BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Jan 17 - 04:35 AM

I agree Thompson, we all looked so different back then. I have photos of myself and friends in the late fifties and we were absolutely sylph-like. We were well-fed in my view, on plain, simple food, plenty of vegetables and fruit, wholesome stuff with no snacking or take-aways. Sweets were still rationed during my childhood. And of course we didn't sit down much (no TV or the Internet)!
I didn't like gym at school (I'm not in the least sporty) but no girl possessed anything resembling a sports bra. I actually wore a 'liberty bodice' as a child (!)
I must say, I think the young lassies of today look lovely in their special sports clothes doing their gym, exercise machines, yoga etc. Lycra has helped to provide supportive yet stretchy garments. Very pretty and practical.

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Jan 17 - 04:14 AM

So true, Senoufou - and if you look at photos of us all in the 1960s, and of 1960s crowds, for instance at festivals such as Woodstock, everyone looks positively scrawny compared to the modern rounded look. We're experiencing the reverse of what the skinny Jazz Age folks experienced compared to their Edwardian mothers and fathers, who looked years older with their rounded faces and figures - even including the people of World War I, who looked so solid and moustachioed (the men, anyway) and sofa-busted (mostly the women).

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Jan 17 - 04:04 AM

It's interesting that women's breasts are getting larger. Just after the War, most women were a 34B. I knew no-one with a bra size larger than that. I believe that at present the average size is 36D. And in shops such as M&S, one can now get K cup bras, which would have been unimaginable then.
I wonder if this is due to general overeating and obesity, hormone changes due to the Pill, a more fatty diet, earlier onset of puberty or a combination of all those?
Average waist size has gone up too. We all had waists of about 22" -24", but now it's 28" -30".
I don't do any sport, but I would love to find a front-fastening bra in my size, as my arms are a bit stiff and it would make life easier. Sports bras are rather too cumbersome and robust for everyday wear.

Regarding this (or any other thread) I don't see why people can't discuss clothing, male or female, and relevant problems. It's an interesting subject and we all wear clothes (well, I'm assuming we do!) I know Steve has in the past said he hates being 'trussed up' in tight clothes, and his main aim is to be comfortably-dressed, which I totally relate to. Underwear is just as much part of our everyday lives as outerwear.

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: Will Fly
Date: 03 Jan 17 - 03:49 AM

The last time I had a drink in a brassiere was at La Coupole in the Boulevard de Montparnasse in Paris. Very nice atmosphere, and certainly stimulated the hormones. Highly recommended.

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Jan 17 - 03:23 AM

Incidentally, a) the word brassiere means an arm guard, so it's not only the French who are euphemistic, and b) in the same way that 'bra' is increasingly used in English rather than 'brassiere', in French 'soutif' is generally used in conversation rather than 'soutien-gorge'.

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Jan 17 - 03:19 AM

"Throat" was a Victorian euphemism for breasts in English too. If you read housekeeping guides of the era you'll find recommendations that if girls' breasts aren't growing (all expressed in mysterious terms), the solution is daily massage of "the throat" or "the neck". They meant massage of the breasts to stimulate the hormones and make them grow.

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Jan 17 - 08:31 PM

And so to the garments themselves.

In a specialized category is the piece of lingerie that is structured to support the bosom, AND fastens in the front. Not many sports bras do so. Some sports bras are pull-over, like tubes with shoulder straps. Many sports bras fasten in the back, as Mudcat members observed in last year's "Women Only" thread.

The sports-bra that has been lovingly termed "The Beast," which earned the top reviews in the link in the OP, fastens in the front. There are numerous hook-and-eye fasteners in the front closure. So as to minimize movement or instability, the garment is a very tight fit. More than one review has observed that the surest way for a woman to don this sports bra herself, is to get the shoulder straps over her arms and shoulders, and then to lie down on her back, fastening the front hooks, one at a time, from the bottom (ribcage) up to the top (collarbone).

Did you know, by the way, that in the original French, "brassière" has a different meaning? it is more like a "singlet" or something. So, what do the French call the garment that is structured to support a woman's breasts?
I was taught that it is called a "soutien-gorge."
Which crudely translates, "sustaining the throat." Euphemistic much?!

Subject: RE: BS: sports bra critique. Respectful please
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jan 17 - 05:22 PM

With respect.

My experience of the BS section of this board is that you can't dictate how threads go. Almost every thread I've ever started has been hijacked, and I cheerfully accept that my ownership of a thread, if ownership ever existed at all, is forfeited the second I hit the submit button. If you want a respectful discussion of bras, I'm up for that and I won't come near the thread. But you simply can't dictate, and if you get blokes, or other women, making light, then that's life.

Perhaps there are other places on the web where sympathetic and constructive discussions of sports bras would stand a better chance. I'm sure there are valuable sources of information out there as there are for lots of other sensitive issues. Personally, I won't be searching for them.

Subject: lingerie critique thread
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Jan 17 - 04:20 PM

The truly intrepid among you may proceed directly to the following link; for the rest of us, some remarks follow the link.

The Beast/Best Of All Sports Bras   

Last year at this time, the BS section of the Mudcat Café had a "Women Only" thread. You can still find it, the thread has not been deleted. The most useful information on that thread concerns the OP and the questions in that post: laundering and general care of women's lingerie.

That earlier thread was longer than necessary because of two kinds of defensive behavior.

One kind was the defensiveness of those readers/posters that the thread topic made them aware of something personally sensitive, and they responded with posts that declared that they had an itch to scratch, and proceeded to scratch said itch verbally in their posts.

The other kind was the defensiveness of those readers/posters that the thread topic made them aware of something personally sensitive, and they responded with posts that concealed the pain -- no, that's not too strong a word -- with defensiveness to the point of rage and disgust.

See what you all have in common? Two extremes of sensitivity. And if you have doubt as to how such defensiveness is conveyed verbally, just search for the inactive "Women Only" thread and read the posts yourselves.   

Whether or not you want last year's history to repeat itself this year, on this thread, is your call.