The latest trend in petite lingerie: bras that make you look two sizes larger. Victoria’s Secret went so far as to advertise their Miraculous mega-padded monster on TV with the “Hello, Bombshell” campaign, which is enough to make even the most confident small-busted woman feel inadequate.
And UK brand Panache now offers the 5946 Atlantis Solutions Ultimate Gel bra, which also claims to boost the bust by two cups. The original Panache Atlantis liquid-filled 1044 t-shirt style makes size AA breasts look at least one cup size larger — but apparently that’s just not enough anymore.
Am I tempted by these magical feats of bust-enhancing fakery? Sure. It’s fun to experiment with different looks from time to time. There’s still a part of me that longs for a voluptuous, dramatic hourglass figure like Marilyn Monroe’s (although, unlike most current designer lingerie models, she also had hips and thighs).
But my radical feminist side is telling me to beware: the heavier the padding in my bras, the more I will have to struggle to love my body.
All women are sexy… but that’s not what the corporate culture wants us to believe. The more uncomfortable we are with our bodies, the more money we will spend on ways to “correct” our perceived flaws.
The whole dilemma reminds me of high school, when I used to load up my face with concealer, powder, and eye makeup every day without fail. I felt very uncomfortable leaving the house without it, thinking people would be horrified by my less-than-perfect complexion and meager lashes.
I’ve no doubt there are women who feel the same way about padded bras, women who wouldn’t be caught dead in anything that didn’t disguise the true size and shape of their breasts. I understand how they feel, but that doesn’t make it okay.
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Amen!
I went to VS a few days ago to check out padding levels in person before ordering a bra from them online. (Their level 2 might be too much for me; we’ll see.) Turns out they carry ONE bra in size AA in their stores! Which do you suppose it is? The “Miraculous” bra, of course!!
I like the way my sister put it. “Would you like some boobs with your bra?”
Level 2 padding in VS bras is substantial, especially for size 32AA. Levels 3, 4 and 5 have a shape that is designed to push your breasts way up and out — not a good choice for perky size AA boobs.
To my readers who like a lot of padding: if you must go up 2 cup sizes, avoid VS and go with the Panache Atlantis 5946.
I just had my implants removed (and a lift) and soooo glad to be back to a 32/34 a-b. Thanks for your webstite and tips from your followers. Over 10 years ago I was a large B and had implants put in to “LIFT” me up. Then I grew to a large D. Being 5′ and petite I began to miss my petite boobs for a LONG LIST OF REASONS. Now I’m anxious to show them off but occassionally need extra coverage for those cold office meetings.
I love this freedom and all the clothes I can now wear. Just thought I’d share.
I wear a 34A. The padding in the new VS Miraculous push up bra was too heavy, IMO, and the bra just too big. I brought it home from the store without trying it on, thinking I would love it. I took it back the next day. My favorite is Wacoal’s Ibra. It’s similar to VS Secret Embrace, but fits oh so much better!
Hey Judy,
Thanks for your useful comments on the VS Miraculous. I’ll be posting about this shortly… turns out there may be a good reason why your usual size didn’t fit! Also, I second your endorsement of the Wacoal iBra. Most of Wacoal’s standard-size bras run large in the cup — the iBra #85780 is the only non-petite one I’ve tried that fits without huge gaps.
http://astore.amazon.com/smallbras-20/detail/B000T39G94
Thanks for pointing this out — it drives me crazy! I went for a fitting at Nordstrom’s last month and every single bra the woman showed me was MEGA padded, even after I carefully explained what I was looking for and showed her my favorite (sadly, discontinued) On Gossamer 24/7 bra which is very lightly padded. I came home with a Wacoal iBra and I hate it — it’s itchy and it slides around and guess what? It’s 90% hard padding. Yuck.
Wow, Meg, I’m sorry you had such a discouraging experience. You can still get OnGossamer styles with light padding, though of course nothing is ever quite the same as the discontinued one you loved. ~RIP Meg’s Favorite~ !!
If the Wacoal you bought still has the tag, bring it back for a refund or store credit. You never have to settle for anything less than a comfortable, well-fitting bra that you can feel good in.
Just for fun, I tried the Miraculous in 32A and 32 AA. The band is not snug enough for such a heavily padded bra, and at my size, it looked pretty ridiculous as there is not enough flesh to push up, so it just looked like a small person wearing a big bra! The shape was also rather torpedo-ish. I also tried the new Drew from Aerie, which fit me better than VS’s, due to a nice and snug band. But I think this type of bra probably fits someone with a full B or C cup better.
I’ve been wondering about that Aerie Drew bra. Specifically, I’ve wondered how it was possible for them to have created something with even MORE padding than the Emma… should have seen this coming, I guess, but that doesn’t make it any less tacky.
In case anyone isn’t totally sick of hearing me say this: do not attempt to go up more than one cup size, unless Barbie torpedo-boobs are your kind of thing.
I understand that women don’t buy these super-padded bras for the purposes of attracting or impressing men, but I’d like to chime in anyway. We don’t like false advertising. When the sweater comes off we’d prefer things remain the same size.