[eyelet]

Figleaves.com is having a 50% off everything sale. They have a good selection DD+ swimwear and bras. I am in no way affiliated with them. Just a customer.

[eyelet]

p_176-I had a reduction in '99 and I have never regretted it. Set out to be as healthy as you can before the surgery to have the best circulation you can. The oxygen heals. If you smoke or drink much, try to quit or definitely cut down. Take them seriously about not taking blood thinners like aspirin for a while before surgery too. I had surgery on a Thursday and was back at work on Monday (though that was probably pushing it).

I'm pregnant for the first time now, nearly a decade later, and my breasts are temporarily back to being the way they were. It's a weird reminder of how it used to feel to have to sleep in a bra and hold myself when walking up and down stairs. I can't imagine what I'd be like now if I'd never had the reduction!

[p_176]

so it looks like i might have a breast reduction next year. anyone have tips on how to handle recovery?

[auralpoison]

Thank you.

[shinyx3]

woo hoo! i just found this site

shopping!

it is pretty basic but i think the black suit will work for me.

[Aithinne]

Hello ladies.. I'm actually from the small-boobie support group, but was interested in this forum to read stories of women with larger chests. What struck me was the stories of feeling like a freak when you developed ahead of other girls. I was surprised because I remember feeling like a freak when I didn't develop like other girls. It's sad that girls have to wade through this sea of negativity during the years when confidence is also developing, when girls are so impressionable. How heart-breaking to think about how girls get so much ridicule over something they can't control. It always seems like someone has something bad to say about any and every body type, like you can't win no matter how you are shaped. It reinforces the need to support each other, through all the stages of our lives, no matter what our body types are.

You all rock! Hope you all have a great day!

[shinyx3]

thanks persiflager! they have two suit jackets that are nice.

[Persiflager]

*stands up in circle and waves*

Hello, my name's Persiflager and I have big boobs! Actually 30F, so not too huge in total quantity but huge in propertion to my frame. Generally pretty happy with them except for the problems finding bras in my size

In response to shinyx3, have you tried www.bravissimo.com? It's a UK company catering just for big-boobed ladies, and I get most of my bras from there. They sell clothes that cater for different levels of boobiness, e.g. you can get size 12 curvy or size 12 super-curvy (I think there are 3 levels of curviness but I can't check the website at work). The clothes section isn't very big but I'm sure they sell a suit and some shirts and jersey dresses. I like the look of them because they've picked styles that flatter curvier figures, rather than just scaling up. I haven't tried any of these on, but bought a halterneck top with a built-in bra from there a while ago in the sale and was very happy with it.

*sits back down*

[hellotampon]

Sometimes I wish I could wear "office clothes" but most of the time I'm relieved I work in healthcare and wear scrubs. I have no ass and my hips aren't very big either. I'm short and fairly thin. I'm all ribcage and boobs.

[p_176]

delurks - in my opinion, not just work-related clothes like suits, but clothes in general, are being made for small breasted women. clothes for larger breasted women assume you're fat all over. suits are generally not flattering to larger breasts, by enhancing how large they look, or making them look droopy.
a lot of the stories below about the first expereinces with breasts are oh so familiar. i had mine in fourth grade, period in fifth grade. since no one really had them, there were rumors that i was stuffing my bra. my response was, why the hell would i WANT to look like this?? for years, i wore clothes that were way oversized. personally, i detest my breasts. the only problem is, i actually have an hourglass figure. so we'll see what the plastic surgeon says in a few weeks about a reduction, or other options to make them less heavy and painful.

[kittenb]

i was wondering if any of you can suggest profesional clothing, ie suit jackets, that would fit nicely over 34dd. i know i willl have to bet pants or skirt separate because i an a 6 on bottom but always have to get a 12 to 14 on top and have it taken in. i also have pretty broad shoulders but i am pretty thin. if any of you have any suggestion . . . thanks

*relurks*

I don't know if this helps but I think that a nice cardigan with some fancy embellishing makes a nice substitute to a suit jacket. I don't care for jackets much on me.

[thirtiesgirl]

I hated getting breasts. I had been a thin child, then it felt like I got big boobs at 12 out of nowhere, and felt like a freak. I already was treated as different by peers and school officials for years, and having C-cups at 12/13 didn't help. I would try to go to school without a bra, wearing a baggy shirt, and a girl could tell. Or I liked baby tees, but thought I looked like Pamela Anderson when I tried one on. I felt jealous of the other thin, adolescent girls who didn't have round hips and big boobs like I did, me wanting to remain childlike and small. I mostly wore cardigans and big coats and big shirts a lot to cover up having big breasts, until I finally got comfortable with them at 16/17 and wore more fitted shirts. Incidentally, that's when boys started to like me more.

I had a similar experience, being a thin kid and then around age 11, I started getting boobies, and by age 12, they were full blown boobs. I didn't have the hips, though; never have. Just ginormous knockers and a flat ass. Yeah. In junior high, I was either teased a lot by boys (my bra got snapped so many times, I lost count), or the boys completely left me alone, not knowing how to talk to a 12 year old girl with boobs. By high school, I was really into the big shirt thing... when I wasn't trying to fit in with some social group by dressing like they did. Basically, I was either costumed as someone else, or looked like I was trying to hide in my clothes. I'd become so hugely introverted in high school, I couldn't flirt with a boy to save my life. I didn't get any dates, aside from a few sweet but misguided boys who were school boyfriends only, holding hands and attempting to make out in the hallways, but nothing outside of school. They didn't last long.

By college, I was dressing like a comfy, frumpy hippie chick (more big clothes to hide in), but two years in, I kind of got sick of that look and decided to distinguish myself by dressing a little better. It took a lot of trial & error to find my personal style, particularly with a clothing industry that didn't exactly cater to large boobed, plus sized women. Things have definitely gotten better in the past 10 years and I think I've finally learned how to dress my body and have a sense of personal style. I think I actually look ok in 'polo necks' (aka turtle necks, for those of us across the pond), as long as it's a mock neck, and the top doesn't hug my body too tightly. As for bra hooks, I always wear mine on the last hooks. I'm a 40D, so I need all the stretch I can get to fit around my torso.

[shinyx3]

*delurks*

i was wondering if any of you can suggest profesional clothing, ie suit jackets, that would fit nicely over 34dd. i know i willl have to bet pants or skirt separate because i an a 6 on bottom but always have to get a 12 to 14 on top and have it taken in. i also have pretty broad shoulders but i am pretty thin. if any of you have any suggestion . . . thanks

ok, back to the conversation

*relurks*

[hellotampon]

I was a late bloomer. I thought I would never get boobs because my grandmother is really flat and throughout all of 6th grade I wore a bathing suit top under my shirt (I didn't need a bra) because I was always afraid they'd do a scoliosis check that day and I'd be the only bare-chested girl in the line and I didn't want everyone seeing me completely topless.

[girltrouble]

wow. that's horrible. i felt very uncomfortable on the boy's side. i was severely body conscious, mostly having to deal with my body in general, but i loathed gym. many days i would wear my gym clothes under my regular clothes so i didn't have to be naked at all. when i couldn't do that i would go on a bathroom break in the class before gym and put my gym clothes on underneath. i don't think i was as bad for most guys, but i don't think anybody had much fun with gym-- except the jocks. i tried never to shower-- ever. the couple of times i did i found it very, very wounding. i don't see why misery should be part of a curriculum. i knew girls had it bad too, as if i didn't already feel like a freak, gym made me feel 10x worse about myself.

[pollystyrene]

Polly, I new a girl like that in jr high - she had some big boobs then, probably Ds and everybody thought she was a "slut." Honestly, she kind of embraced her bad reputation and had a great "don't fuck with me vibe" (I think I had a girl crush on her), but even then I thought - are we really going to assume a 14 yr old is sleeping around?

Yep, same thing here....ah, Nicole Bernard, where did you go? She disappeared after junior high. She was a little goth-y before I really knew what that was. She said her mom was into Wicca and witchcraft. We both had this awful English teacher, Mr. Galatano...just the most clueless, ineffectual guy, still in my Top 5 Worst Teachers list. We both agreed we should start doing our quarterly book reports on Anne Rice books, just to freak him out. I think the principal was the one with the distraction problem. That guy was always a little skeevy.

That's true, aural. I think it is all about breaking your spirit. It just pisses me off that boys ever had an equivalent.

[prophecy_grrl]

ugh don't get me started on early blooming and the humiliations of adolescence.

My mother INSISTED on my first bra when I was 9 and just entering 4th grade. I was definitely developing, but there wasn't a whole lot there - I think she just wanted me to cover my nipples and get used to a bra. Well, no one else in the 4th grade had a bra, natch, so the FIRST DAY I wore it, it got snapped at least 1/2 dozen times. I swore off bras for several years until, in the 6th grade and a B cup, a friend's older sister pulled me aside and told me I needed a bra. I was a C cup by 8th grade and a D by my senior year. I put on weight in college and my bra size went up, but I never got properly fitted until a year ago. Now at almost 30, they're DDD. I really hope they're done growing Oh, and then there's getting my period at 11 (the first of my friends) and I confided in my best friend at the time and she told EVERYONE. I was mortified.

The one thing I couldn't do fast enough was start shaving - I've always been really hairy, and of course no one else was. I felt like a big-boobed, smelly, hairy, pimply freak (hell, sometimes I still do ) It really seemed like all of those hallmarks of "growing up" were traumatic. I was just resistant to the whole process- like anna k said, I just want to be a "kid" still and look and act like the other girls.

Polly, I new a girl like that in jr high - she had some big boobs then, probably Ds and everybody thought she was a "slut." Honestly, she kind of embraced her bad reputation and had a great "don't fuck with me vibe" (I think I had a girl crush on her), but even then I thought - are we really going to assume a 14 yr old is sleeping around?

Ah yes, and public showers in Jr high gym class. What the fuck were they thinking? Matt Groening was right - it really is the lowest pit in hell.

[kittenb]

What the hell is a "pussy bow?" Should I buy one for my cat?

I remember staying home sick from school one day and I heard a noise at my window. I opened the curtain and there were about 4 boys standing there trying to get a peek in where I normally would be changing my clothes. It took me awhile to figure out what they were there for. These were the same boys who would call me "fat and ugly" at the bus stop but I guess they liked my naked 6th grade breasts as long as my face wasn't attached to it.

[auralpoison]

They don't dress it up this way, but it's all about humiliation. They think it puts us all on the same playing field. It doesn't! It makes us feel shamed for being women. We don't all develop at the same rate. But gym forces us to compare ourselves to others. Which engenders physical dissention. It was fucked up. It created a dissention. I felt so dirty & ugly because I developed early. But it wasn't like girls KNEW better. We were just horribly uninformed at birth.

[pollystyrene]

Did you have the group shower in gym class? Why would it have been so fricking hard to put up dividers and curtains? Why did they have to make everything so traumatic? They always told us, "everyone's as uncomfortable as you are and everyone's going to be avoiding looking at everyone else." Yeah, lotta freaking difference that made when you were the one who was a good 20 pounds heavier than the little waifs I went to school with, who was getting the stares. I quickly became a master at getting into my gym uniform and showing as little skin as possible.