Cups and Bands 2013-12-04

[Professor Marvel]

Let's all raise our cups in salute to 'Sali's new endowments. Looks like this shopping trip is gonna be a bust.

A cowboy goes into a lingerie store to buy a bra for his girlfriend.
The salesclerk asks "What brand of bra does she like?"
The cowboy doesn't know, so she says "Do you wanna Playtex?"
"I reckon that'd be fun, ma'm," the cowboy replies, "But my horse is double parked."

[Catawampus]

. . .the world of fashion is definitely not geared to the short, round female body type.

The world of fashion is not geared to human body types in general.

Has anyone noticed that Sali's clothes keep changing? When does she find the time and why is she carrying so may different ones. She started in a dress and a under tunic. Then she lost the blouse and was wearing just the tunic and skirt. Now she is wearing sports shorts and a cut off top, or at least it looks like one. So why the many changes?

I figured that it was the same top she's been wearing all along (just shoved up a bit for ease of measuring what was hidden beneath it), and that she was wearing the shorts under the skirt since she seems to be a rather modest young siren.

I wonder how many busty gals Paul knows?

The info in this strip is way too detailed for a man's knowledge.

Or else there's something about him that we don't know about!

the only drawback to this plan that i currently see, is as Monica puts it, the trial and error of finding the correct sized cup from different manufacturers, and even styles from the same manufacturer... you probably might not get that correct without her being there when you buy it... unless that's going to be tomorrow's/friday's lesson.

Which is exactly why I generally haven't bought fit-dependent clothing for any of my girlfriends unless they were actually present to try it on first. Especially when the girlfriend has, as one less than entirely tactful sales clerk put it, "weird size".

[Julie]

I find it interesting that M is saying that Atsali should never change her band size when trying on bras. While I'm not a believer in the concept of increasing the band number and decreasing the cup size to make a fit for non-traditionally-sized women, I do think it's important not to fixate on the band number as immutable. I technically measure as a 36 around the ribcage just under the bust line, but 36 bands frequently cut into my skin painfully, even on the largest hook setting. Also, the whole "not all bra makers size the same" rule can be applied to the band size. I'm comfortable in a 38 band on most bras, but I've had to go up or down a band size in certain bra designs and manufacturers. The band measurement should be just a kind of starting point for trying things on...not a hard and fast rule. But then, that's my opinion.

I wonder how many busty gals Paul knows?

The info in this strip is way too detailed for a man's knowledge.

Paul has long been an advocate of non-traditionally-shaped women and making sure that they have access to knowledge (of how to ensure a fit and good style) and clothing (where to find stuff for non-standard bodies that requires less tailoring) for their body types. It's one of the many reasons I'm a fan.

Wrong!!! Men need to know this as well. Without this kind of knowledge any attempt to buy lingerie for someone is doomed I tell you, DOOMED!!!!! Nothing worse than to get the wrong size because no matter what is wrong she can take it as a message you are sending beyond the one you intended. At best it only means you are not paying attention to how she looks and her personal detail. At worst you are asking her to changing to match your desires. Either one is bad.

While you have an excellent point in favor of male bra-knowledge, I'd think that the lack of uniformity in sizing would make buying lingerie for your S.O. impossible...unless of course you're just buying another color or pattern of a bra she already owns and loves. For me, at least, trying on the bra at the time of sale is essential...even when I'm buying an identical replacement of a bra I've worn for ages simply because you never know when one bra was cut a little shorter than the next...or if the bra that's been worn for so long has stretched out enough that you don't realize you've actually gone up a size. More power to you for trying though!!

I know the battle all too well... You can get two bras from the same display in your size and one will be too small and the other too large. I've even had larger marked bras fit too tight and smaller marked bras be too big. There's no rhyme or reason to it. About the only place I've found with any consistency is Victoria's Secret.

They're only consistent because they aren't providing access to a whole smattering of bra designers/manufacturers. If they have multiple manufacturers on display, it can't be more than 3 or 4...and they probably design a lot of stuff just for V.S. so the sizing could more easily be standardized to meet the store's requirements.

The other alternative, which I use, is buy a gift card at a good bra shop and give her that. Don't be cheap with it either as these items will cost more than K-Mart does and will last a lot longer.

...so really a big voucher for 'victorias secret' would be better...

Definitely go with zachariah's recommendation for a gift card to a good bra shop. They typically will do fittings and have excellent advice for not only how to tell if your bra fits but what styles by other manufacturers might be of interest and what sizes to start trying with a different company. I'd only recommend giving her a gift card to V.S. if she's within the "normal" size ranges (nothing bigger than a DD) and is very comfortable with her knowledge of bra sizing...and if she's interested in a more limited selection of items that may or may not be of the quality associated with their prices.

Then again, I'm kind of anti-Victoria's Secret since they tried to convince me for a LONG time that I was still a DD and that the bras I tried on were fitting just fine. It was a shock when I was finally told that I was too big for their bras and probably had been for a while...and then when I was properly sized and learned I was actually 5 or 6 sizes bigger...yeah...not a big fan of people who were more interested in making me buy their product than ensuring that I was wearing the right undergarments.

[kingklash]

Also, in the 21st Century, this will also be good info for those new dads with young daughters, because you never know when you need to attend to a future Bra Shopping Emergency, and having this knowledge will immensely cut down on awkwardness on all sides.

[Fairportfan]

surely if you want to try for a surprise for her, a sample bra nicked from the drawer would be better??? but make sure you save all receipts, so she can get the right size...
so really a big voucher for 'victorias secret' would be better, if she is opening her present with older family members present...

Heh. And then there's "opening the Christmas gifts when your thirteen-year-old daughter opens the wrong package in front of your girlfriend-of-whom-she-does-not-approve":

alicexmas.jpg (145.26 KiB) Viewed 8854 times

[Wyvern]

Thanks for that reminder of the past; Alice was a fun web comic.

[Dave]

Comes a bit late... but Microsoft is working on a "smart bra" which can monitor its wearer's body state and emotional moods, and provide feedback.

The stated intent is to help warn away from the "I'm going to eat junk because I'm depressed" syndrome.

If Atsali had been wearing one of these, with the right sensors and software, she might have gotten more advanced warning of her upcoming blossoming. Of course, she wouldn't have perceived any need to wear one before That Night...

[zachariah]

surely if you want to try for a surprise for her, a sample bra nicked from the drawer would be better??? but make sure you save all receipts, so she can get the right size...
so really a big voucher for 'victorias secret' would be better, if she is opening her present with older family members present...

]

This quote is a combination of a few other quotes. I suspect you killed a few quote markers in order to keep it legal for the forum. But it does misrepresent mine, and others comments. Please be more careful in the future. I get in enough trouble with my sense of humor without being misquoted.

[txmystic]

This is waaaaay more art than science. My wife has to go through similar ju-jitzu when shopping for jeans...her waist/hip ratio is outside the bounds of off-the-shelf products...

[ShirouZhiwu]

I have generally figured out that clothing makers fail at standard inches/cm. Why exactly they fail at elementary school math I don't know. I would brush it off as marketing types at work, but that doesn't work when it makes you sound fatter than you are.

[zachariah]

For some odd reason I have found that no clothing for sale has consistent sizes for anything. Shoes, socks, pants, dresses, shirts, etc. It varies between brands, stores, sweat shops, and what we make ourselves. I have lived all over the world and found the same thing everywhere, no matter what scale is used, or material. I suspect it has entirely to do with how the items are made. No matter how the various pieces are cut to the same size the machines, or people, who assemble cannot perform the same action the same way twice in a row. This means sizes are merely a reference for approximate size of the item, not something can be depended upon. So there is nothing to be done but try them on. Sad but true.

[Wyvern]

There are devices in prototype now for fully automating clothing manufacturing. (Expect to see yet another wave of unemployment when this happens, by the way.) This doesn't mean clothing labeling will get any saner...

[Fairportfan]

Thanks for that reminder of the past; Alice was a fun web comic.

He did a few posts last year and the year before, too. Most recent was October 2012...

[Catawampus]

Comes a bit late... but Microsoft is working on a "smart bra" which can monitor its wearer's body state and emotional moods, and provide feedback.

The stated intent is to help warn away from the "I'm going to eat junk because I'm depressed" syndrome.

I remember reading also about a bra that would send a message to an e-mail account (or maybe it was Facebook or Twitter) every time it was taken off. The idea was that it would thus remind women to check for breast cancer. I'd imagine that it could also lead to a few problems if somebody else were able to read your e-mail account, though. . ."Honey, why does this say that your bra was taken off last evening when you were over at Bob's place?"

Then there was another that would work as an EKG and send the signal to your smart phone, so that you could monitor your heart rate and prevent heart attacks.

I think that my favourite two designs, though, are the one where the cups can be removed and used as gas masks, and the one that has a flexible computer keypad built into the cups. I'm not sure whether the later has the keyboard oriented to be used by the wearer, or if it is to be used by others. . .

They're getting all sorts of fancy additions these days, I may have to start wearing one myself. If nothing else, it would give me a place to stash my wallet and keys.

[loxmyth]

a flexible computer keypad built into the cups. I'm not sure whether the later has the keyboard oriented to be used by the wearer, or if it is to be used by others. . .

Just don't ask about the equivalent garment for guys which functions as a joystick.

[illiad]

hey guys, make sure you use the **preview** before you submit..... and remember to go back and edit out those mistrakes!!!

Remember a lot of these comments help new guys in a few years!!!

If a post is getting very long, I copy to textpad, to do it properly.. :E

Catawampus: there are MANY things only created for ad promotion reasons, like those... the stupidest was a 'computer in a wig'!!! the most often is fashion shows, where the poor model wears some crazy creation that is totally impractical for any other use, except to show off the eccentricity of the designer, so they can get front page of a specialist mag....

[kingklash]

hey guys, make sure you use the **preview** before you submit..... and remember to go back and edit out those mistrakes!!!

Remember a lot of these comments help new guys in a few years!!!

If a post is getting very long, I copy to textpad, to do it properly.. :E

Catawampus: there are MANY things only created for ad promotion reasons, like those... the stupidest was a 'computer in a wig'!!! the most often is fashion shows, where the poor model wears some crazy creation that is totally impractical for any other use, except to show off the eccentricity of the designer, so they can get front page of a specialist mag....

...and multiple hits on sites like FARK.

[Julie]

For some odd reason I have found that no clothing for sale has consistent sizes for anything. Shoes, socks, pants, dresses, shirts, etc. It varies between brands, stores, sweat shops, and what we make ourselves. I have lived all over the world and found the same thing everywhere, no matter what scale is used, or material. I suspect it has entirely to do with how the items are made. No matter how the various pieces are cut to the same size the machines, or people, who assemble cannot perform the same action the same way twice in a row. This means sizes are merely a reference for approximate size of the item, not something can be depended upon. So there is nothing to be done but try them on. Sad but true.

Which is why I wish that clothing companies would use actual measurements to "explain" their sizes instead of arbitrary numbers or "Large, Medium, Small" designations. If, for example, a dress was "sized" with numbers representing the bust, waist, hip, and skirt length measurements instead of a single number which essentially means nothing, then people would be better able to shop for themselves and their loved ones (and I might consider shopping for clothing online instead of insisting on going into the store to try things on).

[Opus the Poet]

For some odd reason I have found that no clothing for sale has consistent sizes for anything. Shoes, socks, pants, dresses, shirts, etc. It varies between brands, stores, sweat shops, and what we make ourselves. I have lived all over the world and found the same thing everywhere, no matter what scale is used, or material. I suspect it has entirely to do with how the items are made. No matter how the various pieces are cut to the same size the machines, or people, who assemble cannot perform the same action the same way twice in a row. This means sizes are merely a reference for approximate size of the item, not something can be depended upon. So there is nothing to be done but try them on. Sad but true.

Which is why I wish that clothing companies would use actual measurements to "explain" their sizes instead of arbitrary numbers or "Large, Medium, Small" designations. If, for example, a dress was "sized" with numbers representing the bust, waist, hip, and skirt length measurements instead of a single number which essentially means nothing, then people would be better able to shop for themselves and their loved ones (and I might consider shopping for clothing online instead of insisting on going into the store to try things on).

What you're asking for is how men's clothing used to be sold. Pants were waist and inseam, coats were chest and sleeve length and most had either a short or long designation for those of us with torsos outside the norm could get something that didn't look totally ridiculous. When I was graduating HS I wore a 34 waist pant with a 29 inseam and a 48 long coat with a 33 sleeve. My shirt had a 22 collar and a 33 sleeve. And no I didn't play football. I was in dance, picking up girls (and then walking around with them over my head).

[Julie]

For some odd reason I have found that no clothing for sale has consistent sizes for anything. Shoes, socks, pants, dresses, shirts, etc. It varies between brands, stores, sweat shops, and what we make ourselves. I have lived all over the world and found the same thing everywhere, no matter what scale is used, or material. I suspect it has entirely to do with how the items are made. No matter how the various pieces are cut to the same size the machines, or people, who assemble cannot perform the same action the same way twice in a row. This means sizes are merely a reference for approximate size of the item, not something can be depended upon. So there is nothing to be done but try them on. Sad but true.

Which is why I wish that clothing companies would use actual measurements to "explain" their sizes instead of arbitrary numbers or "Large, Medium, Small" designations. If, for example, a dress was "sized" with numbers representing the bust, waist, hip, and skirt length measurements instead of a single number which essentially means nothing, then people would be better able to shop for themselves and their loved ones (and I might consider shopping for clothing online instead of insisting on going into the store to try things on).

What you're asking for is how men's clothing used to be sold. Pants were waist and inseam, coats were chest and sleeve length and most had either a short or long designation for those of us with torsos outside the norm could get something that didn't look totally ridiculous. When I was graduating HS I wore a 34 waist pant with a 29 inseam and a 48 long coat with a 33 sleeve. My shirt had a 22 collar and a 33 sleeve. And no I didn't play football. I was in dance, picking up girls (and then walking around with them over my head).

That is precisely what I'd like to see. Then again, my husband recently went shopping for new jeans and discovered that the measurements provided have less meaning than they used to (a 36 inch waist fits differently when you go from skinny jeans to "normal" jeans to jeans that were meant to be worn sagging...and he didn't immediately catch on to the distinctions between the styles ).