Does Your Bra Fit? Find The Right Size For Your Body

Unless you know your proper bra size, you could be wearing the wrong undergarment. This can be more than just a mild discomfort: bras that are too tight or loose can lead to serious injuries to your neck and back. They can also cause numbness in your hands and fingers. Trying to work with the wrong bra will only leave you in physical pain. When you find a bra that fits correctly, you’ll feel – and look – better.

All the letters and numbers on bras might seem confusing. What’s the difference between A and AA? Are DD and E the same bra, but with different letters? The process is actually easy once you understand what the numbers mean. Fortunately, there’s a fast and simple way to decipher the “code” of the bra industry. Grab a cloth measuring tape – usually the type that a seamstress or tailor will use – and start measuring.

Step One:

Wrap the tape around the area just beneath your breasts. You should pull the tape so that it is snug, but not too tight. Now, subtract five from your measurement. This number is your band size; remember that for later.
Step Two:

Move the tape upward so that it covers the fullest part of your bust. Make sure that the tape is a little loose around your body. Check out your measurement. If you get an odd number, round up. Now, subtract from your band size number.

Step Three:

Now you have your cup size. Your number corresponds to the bra industry’s sizes like this:

AA = less than one inch
A = one inch
B = two inches
C = three inches
D = four inches
E (or DD) = five inches
F (or DDD) = six inches

Now that you’re confident that you have the right bra size, head to your favorite lingerie store and start browsing. You’ve eliminated one of the biggest problems that women face when purchasing these undergarments, so go shop with confidence.

By John Barnes

Plus Size Modeling: An Introduction

Plus size modeling is a growing industry that is gaining popularity and acceptance throughout the world. Because plus size models and modeling has gained popularity in the last ten years, the opportunities have broadened considerable, but all modeling shoots for a plus size model are not the same. Plus size models will discover major differences between shoots, whether operating as a free agent or with representation and between different markets.

When you decide you want to try plus size modeling, you need to consider whether you want or can get representation right away, or if you want to act as a free agent. Finding representation can get you into many doors, but in some cases, if you are just starting out, you may want to be a free agent and market yourself to build your portfolio and get experience.

Finding representation can be challenging. You'll need some photos of yourself and you may need to try several agencies before you find the right one. Some agents want to see professional headshots, while others prefer a simple Polaroid. In many cases, they prefer to see your “raw material” and then they'll help you find and cultivate a desirable plus size model “look.” If you find representation, you should remember that the agent is working for you but you still need to take an active interest in your own modeling career. You should know what kinds of jobs they are promoting you for and why you are or are not getting jobs.

As a free agent you may have more flexibility, but you'll need to carefully protect yourself and make sure you're booking legitimate, paying jobs. Regardless of your status, you should constantly seek feedback, and do your best not to take it personally. Consider yourself a product that will be effective selling a product, or not. You may need to alter your look, gain weight, tone up or change your hair to be more marketable. Make sure you remember on thing; you won't be right for every job no matter what you do.

If you want to be a plus size model, you do need to consider that there are different kinds of plus size modeling and different markets for different sizes. Here is an interesting guide to some of the different markets and needs for plus size models.

Plus Size Lingerie Modeling: Really good plus size lingerie models are hard to find. Not only are companies and agencies looking for well proportioned and sexy women from sizes 10 to 18, they are also looking for toned, curvy bodies that will really make their photos pop! In many cases, a lingerie photo shoot will also be different than that of a catalog or fashion shoot. They may want sensual, sexy or even playful moods and you need to be comfortable with your body and your sexuality to project the right feelings.

Plus size catalog photo shoots for clothing are very different than plus size lingerie modeling. Most companies are looking for plus size models that are from sizes 10 to 18 with well proportioned bodies, pretty faces and positive, professional attitudes. Since plus size clothing is designed to flatter fuller figures, you may not have to worry about being as toned as for plus size lingerie. In many cases, these shoots are more about smiling, laughing, and being active. If you are modeling plus size swimwear or active-wear, you may need to have a more toned physique.

Plus size fashion shoots will always favor the prepared. Although you may or may not be showing a lot of skin, couture plus size fashion will fit better and look better if you are well toned and filling out the clothes in all the right places. Additionally, high fashion is frequently made of higher end silks and satins which are less forgiving than cottons and knits. With strong abs and smooth lines that show off your gorgeous curves, a fashion house or magazine will be far more likely to book you again.

Finally, different geographic markets call for different sized plus size models. For instance, the UK market favors sizes 12 and 14, American client's book specific sizes anywhere from 10 to 18 while the Italian market targets sizes 12 to 16. Markets like South America are just introducing plus models while the German market still favors sizes 8 to 12.

One unifying factor is certainly attitude. If you are a go getter who arrives at every shoot upbeat and prepared to work, you are more likely to be a successful plus size model. The plus size models that realty stand out are always well groomed and ready to slip into whatever role they are called on to perform. Whether portraying a confident business woman or a sexy siren the most successful plus size models glow with inner confidence. The best plus models know that they are sexy and beautiful because of their curves, not in spite of them.

By Rebecca Jennings

The Origin of the Bra

Despite the fact, doubted by some, that the bra is not a necessity in keeping a woman's breasts firm and uplifted, bras originated in one form or another, centuries ago..

Minoan women athletes of 700 BC have been depicted wearing a bra like garment to restrain and cover their breasts and the women of other civilizations are known to have worn bras like undergarments for a variety of reasons.

From the Middle Ages, through to the earlier part of the twentieth century, women of wealth wore corsets that tended to push the breasts, and in Georgian times, in the 1700s to the mid 1800s, it was considered the height of fashion to expose uplifted breasts with prominent cleavage and to just cover the nipples.

Queen Victoria soon put paid to that and although the style of corsets still pushed up the breasts, they remained decorously covered.

Into the 1920s, the fashion was to restrain the breasts, flappers of the time considered that the flatter the chest the more sex appeal they had, and their men must have agreed - but when did they have a choice?

Although there was a movement towards designing bras as we know them today, around the latter years of the nineteenth century, the first patent for a brassiere was only given to a Mary Phelps Jacob in November 1914.

The word brassiere is derived somewhat indirectly from the French "bras" meaning arms with an earlier military association to mean arm protector that then was developed into a chest protector.

In English the first known reference to the word occurred around 1893 with manufacturers going on to use the term to describe derivations of the corset that provided support for female breasts.

The ultimate fashion magazine "Vogue" first mentioned the term brassiere on its pages in 1907, and by 1911 the Oxford English Dictionary awarded the word its final accolade of acceptance into the English language.

The advent of the First World War held up the development of the brassiere as a fashion garment just as a similar situation took place during and just after World War II. A possible explanation is that in both wars women of all classes had to take over so many of the menial tasks performed by men that sex appeal was not on their list of priorities.

The shortened term "bra" came into use in the early thirties as the undergarment became affordable and gained popularity with all classes.

After 1945 the bra became one of the top priorities in the world of fashion, allowing the top couturiers to design fashion wear from topless evening dresses to any number of other day and evening wear apparel emphasizing the silhouette.

Without this progress in bra design, the bikini would never have happened, women might still have had to suffer the restraints and discomforts of corsets to give their bodies a desirable shape.

Nature has and continues to take its course; women who want to retain their sex appeal do not have to suffer in the same way as their grandparents.

As for men, they have never had it so good, the media and peer pressures have opened their eyes to some of the fabulously beautiful and attractive women that abound in the world and they expect their sweethearts and wives to strive to look just as gorgeous.

By Jacqueline Lloyd

How to Wear Sexy Lingerie to Keep the Romance Alive in Your Marriage

You know I don't have a special person in my life right now but if I was married we all know that I would love for my wife to have some sexy lingerie that she would want to be worn just for me. I'm not talking about just a typical nightie but something special that would turn my eyeballs inside and out. These are now the holiday seasons and during this time would want to focus your emphasis on lingerie towards a festive and joyful as well as sexy attitude. When the weather is freezing outside and you want to create an atmosphere that is burning hot you can think of an idea such as dressing up as Santa Claus with your special lady dressed up as Mrs. Clause yet wearing a very sexy Christmas night gown in white and red with some very sexy knee-high fur boots (talk about an overactive Christmas imagination!!), or you can opt to dress up like a snowflakes in in a strapless for many dressed in a red ribbon lace on the back. I don't know about you but I hate the cold, but if my lady were dressed up in this outfit I wouldn't mind throwing snowballs with her outside for driving her up when we get indoors. In any relationship keeping the romance going is a very important part, and nothing helps this more than wearing sexy lingerie outfit.

The only problem with a lot of sexy lingerie stores is that it can be quite expensive on the wallet, so with this in mind you must always plan ahead of time how much you'll spend on a sexy outfit especially in this current economic atmosphere. Now the problem with shopping for sexy lingerie at stores is that these lingerie stores usually have a high overhead and expenses to take on and they passed this overhead and expenses over on to you the consumer. Even though you can purchase your lingerie right on the spot this still will put a very big dent in your wallet. You can buy your lingerie outside or you can do what so many others have started to do during the recession and that is shop online for sexy lingerie. The advantage to shopping online for your sexy lingerie is that the online lingerie website doesn't really have to pay for any more expenses but a few workers and some storage space. Now all they need is a good-looking website and that is basically what you see when you are shopping online. When you are shopping online for sexy lingerie you have the advantage of doing comparison shopping without actually having to use gas up in your car to travel from store to store. It's all done by the click of a mouse. Now whether you are shopping for sexy high heels, sexy costumes, sexy nightgowns or any other kind of sexy lingerie you can do this all online with the click of a mouse and your handy credit card ready to make the order. It can't get easier than that can it?

Now I don't know about you but for me, what always gets my attention, is a lady dressed in high heels. Most people prefer 3 to 4 inch heels but for me what usually gets my attention are the extremes, and nothing says extreme to me more than a lady walking by and 6 to 7 inch high heels. These high heel shoes usually accentuate the calves of anyone and really give their legs that eye-popping, attention-getting look. I just hope when I get married my wife will know what she's doing as far as getting the right lingerie to keep the romance going in our marriage.

By Bob Randooke

Why Men Love Women Who Wear Lingerie

Ask around and a majority of men will tell you that they love it when their wives or girlfriends wear sexy lingerie. Women who wear lingerie ‘feel’ more feminine and sexy. That can help them to ‘unleash’ passions they may have hidden from themselves, or been too afraid to show before.

Men are ‘visual’ and ‘physical’ beings when it comes to sex. Men will create powerfully-stimulating images in their minds looking at a woman in sexy lingerie. His desire for you and the anticipation of a sexual encounter with you builds as he ‘touches’ the sensuous material of the lingerie. Women tend to desire an ‘emotional-connection’ and with their partner, in conjunction with the physical stimulation of sexual activity. Women want to know that their mate finds them desirable and sexy. Wearing sexy lingerie gives both of them the ‘sensory’ stimulation needed for a better sexual experience, and the deepening of their relationship.

When a man sees the woman he loves wearing some very seductive lingerie, he can ‘visualize’ her apart from the other roles she plays in the workplace or as a wife and mother. He can feel confident that for this space-in-time, she is there just for him. She won’t be distracted by her everyday demands such as last minute assignments from the boss, fixing dinner, laundry, or “cranky” children. The sight of her in a beautiful, lacy bra and panties ‘heightens’ his anticipation of sharing this time with her.

To him, sexy lingerie is like ‘unwrapping’ a Christmas present. He anticipates that once he has completely removed the delicious ‘wrapping’ from his woman- it will lead to explosively-satisfying sex for both him and her. What woman doesn’t want to have her man ‘salivating’ and ‘groaning’ with desire for her? What woman wouldn’t feel “special’ to see the gleam in his eyes, and the raising of the flag so to speak as he traces a finger slowly over the lacing of your bra or along the edges of your barely-there thong? What woman would pass up experiencing his ‘tenderness’ as he slowly removes the hosiery from your legs-one sensuous leg at a time? Knowing that you have ‘seductive powers over your man ‘heightens’ your own sexual experience.

Why not let out the seductive-tigress within you tonight by wearing some sexy lingerie? Maybe you’ve never worn sexy lingerie before and are a little ‘hesitant’ about trying some out. Don’t be. Sexy lingerie comes in a variety of styles and fabrics. You can find lingerie styles that are downright daring- made with see-through and sexually-charged materials such as netting and vinyl. You can find equally sexy, yet less-daring lingerie in such sensuous materials as satin and lace. What’s important is to wear the sexy lingerie you feel most comfortable in. Your man will love whatever sexy lingerie you choose!

Perhaps you’re not so confident about your ‘powers of seduction’ over your man and would like to “test-the-waters” wearing just a sexy lace bra or a pair of satiny-smooth panties. Seeing for yourself the effect that wearing sexy lingerie, (even just one piece of sexy lingerie) has on your man and the sexual ‘pleasure’ you share together will increase your confidence in the seductive, sexy being you are. As your confidence “grows” you can add more sexy lingerie to your collection.

The internet is a great resource for finding the sexy lingerie to ‘drive” your man’s sexual desire for you wild! You can order sexy lingerie from the privacy and convenience of your own home. Many of these online retailers also offer huge discounts that offline stores can’t, and great rates on shipping too.

By B. Lacosa

Lingerie Buying Advice For Guys

Buying lingerie for your lover can be one of the most romantic things you can do. It's an intimate gift which, if you get it right, shows you really care, really do understand her and have put the effort in to really think about a gift she will like.

It's also one of the most stressful and dangerous gifts you can buy if you are a guy so don't rush in to it!

Get it right and there are some major brownie points to be earned here. You may even get to unwrap your present later...

Get it wrong however, and you will almost certainly live to regret it...if you're lucky!

Before you even think about buying make sure you avoid the following pitfalls and take heed of the helpful lingerie buying advice for guys we provide here. A few minutes reading can save you hours of grief.

Common Lingerie Buying Mistakes

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Guys, the most important things to remember when buying lingerie as a present are these:

1) It's NOT for You!

Remember who you are buying lingerie for and tailor your future choice to this. If you buy something in a style she doesn't usually wear then the chances are, you've got it wrong. If you buy it in a colour or design she doesn't usually wear then again, you've probably got it wrong. Buy something YOU like and the chances are...yup, you guessed it, you've got it wrong!

The Golden Rule - You are buying lingerie for your lady...and NOT for yourself!

Yes, for sure those models look great in the skimpy, slutty lingerie and no doubt you'd love to see her in the same, but think of the message you are sending. Do you want your gift to say "You're special and I love you" or "Love? I just wanna ... you!".

Opt for the leather, PVC, crotchless, peephole lingerie or naughty nurse outfit and you'll no doubt end up sleeping with Rover that night. Go for something silky or lacey and you are more likely to be on the right lines.

2) Do Your Research

The second biggest mistake is going into a lingerie store blind. DO NOT try to guess her size, favourite style or for that matter, try to guess anything else. You'll fail miserably. Unfortunately, women don't work in S, M, L, XL sizes like us, they have to go and make it more complicated. When you walk into a lingerie store prepare to be hit by a dizzying array of numbers and letters associated with an even more confusing selection of wierd and wonderful products which to the untrained eye, all look the same but to her, are very different.

Think push-up, plunge, balcony, gel filled, water filled, padded, unpadded, underwired, seamless, backless, boneless, strapless, open cup...with different cup sizes from A to JJ and not forgetting the numbers, different materials and designs...and that's just the bras!

Basically guys, do your research first before you hit the high street or go shopping online and you've got a vastly better chance of getting it right. Wait until she goes out and then raid her underwear drawer. Try to find things with the label in and write down the numbers there. If they haven't sizes inside you can borrow a bra and panty set and take it to a store and ask one of the sales staff...they've seen it all before, don't worry. Make sure what you take is on the new side or you risk buying something in the size she once was rather than the size she is now...the very WORST thing you can do is buy something in the size she was before she went up a dress size or two!

Whilst you are rummaging around amongst her undies, make a note of the colours and styles she likes. Is there a particular colour she is particularly fond of? Does she like patterns or plain styles? Does she go for comfort or sex appeal? These are important things to note if you are going to buy something she will like rather than something which gets shoved to the bottom of the drawer.

3) Items To Avoid

Now you know her size, the colours and styles she likes there's a few pitfalls to avoid:

Avoid anything marked as "Control", "Reducing", etc. These are to suck in bellies and hide excess weight...unless you really want to send the message "suck it in fatty" you'd probably be best avoiding these!

Gel filled, water filled and cleavage enhancing bras...again, be careful what you might be perceived as hinting at with these.

Kinky stuff in general doesn't generally work as an "I love you" kind of gift. If you are daring enough to buy it at all, then save it for the times in between birthdays, Christmas and Valentines Day...

Anything else is probably safe.

Final Tips

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Now you've got the majority of the pitfalls put to one side and hopefully avoided here are a few final tips:

1) Presentation

An important part of your gift is the presentation. Most shops will professionally gift wrap your purchase for you if you ask for a small charge and this is well worth paying a little extra for.

2) Shop Online

One of the glorious things about shopping for lingerie online is the wealth of information available to you which you simply will not find in a bricks and mortar lingerie retailer. Take a look at their gift ideas, top sellers list etc. for loads of ideas of what are popular choices.

3) Keep The Receipt!

If worse comes to the worse, she can always swap it for something else...

If you are still feeling brave enough to give this a try then good luck and may you reap the rewards your bravery deserves! After all, as the saying goes, faint heart never won fair maiden...

By Mark Falco