same way twice either. In fact, you have to try on bras of the same style to make sure they fit the same way as well. And of course, if you find a bra from one manufacturer that fits you, at least somewhat, it doesn’t mean that another bra made by an entirely different company in the same size is going to fit the same way.
Listen, all I am asking is something very simple. Bra companies need to remember that not every woman wearing a bra is a 25 year old cheerleader, basketball player or amazonian princess. The largest growing age dynamic in the country is us, the unimportant woman. Maybe take some time to ask us what we need, want, and would even like to see when it comes to our unmentionables.
Just a thought…..