Archive for March, 2010

Meet the Carissa Rose Team

March 31st, 2010 by Carissa Rose

We’re beginning a monthly (maybe quarterly in reality) series to introduce you to our Carissa Rose team. These precious children, believe it or not, make up our current shipping department. Next month we are out-sourcing the shipping to a current industry contractor, so I thought we should post these pictures now.

The children make the boxes.

Kinder girl making boxes

Put the stickers on (except for the 2.5 year old. Daddy says her sticker placement is not accurate enough to represent the Carissa Rose brand).

Stickering the boxes

And stack them up so they are easily accessible. We usually have a couple of floor to ceiling stacks at a time. The children are creative in how they climb to reach the top of the stacks.

Stacking boxes

Stacking boxes

The boys reconcile the hang-tags to the cut tickets to make sure there are enough of each size, color and style. This is surprisingly good math practice: they organize by color/size, serially order them according to size, and then match the numbers and subtract.

Boys & Hang tags

The now ten year old (as of last week) can actually run the entirety of shipping himself. Unfortunately for me, his teacher, he’s more into the business than into school right now. Not sure how that happened.

Now we call him Decade

Look forward to more Carissa Rose Team entries in the months to come!

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Standing up Tall

March 23rd, 2010 by Carissa Rose

When I was growing up, it was my Mom’s mantra that all the girls in the family (there were 7 girl cousins) stood up straight. Literally. She continually admonished us, “pull your shoulders back, lift your chest and hold your head high. Be proud of who you are!”. This is just one of the many Helene-isms that I like to call to mind.

I was reminded of the importance of good posture, especially when one has a full bust, last week while traveling. I worked all day with a new business associate, bless her heart, whose posture resembled the shape of a crescent moon.

If you’ve been blessed with a full bust – and you probably have been or you wouldn’t be reading this blog – it is imperative that you stand up straight. The following are my pointers to good posture:

  1. Pull your shoulders back. Not in a militaristic or contrived manner, but in a relaxed and purposeful way. To find a natural position, lift the shoulders to the ears, and then roll them to the back. Where the shoulders stop is a good resting place for them.
  2. Lift the chest. I like to envision a string attached to the top of my head. We want to pull that string so the entire body is lifted to a taller stance. This is especially important for short-waisted women who have four inches or less between the bottom of the rib cage and the top of the hip bone.
  3. Aim for a steady gait when walking. We usually aren’t standing still, our posture comes into play when working, walking, etc. Whether you are hurriedly going from meeting to meeting in three inch heels or you are casually going about your errands in flat boots, train yourself to lift your entire leg (think knee lifts here), not just swing the lower leg around. Then gently place your foot on the ground. Remember, we are elegantly and stately creatures, no hoofs flopping down.

Now, over to you. Firstly, what are your posture pet peeves? Either in yourself or what you observe in others. Do you ever just want to pull someone’s shoulders back because you know they’d look so much better standing up straight? Secondly, if you have any secrets that you use to train yourself to have better posture, please share.

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Posted in full busted women | No Comments »

Guest Post: Beauty and the Burbs

March 15th, 2010 by Carissa Rose

Most of our team is away from the showroom this week travelling, so we’re posting a guest entry we did a few weeks ago on Beauty and the Burbs by Jene Luciani.  Enjoy!

Being well-endowed presents its own set of wardrobe challenges. Having a full bust is a blessing, but admittedly it is tricky to make those D+ cups look their best in shirts, especially when one’s waist is smaller.  The perfect clothes for larger busted women have three main components:

Ample room to fit the ample bosom.

  • If you see pulling across the center bust (the center bust is where one’s nipples are in a bra) the top needs more room to accommodate your prominent bust. We want people to remember you for your pretty smile, not for a bustline that is so large it needs a bigger shirt.
  • Similarly, if buttons gape and show tension, then they are either poorly placed for your proportion, meaning if that button was just 1/2″ lower, it wouldn’t gape, or you need more room in the chest.

No pulling or gaping

Women of large breast need details that give vertical direction.

  • This is most commonly found in the neckline.  One can choose a deep V, a moderate Y or sweetheart neckline, but choose a neckline that is not straight across, nor up to your neck.  A neckline with the right balance of skin exposed (positive) and fabric covering (negative) does wonders for creating the visual illusion of length. Christina Hendricks does it wonderfully with this look.
  • Princess seams and vertical darts also give direction to cause the on-looker’s eye to travel up and down, thereby thinking you go up and down (as opposed to you being out and round in shape).  Bonus is finding a waist seam with vertical direction in it, like an inverted V or even a bell shaped inset waist.  They are fantastic body shapers.

Inverted V Inset Waist

Finally keep it cut close to the body to gracefully skim your silhouette.

  • We advise our clients to have the shoulder seam come in to their natural shoulder line (yes, a padded shoulder makes the waist appear smaller).  And on sleeveless tops like shells and camisoles we cut-away the straps just enough to expose the shoulder bone. This post offers advice on how to tailor your current tops to fit the full bust better.
  • And of course we want to keep a nipped in waist, lest the bustline and waistline line look combined into a heck of a lot bigger. mass  Having a defined waist, be it high, mid or low, helps show the body at its best.

Cut in Shoulder

Keep these tips in mind when you’re shopping for tops and dresses for your D+ bustline. In addition to our line, Carissa Rose, the following brands also fit the full bust well: Bravissimo, AJRumina and Rebecca and Drew.

And for further full bust reading, Carissa is quoted in this article as being the full bust expert.

What are your tips on finding the best fitting clothes to fit your full bust?

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Posted in Uncategorized, big breast clothing, clothing for big busted women | 5 Comments »

Oh the Wonderful things a new Bra can do

March 8th, 2010 by Carissa Rose

It can sit flush against the rib cage between your breasts.

Flush Center Gore

It can beautifully encompass the entirety of your breast tissue, no spill over.

Tissue encompassed

Tissue still in the Cup

It can remain anchored (just lower than your bust in the front) on your back for 13 hours and never need to be pulled down.

Snug Backband

It can look wonderful underneath the Farrah Shell and Glenna Camisole.

Farrah Shell

Are you putting your new bra on correctly?

Oh the Wonderful things a new Bra can do, have you tried one lately? I think you ought to!

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Posted in how to fit a bra | 1 Comment »

A Cotton Tank Top? Not in the last five years.

March 1st, 2010 by Carissa Rose

And why not? Because I finally realized that my favorite Hanro tank top didn’t fit. With the pulling across the center bustline, and the straps that showed my bra straps, it really wasn’t a viable shirt for me to wear except as an undershirt. Which bummed me out at $60.00 each.

McCain self posted Twitter Tank Top

Meghan McCain caused a raucous when she posted this picture of herself on Twitter.  She certainly surprised the politico, we aren’t used to seeing her in that way.  One of our clients says it well about tank tops, “because they make me look like a sl*t if the neckline is too low or the bodice too tight.” She is a size 4 with E cups. She also mentioned that her husband paid her this compliment “you have the body of a stripper“. Which is a nice compliment, but there are certain situations in which we don’t want to look like dancers (I personally look like a dancer + tens of pounds).

Before in Hanro tank, after in Farrah shell

Thus the motivation behind designing Glenna, our wide strap camisole. Her neckline is a flattering sweetheart shape and doesn’t show cleavage. Her straps are wide enough to cover the bra. This I wear in the winter underneath cardigans, but I feel so free when I take off my cardi and am still looking stylish and appropriate.

Glenna tucked

Last summer I wore our Farrah shell constantly, the silk is so light for the Texas heat.  Do you wear cotton tank tops by themselves and feel great in them?  Please share your secrets, favorite styles, etc.

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Posted in big breast clothing, clothing for big busted women | 2 Comments »