Weddingbee

If there is one thing I am comfortable with, it’s going braless. I’m not afraid to say it - I like my boobs and letting them free once in a while has never hurt anyone.

When I tried on my dress I went au naturel and it fit perfectly - little or no alterations needed to be done. I know it’s pretty to have the matchy matchy undergarments, but I will be much more comfortable with no bra.

via Rolling Stones

That being said, is anyone else going all natural for the big day?

With fittings and alterations for my wedding gown just around the corner, I started to shop for some good underwear.

Nowadays I buy 90% of all my things online, so the internet was the first place I looked. I ordered a few pieces from Her Room, which was a great shopping experience. Everything arrived quickly and there is a flexible bridal return policy. But I just couldn’t find the right fit. I was in search of a long line bra or bustier that would support without being too constricting.

These are the three pieces I tried:

I actually loved the look and feel of this bra. It’s very sexy and still functional. I also liked the front closures making it easy for me to clasp it myself, but the cups were too big and I don’t think the bodice provided enough support.

Va Bien La Flirt Alert Bustier Bra 810
$68

Three department stores, three outlet mall stores, and two speciality lingerie stores later, I finally found success! Let me share what I’ve learned with you - there aren’t a lot of bustiers out there. None of the department stores or outlet mall stores that I went to had any. I had more success at the speciality lingerie shops.

The first one I tried on was the Piege Bustier. I had to go up in the band size for this one. It was nice, but more than I wanted to spend. I decided to try to find it online and had the hardest time until I realized that Piege and Felina are the same brand. Here’s the bra at a reduce price online. The price is great for Americans, since there’s free shipping. Unfortunately, it really adds up for Canadians, but buying online should still save you somewhere in the neighbourhood of $50 even when you add duties and taxes.

(image source)

Ice cream goes to my *ss, now it can go straight to yours as well!

But seriously, how cute are these panties from Nordstrom? What could be cuter under your dress - or even as gifts for your bridesmaids! (I can’t be the only one who gives and receives underwear from girl friends!)

Ice Cream Cone boyshorts

Now that I have my dress, I need to find a bra. While my dress has spaghetti straps, it has a very low back. Oops! How did I not notice that before? I guess that’s what I get for being a skittish bridal gown shopper.

When I was in high school, I wore those bra bandage looking things to support the girls. Now that my girls are no longer teenagers, they need a little lot more support than that.

 
(Dolly Lamour)

During the wedding planning, nothing has perked Mr. Shortcake’s interest so much as what I’ll be wearing under there. He’s already seen my enormous petticoat and hoop skirt (and is baffled as to just how he’s going to be able to dance cheek-to-cheek with me…hehe), but I did let it slip that I might, just might, be wearing full-on old-fashioned garters and stockings beneath the mass of tulle.

That’s the kind of bra you need when you are well endowed young lady. Certainly, there are perks to being heavy chested. Guys kind of like ’em. You can fill out a top well. And when I’m laying on the couch, they make a great little resting spot for a beverage of my choice. Of course, there are the drawbacks as well. Those were never so apparent as when I was searching for a wedding dress. When I was getting my dress altered, Vladamir (insert heavy Russian accent) said, “Oh dear, this not church cleavage.” The style of dress I could wear was also limited–backless was a pipe dream.

But hello!? The geniuses at N.A.S.A came up with this baby. (And when I say N.A.S.A, I mean Elaine Cato who entered a reality show called American Inventor similar to American Idol, and came in second place.)

I was a little nervous last week as my final dress fitting was quickly approaching, and while I love my dress, at the previous fitting in March, it had been snug. (Snug enough that I decided to have the seams let out just a little bit.)

So Friday morning, I actually went out and bought every pair of Spanx that might work under my dress at my favorite local department store. Power panties, Higher Power, Slim Cognito- I tried them all. And I also tried similar ones made by Wacoal and Bali. I’m talking about 9 or so pairs of these slimming sausage makers, coming in at the astounding price of nearly $500. Fear not, lest you think I’m spending almost as much on foundation garments as my dress- all are returnable with a receipt and the tags still on them.

I did a quick try on of all of the pairs just before leaving for my fitting, which led to the quick rejection of about 4 pairs, and one clear front-runner in the “slim my middle” contest.

We Brides Can Also Wear A Utility Belt!

Since I know I’m always in search of neat little things in wedding world, I thought I would pass this along because it’s kind of genius - a storage garter! This crazy little thing has a cloth pocket you can store stuff in like lipstick, a cell phone or, for a case of pre-wedding nerves, even a flask! I’m not 100 per cent sure how it would work with anything too heavy (you don’t want to make a metallic clunking noise underneath your chiffon gown) and you’d definitely want to make sure you removed everything from its pocket before the throwing the sucker (a Blackberry to the head would definitely dampen someone’s partying mood), but it’s a fun alternative to your regular bridal purse. Check it out!

Juliette Wear

(Many props to Offbeat Bride where I first read about this)

Because I finally found one that’s just right!

I know there has been a heckuva a lot of boob chat on Weddingbee, but with dress concerns, it kind of goes with the territory.

As I’ve mentioned before, finding an undergarment to go under my dress has been a little bit tricky because of its cut. I originally thought I was going to go the stick-on/pasty route, but since we’re having our ceremony and spending much of our day outdoors and since during the summer, I am a victim of what I like to call “the boob sweats,” I didn’t want to rely on any sort of sticky adhesion in the heat.

So, taking the stick-on support off my list but still needing something that would work with the deep cut of things, I started to investigate specialty bras and I think I have found one!