For years, I struggled accommodating my full bust into swimsuits.  I tried buying XL tops in hopes of containing my assets, but because I’m so narrow around, the fit was never quite correct.  I could never quite tie the straps around my neck and back tight enough.  I could hardly enjoy myself because I was spending so much time fidgeting with my suit.  And then…I met Freya!

I couldn’t believe that fun swimsuits could actually fit!  Freya (and sister brand, Fantasie) swimsuits are bra-sized and designed to fit a wide range of sizes.   Freya and Fantasie are sold at leading retailers including Bare Necessities, Linda’s, Town Shop, Asos, The Little Bra Shop, and Brastop.

Favorites from Freya

Favorites from Fantasie

Brands include MissFit UK clothing, Slinky Dip swimwear, and 2wenty8 lingerie. 2wenty8 is a pinup-inspired lingerie line that focuses on 28-32 D-HH bras. It’s developed specifically with a small back/large chest combo in mind, and what I really love is that the cups have minimal coverage so they truly show off your figure! These are my favorites:

As for swimwear, Slinky Dip is the star at The Big Bra Bar. Slinky Dip is a range of swimwear that is not only targeted toward large chests, but is affordable, too! A full set retails for £32, which is about how much just half a bikini would cost you from other brands that cater to the 28-36 DD-H crowd. Slinky Dip bikinis have features like fully adjustable straps, hidden cups, and strong underwires to keep you supported and secure.

Like we said, The Big Bra Bar also has clothing – but since we focus on lingerie and swimwear here at TLP, you’ll have to visit TheBigBraBar.com to see more of that (or to see more of 2wenty8 and Slinky Dip).

We haven’t talked much about Masquerade here on TLP, but I’ve admired so many of their pieces – and purchased a few too! This is the perfect time of year to spotlight the brand here though, because everything is so romantic! These new Spring/Summer 2011 styles are almost exactly the sort of thing I picture when I think of the perfect Valentine’s Day lingerie. Sweet, sexy, and sophisticated all in one.

The ladylike, sumptuous styles always seem to remind me of opulent paintings of Marie Antoinette. Do you see it?

Masquerade specializes in D-H cup bras, and you can find a retailer near you on the Masquerade website (where you can also see the pieces above in even more gorgeous detail).

Inspired by Queen Victoria, the Victorian Gothic era, and other things dark and exotic, the Fall/Winter collection features intricate details, interesting patterns, and intriguing designs.

Fall/Winter 1, currently available in stores, is inspired by Victorian Indian Summer with unique collections including Wild Life, a exotic, safari inspired pattern (incorporating zebra, leopard, and tiger markings!), Language of Flowers, featuring pops of a bold, floral pattern, Oriental Beauty, inspired by Persian palace architecture, Salomina, inspired by the geometry of Persian carpets, and Queer Pets, featuring an embroidered monogram as an accent to both the bras and panties.  Each group in cludes a variety of bra styles including padded plunge, padded plunge balcony, unpadded plunge balcony, and padded french balcony.  Corresponding panties include a thong, brazilian short, tanga, brief, and short.

Fall/Winter 2, Dark Fever, explores a parallel universe.  The Deamon collection, named after the wild animal alter egoes of The Golden Compass, include accent prints of snakes against raspberry red and leopard against chocolate brown.  The show stopper?  The animal print trims are zippers!  Hot!  The other collections include Dark Victoria, a classic floral lace pattern of black on grey inspired by the  elaborate mourning fashion of Queen Victoria, Beautiful Bat, black microfibre accented with leather and inspired by Victorian Gothic Horror and lady vampires, Masked Ball, black microfibre accented with ruffled elastic trim and edgy miniature gunmetal studs, Divination, featuring prints of 19th century copperplate writing and mythical creatures inspired by fortune telling and tarot cards, and Secret Society, a black stretch mesh featuring prints in silvery grey flock.  In addition to the bra and panty styles listed above, this range features a very sexy waspie in Dark Victoria, knitted top in Beautiful Bat, jersey top and eyemask in Masked Ball, suspender in Divination, and a body (aka teddy), peek-a-boo unpadded plunge, and stockings in Secret Society.

Christmas Crackers is the theme for Fall/Winter 3.  Collections include Key to Deliverance, black velvety flock on black mesh is accented by tiny patterned keys in gunmetal is inspired by A Christmas Carol, Red Xmas, a poinsettia colored collection sprinkled with glittering rhinestones, The Spirit of Christmas, styled with engraved flowers in deep purples and accented with a favorite phrase of Marlies, ‘Let me lead you elsewhere to that boundless space where your spirit is already free,’ Christmas Baubles, a ribbon braid  accented holly red microfibre celebrating the Victorian tradition of decorating a fir tree, and Global Fireworks, the Swarovski crystal adorned, Platinum collection which pays tribute to New Year’s Eve celebrations.  Again, the collection features a range of mix and match options for bras and panties and also include stockings in The Spirit of Christmas and suspenders, a babydoll, and a nightgown in Global Fireworks.

Marlies Dekkers bras range in sizes from A-F (including some maternity styles!) and panties XS-XXL.  Check Marlies Dekkers or your retailer for specifics.  Marlies Dekkers is sold at leading retailers including Journelle (where I just bought mine!), Neiman Marcus, and Honey’s Lingerie.

Very special thanks to the AMAZING photographer of all these looks – Carin Verbruggen.  What phenomenal photos!!!

I have to admit that I haven’t bought many new bras for months (other than replacing some t-shirt bras that had bit the dust), despite the fact that bras are my favorite type of lingerie. For a long time,  not much really excited me enough to pull out my credit card –  but looking at the new Freya styles, I’m now faced with an entirely different dilemma – how do I keep from buying them all? I have already purchased Nadine, and I’m this close to buying Frida. All the while, I’m still drooling over Jolie, Frankie, Jenny, Latisha, and Monet. What is your favorite?

You can find Freya at Figleaves, HerRoom, and BareNecessities.

Here’s a teaser glimpse for Spring.  Stay tuned for more of this ultra glam silk satin collection!

Visit Cacique.LaneBryant.com to purchase.

The range will consist of 5 new groups featuring 4-5 styles each.  With price points ranging from $14 – $26 for bottoms and $38 – $48 for bras, full busted ladies will be able to have plenty of pretty options in their drawers.  Bra silhouettes include Half-Padded, Padded, and Wire Bras each featuring support-adding components like side boning and power netting essential for the 30-40 D – G range.  Panty styles include Boyshort, High-Waisted Brief, Bikini, Thong, and Tanga Thong in sizes XS – 2X.

See below for a glimpse of the collection (there are more additional colorways for each style!).  It will be available before you know it!  We will keep you posted on exactly when and where you can buy Parfait.  Let us know what you think.

Fantasie's Amber bra

Bigger bras are hard to find. There are a handful of brands that really “get”  larger-chested ladies, and the ones who do generally do it very well (shout out to Freya, Fantasie, and Cacique, just to name a few). But in general, women higher than a 38 band or above a DD cup can’t count on just walking into a store and finding a bra that fits. We have to special order, we have to blindly buy online, or we have to somehow find the holy grail: a tiny lingerie shop with a large size range. (I’m in the US, but I hear you UK ladies have an easier time finding big bras. I’m jealous!)

But why? As a country, US women are beginning to need bigger and bigger bras, a trend that is reflected through much of the world. (Some people blame breast augmentation, some people blame a rise in obesity, and some simply think more women are getting properly sized in the first place these days.) So you’d think that manufacturers would jump on this growing market and make larger bra sizes. But in general, they just don’t.

According to a recent article from New York Magazine, larger bras are more challenging to design and manufacture. That makes sense – bras are pretty incredible feats of engineering, and their task only gets harder as their load gets heavier. Not only that, but women don’t want bras to look utilitarian, we want them to seem like delicate wisps of gossamer and lace. But Jessica Pfister, design director for Le Mystere (a brand that goes to 44H and that makes 80% of sales from larger sizes), says that the idea of not developing these bras because it’s difficult is “totally crazy” and ”a lot of bra manufacturers make 32 to 38 — that leaves out two-thirds of the population.” Pfister’s three-person team spent nearly two years developing a bra to hold their maximum 44H chest. She says,

Cacique's pleated bandeau bra

“At 44H, the weight of each breast is about twelve pounds. It’s fourteen-and-a-half inches across on each cup. That’s a size 14 shoe, just kind of curved. So you need a garment that’s going to support you like nothing else. There are hundreds of components in a bra and each one needs to be perfect. If you’re an eighth of an inch off, you’re not going to get the right support.”

But that investment of time and money is one that many brands just do not want to make. Linda LoRe, president of Frederick’s of Hollywood (where 70% of styles come in plus-size options) says, ”If you don’t already have that customer coming to you, it could be a big risk to invest in that inventory unless you know it’s going to pay off.” Susan DeMusis, executive vice president of merchandising for Carole Hochman Design Group (intimates licensee for Betsey Johnson, a brand that goes to 36DD) says, “If our retailers said, ‘We think there’s a big opportunity to make a 38 band size,’ we would make it happen.”

Jezebel notes:

“But how much of a ‘risk’ is it to make and advertise a product you know many women are clamoring for, unless you know your company is only capable of making cheap, flimsy bras that would never support larger breasts? Is designing a bra that can do some heavy lifting really so complex that it’s more profitable to add a bow and some lace to last season’s 34Bs and shun millions of potential customers?”

It sounds to me like women in hard-to-find sizes need to be vocal! We need to make sure that manufacturers and retailers know the sizes we want, and how badly we want them. (I have emailed quite a few companies asking if they plan to expand their size ranges, with varying responses.) Then more companies will be like Le Mystere, which has developed a strapless 40G bra set to be available in stores in July.