Bras and boobs

I've been wearing ill-fitting bras since the end of October. And to be honest, in the eight months before that I was wearing not-so-great fitting bras while nursing. And before that I wore this-will-do bras while pregnant. Which brings me back almost 20 months, to my old bras, which are now my ill-fitting bras, and quite frankly I'm not sure they ever fit that great to begin with.

So, this past weekend, I finally sucked it up and had someone who knew what they were doing take my measurements and help me fit into a few new bras. I'm not talking about someone at La Senza who makes $8 an hour and tells you what size you are based on a measuring tape loosely pulled around you, I went to a proper lingerie store where the women who help you do this as a career, not as a part-time job.

I won't lie. To get this kind of service is not cheap. But I finally decided that if on a yearly basis, I spend who knows how much money on clothes, jewellery or shoes to look good, then I could spend money to make my boobs look good. (And I don't mean for the man in my life -- although I'm sure he's appreciative of good-looking boobs -- I mean for me.) Why do I, and so many women I know, always settle for a cheap bra because "it's just a bra, so I don't want to spend a lot of money."

I learned a few things about why it's worth it to spend the money, at least once and awhile , to get a proper-fitting bra and some good information to go along with it.

Did you know that:

• A properly-fitting bra can actually make your boobs look smaller and make you look thinner. (Both of which are things I like to hear).
• Wearing a good bra means not having to be tugging at it and pulling the straps back up to your shoulders all day. Two things that I've been doing for years.
• The right bra is ACTUALLY comfortable.
• Washing your bras often actually extends their life, instead of breaking down the fabric as I previously thought (well as long as you do it by hand and not in the machine).

And although I'm not going to share the size I actually measured in at, I can say that a good part of the reason why my old bras fit so poorly, is well, they were too small. Kinda like squeezing your feet into shoes that don't fit, just because you're too lazy to buy a new pair.

So, in the end, I bought two bras and spent a grand total of...ready for this...$240. I can honestly say, that at this very moment, the bra I'm wearing costs more than the jeans and sweater -- put together -- that I'm wearing over it.

But I think it was worth it. And I can quit my endless complaining about my bra now. I won't do all my shopping at speciality bra shops, because my bank account can't handle that, but now when I go to La Senza, Sears or the Bay, I'll know what to look for. That, and a $50 or $60 bra at one of those stores suddenly won't seem so expensive.