Types of Bras - Top 10 Bras

Bras are a nuisance

Spurred on by the roaring success of the Pasty Muncher’s guide to getting into her knickers here’s another in my series of posts that explore topics which I know little about.

Generations of chaps have been frustrated by bras - fumbling and tugging at impossibly small fasteners and  alarmingly tight elasticated straps to get the blasted thing open.  There are now even how to videos about how to remove bras.

As a dedicated fan of women’s undies the bra is my least favourite item of lingerie but they serve an important function and here’s details of types of bras available.

When shopping for lingerie, most women know how important it is to choose a bra that fits well, but choosing the right style of bra is also essential. The style of bra that you choose can make a real difference to the way that you look, so you need to choose one that suits your figure. However, some styles work better with certain types of clothes than with others, so if you’re thinking of updating your lingerie collection, it’s worth buying bras in several different styles so that, when you are getting dressed, you can select one that makes the most of your outfit.

Lingerie retailers now offer a wide range of styles, so we’ve put together a guide to ten popular bra styles in order to help you to make your choice.

Types of Bras

Balcony

The balcony bra has a half-cup and flatters most figures, providing uplift and helping to create a better shape. It also looks great under many different types of clothes, so is a great addition to any woman’s lingerie collection. The balcony bra is particularly suitable for wear under low-cut, round-necked tops.

Plunge

The plunge bra has a lower front than the balcony bra, and the cups are angled, so wearing a plunge bra will help you to accentuate your cleavage. Plunge bras look great when worn under low-cut tops, particularly those with plunging V-necks.

Push-up

The push-up bra is designed to provide you with maximum uplift and help to accentuate your cleavage. It’s suitable for wear under many different types of clothing.

¾ Cup Bra

The ¾ cup bra provides great support, thanks to underwiring, whilst allowing you to reveal a little more than the full-cup bra. It’s perfect for wearing under a low-cut top or evening dress.

Moulded Bra

The cups of a moulded bra have no seams, due to the fact that they are made from single pieces of material, so they are great for wearing under clothing that’s either close-fitting or made from thin material. This type of bra would be a great addition to any woman’s lingerie collection.

Multiway

The multiway is one of the most versatile types of bra that you can buy, and is a must-have lingerie item. The straps can be adjusted so that it can be worn under halterneck tops, strapless tops, crossover back tops or off-the-shoulder tops, and it will still provide the support that you need, due to its underwiring.

T-shirt Bra

The t-shirt bra is the perfect lingerie purchase for summer. The cups are moulded and seamless, so you can wear t-shirts or other items of clothing made from thin material.

Non-wired

If you find underwired bras uncomfortable, you can buy non-wired bras. This type of bra will still provide you with support, due to the way in which it is designed.

Padded

A padded bra will help to enhance your shape, providing you with a great silhouette whilst being extremely comfortable to wear. This type of bra can be worn under many different types of tops and dresses, and wearing one will help you to feel confident about your figure.

Sports Bra

A staple item in any lingerie collection, the sports bra provides support without the use of wires and is made from stretchy material, so that it’s comfortable whilst you are exercising.

Unusual Wedding Present - Give a Charity Gift

Does the happy couple need another toaster? - Give ‘em a goat

Many couples planning their wedding already have all the possessions they need for their future together, especially if they’re already sharing a well-furnished home. They don’t want their friends and family wasting money on unwanted gifts. Yet often guests insist on buying something to mark the special occasion - so more and more couples are now taking an ethical decision to ask guests to buy charity gifts instead of buying items they really don’t need.

Charity wedding lists won’t suit every couple, particularly those who still need a bit of help setting up home with the usual toaster, pots, pans, dinner sets and bed linen. But considering our relative wealth, and the vast amounts of money many couples are willing - and able - to spend on the wedding day itself, it seems like many couples could afford to sacrifice their wedding gifts for a better cause and ask for charity gifts to be sent to those who most need them

Several organisations provide couples with such a service, some even target specific gifts to those in most need.

Charity Gifts Ideas - Goats

Oxfam Unwrapped have developed a dedicated wedding gift list for people to choose charity gifts that will go directly to people who need them most.  The best selling charity gift at the moment is a goat! This surprises many but when you consider how useful a goat - or a pair of goats can be to poor communities - providing nourishing milk and fertilizer for crops and if allowed to breed new generations to continue the goat’s good work.

You can see more unusual wedding gift ideas on the Wedding Gifts Wish List pages. Gifts that help poor people who are suffering around the world include fresh water, seeds, clothing and shelter.

Other Wedding Gifts Lists

When couples sign up at Wedding List Giving, first they decide which charity or charities they would like to support from a long list of local and national organisations, from the Alzheimer’s Society and Action against Hunger, to the World Wildlife Fund and War Child.

Couples can support organisations and communities whose cause they feel strongly about or to which they have a personal connection. Their wedding guests can then donate as much or as little as they can afford via the website - and for every pound that’s donated, at least 100 per cent of donations reach the chosen charities. If guests also ‘Gift Aid’ their donations, the charities actually receive £1.16 for every pound donated.

Giveit provides a similar service, with donations ‘wrapped up’ like gifts on the website so that guests can see what a particular donation could fund for each charity - meaning they get to see how far their money could stretch. After the wedding, couples are sent a certificate confirming the total donations to each of their chosen charities.

If there are still a few things you need for your home, you could combine charity gifts with a traditional gift list. Department store John Lewis recently launched a combined service where couples can ask friends and family for a donation to charity as well as list some traditional household gifts they still need.

Alternatively, if you would still like guests to give you gifts, but gifts with a conscience, you could set up an ethical wedding list. Fair Trade wedding gift lists are available from companies such as Ganesha which imports gorgeous home furnishings and accessories from India, sourced from co-operatives. Or you could opt for an eco-friendly gift list such as Our Green Wedding List which has a wide range of ethical and eco-friendly products.

By asking friends and family to choose from an ethical or eco-friendly wedding charity gift list you open their eyes to the responsible shopping alternatives that exist, and that may just convert a few more people into new ways of thinking - and shopping - along the way.

Double Entendre - double entendre

so good I said it twice by Pretty Polly

Every now and then regular readers will know that when it comes to double entendres we like to slip one in every now and then.

Recently the urge to splash out on some new bedroom furniture came over us and following the relentless but eventual successful search for beds we now look to check out additional bedroom essentials - a chest of drawers.

Once commited to the hunt for a good set of drawers you’ll soon  discover a world of bedroom furniture, including beds, drawers, wardrobes, chests and bedroom sets that will thrill and exite you

Chest of Drawers

After a bed a chest of drawers is one of the most practical pieces of furniture that you can buy and a wonderful turn of phrase for fans of double entendres.

You can use a chest of drawers for storing clothes, jewellery and many other items, so that your bedroom looks clutter-free, and you can also place items such as ornaments, a mirror or a television on the top.

Rememeber drawers are a fantastic double entendre opportunity - the word “drawers” is often used to refer to knickers and other lingerie items. Telling people you’ve been rummaging around in your drawers will bring a wry smile to most sauce spotters. Further exploration of the association of undies and your drawers will gain much attention and if followed by a classic double entendre joke (I asked the barman for a double entendre) will have your audience in fits of laughter (so he gace me one)

Choosing a Chest of Drawers – Chest Size

The first thing to think about is the size of chest of drawers that you want. You will need to work out where you want to place it and measure up.

It’s important to take some time to think about where you want to put your new drawers. If it’s wood, for example, you should place it out of direct sunlight in order to stop it from fading, and you should also make sure that it isn’t next to a direct heat source, such as a radiator.

Make sure that you leave enough space around your chest of drawers for you to be able to move around your bedroom without having to squeeze by it and, if you are intending to place it near to any beds or your bedroom door, make sure that there will be enough space for you to open and close the door properly.

One of the most important things to do when measuring up for a new chest of drawers is to ensure that you leave enough space for the drawers to be opened fully.

Style and Quality

When choosing a new chest of drawers, make sure that you buy one that is practical. Think about how many drawers you want and how deep or wide they need to be. It’s easy to underestimate how much room you are likely to need, and it’s better to have some free space in your drawers than to find that you can’t fit everything in.

If you want to store underwear and lingerie or other items of clothing in your chest of drawers, you will probably find that you are using it every day, so choose something sturdy, so that it will stand the test of time.

Make sure that you choose a high-quality chest of drawers. The drawers should open smoothly and be constructed using dovetail joints. The drawer handles should be fixed securely in order to be able to stand up to regular heaving and hoing.

You should also make sure that your new chest of drawers will fit in with the style of your bedroom and either match or contrast effectively with your bed and bedding as well as the rest of the furniture in the room. If you are considering replacing the rest of the furniture in your bedroom, you may want to consider buying a bedroom set. Bedroom sets usually consist of several pieces of matching furniture combining beds a chest of drawers and a wardrobe, or a chest of drawers and a bedside table.

We’ve enjoyed picking out a few easy double entendres in this otherwise dull but informative article about choosing furniture. Remember drawers can go down as well as up.

Double Entendre Fest - The Two Ronnies - Wordsmith Masters

As a special treat here’s a superb example of the Two Ronnies at their double-entendre-tastic.

Look after fresh flowers - Video and Text

Encouraged by the great feed back from our feature about the meaning of flowers we have transcribed the following video - how to look after fresh flowers and hope that it will help you to keep any flowers you buy or are given in tip top condition and help your flowers to last longer.

Flowers are one of the best decorating materials but they also happen to be one of the hardest to take care of especially if you have no common sense like me so today I’m here to learn how to take care of your fresh cut flowers and keep them looking as good for as long as possible.

When I bring home fresh flowers or have flowers online delivered they always seem to die - I’m sure I’m doing something wrong but I don’t know what it is. What do you need to do to care for fresh flowers? Watch this video and learn how to look after fresh flowers.

When you get them home you should have a vase ready with some luke warm water luke warm helps absorb into the stems faster - not too hot or too cold.

Make fresh flowers last longer

Food - flowers come with floral preservative - go ahead and mix that into the water

Does Sprite work? Yes Sprite will work if you don’t have floral preservative

I’ve also heard using copper coins, bleach - crazy things - do they work?

Bleach will work - just a tiny frop though.

Floral food is the best way to go but bleach is an option if not and sprite if all else not possible.

When water and preservative mixed take sharp knife and make a fresh cut of each stem - cut the flower stem at a slant.

Do you have to make the cut under running water?

Years ago you used to do it that way but its been proven that its unnecessary - cutting flowers underwater prevented air bubbles going into the stem so the absorption of water by the flower is uninterrupted but by having the vase of water ready you can make the cut and immediately put the flower into the water.

Location - where should I keep my fresh flowers?

After you cut and placed the flowers in a vase and arranged them is there anywhere you should put them? Like a drip I put flowers in the sun because plants need sun yes?.

Putting flowers in the sun is not recommended (rolls eyes) - it is the wrong place to put fresh cut flowers.

A little bit of light would be good but direct sunlight would heat up the flower arrangement and kill it faster – may be place flowers on a table away from a window

Not by a tv where its going to get a lot of heat or on top of a refrigerator or an air conditioning which will freeze it - average no extremes

So once in the right place what else should you do - just leave it?

Change water periodically - infact every day and add fresh preservative - that way the fresh water won’t have any bacteria which shortens the life of the flowers.  As well as fresh water every day it is good to cut the stems every day too.

Make the fresh cut just a little way up and quickly return the stem to the water

Don’t mix daffodils with other flowers - they have a sap that affects othe flowers badly.

Other things to keep flowers fresh and last longer

Foliage -leave on as many leaves as possible but strip off foliage that will be in the water where it will begin to decay

Follow these tips and you will have a beautiful bouquet of flowers that will last a long time and look great.