Sizes matter…and so, does style! Lingerie brands, for the longest time have mostly given importance to sizes or understood and uncovered that extra leg for sizes that sells the most. Bras are the basics of attire and form the backbone to your garments. But in most cases a cringy size or a misfit bra is likely to lower your self-confidence. What’s more, add that boring look to it and it will start bothering you further. So, to boost up that confidence you need a dapper of sorts that fit you right and flaunt the veracious make and the perfect look. Barring few designers or ‘A’ league international brands are we getting enough when it comes to style for the plus size category? We spoke to a few people for their opinions…
CHARULIKA DHAWAN
Assistant Professor
A professor by profession, a storyteller by passion, she loves to wear her clothes right. Dressing for the occasion is her thing, as she has students looking up to her every day. She has been slaying plus size dressing for years now but alas all through these years she has experimented with only her limited resources—be it the bra or clothing. Here’s what she has to say:
Finding a perfect bra has never been easy for me. While I often find myself struggling with too tight, too loose, a horribly annoying underwire and related writhes of finding comfortable lingerie, my friends just can’t stop bragging about their ritzy collection.
From identifying an apt store/brand to a styling that fits my taste, it is a daunting task. Anything in vogue is often not available in my size, bummer! Not all brands have my cup size, let alone band, strap, lining, and natural shape styling. Those who do, well, they usually offer teensy-weensy glob of limited colours, fabrics, patterns, slings, et al. However, there’s a silver lining…the top-notch brands. But hey, can I easily afford to swap out these pearls every 5-6 months? Not so silver after all! It is a need versus fashion kind of scenario where styling often takes a backseat. I would kill for a combination of a Racer bra and a Plunge back. If that exists, share the address.
PRIYA LALWANI
Partner, Weltex
A home grown brand that specialises in woven cotton bras is also known for their plus size bras and offers a selective pattern and range in cup sizes B to H and sizes up to 44″ to 48″ as well.
Starting their journey in 1975, the brand today has a very strong distributor network to its credit and serves women in almost every state of India. With hands-on experience and exposure and a strong design sensibility to her credit, Priya has more to say about style and bra sensibility for bigger size bras.
It’s great that companies are popping up to cater to the larger-breasted woman; perhaps it’s worth considering,
- a) The vast majority of bras go up to a DD anyway and
- b) Not every woman wants to buy from a ‘plus-size’ collection, even if that ‘plus’ only relates to their actual cup size. These collections may claim to be affordable too, but their limited production lines make them unaffordable for some people.
Most women just want to shop and find things within their budget that look nice but compromise on the fit.
INGELA BISWAS
Stylist & Blogger, Pretcurry
She works with a list of brands and models and manages her own social media avatar that goes by the name Pretcurry. She is always surrounded by style in every form; her way of running the show is all about making everything stylish! However, as a person she didn’t think twice while answering about bra styles and sizes. Here’s what she had to say.
Firstly, to begin with, personally I prefer functionality and comfort before style even though I’m a professional stylist. I’m not so keen on wearing bras in the first place and so are most of the women I meet. But since we live in a society where it is almost a default choice in a woman’s life, we end up wearing it for not less than 10 hours a day if not more.
Thus, as a staple need in our wardrobe, ALL of us have the right to feel good in them, comfort and look wise. Styles may defer from size to size, but one cannot prohibit bigger sizes with design challenge as their excuse.
RITESH PATODIA
MD-Trylo Intimates
With a keen understanding of the lingerie industry, Ritesh Patodia heads the fairly young lingerie brand Trylo. The company was started off in 1992 just as a cotton-based day- to-day innerwear manufacturing firm. Over the years, things changed quite a bit. Today, they are a fashion house, ranked amongst India’s leading manufacturers of lingerie. Their state-of-the-art facility at Surendranagar, Gujarat is spread over 18,000 yards and is filled with the latest technology and the sharpest minds. Though they’ve come a long way, they’ve kept things simple—one of their foremost filters for anything they create is comfort. But Trylo pairs comfort with style and makes every bra a piece of aesthetic too. Here’s what Ritesh had to say about plus size bra styles.
Years ago, on one hand fashionable plus size bras were missing from the market and on the other hand the demand for fashionable bras for the plus size category was also way too little. Over the years women have become more conscious about the lingerie they wear, they have started to ask for stylish bras. Keeping up with this demand, brands have also started to think consciously about this far too neglected category. So, yes demands have made brands pull up their socks. Now, more and more brands are indeed trying to introduce fashionable lingerie in the plus size category. They are reinventing their collections just to suit the needs of modern women. It is only a matter of time and I can vouch that we will certainly see more colours and designs in this category very soon.
