Love your lingerie

LIMA — Demi and french cut and seamless ... oh my. As most women (and the few woeful men who get stuck shopping for them) can attest, lingerie shopping is far from easy.Straps or strapless? Lace or mesh? Microfiber or cotton? Push up or full coverage? The possibilities are as endless, it seems, as the department stores, boutiques and Web sites that sell them.Choices don’t always translate into the best fit, however. Finding a pretty bra isn’t hard, but finding a pretty bra that works on your figure? Well, that’s a different story.So listen up, ladies. Before you buy another brassiere or invest in another brief, consider these facts, rules and tips for finding the best possible lingerie for your body.   FACT: Odds are, you’re wearing the wrong bra size. As many as 85 percent of women across the country don’t wear the right size bra, said Sondra Ambrister, a manager and certified bra fitter at The Ritz in Lima. “From what we see, you may have one out of 10 women that walk in that happen to be wearing the right bra size,” she said.Why is fit such a big deal? Without support for your bust line — the band constitutes 90 percent of a bra’s support, by the way— the connective tissues in the breast can tear, Ambrister said, leading to droopy breasts farther down the road. Also disconcerting: ill-fitting bras can actually cause breast tissue to migrate toward your back, Ambrister said, causing what some women refer to as “back fat.” This tissue can sometimes be “re-trained,” she said, but only with the help of the right bra.TIP: See a certified bra fitter, if possible. If not, consider these rules: bra bands should be tight enough that you can only fit two finger-widths under them. Worn properly, the band should be horizontal to the ground. When you bend over, your breast should fill the cups, Howe said, but not overflow. If your straps are digging into your shoulders, your breasts are spilling out of your cups or you’re just not comfortable, you probably need to change sizes.FACT: Women will likely change bra sizes five or six times during their lifetime, said Connie Howe, selling and fit specialist in lingerie for Macy’s in Lima. Such changes result from weight gain or loss, having a child or breastfeeding, breast reduction or augmentation and more. “Every time you lose or gain a few pounds it changes the bra size,” she said. “Menopause, taking certain medications, just going through pregnancy can change your size.”TIP: Make a point of regularly getting your size checked, and invest in a couple different sizes if you find yourself fluctuating.FACT: An “A” cup is always the same size, right? Wrong, Ambrister said. Cup size changes in proportion to the band size on the bra. For example, the cup size on a 34D will be significantly smaller than the cup size on a 44D (demonstrate this on your own at a store by lying two same-cup, different-band bras side by side). TIP: Fluctuating cups actually translate into more options for consumers, Ambrister said. Say you try on a 36B and the band doesn’t fit. A 38A or a 34C will give you approximately the same cup size, but with different bandwidths. Play around until you find the perfect size.FACT: Cup sizes also change from brand to brand, Ambrister said. Size charts also change depending on where the brand is created, such as the United Kingdom, Europe or the United States (An F cup in U.K. sizing might be a G cup in the United States, for example). “It really turns everything upside down,” Ambrister said. “It makes things frustrating for women.”TIP: Don’t let the bras win. This is a delicate process that takes a bit of tinkering: Ambrister said even with a professional’s help, fittings can take up to an hour or more.FACT: Bras don’t last forever. “If you had one bra that you wore each day, and you hand-washed it each day, it might last six months,” Howe said. Any longer, and the bra will lose its elasticity and support. TIP: Howe said she encourages her customers to have eight bras: one for each day of the week and one extra. Rotating between the bras, she said, will give them a longer lifespan. Washing them by hand also coaxes the maximum lifespan out of your lingerie, she said. (A note on bra colors: every woman should have white, flesh-tone and black, according to Howe).FACT: Bras with seams support you better. According to Ambrister and How, structure and support comes from the way bras are stitched together. Take away the seams, and you lose a little reinforcement.TIP: Women who have larger breasts should consider seams when looking for the best possible support (however, Ambrister said more and more companies are manufacturing better seamless bras for bigger sizes). FACT: Panties can be tough to fit, too, Ambrister and Howe said, but not impossible. Both said their customers are looking for two things: shapewear items to smooth out silhouettes, or undies that eradicate panty lines.TIP: In general, panties are up to the discretion of the consumer, Howe said. If you’re uncomfortable in a thong, try microfiber or a french cut (higher leg openings) to cut back on lines. Also consider low-rise waistlines if your wardrobe consists of low-rise pants. As far as shapewear goes, Ambrister said it can we worn just about all the time, even under work clothes or casual outfits.