Redefining the Bra

by Genevieve

For women who have ever sighed longingly after dresses and shirts with plunging, bra-excluding backlines, your chariots await with the following new styles.

1. Maidenform is producing the Breakthrough Backless Bra, originally created by a contestant on ABC’s American Inventor show, available in sizes 34B through 38DD. The molded foam cups are held up by straps that slip around the shoulders instead of stretch across the back, leaving it smooth and sexy.

2. Those on the lower end of the cup-size alphabet are familiar with the fear of sagging, jiggling or escaping breasts when it comes to a dress where a strapless—or even backless—bra won’t do.

Experts at Trousseau, a lingerie boutique in Chicago, suggested the following combo: the Braza Bra (an adhesive, Band Aid-like cup for support from below) plus The Original Bring It Up (a rainbow-shaped adhesive for lift from above). One Tango staffer vows this changed her ability to go “bra-less”—setting boulder holders free from reliance on the shoulders!