Waiting for the A cup revolution
It’s a revolution out there! Or so I hear. Women with small breasts are taking over the world! Cosmo told me so. Or maybe it was Glamour. I can’t keep these magazines straight. The New York Times told me so. Everything is changing. Within a week or two, Christina Hendricks will be getting reduction surgery. She’ll ask her surgeon, “How small can you make them? Can we go down to a double A?”
“But Christina… your career…”
“JUST DO IT!”
Every time I go bra shopping, I write a post about it. It’s like I can’t even help myself. Because every time feels like a revelation. When I was fitted for a strapless bra to go under my wedding gown, the saleswoman was very impressed with my maid of honor’s breasts. She measured me at a B and, losing interest, left me to fend for myself. Sort of like how the runt gets abandoned sometimes while the healthy cubs gobble up all the resources. My tiny voice from the darkened corner of the cavernous dressing room shook a little when I cried, “Can anyone help me find a bra? A bra for my wedding? I’m so cold…”
Since then, I’ve hesitated to buy another. But since I got my last practical bra at Victoria’s Secret, it is tattered and threadbare and managing to flip itself inside out while being worn, and just being all kinds of cheaply made in general.
(I’ve never had a bra that looks like this. Mine are always boring colors. source)
I’ve gained some weight since I last went bra shopping. My breasts are a little bigger. They look huge to me. I stare at them all the time. I catch myself pushing them together with the sides of my arms. You know, just casually, while I’m talking with people. At a nice restaurant, across the table. I’m pushing my boobs together a little and glancing down to see if it’s working and then grinning triumphantly. It’s all very subtle.
So naturally, I thought that when I finally bought a new bra, I’d get refitted, just for fun, and the saleswoman would say, “Oh my! Double C! What excellent breasts you have!” Double C? I have no idea how big sizes work.
Instead, she said, “Well, let’s try a B, but I’m thinking A will work better.”
And, shockingly, A did work better. The A cup bras I tried on looked like they maybe fit. Their massive wads of padding made it look like my breasts stuck out a lot farther than they do. There were only four or five bras in the store in my size. They were all padded.
I bought one. I went home. I felt as though I’d been demoted. How had I been mistaken for a B cup for so long? How were my breasts at their plumpest unable to break through to a mere B? I palmed them doubtfully. I asked them, “What’s the deal? I thought you were big now!” They were silent and mysterious.
I’ve never minded having small breasts. They are really only brought to my attention in a negative way when the world tells me just how small they are. Because when the world tells me, it likes to add that small is bad. It makes its point with lots and lots of padding. Because you NEED padding, it whispers. You WISH that your breasts were bigger. We can help you with that….It makes its point with the walls covered with other, bigger, sizes. You’re ABNORMAL, it murmurs. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but there are only FOUR other women in this city with breasts as small as yours. And no one loves them. Christina Hendricks feels sorry for me. I know she does. She’s a curvy role model who the women Esquire keeps in their basement voted Sexiest Woman in the World. When is a woman ever called a role model for having little breasts? Breast augmentations, we’re told constantly, are more and more popular. Because it needs to be fixed.
I don’t want to be fixed. I don’t even want to be a cup size. I just want to be a woman with awesome, soft, interesting, and fun breasts. And I am. An A cup woman.
So really, what I want to know, is now that I’m an A cup, where’s my revolution?
(Clearly, a real revolution doesn’t require any bras at all! source)
* * *
Un-roast: Today I love the way my legs feel in soft, loose cloth pants. The yoga revolution has been a lot better for me than the A cup one. At least I get some pants that really fit out of it.
New post at Un-schooled, about my little brother going to school. Deserter!
This post appears on Huffpo here.
Kate on February 7th 2011 in Uncategorized
Sona responded on 08 Feb 2011 at 11:30 am #
I just realized that once I stopped shopping at Victoria Secret, my bras stopped having unnecessary padding. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but I tend to buy La Perla’s cheaper brands and Simone Perele. Simone Perele bras are so comfortable, and they have smaller and bigger sizes. You wear your bras everyday, so if you were to calculate the cost over the number of days you use it (versus a dress you can only wear during non-work hours), it is so very, very worth it.
Plus I don’t buy lingerie, I just buy really fancy bras and underwear ;).
Amber responded on 08 Feb 2011 at 6:07 pm #
I seem to notice that smaller boobs are recognized as being more desirable and are more marketed towards. I don’t really see a whole lot of models with big boobs and when I go shopping, shirts and tops are mostly made for smaller girls. I flip-flop between loving my 36C some days, and other days wishing I was a small B-cup. Partly because my boobs limit my choice of clothing and lots of shirts that I think are cute are made for the flat-chested (really frustrating when I can’t find shirts I like that accommidate my boobs) and it’s annoying to go running. I only get one clothes magazine that uses women with larger boobs, so I tend to buy from them because I know that their clothing will fit me, unlike clothing from other companies. Personally, I think smaller boobs are perceived more attractive, but that’s just my two cents.
jessica responded on 08 Feb 2011 at 10:19 pm #
I’m a 32 B and love my little ones! They never get in the way while running or doing yoga and they look cute in little strappy tank tops 😉 I think women are beautiful in every size but I am really thankful for the convenience and comfort that comes with smaller ones.
Stacy responded on 09 Feb 2011 at 10:26 am #
If only we could all find a bra (large or small) as supportive as the comments here 🙂
Kate responded on 09 Feb 2011 at 10:58 am #
@Stacy
That is the cutest comment ever.
Haley h responded on 10 Feb 2011 at 12:04 pm #
Hopefully the new revolution will be for the love of all breasts regardless of size. There are perks (haha) with big or small.
Eat the Damn Cake » How did my butt get this big? responded on 15 Feb 2011 at 10:52 am #
[…] breasts got bigger (though, as I mentioned before, not enough to bust through to the next cup size), my belly got bigger. There were certain little clingy dresses that suddenly looked embarrassing. […]
jstolk responded on 22 Feb 2011 at 2:00 am #
I love my girls, but lord do they cause problems. At work, while wearing an adorable cami under a sweater, I noticed my boss covertly tugging her (not low cut) shirt up while I was talking to our landscapers. I looked down and notice that my cami had slipped down a bit and the twins were nicely displaying themselves for the world to see. Luckily a quick rebuttoning of my cardi solved that problem, but even the least low cut shirts are low cut for me. But I love ’em (as does the hubs who is “not a boob man”), they’re soft, look good in sweaters, and on occasion their refusal to stay below the neckline of shirts can be a good thing.
Also, a note to all my well endowed sister: Layne Bryant has AMAZING bras in a whole variety of styles, some without underwires, and even without the extra padding AND they come in beautiful/ sexy colors and designs as well as the basics. They’re not too expensive and they offten have bogo 1/2 sales and clearence on them.
Mary responded on 25 Feb 2011 at 3:34 pm #
Have you been to the NYTimes mentioned Journelle? Seriously, they were chosen for a reason. This place has darling bralettes, sweet little underwire numbers (check out Timpa) and loads of other goodies designed to make you feel proud of whatever God gave you. The website is also awesome, and you can call pretty much any time during business hours to ask your most ridiculous questions. (and I’m full of them.) Anybody else try this place out?
Where is our Revolution? responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 12:51 pm #
Oh how I adore this post. Thank you for having the courage to speak out about this issue. I am tired of having to purchase training bras intended for pubescent girls because I can’t find a bra in my size that isn’t padded to such an extent it could be considered bulletproof. I am a grown ass woman and simply because I don’t have breasts the size of Mount McKinley, doesn’t meant that I don’t wish to feel sexy as well. Before I pass away, I would love to own just one bra in my actual size that is sexy, lacy, feminine and not padded in away way shape or form. Would it kill bra manufacturers to make a sexy a-cup bra without underwire as well? I know, I’m quite the dreamer. We need to make our voices heard fellow a-cups….
Eat the Damn Cake » lingerie shopping with Bear responded on 14 Feb 2012 at 11:33 am #
[…] “Not A?” […]