I canna' change the laws of corsets!! (massively long)

[Nunavut Pants]

Of course, if the bride had some upcoming "reshaping" that she neglected to tell you about (planned for pre-wedding implants or liposuction, or was 2 months pregnant at time of initial fitting), it's YOUR fault that the dress doesn't fit properly.

There was a thread about exactly this situation a while back.... Wish I could remember how long, though.

The bride was absolutely ADAMANT that she had nothing done, nothing at all! And tried to stiff the dressmaker on the payment.

[Ghel]

I think you're thinking of this thread:
http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...d.php?t=108163

[Soulstealer]

Also always make sure you actually get measured and not passed by the 'eye' test. some bra store people think they have magic senses, and while someone trained may be good they should still be measured.

I once went into a store asking if they had a certain size since it's a bit unusual, the store clerk, instead of answering my question looked at me and said I was a XX Y.

1. That's not close to correct for my body size and shape even accounting for weight fluctuations.

2. That's not what I asked, I asked if you carried a specific size, not to play a guessing game of what my size is.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I think you're thinking of this thread:
http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...d.php?t=108163

I wonder what the final outcome of all of that was?

[Nunavut Pants]

That was the thread, alright! Thanks for the link, time to re-read it!

IIRC, the final outcome was a divorce, with the ex remarking that he really should have paid attention to the warning signs.

[Seshat]

'Get the body ready for the wedding'-related

I made one simple modification to my diet (no exercise changes) to make those significant improvements in my blood test results:

1 salad sandwich daily. Or rather, 1 or more.

Instead of butter or margarine, I use a cheese-based or yoghurt-based dip, or hummous, or avocado, or something similar.
Thinly cut ham, roast beef, or some such. Optional. NOT a fatty meat.
Mixed leafy greens (not iceberg lettuce)
Any of grated carrot, sliced cucumber, capsicum (bell pepper), tomato, salad onion, spring onion, broccoli or cauliflower tops, anything else salady that Bast and Toth find.
All on whichever bread Bast and Toth bring back.

If I'm not in the mood for bread, it's also fine by the 'rules' I've set for myself to make a bowl of salad.


I haven't consciously/deliberately removed anything from my diet, but the sandwiches are both filling and (because of the proteins) glycaemic-load/blood sugar friendly. So I eat less of other stuff.


We've added another change now that the salad is a habit: we try to keep a crockpot of comfort-soup or comfort-stew ready. There's one bowl left of pea and ham soup, and we're stewing lamb shank and barley.

Rest of the thread-related

Wordgirl: thank you for the compliment. My knowledge is the almost-inevitable result of being 18-G or 18-H (I don't know what band size that is in American or European, but the cup size is close-enough to give the idea).
I have read the 'how to fit your bra' information available online, and worked on my own techniques.
The bit about sizing the front of the band separately from the back of the band is entirely my own; as is placing the outer edge of the wire. I figured that out from personal experience; no fitter, no online information, ever explained it. But if I don't get the outer edge of the wire in the correct position, it HURTS. And if I go up or down a band size based on whether the wire is forward or back of where it should be, that corrects it.
Of course, once I have the band from centre front to outer cup correct, the back of the band might still be wrong. Blah.

In my experience, fit the band first. Once you have a make and model of bra with the right band size and shape, you should be able to go up and down cup sizes until it's correct. Usually, just not always. Poot.

[wordgirl]

Sandwich sounds delicious, Seshat! I will put that on my list

I showed your commentary to the daughter of a friend of mine - she's very hard to fit (slender as a reed but stacked and in the process of choosing her own wedding gown. She was impressed! I can foresee a time when lingerie makers add a third measurement that indicates the shape of the bust as well as the band and cup size.

[Seshat]

That would be WONDERFUL (the shape-of-bust indicator).

The other thing I want is bands which give the underbust measurement they're designed to fit. I don't care if it's in cm or inches, just put it in an actual measurement!

And I want shirts and jackets to give designed-for underbust, and to have cup sizes. Even if it's AAA-B, B-D, D-F, G+. Arm lengths would be nice, especially if it's a sleeve that can't be readily re-cuffed.

Pants with inseam, waist and max-hip measurements, again in cm or inches. Skirts with waist and max-hip measurements.

Yeah, now I'm dreaming.


If your stacked-and-slender friend needs any more fitting advice, please feel free to ask. I may or may not be able to help, but I'm more than happy to try!
She's likely to have a hard time all her life getting a suitable cup on a band that fits her. I recommend learning to sew, to be honest.

One trick for learning to sew, especially if you're going to be sewing stuff that needs accurate sewing (such as lingerie):
* use an old needle (or a new needle you're willing to mark as a practice-only needle).
* get some wrapping paper or other marked paper. No glitter, no metallic, both can gum up the machine: just paper and ink. Start with striped paper.
* sew with no thread in the machine, following the stripes. Try to learn how to guide the paper - using only the hand on the near side of the needle - so that the needle is exactly on one side of the stripe.
(If you get into the habit of using the hand on the far side of the needle, you can start inadvertently pulling fabric - or paper - which #(*$es up the stitches.)
* Once you can do the stripes with a blindfold on and both hands tied behind your back (metaphorically), start with funkier paper. Curves and spirals and images of teddybears and whatever else amuses you.

* Once you can do that, you can get fabric with images of teddybears and the like; ones big enough to cover the holes on knees on children's jeans. Learn to make applique patches from those; sell anywhere you can sell crafts. They sell WELL, according to an aunt of mine.
* Oh. Once you can do that, you can sew accurately enough to assemble a bra that's already been sized and cut out. Sizing it, and cutting it accurately, are another set of issues....

[wordgirl]

That would be WONDERFUL (the shape-of-bust indicator).

Ask and ye shall receive!

(I seriously did not go out looking for this ... I was just sitting here waiting for a co-worker to finish up and it popped up on BF.)

[Mental_Mouse]

You will be beautiful. Any bride who is marrying the right man holds herself in such a way that she is beautiful.

Amen. A friend of mine married a woman who is morbidly obese. At the wedding, I have to admit (but not to him!), that she did look kinda like a blimp. But the thing was, she managed the "lighter than air" part of that too. (A profoundly sweet woman -- they're headed for their 15th happy year.)

[Ironclad Alibi]

On the subject of proper fitting netherwear, I an had an aunt that would take a well fitting bra at the end of its life, disassemble it, and use the pieces as a pattern for making them herself.

[Seshat]

It's a good idea. Keep the underwires, if any, and use them in the new bra. Take the fabric to a fabric store where the staff know their stuff, at a time when they're not flat-strap busy. Ask for fabrics with the same stretch characteristics as the original bra's fabric.

Take detailed, timestamped photographs at each stage of disassembly, so you can use them as reference guides for reassembly.

And if you can get extra underwires, make one in whatever shade is 'nude' for you, one in your favourite-of-all-time colour, and one with silly fabric just for fun. (If you want eeyore on your tits, go for it!)

[laborcat]

(If you want eeyore on your tits, go for it!)

Quite possibly the best thing I've ever read on the internet. EVER.

[Seshat]

Feel free to use it as a .signature.

Also, thank you for the compliment.