National Cleavage Day What??

[dragonlady7]

redstapler posted something fleetingly referring to National Cleavage Day, and I got all excited-- Cleavage??? I have EXPERT level cleavage!!!-- and Googled it to see if it was a real thing.
Oh.
It is.
Sponsored by Wonderbra.
...
Oh.
I am so disappointed.
Wonderbra is the epitome of the bra manufacturer that does not, would not ever, make anything to fit me or anyone remotely shaped like me. They're part of the Victoria's Secret phenomenon, the whole cadre of manufacturers of lingerie who only make sizes 34-36-38 A-B-C-(D). Now, that's their prerogative, sure, but the problem is that when companies like this become industry leaders, they inspire loads of knockoffs... and nobody makes anything but those sizes.
It is a very, very short logical leap from thence to the "indisputible fact" that all women are these sizes and these sizes only, and if you can't make those sizes work for you, you are some sort of freak of nature. Because if there was a market for those sizes someone would surely make them.
Right?
Anyway only fat chicks have fat tits and we are SO ASHAMED OF FAT and would not want fatties in our store!!! If we made FAT bras then we would no longer be a glamorous brand and skinny hot chicks would not shop here anymore and that would be AWFUL.
BE ASHAMED OF YOUR SHAMEFUL FAT BOOBS YOU SHAMEFUL FATTY. SHAME.
So since those sizes aren't made by mainstream manufacturers, nobody knows they exist, so nobody shops for them, so nobody makes them...
To my knowledge no one has ever actually scientifically attempted to survey the actual bust size of a broad sample of American women.

Obviously, I'm digressing. Those are two totally separate arguments going on right there, but each of them, separately and intertwined, have given me horrible issues for years, so...
But anyway. Here, for the record, is my that-size-doesn't-exist freak-of-nature cleavage, in one of my Pennsic cholis. Nuts to you, Wonderbra.

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

This is brilliant and hilarious. I <3 you.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

LOL. Well, I wouldn't have known about it if you hadn't written something, so you are brilliant as well.

[pills.livejournal.com]

directed here by lady redstapler. this is as amazing as promised.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

You rock! And you're totally right.

It doesn't end at bust-size, of course, but it's particularly egregious when you can't find things that fit because you don't resemble Kate Moss.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I think Kate Moss actually has had problems finding clothes that fit. Most models are pretty freakish.
The problem lies with the whole combination of the ready-to-wear fashion industry, which makes clothes that fit no-one, combined with our culture of conformity and the monetization of insecurity, meaning that no one can find clothes that fit and no one feels good about it.

[papilio-luna.livejournal.com]

Here via redstapler.

I have the worst problem of them all: I'm a fatty with small boobs. That's right, I get to be ashamed of my fat while simultaneously not offering the world anything at all that might make up in some small way for being a fatty.

Shame shame shame. So while I can sort of buy bras at Victoria's Secret, I don't because no one there will actually wait on me. They just ignore me until I get frustrated and remove myself and my fat from the premises. Though I'm small busted enough that I don't wear bras normally. I own one bra and I haven't worn it in months.

[sexykneesocks.livejournal.com]

I'm a 38 A

it doesn't exist in stores.

it's very frustrating to not fit the conventional market segments

[saschaloves.livejournal.com]

Me too. Nothing worse than being a 38A wearing a 36B to try to squoosh the side bits around to look like more boob. Because THAT makes mathematical sense.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

"Sister sizing" drives me bugnutty. It makes no sense and is dumb and doesn't really work at all.

The closer sister size would probably be to go for a 36B with an extender (http://store.quilting-warehouse.com/102177.html)-- same cup size as 38A, volume-wise.

(I have the opposite problem, in that I need a small band and a large cup, so I buy bras and take in the bands, but I have to go up so many band sizes that the bras' proportions are all off.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

You'd think that, but it doesn't work. When I was a 38A, I tried the 36B-with-extender thing. I ended up with folds of cup fabric everywhere.

Now that I'm a stranger size still (40C or 42B, depending on the brand and cup manufacture), I have even bigger issues finding bras that neither bind around the chest nor leave me with boob spilling everywhere or cup fabric all over the place. I'm not QUITE a C, but I'm definitely not really a B...grrr...

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Huh. I'd try a 36A-with-extender then.
There's also the question of breast shape vs. style of bra-- the only style of bra that fits me properly is a balconette, preferably with vertically-seamed cups. Apparently my breasts are very high and close together, so they have a tendency to hang down and flop to the sides, which means I need to wear a bra that will push them up and in. Any other style I pooch out of on top even if the cup is too large, and tend to flop to the sides, and the tendency is made worse if the cups are set too wide-- since that's not where my breasts are, it means it pinches, pokes, and generally does not flatter.

So figuring out what style of cup, what brand, and all the rest has a huge effect.
Bras are so complicated that really, they need to be custom-made. But that's prohibitively expensive and very inaccessible in our ready-to-wear-only society. Most women will never have a garment custom-made to them, and will only have their wedding dress tailored-- if even that.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I someday need to find a really really good bra fitter and find out what the hell size I REALLY am. At this point, I rely on stretch cups, because everything else is always too big or too small.

I know what you mean about tailoring, etc. I make most of my own clothes, and what I don't, I tailor.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

That's what upsets me so much-- the fact that such a narrow range of sizes are presented as normal, when that's not at all the case. I would hazard to guess that fully half of women, possibly more, are not served by this narrow range of sizes. And it's much worse since the 'cute fancy niche' stores like VS and similar lines by WB etc. have come into vogue.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

It exists in two, maybe three stores. Two of which you wouldn't expect.

Maidenform makes 38A in their Miracle Bra (I think that's what it's called; it's the microfiber moulded cup one).

And, believe it or not, but the Gillian & O'Malley line at Target and the Fruit of the Loom bras at WALMART, of all places, carry 38As. The Walmart ones are really, really comfortable, too.

(I used to be a 38A. Then I got chubby. If you thought 38A was hard to find, try being a 42-pretty-much-not-really-B)

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I have been so inspired by fatshionista-- I started off just being so pissed off about the lack of large cups and small bands, but have become gradually more and more pissed off about the lack of size options anywhere as I've seen the posts and outfits of the day and help requests from people of all kinds of shapes and sizes.
Which is why I've started making my own clothes so much, indirectly, because the only time I feel bad about my body has to do with clothing and how it fits or doesn't. That's the worst remaining body-image issue I have. So I try to make me-sized clothes that are also me-shaped, and it's such a novelty... that's the only thing that helps me.

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Here via redstapler

I remember when the Wonderbra first hit the shelves and I went "Oh yeah! I need me one of those!", only to be told, rather snootily, by the Victoria Secret drone that the bra wasn't available in anything above a C-cup (at that point) because "It's our opinion that women above a C-cup don't *need* a push-up bra"

Like fun we don't.

I'm a big-boobed gal, always have been - even when I was 110lbs with rocks in my pockets, I was a D-cup. I'm not that much heavier, now but suffice it to say that I don't even go *near* VS any more.

Thank heavens for Frederick's of Hollywood. "30 Triple-D? We got it! 46B? Sure thing!"

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I loved Frederick's of Hollywood... until I outgrew them.
They carry up to F.
Which is a DDDD.

I need a JJ so it's not that helpful. But for a little while I could squeeze in. At least they never made me feel bad about it when they didn't have my size. (I tried on the F and said shyly... "The band fits OK, a bit loose, but the cup is way too small... do you have... a larger cup?" And she said "Oh no honey, I don't think we do. That's too bad. Let me check." and was super nice about it.)
VS shoved me in a 38D that I poured out the top of and said "That's what we have." and made me feel bad for not buying it even though it was horrible-- I had, like, six boobs.

[teany.livejournal.com]

Um, actually there is a brand called Wonderbra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderbra) that has no association with Victoria's Secret, and I've seen it in various bra specialty stores carried in a wide range of sizes. Not sure if you were being facetious, but there are plenty of options for women with all size ta-tas. I agree it sucks that the mainstream stores don't often carry them (although I've noticed Macy's has gotten better).

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I believe I said
They're part of the Victoria's Secret phenomenon

I know they're a different company; I'm sorry if I was unclear. I was reacting to the whole phenomenon that became popular early in my adolescence-- these glamorous bra-focused stores / lingerie lines, that made affordable-yet-mainstream-fashion-forward bras... in like four sizes.

there are plenty of options for women with all size ta-tas

OK, I don't know you at all, but I hope you're being facetious.
If you're not: I'm a 32JJ UK sizes. The size charts say that's an N in US sizes, but I have never seen one so I wouldn't know.

Go to the mall and find me an option. Just one. Go for it. I'll wait here.

Online I have found about two options, none of which are affordable; Figleaves.co.uk was the best option I had, but they did away with their free returns so I can no longer afford them-- bras rarely fit me in the first size I try on, even though I was professionally fitted in two separate lingerie shops in London, UK as a 32JJ.
Neither of those shops, by the way, one of which was a specialty D+ shop I might mention, had one bra that fit me. I would have had to buy a 38G and get it altered, from the one. The other sold me a 34J that I have had to alter since.

I would love to see these "plenty of options". Thanks in advance!

[woogledesigns.livejournal.com]

RARRARARRARAR
I'm a dinosaur. People who try to make you ashamed you should go Rarr at. Really loud and show them who's boss!!
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARARARRRR!!

[teany.livejournal.com]

I'm not being facetious, but being a 32DD (with a size 4-4.5 shoe -- try finding that at any mainstream shoe store), I've just become used to going to specialty stores to get things that fit me. I might be spoiled by living in NYC, but I've found that you can find anything if you go to the right store, and sometimes you are going to have to pay for it (and I consider a bra something that's worth an investment of 60 bucks for something you wear every day) and get things altered. I usually go to Town Shop (http://www.townshop.com/about.shtml) and Linda the Bra Lady (http://www.lindasonline.com/).

Still, I totally understand where you're coming from. I've spend much energy railing against the injustices of manufacturers like Victoria's Secret or Payless screwing an entire segment of society sized a certain way. But I get that if the demand isn't there, some mainstream manufacturers don't find it cost effective to produce it.

[joecaloric.livejournal.com]

Here via redstapler. Excellent rant and interesting response by teany. I agree with all of you.

It seems to me that a store that is smart should try and sell products to make women of any size look as good as possible. That is just smart business. Also if I were selling lingerie I would deliberately want to stock a wide range and even have special mannequins (womnannequins?) because it just makes sense that if you project an image that larger women can get the same products and service as petite women that should be a draw, no? And I hardly think you're going to drive the skinny b-cup gals away as long as you also show that you have good stuff for them. I'm hardly a marketing genius, but this seems obvious to me.


Anyway, Brava!

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Most companies have realized that they can save on production by having the fewest possible sizes. If they focus on the smaller end of sizing, the 50% or more of women who don't fit the sizes offered, by being too large, will be too ashamed to complain.
Also fat women don't deserve fashionable clothing that fits, so even if they do complain, the skinny women can laugh at them.

That is the prevailing ethos. That's what the marketing geniuses say. And that's what the big companies do.

Bravissimo, a UK company, has made a whole niche for themselves by only carrying D+ bras, and having larger mannequins.
But they ONLY serve large-cup, small-band customers. They do not carry anything "plus-size"-- a friend who is a 40E went in and left empty-handed.

Also they are only in the UK. Currently, there is nothing like them in the US.

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

"Most companies have realized that they can save on production by having the fewest possible sizes."

This is also why I hate shoe shopping.
"but why don't you make a 10.5?"
"well, we'd have to make a whole 'nother last"
"and you don't for any other size?"
"well, it's not common enough, and you could just wear an 11 or a 10, it's only a fraction of an inch different!"
*tries on sizes*
"Oh, huh. The 10's too small and the 11's too big, I guess you need a . . .oh, wait. sorry, we don't make those. too bad for you."

even better than needing a 10.5 shoe, I also tend to be halfway between regular and wide widths. fun!
and my husband would wear 31/31 pants if they existed, and needs a 36R suit.
We are just a housefull of rtw sizing is evil.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend needs a 29x36 in trousers.
He wears 30x32s low on his hips and wears black socks, since they show so much.
The one pair of tailored pants he owns is actual 28 1/2" at the waist, and has a 37" inseam-- his natural waist is very high for a man, and he's all legs.

Shoes are trickier, but there's just so much trouble in this house that I figure learning to sew is worth it. The boyfriend's mother was a seamstress back when that was done-- at J.C. Penney!! She was just on staff. Everyone had things altered. But she stopped sewing things because it's not cost-effective.
I just think I'd rather make my own than support an irrelevant industry.

[warmage.livejournal.com]

Epic Boobs FTW.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

They try.

[rensreality101.livejournal.com]

How much support do the cholis give you? Can you wear them under tshirts? Are they something I could substitute for a bra?

(I have dermagraphic skin and a latex/spandex allergy. I have only found one kind of bra that doesn't tear the skin under my boobs up and while it is really comfortable, it doesn't provide much support.)

Oh, are cholis complicated to sew?

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I can post a better picture of the choli if I can find it. It gives decent support-- I was saying I think I'll have to make my next version with a little bit of stretch somewhere, to be more comfortable. Most of them are stretchy but most are meant for fairly small-busted people, so, not so important.
They give good support, not really bra-shaped but depending on the pattern it could be.
I have had the best luck lining them, which makes them a bit hot/bulky to go under a shirt-- since they fasten by ties they'd look odd under other clothing.
The choli was my first real looked-good-when-I-finished garment. They are not at all complicated, and since they are small, they are quick to sew. I used this pattern (http://www.blackswantribe.com.au/cholipattern2.html) for the one in the picture, which gives kind of a monoboob sports-bra-like effect, but could be made less cleavagey by a few adjustments. I had to alter the pattern slightly by shortening the shoulder and adding darts below the bust.
I have also used this pattern (http://www.feoragdubh.eastkingdom.org/Patterns/choli203.gif) which gives more of a lift-and-separate kind of look.

I don't know if it could substitute for a bra, but if you made a few alterations to the pattern (like including an apron portion to cover the midriff, and extending it so it mostly closes in the back, and making it look more like the summery blouses you can buy in stores) then you could definitely make self-supportive shirts you could wear instead of a shirt and bra. They'd be empire-line, but you could play with that as you got better at the pattern and come up with different looks.

(edited to fix code)

[rensreality101.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I have bookmarked the links. Until I started reading your blog I never considered sewing some of the clothing items that give me trouble. I will be setting my machine up in a few weeks for a different project and I am going to give the choli a try. Even if I can't wear them out they still sound perfect for around the house.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm glad I've been inspirational!
Setting up the sewing machine seems like such a trivial thing but it is really complicated and space-consuming. It is a formidable obstacle! And it is very time-consuming to sew. But I find it so extremely satisfying that it's worth it to me. And it's so nice to have things that fit, and if they don't, I can fix them! That's really something I can't put a value on.

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

hahahaha! rant on woman! Hooray for boob twins!

I drives me batty that most people just believe that boobs only come as big as a DDD because most bras only go up to a DDD at most. This might be a good time for linkage to this (http://www.wapsisquare.com/d/20011112.html). Except yanno, add to that the actual rest of the alphabet too! ;)
all I can say is thank heavens for Panache/Fantasie, at least they believe we exist, sometimes. (even if I Fantasie bras do jack shit for me, at least I have my beloved Panache).

Also? One of my projects for this year is to learn to sew, and one of the things I really want to make are bust supportive clothing that is not a bra. You are an inspiration on this front. We'll see if it happens, but it would be lovely.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Ah... I outgrew Panache. They only go up to G. It was a tragic, tragic day, believe me. (I lost weight... but only in my ribcage. I gained it back... but it only went to my boobs. Suck! Sucktastic! Ugh.)
So I only have Fantasie and Freya. Fantasie is OK but tends to be a little wide-set into my armpits. Not really ideal shape. Freya is pretty, but many of them have uncomfortable detailing.

I am planning to learn to sew bras too, but I'm working up to it. It's really hard. And I only just got a machine with a zig-zag stitch.
But I like self-supportive clothing. The single best garment ever is the self-supportive 15th century kirtle (http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/FittingAndConstruction.htm). I am currently cutting out a version which I am going to make knee-length of blue silk for my sister's wedding reception. I wanted to try to adapt it to be a halter top but don't want to risk losing any support, so I'm leaving it as is and just doing it sleeveless.
What? Lacing up the front is SO fashion-forward this year!

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

no, no, no, no! Some Panache, yes, are more limited, but some of them go up to a UK K, promise! I wear a 34J(uk) in their bras and I have, hmmm, 5 different styles.
This (http://www.barenecessities.com/Panache-Tango-Two-Tone-Underwire-Bra_product_Panache5061_,search,.htm)is my favorite one, I think. Although I like this one (http://www.barenecessities.com/Panache-Scarlett-Underwire-Bra_product_Panache4501_,search,.htm) too, constructed very similarly. Of course that particular site is out of stock of a lot of sizes right now, but I link to them because they have very friendly customer service and non-stupid return policies, unlike new figleaves. (BN's search by size is f-ed though, no way to search for our end of the size range, so for the longest time I thought they didn't carry any, but they do, just their search is not set up to account for it, you have to look in individual bras). Hopefully Bare Necessities will get more stock in soon in those Panache ones. I'm happy to tell you more about the ones I've got if you're interested :)

[wyldegrey.livejournal.com]

Also here via redstapler.

I have F-cups. Yeah, F, as in "F that noise." Being so racktastic has made my lingere-buying life hell. If they get any bigger, I think the solution may involve power tools, welding, and a suspension bridge architect.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I'm up to a JJ. If only I had some meat on my ribs I'd be much smaller in the cup, but my band is very small so the cups are enormous. (I wore 34Gs for a while and that was great, but a weight seesaw took two inches off my ribs and gave back like um a bunch of inches in my boobs. I'm still mad.)

The thing is, I think my boobs are really quite well-behaved for their size. They don't need architecture. They need decent construction, but so much lingerie is so poorly thought-out! I bought a book on bra construction and it was fascinating. There's a lot to it, but it's not advanced physics. Just basic physics.

[wyldegrey.livejournal.com]

Good lord. I can't begin to imagine how irritating shopping is for you!

I'm short-waisted, so anything less than perky! makes my tits seem ultra-droopy, so I tend to go for scaffolding-type undergarments. I currently have 'em crammed into a DDD because I couldn't find it in a F and has the best lift of any bra I've tried in recent years. If I could find this in an F I'd buy a ton of 'em.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I just don't shop, mostly. I get by with what I have. Two bras will do if one doesn't work-- get one with reasonable cups, and one with a reasonable band, and wear the reasonable cups underneath and the reasonable band overtop. Sports bras work too-- I have three Enells that I wear for skating (I do roller derby), working out (I work out four or five times a week including skating), or whenever I need a vacation from my tits (it's a severe compression bra, so no bounce and much less projection). (Enell.com, or order it from titlenine.com since their return policy is good-- it's their "Last Resort Bra"-- I wear a size 2 based on my ribcage measurement, and the boobs sort of squash. I'm 33" ribcage, 46" full bust, and it's close enough.)

I am fat anyway so unless I dress up real nice, I just look fat, so I don't let it bother me what my boobs look like. Unless I'm dressed up real nice. Which is why as we speak I'm making a dress that has built-in support, since when I gained a couple pounds so I couldn't fit into either my halter-convertible OR my plunge-front bra (and haven't been able to find remotely suitable replacements) I also became unable to wear either of the remaining nice dresses I had.

So, basically, fuck lingerie. :) I'll make my own or be a shapeless lump-- those are my choices, since I refuse to either buy things that don't fit and reinforce lingerie companies' belief that there's no market for my size (42DDD sells so well! Because people have to chop ten inches out of the band! Yeah.), or pay $100/pop including shipping for something that may not actually fit either... Fuck that! It's not that hard to sew.

Pardon my militance, but I'm a bit tipsy and have been sewing all day so I'd have something that I could actually wear for my sister's wedding in two weeks. The last wedding I went to I wore a camisole under the plunge-front dress to cover the non-plunge bra, and i got straight-up stared at and it made me feel like shit. It must've looked weird? I don't know? Well screw it, I won't do it again.

[wyldegrey.livejournal.com]

Roller derby! I read your comment just as I got back from a bout. :-) I don't skate (that will change in the near future if the team has anything to say about it), but my boyfriend does in a co-ed league (a men's team and a women's team affiliated with one another -- a state of affairs that is apparently the cause of Much Drama in the world of roller derby). The ladies have been telling me I ought to join, too, and they're such a great group that I think I might when I have money again.

I've been tempted by the Last Resort Bra, but their Wired And Ready For Action one is currently working for me -- the DDD is a little small, but in a sports bra, that just adds a little compression, so it works for me.

I sympathize with the militance. In addition to having larger-than-"standard" tits, I am tall and pudgy, a combination that apparently never happens ever. My own clothing-industry-militance is based more around "fuck trousers" than "fuck lingerie", but I get you.

[bangping.livejournal.com]

Here via joecaloric. Sing it, sister!

I also fall into the "fat with fairly small boobs" category, and have spent years trying to find bras that actually fit provide support and are (*gasp!*) reasonably attractive without cutting me in half. I found that having measurements done at a shop which specializes in bras helped. I generally order bras from Woman Within and other plus-size specialty stores. I rarely find bras that are comfortable, supportive, and attractive all at once, though - I generally make do by choosing any two of the three.

To answer joecaloric's question, there are places that sell plus sized lingerie and clothing - and some of it is even attractive. But they're typically online or catalog-order only. The implication is always there that the only thing worse than allowing our fat selves to be seen shopping for clothes in public is to allow our fat selves to be seen unclothed in public. It's all part of the national anti-fat bias. You would think there would be more of a market for attractive plus-sized clothing - but I'm betting that the powers that be make far more off trying to convince us that we should spend billions trying to lose our fat than they could ever make attempting to clothe us attractively.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Oh, amen!!! Well said.

Lane Bryant's Cacique seemed really exciting. But it's large-band, large-cup only. Which still doesn't serve my market segment (I am fat, but I wear a very small bra band because of my odd shape), and is even more of a slap in the face to yours.

[greenworldgirl.livejournal.com]

I think the most depressing thing for me about having to start shopping in what I would call the 'moo-cow' section of bras that department stores would carry- was just how UGLY they all were. They really LOOKED like something that could be used to hitch you to a cart.

Fortunately this has improved somewhat. But it was really awful-I mean what exactly is the point of designing things so ugly? Surely it wouldn't have hurt them to use attractive colors or fabrics? I remember when they all seemed to be beige, or white, and you were lucky to find black. Forget about lace or a nice texture. It's like they thought you WANTED to look ugly and asexual.

Like I said fortunately they seem to be making some nicer ones now. But on average plus sized bras are still less attractive, I think.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Part of what I was so irritated about with the Victoria's Secret and Wonderbra phenomenon is the whole idea of Yes! Sexy Lingerie for the Masses!! But only in these styles. Yeah.

There's a bit more choice nowadays, but it mostly just pisses me off. The only US company that really caters to the D+ market is Goddess. Which... doesn't use underwires ever, as far as I can tell, and also seems to think that just making the same four-inch-wide-shoulder-straps Grandma-bra in delustered-satin-leopard-print is "sexy".
Um, no.
Panache. Freya. Fantasie. All British. Why do British chicks who are busty get big bras? Even Marks & Spencers, the discount department store, carries D+. Why?
Because there's so much less body shame there.
Ugh.
I'm tired of being ashamed of my fat titties already. If shame could make them smaller, it already would have.

[squibbon.livejournal.com]

Here via redstapler. I love this post. Dealing with weird in-between sizing issues myself, I seem to fall into the gap between plus and "regular" sized bras a lot, but I'm lucky enough to be able to find things that fit at a number of mainstream stores. Not as easy as it used to be, but still quite doable.

This isn't a problem I personally have, but a former girlfriend of mine really struggled with finding bras that would fit her due to breast asymmetry. Most women's breasts aren't perfectly symmetrical, and differences of 1/2 to a full cup size aren't all that uncommon.... but you'd never know that from the sizes offered either.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think it's something like 90% of women who have significantly asymmetrical breasts. But you're right, there's 0 attempt to accomodate or even acknowledge that.
Mine are asymmetrical, but given their sheer size, I suppose they're not bad-- it's less than half a cup size difference, and really you can't tell unless you're trying to fit them into something. Sometimes I forget which is the larger one. I just always notice on one side first if I need to go up a cup size.
I'm just really tired of it being a big deal. But every day when I try to get dressed I get re-confronted with the fact that nothing fucking fits. And every time I complain about this, which I think is a reasonable complaint, I get at least one person who is incredulous that I haven't had a reduction yet. (Actually... come to think about it... this big comment thread gets a giant WIN because not one person, for the first time ever!!!!, has said anything of the kind!!!!!)
They don't hurt me!!! Even ill-fitting bras don't hurt that much!!! There's no pain! They're fine! They're healthy! Why would I get MAJOR SURGERY so that I could... buy clothes???? Why would I change my body to fit some company's idea of what's normal?
But that's what's expected. And these companies who offer such limited options simply refuse to acknowledge the power they have. How many women who would be my shape have undergone this dangerous, damaging, and really quite unnecessary surgery simply so they could fit this ideal?
Just a little food for thought, there.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Vickie's Secret doesn't even make that many bras for women in the sizes they purport to cover. I have repeatedly tried to buy a bra there -- and I'm a 38B -- with no success.

Clearly we need to have a cleavage day at the antipodal day of the year for people who don't wear or want wonderbras.