How do you keep your bra straps up?

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No, seriously. What is this design flaw--is it just me or do the straps, even when adjusted to the max--slide the fuck down over the shoulder, especially on underwire bras. Is there a secret bra that doesn't do this? Have a failed to learn a basic skill of womanhood?
Discuss.

― Orbit (Orbit), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe you have sloped shoulders.

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Whoa, I didn't even know Orbit was female.

― From a Land of Grass Without Mirrors (AaronHz), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

glue them.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Mine do that too. But I have smallish shoulders and a poor posture so I assumed that was why. Maybe one needs the posture and physique of some kind of damn swimmer for them not to fall off! :/

xpost haha see?

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

don't start, land of grass.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe I do have freakish shoulders. Maybe superglue.

― Orbit (Orbit), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Land of grass?

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Why are you on my case all of a sudden RJG? Do you miss my Talking Hot Dogs?

― From a Land of Grass Without Mirrors (AaronHz), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Hi Trayce, it's just me AaronHz.

― From a Land of Grass Without Mirrors (AaronHz), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I dunno.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh I got, confused.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't worry, I'll probably stick with this name for a bit. I like it.

― From a Land of Grass Without Mirrors (AaronHz), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

*doesn't like aaron's bra overmuch*

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I solved the problem, I just dont wear a bra.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:46 (twenty-one years ago)

huh?
xpost

― From a Land of Grass Without Mirrors (AaronHz), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Trayce I wish I could get away with that, but the pumpkins are too big for the patch.

― Orbit (Orbit), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish I couldnt get away with it :( ;(

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Cute euphemism btw hehe.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

No you are in a far better place--boobs are a pain in the butt.
xpost

― Orbit (Orbit), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

are you going to draw scary faces on the pumpkins for halloween?

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)

oh god this is not taking a good direction.

― Orbit (Orbit), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Whaddya mean? Exchanges like these are the only reason for roughly 3/4 of ILX to click on these "My bra etc etc" threads and such.

― From a Land of Grass Without Mirrors (AaronHz), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:56 (twenty-one years ago)

you said it.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:57 (twenty-one years ago)

RJG whats with you today?

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:11 (twenty-one years ago)

He always gets like this when he has schoolwork to do.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:16 (twenty-one years ago)

goodnight, guys ; )

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha, ha!

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:17 (twenty-one years ago)

mine don't fall down until they get old and the lackiness goes out of them. i have really small ones too though so i also go braless quite often

― gem (trisk), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I've got a big broad set of swimmer's shoulders and my bra straps still slip down.

― leigh (leigh), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 06:36 (twenty-one years ago)

can't you get things that sort of join the bra straps together at your shoulder blades? to pull them closer together? Or you could safety pin them to your clothes.

― Cherry Aide (cherryaid), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 07:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Buy bras with silicon bits in the straps - those clear slightly sticky ones, or you could buy extra strapless-bra-type straps and butcher them for silicon patches to sew to the inside of yr ordinary straps. Or wear racer-back sports bras, but these are NOT sexy.

I have quite poking shoulders, but some of my bra straps are all slippy no matter what. Gah.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 07:30 (twenty-one years ago)

wow bra straps with micro-processors!

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 07:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes Ken. We, the boobed, are much more advanced than you puny males.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 07:51 (twenty-one years ago)

but boys have an advanced cute girl detection/alert system inside their pants!

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 07:59 (twenty-one years ago)

it's carbon based rather than silicon based

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 08:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish my bra straps slipped down. Unfortunately, the boob weight pulls down and I have a big red welt on each shoulder by the end of the day. Oh to take my clothes off and find myself unmarked!

― Madchen (Madchen), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 08:27 (twenty-one years ago)

My straps fall down occassionally, but they are pretty much stuck where they are. maybe the big puppies keep them where they are!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 08:52 (twenty-one years ago)

A friend of mine began to wear a strapless spandex bra like this a while ago:

http://di.image.eshop.msn.com/img/sinv/2831/0/TheBodyWrap44620.jpg

She says it's very comfortable for her, better than an ordinary bra. Her breasts are of smallish b-cup size though, I'm not sure whether it's any good for larger breasts.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 08:54 (twenty-one years ago)

By "smallish b-cup" I mean that they're in the smaller end of the b-cup range, I didn't want to imply that b-cups themselves are (too) small.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 09:10 (twenty-one years ago)

All of mine fall down, but I think I've got quite narrow shoulders. I adjust them and adjust them so it feels like my boobs are practically round my shoulders, but they still slip by the end of the day.

― Anna (Anna), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 11:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's usually just ill-fitting bras - in that I have 2 pairs that never do this and 3 that always do. I read something somewhere that most woman do not wear the correct bra size.

Go to the queen's bra maker - Rigby & Peller. Apparently they will give you a good fitting.

― marianna, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

And charge you over £50 for each bra...

― Vicky (Vicky), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 12:59 (twenty-one years ago)

My bra is definitely the correct size according to bravissimo. If i am perfectly straight & upright, there is not usually a problem.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe it's to do with how you wash your bras - I can never be bothered with handwashing, so stick them in the machine, but I imagine that it may well mean the elastic would perish faster that way.

― Vicky (Vicky), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I've got a handwash setting on my machine. I'm sure that is still not very good for the bras, but I can't be bothered with hand washing.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

While we're talking about handwashing, to what extent MUST you follow instructions on clothes that say "dry clean only"? How can one get around that? With wool in particular?

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I think you just need to buy a bra with thicker straps. Or you could cinch-and-sew the straps in the back until they feel tight enough. I had to do that this summer with a bikini top. It worked like a charm.

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Mark, if you love it and don't want to ruin it, don't even try it, honestly! They may well have put a finish on the wool that will be ruined if you wash it.

― Vicky (Vicky), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:27 (twenty-one years ago)

While we're talking about handwashing, to what extent MUST you follow instructions on clothes that say "dry clean only"? How can one get around that? With wool in particular?

i always thought those were just like those "keep refrigerated" labels on ketchups..

xpost

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:31 (twenty-one years ago)

My straps fall down, but I also have sloping shoulders. My bras seem to be the right size. I think part of my problem recently is that I've been wearing more shirts with swooping necklines, so I end up pushing the straps to the sides where they're more likely to slip down.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

There is a woolens setting on machines, but I'd follow Vicki's advice to be honest.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

You can get stuff that you put in the tumble dryer to home dry clean your clothes. It's not meant to be as good as a professional dry clean, but it's supposed to be OK. Not that I've ever tried it.

I put my bras and fancier knickers in a little zip-up laundry bag before washing them at 40 degrees. It's fine - they lose stretch after about a year, but by that point I'm bored with them anyway.

― Madchen (Madchen), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't have a tumble dryer :/ I bought a wool sweater on Ebay, so it's not expensive as such (well, quite dear for ebay I guess), but I'd like to wash it as I know it's been previosuly used. And I just refuse to spend a fiver every time I need to wash a top.

Fuck dry-cleaning a jumper.

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:42 (twenty-one years ago)

get it dry cleaned - otherwise you could well ruin it. I've managed to ruin dry clean only things before.

― Vicky (Vicky), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I wash all of my dearly beloved wool sweaters in tepid water with Woolite. Just follow the directions in the bottle--don't leave the stuff soaking for long, don't use hot water, be GENTLE, etc. The tricky part is blocking them out flat onto towels when you're done--you kind of have to pat them back into the proper shape. Some people (e.g., Martha Stewart) actually trace the sweater before they wash it, then use the tracing to block out the wet wool post-wash. This is too anal for me. And don't let them dry right by a radiator or anything.

At the end of winter I take all of the sweaters to be dry cleaned before packing them away. . . this is a good moth preventive, whereas hand washing is not.

Sorry for the derail.

― quincie, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

damn right sorry about the derail, GIRLS were talking about BRAS!

― Matt (Matt), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Mine always fall down, too. I can also never get purse straps to stay on my shoulders. I don't appear to have any posture problems, so I must conclude only that bra straps suck.

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)

My purse straps fall down too. I always end up having to hold my purse with one hand even though the strap(s) is/are on my shoulder.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

The only bags I can think of that would work are ones big enough to carry crossways across your body, but I hate doing that because it makes me feel 6 years old, and it's uncomfortable.

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 17:23 (twenty-one years ago)

My bra straps NEVER slip!

― battlin' green eyeshades (Homosexual II), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Sarah needs shoulder pads.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Mine don't slip either, but I am quite familiar with the shoulder marks.

― Kim (Kim), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 01:41 (twenty-one years ago)

You're lucky. With underwire bras, I seem to spend all night picking the straps back up. The non-underwires don't have enough booster to hold the payload so they're useless even though they don't slip.

― Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 12:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Oof, i was at the gym earlier and the damned things kept falling down. Ghastly. I think it's caused by shoulder with (or more accurately the lack thereof).

― mouse (mouse), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I am going to tinker around in my lab, invent a bra with straps that actually stay put, and count my millions.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 22:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I will place my order. Oh yeah.

― Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

this should be a picture thread.

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

they have little things that you can attach to your bra in the back and it sort of holds the straps together, horizontal to the back of the bra but higher up. i think i saw them in a practical-lingerie catalog at some point. i hate that practical lingerie is so often ugly and boring.

i don't have the strap-slipping prob, it could well be because i have broad shoulders.

i couldn't imagine taking my bra off around the house or whatever, i need my puppies to behave!

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

My wife got around this problem by buying bras with removable straps and crossing them at the back.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

My grandmother always said she was going to invent something to prevent this and make lots of money. I normally just tighten the straps with the little slide thingy, I would rather have them digging in slightly than falling down.

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, I always figured this phenomenon was a conscious effort on the part of women to look sexy. I wonder if it will still work now that I've learned the true reason for it.

― Richard K (Richard K), Thursday, 28 October 2004 18:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd hope it doesn't in the case of Jocelyn's grandma.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 28 October 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, the fallen bra strap can be a nice look, deffo.

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 29 October 2004 10:22 (twenty-one years ago)

i couldn't imagine taking my bra off around the house or whatever, i need my puppies to behave!
Well I agree in principle, but it's so nice when you take it off. I must just have a very understanding b/f! heh!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Friday, 29 October 2004 10:48 (twenty-one years ago)

When I was early in grad school and on the anthropology track, I was scheduled to go on a trip to do fieldwork with the remote Warao indians of Venezuela (ya know, the ones with the Yanomamo as their next door neighbors?) and I asked a Prof Dobkin del Rios what to take as a gift to the women, as she had done fieldwork in that area of the world before. #1 on her list?

1. BRAS

Followed by sunglasses and bolts of cloth.

She also told me to stay away from Greg Shaw in a roundabout way.

You know, being a grad student is quite surreal sometimes.

― Orbit (Orbit), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, I use chewing gum to keep my...

...

oooh. I've said too much.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:27 (twenty-one years ago)

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