To think that little bow in the middle of your bra is condescending

[Moomoomango]

I got two new nursing bras today and noticed they both had little ribbon type bows in the centre cleavage.. I thought why on earth do I need a small bow between my boobs? Went to check all my other bras and every single one (even the most unsexy utilitarian bra) has a bow. Aibu to think a grown woman does not need a ribbon bow between her breasts? Or have I got too much time on my hands?!

on behalf of DD, I agree bows and generally lacey shite on lingerie is the pits. I have been specifically warned by her never to get undies or bras with bows on pain of endless tween eye-rolling.

Me, though.....I LOVE bows. and lace. and embroidery. bring it. i have huge norks and i love wearing really beautiful bras.

What happens if you work in centimetres? Do Europeans have bra interventions?

I have just been examining my bras, and the the European centimetre measurement for the bra-band on my 38 inch bras is 85cm, which roughly equals 33.5 inches (to 1 d.p.). The bras themselves measure 72-80cm on the inside, when laid flat.

Anyway the UK difference between names for UK sizes and Euro sizes looks rather like X inches minus 4 (and a bit) inches to me.

Do women in Europe (except France which has another system) have to measure their ribcage and take 10cm off to buy a bra?

Good question. Where I live shops do tend to use the UK system. And brands like Triumph do show UK sizes.
I know most people do need a bra intervention, though. It's my summer hobby to spot bra intervention targets.

It is stupid. I don't know why pants and bras can't just be functional. Even the most unsexy bras have a stupid little fancy bow. Why

M&S has loads of dull, unembellished, functional underwear as I'm sure do other shops (Tesco for example as I discovered in my one and only experience of buying clothes there due to late night missing luggage emergency) so not sure why bow haters are finding it so difficult.

I love bows and lace and frills. Thank goodness I don't live in a world where "is it functional"? is the sole criteria.


So we know which is the front. Obviously

TaraCarter

Looking in more detail at the European and French sizes, it looks like European sizes do take 10 cm (4 inches) and the French add 2 inches (5 cm) to the back size.

Could it be where the add 4 inches came from?
Or that when making a bra with elastics you should make it some cm/inches smaller so that it stretches and stays in place?

There must have been reasons for such size rules, but I'm sure they have been largely forgotten.

I just checked my bra, as you do.
Mine has a bow and a rosebud on it!
Double the tweeness.

Just checked down below, as you do, and my pants (non matching) have a bow as well!
What's that all about?

I think a good rummage through me knicker drawer is needed.

I pretty much don't care whether they've got bows on or not. I just want the same type of as my other twenty something friends. Or in fact any kind of choice at all.

Why oh why can you not by decent bras for 32H/34GG?! Or really why do all bras start being less attractive over the D cup?

Don't think most of my bras have bows. Bows where the straps meet the cups would really annoy me! That would show under a lot of clothes.

It has long annoyed me that most women's underwear comes with a bow in the middle. It reminds me of being a little girl, which seems wrong on a grown woman. But it also annoys me on little girls - doesn't it teach them that underwear should be pretty? Not a great lesson.

So yeah, sign me up to the grumpy list.

But it also annoys me on little girls - doesn't it teach them that underwear should be pretty? Not a great lesson

Oh for goodness sake- there is plenty of plain underwear if that's what you want. Why should underwear not be pretty for those who want pretty underwear.

I didn't know bras were supposed to be educational.

My bras don't have bows (Panache Tango).

I used to know a blind girl, who found the bows helpful for getting her pants on the right way round.

Pockets on nightwear -- also perfect for keeping earplugs in. Then you don't have to try to find the tiny things on bedside table in middle of night when DP starts snoring!

Why oh why can you not by decent bras for 32H/34GG?! Or really why do all bras start being less attractive over the D cup?

They don't. Go to Bravissimo.

More bows, lace and frills I say.....and I don't understand why anyone (unless it's size related) would not prefer her underwear to match?!!

Aha, I KNEW I'd stumbled into an episode of Harry Enfield's "Women - Know Your Place", and the advert just proves it!

My underwear tends to match the outer clothes. I don't want to get caught wearing a black bra under a thin white top.
That's enough matching for me.

What Lweji said. Beige bras for underneath lacy tops, white for white tops. What clothes my derrière is rarely dependent on the brassiere* I chose.

I certainly don't own any sets!

*I know that isn't actually French for bra

" I don't want to get caught wearing a black bra under a thin white top"

What about white bra under black lacy top? Everyone can see it glowing through under the disco lights in the club!

Or that. Actually a white bra under a thin white top either. It's too obvious.

I only have a bra genie. It's very functional and totally unsexy but I only wear it for my martial arts classes. I have bought a fair few sexy bras with bows and other admonishments but have never managed to wear a bra for more than about half an hour before finding it much too tight on my rib cage.

dd only likes pretty/striking bras. Last time we went bra shopping her main complaint was that they were all very boring (single colours only).

The trouble with wearing a beige bra under a white top is that then you are wearing a beige bra.