How Many Do You Have?

So I finally did a bra-count. Even though I just reorg-ed the lingerie drawer - and then had the nerve to ask you how many bras you own - I didn't actually do a count of my own till yesterday.

If you subtract the bras from the "not wearing them now cuz the size is slightly too big or too small but the stuff is still great and I may wear it again" cupboard, I have 14 bras and, I estimate (didn't count them all) 35 pairs of undies.

I don't know about you, but I think that's entirely reasonable given my fixation with the stuff. I mean, I look at lingerie on line sites just for fun. I blog about it. I force my friends and family to go lingerie shopping with me and I act as their bra personal-shopper. I freakin' sew the stuff!? Fourteen bras seems really quite sane. (Note a new one is on the way...)

Here's the thing: I wear every single one of them. I'm not one of those women with 80 bras who secretly uses 1 black, 1 white and a nude, allowing the other stuff to languish because it doesn't fit / doesn't work / I can't be bothered.

Every bra has 2 or 3 matching undies rendering it useful under all kinds of bottoms (sheer or tight or prone to VPL). Every bra fits beautifully and makes me feel happy when I look at it in its cubby, or on my body. Every bra serves a purpose which it fulfills with sassy chic.

I have 2 seamless nude basic bras (the Fantasie model I've blogged about at length) and 1 basic black bra (has seams but the pattern is flat so it doesn't compete for attention under thin tops). I have one body suit (which I LOVE - it's new...). Everything else is lacy or colourful or textured or patterned.

When I force lovingly assist my friends/family in their own bra renaissances, I always beg them to try colour and patterns. Man, do I meet resistance. I can't wear stripes/purple and red/camoflauge/taupe zebra pattern with appliqued pink rosettes! (so I hear). You'd think I was asking them to eat horse brains - or to run to the cash and buy these things without putting them on!? Let's say, for kicks, that you are a very conservative person who struggles to move out of her comfort zone. Where better to take on the challenge of getting bolder/chicer/sexier than in a clothing category that relatively few people other than you are going to see??

I implore you, when next you go to purchase lingerie in your tried and true fashion: Try on every bra in the store (in your size - or close to it). The crazier the better. I mean, you don't walk around in plain white, matronly outfits all day long. Why would you make that your lingerie default? When you see a femme fatale in a film, you don't envy her department store* special.

Brief Sidebar: OK, all you busty readers who are thinking, right now, that's all I can find in my size... If you have large breasts, that's not what you're consigned to. Not if you don't shop at a department store that tops out at 38DD mediocrity. (Lord help you if you're a 30DD - good luck finding that size.) BTW, that goes for you too, ladies of the AA set. Go to a bra boutique - or shop online. Chances are you will never have a better selection than you do via an online store.

But back to what you buy... I'm cataloging my pieces for the blog. In time you'll see them all. Now I want to know what you are wearing (not in a creepy way, you realize):

• Do you cycle through the same 3 bras and wear them till they're stringy?
• Do you have one bra style, that you own 30 of?
• Do you go for colour and texture? Patterns or solids?
• What shape do you like best? Balconette? Plunge? Molded cup? Full? Wire-free?
• Have you experimented with shapes? (Note: If you haven't been wearing the right size - and shopping in the badly stocked dept. stores, wading through the crap, you may not realize that a balconette is a very flattering shape when in your size and designed for a breast shape like yours. Balcony bras are entirely supportive if they're well constructed. Same goes for most every style, in truth...)
• How many bras do you own? Do you wear them all?
• Do you have winter bras and summer bras?
• What do you want a bra to say to you (you know, the talking ones)? About you?
• How do you feel when you put on your underwear in the morning? Are you happy with what you see?

Let's talk. I am really interested to hear your varied perspective.

* I'm not referring to Holt Renfrew and Norstrom and Neiman Marcus and other good stores of this variety. But let's face it - they are far and few between... (And I've frequented all of them - they cater much more to high-end options for very small-busted women vs. very large-busted ones. You'll have 1/10 the options there that you will at a lingerie boutique. Don't you want your pick of everything available??)