Life in the Cheese Drawer

i’m going to talk about lady underwear in this post. if you don’t want to read about it, or about my trials and tribulations finding well-fitting ones, then i suggest you leave.
go on. i’ll give you some time.
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i hope who’s left is ready to read about sports bras, because that’s what this post is about (and what goes in them. i’m sorry if you don’t want to know about that. you gotta leave if you don’t!) (LEAVE!)
ready?
ok.
the day i got properly fitted was miraculous! finally i was wearing bras that fit around and in. i’ve suggested to so many ladies to get a fitting since then, since if i was wearing the wrong bra, i’d bet they were too.
but, the sizes of an everyday bra that fits well does not mean you can translate that to a sports bra that fits well. as a more well-endowed person on top, it’s not as easy as going to target and pulling a champion racerback off the rack in large and calling it a day. that’s possibly the worst thing you can do.
first, let’s talk about the uniboob. the uniboob is what comes from those $15 racerbacks you can buy at target. for those of us with a cup size larger than B, this means constant uniboob sweat running down between the girls, rivulets of salty water collecting on the band and soaking it through, causing chafing along the underboob. not fun.
so i had to find a sports bra with an underwire, which at least prevents the uniboob and rivers of sweat. but to find a comfortable one? well, there’s the rub.
the first time i started running, i actually wore two bras at once. i know more than one woman who’s done this. to get the support i needed without the commitment of a $60 sports bra (oh yes, they do cost this much), i wore two old regular bras at once that i didn’t wear on a day-to-day basis with the bands hooked far in and straps hitched as much as possible for maximum (but not enough) support. i did this until i decided that yes, i was going to run regularly. thankfully this didn’t last long.
then i plunked down the $60 for a freya sports bra. i wore freya regularly for about 5-6 years of running, putting up with chafing and poking and digging because i thought that’s what ultra-supportive sports bras were supposed to do: make exercising as uncomfortable as possible so you get done sooner. plus that was my go-to day-to-day brand, and i loved those.
but then i tried on a moving comfort maia last year and LOVED it. it was cut nicely along the armpit so it didn’t chafe, the band was soft, the hooks in back didn’t rub. but now it’s ready to be replaced. and they don’t make that brand anymore – it was bought out by brooks.
*****
enter amazon wardrobe
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AW sucks. i went on amazon to buy my sports bras because they’re about $20 cheaper each than going to a department store. unfortunately, i wanted to try on brands that no brick and mortar carries and in who knows what sizing? so i had to order 4-5 bras at once to try on, which i’ve done in the past. i just return what i don’t use.
the first one i looked at offered AW. i could order clothes, have them delivered at no charge, then return what i don’t use and only get charged for what i do keep. hallelujah! that was perfect, and my credit card wouldn’t be charged.
i added it to my AW cart then went off to find others to try on.
no other bra was offered in AW. what. amazon, this makes no sense. if you want AW to be a thing, you need to make all your prime eligible clothing available for AW.
so i ended up ordering 5 bras at average $50 a pop to try on. i’ll return what i don’t use and cause amazon some extra work because they can’t figure out how to make AW useful.
*****
back to bras: a short review
panache non-wired: this one promised a molded fit to keep the girls separated, but no such luck. i ordered my regular size, and there was probably more separation than a uniboob bra, but there wasn’t enough. also, it’s been so long that i haven’t worn an underwire, that i don’t feel supported without it. the part running under the armpit seemed a little stiff – like it was digging in a little bit. i liked the colors of it!
glamorize underwire: talk about full coverage, holy cow; this thing went up to my neck. it was an underwire though, and i did feel supported. the band was a little weird in the front – it felt like the wires weren’t padded up enough, and i was worried that i’d start running and i’d get a ton of chafing. i also felt like the construction was not quite there and i would probably end up replacing it after 5 months. i want these sports bras to last at least a year.
brooks maia (replacement for the one i had): this was very similar to my old one despite the buyout, which i was pleasantly surprised by. the thing was that the cup size was not my ideal, so i decided to go with another. it’s a great option for a backup bra if nothing else is out there!
panache wired: this was 2nd place. this was great – it has an option to hook into a racerback, it was supportive, and the thing i liked most was about a half inch extra fabric on the hook side so there was no poking in the back after the hooks started to pull out from use. (i’ve had that happen. scabs on your back along your braline are not good.) the only downside was that the area under the armpit was kind of high, so when i did a forward fold (namaste!), it dug into my arms. and the fabric was a little rough.
syrokan wired: winner winner! i was so skeptical. this is a $27 bra, which was the first red flag. the second was the reviews saying it ran small. so i ordered a bandsize up, and i’m glad i at least decided to try it out. while the panache wired seemed more bulletproof, this one was a little more flexible on the underarm area, and the fabric was light years softer.  and it’s so inexpensive that if it deteriorates after 3 months, i won’t feel bad for having at least tried it, then i’ll order the panache bulletproof one. if it lasts a year, huzzah! in fact, i think i might actually order a second right now just so i can rotate two of them, which will probably help with longevity. a couple downsides to this one:  the cup size only goes up to F – which with the larger bandsize i got works fine. also, the hook end of the back could use a little more fabric leeway on the end of it to prevent poking. since it is a little large on the band, i’m going to wear it on the middle hook and call it good.