Claudette Neon Dessous Bra and Panty Set GIVEAWAY!!
I think one of you lovely readers needs some neon green in her life…some Claudette Dessous neon green that is! Together with the amazing team over at Claudette Lingerie I’m super thrilled to be part of their month-long Dessous launch and help give away one of these gorgeous green sets this week!
Buh-bye, boring grandma bras! Claudette just blows me away with their collections. Cool mesh in a range of bright colors, like turquoise, violet, and orange? How could you *not* feel amazing all day knowing you’re wearing this under your clothes?
Something I really love about the Claudette ethos (besides their jaw-dropping design!) is how gung-ho they are about fit and the needs of our market. I’ve been yammering on a lot about 28 and 30 bands here recently, and Claudette has been on top of this from the start: they’re one of the only American lingerie brands I know of to launch with a 30 band that includes full-bust sizes D-G (up to a 38 band). And, as I’ve mentioned before, they’re anxious to fit even more of us into their gorgeous pieces: they’ll be adding 28 band sizes for Spring 2013, even though they’re only a year old, with talk of expanding cup sizes to a K, too.
A company like Claudette makes me so hopeful. Women fit in a huge range of sizes, from AA to KK+ cups and 26 (and even 24!)-52 size bands. But when you still have sales assistants telling women who wear 28 backs to look for them in the kids’ section or Victoria’s Secret trying to fit all women into a DD or smaller cup, it seems like we have a long way to go in the US toward overcoming fit misinformation and helping women get into the right size bra so their breasts get the support they need. When people in the full-bust lingerie industry hold these views, too, it can feel like nothing will ever change!
That’s why we started the Bra Band Project: we wanted to do something to help overcome ingrained, preconceived notions about bra sizes, and to help women who have a hard time finding a bra that fits discover a larger range of sizes that might solve their bra woes. (Not sure what size you wear, have trouble finding a bra that fits, or feel uncomfortable in your bras? Go here.) But we also need bra companies who make these sizes, like Claudette!
The commitment to good fit Claudette has shown so far (unlike, say, other US lingerie companies, *cough* Playtex, Victoria’s Secret *cough cough*) sends a positive message to the industry and women alike: they’re here to help women of all shapes and sizes get proper support in the right size and still wear lingerie that’s beautiful.
Being fit in the right size changed everything about my relationship with my body and my chest. It’s why I’m so passionate about helping others find good fit and helping advocate for a wider range of sizes in the full-busted market through this blog, and why I appreciate a company like Claudette. So…in order to enter the contest, I want you all to help spread the braspel of good fit!
TO ENTER:
- To qualify, you must like Claudette on Facebook!
- Tell me about the first time you were fit in a great fitting bra and how it changed you and your relationship with your breasts. You can put it in the comments, or, if you’re a bit shy, you can also email me your story at info at stackdd.com. This doesn’t have to be a long essay! You can just give me the highlights and keep it simple (of course, if you want to write more, you can!
- Send me your story by Thursday at 9pm Central time
- I’ll announce the winner Friday!
- You must be a US resident (sorry all my lovely readers from elsewhere around the globe!)
- The exact set the winner receives is based on product availability
PS: You can find Claudette at online retailers including Bare Necessities, Faire Frou Frou, and Butterfly Collection and soon to come on Figleaves.
Good luck! Xx
finally after getting to my ideal weight, as we all know, breast size can change with weight gain and loss, I was able to fit my girls into a nice snug position where they stood at attention while perfecting my posture, and my shoulders did not pay the price of having the straps too tight. So even though I don’t look like a D cup, I found i was–after all those years, but they fit nicely now, and all three of us–my two girls and me feel and look great!!!
i have some small busoms, so I got a latch in front bra, which gave me more oomph and fit well, it looked like I had a chest and loved it
As my breasts grew and grew, I had forgotten what a bra was supposed to really feel and look like. I thought I didn’t have options. When I read about how to find out your real size with measuring tape, I picked up a roll immediately and was staggered to find out that I had been more than two full cup sizes off! Getting my first accurately-sized bra in the first time in years was a revelation.
I think one of the most amazing things about knowing my proper size is discovering that bras can actually be comfortable and that even a relatively boring bra can really flatter my figure.
I wish I could enter this contest so bad. I can’t because:
1) “Tell me about the first time you were fit in a great fitting bra and how it changed you and your relationship with your breasts. ”
This has never happened to me before. I just recently found out my true bra size, I thought I was a 36DDD (US size) and I’m slowly coming to terms with what my new size entails, honestly it’s been hard.
2) I’m a 32H. So too big for many “full bust” brands, adding insult to injury :-p
To be honest, I still have never had a properly fitting bra. I wear ones that will “work” but I just can’t bring myself to spend the money on a good fitting bra. (I think I wear a 34I but could be very off on that after reading all your tips) I would love, love, love to win this so that I can finally see how it is!
As my breasts grew and grew throughout my teen years, I spent hundreds of dollars at Victoria’s Secret, each bra fitting worse than the previous one. I didn’t know how a good bra should fit, I didn’t know a good bra could make my breasts look amazing, I didn’t know a good bra would make clothes fit properly. Worst of all, I didn’t know that constant back pain and sore breasts are NOT a normal part of wearing a bra. I guess I just gave up at a certain point. I wore $12 Target bras in size 36DD for years, ignoring the pain and habitually stuffing my breasts under my armpits to disguise my perpetual quadraboob.
Less than a year ago, I had finally had enough. I felt disgusted that here I am, a college-graduate and capable woman, and I’m facing the world with a part of my body that I am ashamed of and causes me discomfort on a daily basis. So I set out to fix my bra problem. I discovered the growing collection of bra bloggers and learned how to measure myself; turns out I’m a 32G/30GG! I became enamored with the shape of Ewa Michalak bras, so I ordered several, and haven’t looked back since. My breasts are large, but they are also supported, round, fun, pain-free, and absolutely perfect for my proportions. I honestly never knew I could love my breasts this much!
In high school I developed the habit of always wearing a shelf-bra tank top over my regular bra to make up for the fact that I always felt like I was falling out the bottom of my bra (and because I thought I looked much better when my chest was squished down). Then when I was in college, Victoria’s Secret stopped carrying my 34DD bras in the store. One of my roommates who worked at Victoria’s Secret assured me I was probably just wearing the wrong size (since a small-framed girl like me couldn’t possibly have a DD chest) and that I should come in so she could fit me. She was taken aback when according to her chart I was a 32DDD.
I continued to order 34DD bras online from Victoria’s Secret until one day I realized, if I was buying bras online I might as well try one of those sites with bigger sizes. I was lucky enough to find my now favorite bra on my first try, and WOW. To wear just a bra, without that extra layer. I don’t think people realize how much it changes how you feel, physically and mentally, to be able to shed the extra “protective layer” and not have to walk hunched over with your arms crossed under your breasts.
I learned a long time ago that it wasn’t worth my time to worry over the stares and catcalls. I just shrugged when a golf instructor told my dad my chest was too big to be able to golf correctly (although they were both mortified.) I even thought it was funny to find out a few weeks into a new job that the men in the office had nicknamed me “Big Boobs Katie.” I mean, come on, get more creative than that! I thought I was OK with being the girl with the big boobs, but since having found a bra that fits, I’ve realized I really wasn’t.
Before, I tried my hardest to cover up (which can be hard, since even the smallest v-necks always seemed to show too much.) Now I’m a lot more comfortable wearing shirts that I would have never worn before. And I think they fit better, too. I just bought some of those built-in bra tank tops you mentioned in another post, and I am SO excited to wear strappy tanks this summer.
I’d always heard friends talking about how great it makes them feel to know they’re wearing sexy bras under their clothes all day and felt a little left out because they didn’t make them in my size. Now I know that cute bras in my size do exist, but haven’t been able to justify spending money on a bra just for looks. I would love to win this set!
Anyway, I’ve officially written more than anyone else on here, so I’ll just end with this: Thank you for this site! I only discovered it a couple months ago, but I’ve already been clued in to some great products I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. I’m still learning the ropes (and coming to terms with the fact that in many cases even DDD isn’t enough), and you’ve been a big help.
My first proper bra fitting happened in college, with my then boyfriend footing the bill. This opened my eyes to a whole new world of sizes, styles, and fabulous shapes – and made me realize that my breasts are neither too large, nor too small, they are mine – and perfect exactly the way they are.
I’m loving these stories!! Keep them coming, ladies!!
The first time I was actually fitted for a bra, instead of just guessing my size, it was literally like a revelation. I may have small-ish boobs, but it was like the bra I had on wasn’t even there as opposed to the uncomfortable-ness I had experienced up until that point. I had been wearing a 34B and it always seemed to just not fit, for whatever reason. Turns out, I’m actually more like a 32 C. Also, now that I actually fit into the cups and band, I kind of really like my small boobs. I don’t have anymore desire to have my boobs “fixed” based on some arbitrary bad feelings that had arisen from my not actually fitting into any of the bras that were my supposed size. True, it can be frustrating to find bras in my size, because many stores only carry my size in basic nude or black, and many stores/brands don’t even have it, but it was totally worth it to find out.
I wore too-small bras for years, where the band was too big and the cups too small. I didn’t really know any different, though, so I was incredibly surprised to find out my true size when I finally went to a small bra boutique–I’d been about 4 cup sizes off! I was dismayed by the lack of selection available in my “new” size, but at least the two new bras I bought fit well. I went through a stage in high school where I really loathed my chest size. I have finally accepted and come to terms with it, but I’d still greatly appreciate having a wider variety of stylish selection available to me and others in a similar place.
I’ve always loved lingerie but as a young woman I had no idea that not only do times change, but breasts change, lol. I was convinced that being a size 4 at the time (as well as convinced I had itty-bitty breasts) I would buy the 34B without thought. Though I noticed that the straps either dug in or slipped off, breasts fell out of cups etc I thought that was the norm so I sailed along in my youthful ignorance. Several years later, when I could no longer resist the lure of upscale brands calling me was when I became more…cautious about sizing. If I was going to invest in such beautiful pieces I need to be right. Trying on a stunning designer line at the time, I was surprised to be shown that I was actually a 36D (sometimes DD!). ‘How can my little itty bitty boobs be a D?’ I mused aloud with confusement. I realized that pop culture had subliminally taught me that ‘big boob’s hung down to navels, and the lies of pop culture measurements had me thinking D stood for droop. Such scandal, such lies, I was taken by surprise that I was *cough* busty! In that moment the clouds parted with the coloratura strains of angels, and I floated into a word where french lace, Italian silk, swarovski crystal and neon mesh draped the contours of my frame and where I evolved from being a mere ‘B’eauty to an unparalleled ‘D’elight ;D <3 #TheEnd
When I was growing up, I was always very insecure about my breasts. It probably began when I was in the fifth grade and my mom handed me a bunch of wireless sports bras and told me it was time I started wearing a bra, because my nipples would show through my shirts otherwise. Needless to say, I was mortified—and so began…something. When I went to junior high, all of the other girls had colorful, fun bras, while I was stuck in enormous, ill-fitting white, black, or beige contraptions that even a grandmother would disdain. Every time I went shopping for bras, usually twice a year, I would be told by the fitters that I had to go up a cup size and several band sizes. At 14 I was wearing a DD cup in the widest band I could find—but it seemed to do nothing. No matter what size I squeezed myself into in the morning, within hours the band would be riding between my shoulder blades and my breasts would sag unsupported. I couldn’t wear the clothes my friends wore, and I was too embarrassed to go shopping or (heaven forbid) swimming. I couldn’t do sports because it hurt too much to move any faster than a walk. I was known as the girl with the boobs, and as much as I tried to conceal them I still seemed to attract crass comments and catcalls from classmates. I was constantly being pulled aside by teachers, my parents, once even an utter stranger, and told that what I was wearing was “inappropriate” when it wasn’t my fault that clothes fell differently on me. With all of the additional pressure from the media, my classmates, even my friends and family, I grew convinced that I was grossly overweight, abnormal, a freak. What was worse, no one corrected me.
About a year ago, I first became aware of full-busted bloggers. I was convinced that I was in the right size bra (a miserable 40DD), after having been told so by fitters from every department store I could find, but I still found relevance in the experiences I read about. I was astonished that sizes existed beyond the dreaded double D, which I had mentally equated with cartoonish balloons. As I read, I started to adjust to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t some kind of mutant. Up until that point, I had seriously been considering getting a reduction, which I now realize would have been wholly unnecessary and possibly one of the worst mistakes I could have made. In the fall I headed off to college, and lo and behold, there was a boutique nearby that specialized in full-busted bras. I visited as soon as I could, entering the store filled with a mix of nervous anticipation and excitement. The fitter had me remove my shirt, did a quick evaluation of the dire state of my bra, and told me that she had just what I needed. She left for about five minutes and returned with an armful of bras in more colors and patterns than I had even dared imagine: green with black lace, blue stripes, pink polka dots, orange and purple flowers! She showed me how to put on a bra and helped me into the first one. It was the strangest thing. I couldn’t feel it! For so long I had equated wearing a bra with pain—aching shoulders, pinching elastic, sharp poking underwires—but in this bra, I could hardly feel a thing! My boobs didn’t droop anymore. I no longer resembled someone’s grandmother. I had a waist, and it was tiny! Looking at my reflection in that mirror, for once truly supported, I felt beautiful—unreservedly, without exceptions or addendums, beautiful—for the first time in my life.
I can honestly say that discovering my size, as well as the wonderful online community of full-busted, blogging women, has been a revelation. I’ve got more confidence than ever before, and what’s more, a new hobby! So far, I only have two bras in my size since it’s all I can afford, but I have a wishlist a mile long, busty friends asking me for help discovering their size, and an ambition to enter Star in a Bra. I love my body like it’s totally new, and revel in my lovely 34Gs.