What goes into a bra—other than your breasts? I pay attention to the right fit but don’t inspect every little detail of the finished products found on the hangers in my favorite lingerie store. What do I need to know about bra construction? I don’t treat my bras as complicated pieces of equipment, despite the engineering […]
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Back in high school my breasts often arrived in the room before I did. My breast size was a frequent topic of conversation. I sported a pair of DDs in the 1970s, rare in the decade known for encouraging bra-less freedom. That was not an option for my buoyant “girls.” And their power seemed out of my […]
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I wasn’t one of those glowing pregnant women. And once my babies arrived, I had a tough time figuring out the breastfeeding basics, including nursing bras. The only woman in my family who had nursed her kids was an older sister who lived two states away. Multiple pregnancies didn’t make me a lactation expert either. […]
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I’m not sure why watching the documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc., made me so angry. I’d read Samantha King’s book, on which the film is loosely based, back in 2008. I reviewed it, along with Gayle Sulik’s similar work on the subject, Pink Ribbon Blues. I recently wrote a blog on Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, a new non-fiction work which, among […]
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The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s recent bra buying episode prompted me to ask my grown girl what she remembers about buying her first bra. In the controversial RHNJ clip, Teresa Guidice mocks her 10-year old daughter’s body. Gia responds with predictable embarrassment. I wondered if my own daughter recalled how I reacted to her blossoming breast […]
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