“I was basically driving four hours to go bra shopping,” she said. She has since relocated to Boulder, Colo., where she opened a bra shop that caters to large-breasted women.
Bras get a lift
Compared with running shoes, which are constantly being studied and improved upon, sports bras historically have received little attention. Since the late 1970s, when two long-suffering female runners fashioned the first Jogbra from two jockstraps, the basic design has changed little.
After years playing second string to footwear, however, the humble sports bra is attracting growing interest from sportswear designers and manufacturers.
These days it is women who “are driving the growth in all sectors of sports apparel,” said John L.A. Wilson, president and chief executive of New York-based CW-X, the sports science division of Wacoal, a large Japanese lingerie maker. “The holy grail is to develop a sports bra that is supportive yet comfortable.”
Companies are offering a more diverse selection of exercise-worthy bras in a wider range of sizes. When CW-X began making sports bras in 2005, they came in just three sizes, 32 B/C, 34 B/C and 36 B/C, said Wilson. Now some styles go up to a 42DDD.
CW-X includes some unique design features in its bras. Five strips of stretchy mesh radiate from the center to the sides of each bra cup, creating a floating inner suspension system designed to reduce upward breast bounce during high-impact activities such as running and aerobics.
Moving Comfort, a Seattle-based women’s apparel company, makes 20 styles of sports bras to help “women of all shapes and sizes enjoy the benefits of exercise,” said Julie Baxter, the company’s vice president. Some styles come in sizes that fit up to a 44-inch rib cage, and designs for larger sizes are in the pipeline.
Advanced technology
Some companies rely on two- and three-dimensional imaging systems to develop and test their bras, attaching sensors to the breasts of volunteers to chart how they move during various activities.
“We pay a lot of attention to vertical breast motion, and measuring how well various bra designs tame it,” says Lawson, who is a paid consultant to Champion Athletic Wear. “It’s clearly the largest component of total breast motion during high-impact sports that require running or jumping, and the most directly related to pain and discomfort during exercise, especially for larger-breasted women.”
“Once you understand the problem and solid approaches for solving it, the actual sports bras that may result may include high-tech materials and construction techniques borrowed from athletic footwear, or they may just as effectively be made from more conventional fibers and textiles using familiar cut-and-sew techniques,” she explains.
The most notable recent change in sports bras, according to Lawson, is the attention manufacturers pay to detail, especially in larger sizes. Research she and others have amassed reveals how load is distributed throughout the bra during a workout.
Well-designed sports bras accommodate load with features such as gel-lined or seamless straps that reduce pressure and chafing. In addition, lamination techniques allow manufacturers to seamlessly layer fabrics and reinforce key areas of the bra. Companies also are increasingly choosy about materials, sometimes using two or three fabrics in a single bra “so each piece is appropriate to its use,” Lawson said.
Not everyone equates sports bra design with rocket science. Cynthia Smith, a marathon runner and triathlete in Red Bank, N.J., grew tired of wasting money on bras she permanently relegated to the back of her lingerie drawer after a single, painful test run.
She bought a used sewing machine and a book on corsetry and began designing bras based solely on her own notion of what was comfortable. She sells them under the name Lynx Sportswear online and at marathons. Lacking resources to test them scientifically, she recruits volunteers to try them on and takes notes as they jump up and down.
This spring, Lynx was selected as a 2011 finalist in the MassChallenge, a competition for entrepreneurs conducted by a Massachusetts nonprofit.
Sports stores have also gotten into the business of matching women to the right sports bra. Some of them host seminars about good fit and introduce their customers to new products.
Robyn Gault, co-owner of the Gaithersburg location of Fleet Feet Sports, routinely surprises new runners who come to her running shop for gear advice by pointing them to the bra rack.
“I tell people it’s the second most important piece of equipment they should have,” she said. (Shoes come first.)
Some scoff at the prices, which range from about $38 to $70. But once they experience the comfort of a better bra, there is usually no going back, she said.
Zeidner is a freelance writer based in Arlington.
Loading...
Comments