Over the Shoulder Boulder Holders

Please bear with my as I vent. I am having serious issues with bra buying these days. First, some background information. I have been equally cursed and blessed with large breasts. Way too large if you ask me. Recently, I went through the internal debate of having a breast reduction. Friends all agreed that it was a great idea. Women who had been through it raved about how much it changed their lives. And still I decided to reject the idea of surgery for now. Surgery felt terrifying, the risk factors felt too risky, and I just wasn't sure how I could fit it into my schedule. All that being said, I have not ruled it out for sometime in the future.

See, I didn't go through puberty until I went off to college. I was a champion Irish Step Dancer from the age of four until college. In high school, I was dancing up to thirty hours a week and like a competitive gymnast or profession ballerina, at 18 years-old, my body resembled that of a twelve year old. I remember my best girlfriends laughing at my 32A's throughout my senior year. Then I retired and suddenly puberty hit me like a ton of bricks. In one year I grew at least one cup size. Great, right? Well, they didn't stop there. And now I am stuck with an em

barrassingly large rack.

We all know the importance of a well-fitting bra. Large or small, a good bra makes all the difference. Well, in the last year I finally found the perfect bra for me. The Hanes Women's All-Over Comfort Underwire. And I found it at my local Target. Great, right? I was thrilled. But, when you have a larger chest, you go through bras fairly quick, no matter how much care you put in to preserving them. About six months ago, I went back to grab another couple and they were no where to be found. Worse than that, there was not one bra without padding in the whole joint. Alright, there were, but I am not ready to wear a nursing bra as my everyday bra!!! So I went to Walmart. Same thing. Racks and racks of padded bras. Then I went to an outlet bra shop nearby and it was the same thing there too!!

Does anyone else find this absurd? The very last thing that

I need is more padding. Seriously, I look outrageous in a padded bra. And I cannot be the only one!! Why this sudden conversion? I know that there is a societal conspiracy against women of age and women with curves, but we can't all look like 16 year old girls forever. My preferred bra was even difficult to get off the website, it was back ordered and took three weeks to get to my door. Are bra manufacturers and big box stores really turning their back on the non-padded, under wire bra? The bra that has supported decades of women? The bra that doesn't trick men? Perhaps I am a rarity here. Perhaps I am the only woman who wants a plain-old bra with a sturdy underwire and some strong spandex, but somehow how I don't think so.