Archive for October, 2009

Bra-vo Intimates

October 25th, 2009 by Carissa Rose

The last Friday in September, I had the pleasure of attending a fall trunk show at Bra-vo Intimates in Royal Oak, Michigan. This is an excellent week long promotion for Bra-vo clients to pre-order everything from lingerie to swim to our clothing line – Bratique Helene for women with large breasts and misses sized bodies!

Bra-vo’s owner is the wonderful Rebecca Aughton, a lingerie industry veteran and master bra fitter. In addition to its urban location, hardwood floors, and resident cat, my favorite section of the store is the bra alcove. Lots of goodies I wanted to get my hands on. And on one of the many sample racks I saw a Freya bustier – Nadia – that I’m excited to see in stores.

As I worked with the Bra-vo staff that day I heard them say, “There is no normal size. Women come in all sizes & shapes, just like snowflakes.” All they talk about is fit, fit, fit and I knew I was in good company when looking at a new bra that had just arrived Rebecca briefly inspected it and said, “Looks like jiggle to me”, meaning she thought the fabrication wouldn’t offer strong support.

Bra-vo stocks Rosa Faia, Prima Donna, and Simone Perel in addition to the standard full bust brands Freya, Fantasie, Panache, etc. Every woman who emerged from the dressing room(s) had more than just one bra in her hands. If you are in the Detroit vicinity and need a bra intervention or update, the place to go is Bra-vo!
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Posted in clothing for big busted women, how to fit a bra, shirts for big busted women | 1 Comment »

Why Do Designers Banish the Bust?

October 18th, 2009 by Carissa Rose
As seen in this Dallas Morning News Shopping Blog entry, designer clothing rarely has enough room in the bust for women with large breasts.

And one of our more famous clients who covers the fashion industry states, “Most designers find breasts annoying complications, from a fabric-engineering standpoint.”

The majority of clothing is cut for a woman who is two to three inches wider in the hips than in the bust. This pattern, from the 1940’s has a 32″ bust and 35″ hip.

Being an hourglass (*not* one of those pretty latin or italian types), this explains why my Mom always made my clothes for really important occasions, and why we were always adding darts to, and raising necklines of ready to wear.

This is also the reason we do what we do: manufacture tailored, woven shirts for women with large breasts. If an hourglass body has a hard time finding blouses and dresses, what about the triangle body, whose bust is larger than her hips?

After all, jeans are available in curvy, straight, wide-leg, boyfriend, etc., which acknowledges that hips come in different sizes of fullness. And now, so are chic tops. Because busts come in different sizes too, and in our world that means big (well endowed) and bigger (really endowed)!

Having been to the women’s wear apparel tradeshows, I know that fashion is not kind to women of a certain cup size, specifically D+. At least not if full bust women want to wear shirts other than knits.

But enough of my gospel, what do you think?
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Posted in big breast clothing, dresses for big busted women, shirts for big busted women | 5 Comments »

Your Bra Wardrobe

October 12th, 2009 by Carissa Rose
We frequently get questions along the lines of “how many bras do I need?” And we’ve seen several of our clients struggle with finding the right balance of bra styles for their wardrobe.

One must compartmentalize one’s wardrobe to find the perfect number of bras. For example, a woman who works long hours in a corporate environ will have different bra needs than a woman who is a nurse by trade and spends most of her free time training for triathalons. We don’t assign certain numbers and styles because its completely dependent on one’s lifestyle.


The example above needs four kinds of bras: lounge/leisure, exercise, softcup for work @ home, and underwire to put her best profile forward out of the house. Similar to different wardrobes for different lifestyles, we need different bras for different lifestyles. In general, for everyday use, good fitting seamed cup bras with a couple of seamless styles added in is the best mix. The example below only needs two kinds of bras: lounge/leisure (this includes sleep) and underwire to put her best profile forward while working.


A) evaluate how you spend your time,

B) have more than enough bras to be well prepared & excited to put on your empowering ‘under armor’ for each of your life’s activities,

C) compartmentalize – decide when you do X activity (work, stay at home, exercise), you will wear either A, B or C bras. Very similar to stylists who take an inventory of your closet and then snap photos of the outfits – each shirt in your closet will ideally be compatible with 2-3 bras in your lingerie drawer. We suggest re-evaluating your bra arsenal once a quarter, especially as bodies and activities change.

What about you? Where are the holes in your bra wardrobe currently? I’ll go first: I want a nude leBreeza sports bra. I need a nude plunge balcony bra – my everyday choice. I saw a great Fantasie sample at a retailer’s event recently, but a sample is a 34D so of course I didn’t even try it!!

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Posted in bra types | 2 Comments »

An official announcement . . .

October 4th, 2009 by Carissa Rose
Just wanted to let you know that we are changing the brand name of our clothing line. You, our valued clients, will no longer see the Bratique Helene name – it will be the name of our manufacturing company.
Instead, you will see Carissa Rose. As we expand our line and move forward with more styles, I wanted to continue to honor my Mom, Helene Rose. So the new brand name has my first name and her last name.
This is the back of our hang-tag, we hope to educate the beautiful full bust women out there about how our sizing works.

Our shirts are currently being produced with the new label sewn into them, so don’t be alarmed when a Carissa Rose shirt arrives that you ordered from the Bratique Helene web-site. We are working to launch the new site in the new year.
We are excited about this re-branding, but what do you think? Is the new name a go?
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Posted in big breast clothing, clothing for big busted women | 1 Comment »